When Opportunities Appear - Part 2

Welcome to the intact podcast with Charles Stanley Wednesday, November 10 little bored with your life right now. Here's more than the series opportunities before us. The one who turned the wheel to division chapter 5 and Paul in this chapter has been talking about the Christian life and how to live a godly life and talks about walking in love and delight that we used to live his life of walking in darkness and that we not to participate in the life of darkness and longer so he comes down to this, 15, 16, 17 versus that I want to mention couple things about he says in verse 15. Therefore be careful how you walk and when he uses the term walk. It's a term which simply means the walkabout that is it's a way of life for he says be careful how you live out your life, not as unwise men and women but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil, that when he says, making the most of the town there to read words of the Scripture for Taiwan numbers, which is like your watch and other watches that to have some of that name in the and then Chiron switches simply a matter of an opportunity make the most of your opportunities.

What he saying which of course is your time because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is that want to say something I'm gonna say probably after every point in this message and that is we are to listen weird to be careful how we walk with to be wise about our decisions and we had to be alert to opportunities because many people live in the midst of opportunities every day and never somehow are able to recognize and they think of opportunities as they can. Lots of money or having a new house and going here and going there there opportunities in life that are far more important than those and if you miss them you going to miss some of the most exciting times in your life. If your life is boring and you sort of settled down into a rut. It's because your eyes to close because you not being able to see what God has right before you and I trusted in this passage. These passages, you begin to see some opportunities that maybe you've been overlooking, and once you begin to get engaged and seize these opportunities. Your life is going to be exciting. All of these passages are familiar on purpose. I try to choose the ones that I think most people would be conscious of and so I want to begin with the first one looking Luke the fifth chapter for a moment. Another incident that is familiar and I chose the familiar ones on purpose. One day I Jesus was teaching in there some Pharisees and teachers of the law.

Scribes sitting there he was in this house and the house full of people jammed full and so the Scripture says in 18 verse some men were carrying on better man who was paralyzed and they were trying to bring him in and send them before the Lord, but not finding any way to bring them in because the crowd they went up on the roof and let them down through the tiles with the stretch into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus seeing their faith, he said friend, your sins are forgiven you in his the issue. These guys knew their friend was a paralytic could not walk, could not, they loved it. That said, Jesus is close by. We gonna get you to Jesus because we hear he heals people from all kinds of disease and sickness and he can raise him from the dead. We gonna get you there. They saw an opportunity for him to heal their friend and they want to quit. They do start pulling the tiles loose and I suppose I Jesus began to see this, then heard all that and he just stopped in the and they let him down one part Jesus was a registered Jesus know he was blessed, blessed, blessed because he saw that these men saw an opportunity for him to heal their friend and they want gonna stop under any condition that they got him the Jesus now you so you think I'm going to have an opportunity like that. You also be harder probably.

I can think of things much harder is issue when you see an opportunity watches an opportunity to do the right thing an opportunity to do a good thing an opportunity to do what God's called you to do an opportunity to affect somebody else's life.

Are you going to see it as an opportunity and have a little handicap here, there, and so forth and so you gonna say well maybe I misread God. That's the poorest excuse that is a pure compromise. That's the work of the devil.

I guess I made a mistake. I guess God didn't really want us to bring you over here because the Lord and knew that he was going to be busy and wouldn't have time for you. Besides that, we just causing all this commotion then say that they saw an opportunity. Watch this and they love this man enough to listen to be rejected. The cost of money. Whatever business are they loved him enough to get him to Jesus to get healed and not only did he get healed he got saved, sins were forgiven. Jesus healing right in front of everybody. The person who got rejected was not those guys the person got rejected was Jesus for healing him and forgiving him of his sentence is there. I don't think I'll ever get an account situation you don't know that if you knew that you could take one of your friends somebody that you love dearly and you had to travel a very very long ways to get them here would you do Jesus gives us all some opportunities and then we have to decide and regular season not know how much do I have, how long the table it wanted and there was all the excuses we can come up with at the lay that down an opportunity is a favorable time in which God wants to work in our life for others but also for someone else when you think those guys thought about on their way home rejoicing.

This they through that, way they were going home praising God and thanking him for healing and thinking you know what we don't care much because for those tiles back will put a bag will pay some aspirin about our friend is healed. Praise the Lord.

They took advantage of an opportunity that look like it could work. Man's life is change. But those four men in life is change. Likewise, so then I think about this whole opportunity to witness about this. The apostle Paul Ellis mentioned several things. First of all when he was in jail at Philippi and the jailer came out and said what must I do to be saved. Will there is an opportunity of their possible right his face. His amazing tell me how to get right with Jesus Christ to get manager Paul traveled the whole Roman world. What did he do in the world when she traveled he was continually sharing Jesus Christ in all kinds of situations at the Philippian jailer that was an easy one for him when he got to Athens, for example, in Greece he knew about these philosophers meeting up there. Mars Hill and all the talk and so for the Acropolis and on and on and on and he had seen these statutes said to an unknown God. They were up there with her philosophy about life and so probably disease this is an opportunity he could. The said will now then I can listen to me they got some of the guards already got one. They can even landed on who is so they Satan unknown God. So why would I want to get in the middle of that Paul says is a great opportunity so he walked right in the middle of the stairs, upload conversation and he preaches this awesome sacrament and acts to them and takes advantage of an opportunity to present, he says, look, you don't know who this God is you've got this statute in unknown God, I've come to tell you is Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the son of God and the only Savior of the world and to talk about the cross and what Jesus Christ did. He took advantage of an opportunity that didn't look like one because it was so short drive up with these philosophers who thought who is this guy showing up telling us about a man who was crucified, and rose in the gray and so they didn't listen to him very well and and when he left what he do this what Paul did there.

He didn't say well now if I think there listen to me. I'll talk to but I don't think they will not go to that was the issue. The issue is, is he had an opportunity to say to a group of men who did not believe in Jesus Christ, who was not really aware of who he was. He just said, here's an opportunity and I'm going in and he told me exactly the message they needed to hear that everybody that you meet who needs Jesus is not going to be all that pleasant. There was always going to hear what you have to say. So you have to ask yourself this question, I meet somebody who's unsaved. This is an opportunity.

It doesn't mean I only have an opportunity fine get them say if they're not saved, and I know what I have an opportunity. I may only be able to say to them will tell me where you from what you go to church that don't go to church has everything going with you prettier not. The words listen, you can start with anybody who is unsay if you have the right spirit and you realize it's an opportunity, God will use your fumbling in your bungling to do something in their heart you know will happen, they'll think they're not very smart but early canard about that, I'm not impressed by that so-called Christian but I did hear what he said you see you not responsible for the you and are responsible for telling it where responsible for living it and telling their responsible for their response and so if you are not taking advantage of our opportunities to tell people about Christ it's because either we feel like it's something in a life that's not right or we are afraid or we think that somehow somebody is not good. Listen, and that's not an issue not responsible for that. Let me give you a couple more. Right-click the 19th chapter of Luke is another story that we know really well so that you turn there for just a moment because here is another opportunity of a different kind Jesus is passing through Jericho and the there's a man there by the name of Zakir's. He was a chief tax collector, and he was rich and he is trying to see who Jesus was and was unable because the credit for is very small in stature, say ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in all of CM for he was about to pass through that way. The limited something about who he was.

Zakir's wasn't just to go climb the tree.

Zakir's was a tax collector, collecting taxes from Israelites for the Roman government and they call them Republican in the center because they saw him as a traitor, so he is about Jesus coming and he has an opportunity maybe to see and sing before the annoying thing about it much as things he heard, but here was an opportunity for him to see Jesus. They had strong curiosity, so he goes down the street and he tries that because the Bible says Israel shortly couldn't see over the crowd, so he tries to get up in the front. They see who is you not get by me because they hated him they saw him as a thief to some degree so nobody leading men so he could have said well I guess there goes my return. There was a Jesus may not come back this way again. When she did, but he refused to give up his opportunity. He ran ahead of the Scripture says and climbed up into a sycamore tree in a sycamore tree be easy to climb, so he climbed up so he was above everybody else.

And so here is his opportunity business just like Jesus. I love this.

When he saw Zakir's. He stopped and said Zach is coming down.

I'm going home to eat lunch with you today. It came down and what happened is that why we know he really got say is that you know he said I'm going to give back four times what I've taken.

He talked about what he will how he was going to give away so much of what he had because he knew that some of it was dishonest and the one he finished confessing and repenting of his sins.

Jesus said this man he's become a believer.

I suppose I can since it crowds are to be I can get in. I guess this was my chance and I missed it. And so Alice go back. He saw an opportunity and he wasn't going to let some excuse keep him from seeing the Lord Jesus change his life and think about. We still talking about when a lot of those Pharisees and Sadducees.

We are going to buy doses may not hold crowd. The only person we know Zakir's. He took advantage of an opportunity to meet Jesus, and we still talking about what would you have done that they would use and where we might as well go home. We can't seem, would you have said is an opportunity of a lifetime and not going to miss it. I wonder how many opportunities you have missed because somebody didn't like it. Somebody was in the way that you thought it cost too much was you Mr. wonderful wonderful opportunity and you see it change his life. Can you imagine the testimony that he had in town when he started giving people back what he had taken from him because of his relationship to Jesus Christ. He became listen, think about this. Not only did he get right with God.

He became the most popular man in town and the strongest witness to who Jesus was, by transform life opportunities every day. Every different facet of life in all kind of situation circumstances and then I would just come to one last one in the 10th chapter of Mark and Scripture says the simply verse Jesus was setting up on a journey, a man ran up to him and knelt down before him and asking good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life in Jesus knowing what the issue was that he not only had riches. His riches had him and so he said to me said so what you have given to the boy and come, follow me, look at the difference here was an opportunity to have the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ and he rejected over something material that would one day pass away and had nothing left. So ask your question. Would you happen to be one of those persons whose heard the gospel men in the times that you have refused the opportunity to asked Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and to repent of you have turned down Christ's offer of salvation. You have refused to see an opportunity to have the gift of eternal life.

I don't know what you reasons been doesn't make a difference. It's a poor decision. Let me just say this, it's one opportunity. If you miss you will spend eternity suffering the consequences. That's not what I think that's what God says so what would you do about it. The wisest thing you can do is this is contested Jesus that you are a sinner because you know you are confess to him that you waste a lot of your life that you've let other things take his place in your life that you have rejected over and over and over again the message of the gospel you herded watch that on television you've heard on the radio. You've heard it from your friends but you've never been willing to take advantage of the opportunity. If you will, and ask him to forgive you for that and tell him that you believe that his death on the cross was for your sins, and he paid you send that info on the cross and that he is the son of God, and that your accepting him as your personal savior and surrendering your life to him to turn it down one more time could be your last opportunity. He said he tried to scare me if I could get you to heaven. I would, but I can't. But you have no assurance that you will ever hear it again. The wisest thing you can do wherever you are is the make a decision right now to accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior. Surrender your life to him and let him work and live through your life and that is my prayer father how grateful we are that your patient weathers that your loving your kind you're forgiving and I pray the Holy Spirit this morning. Not will, but has already deeply penetrated every single heart to think about these opportunities that we've mentioned knowing that the numerous opportunities that are unmentioned.

I pray that every person here would consider seriously. Each of these is specially what Jesus said to Mary and Martha. This is the most important B confession and repentance this morning over failure to spend time each day with you in meditation and prayer, learning from you at the B confession, repentance, God over opportunities to bear witness but failed to do so, and many other things may come into her life. We want to be godly people. We want you to have your way in every single opportunity and we want to seize them courageously and confidently that you will integrate benefit. We love you and praising Jesus name, amen.

Thank you for listening to part 211, when opportunities appear to know more about Charles Stanley intact ministry that my Internet started lagging back after the presentation and intact ministry advantage of