Introduction:

"When you experience disappointments in your life, how do you respond?  Do you respond by blaming yourself or someone else?  Well, often we face disappointments where we don’t know how to respond, and we find ourselves hindered in our walk with the Lord.

Israel had fled the giant Goliath in great fear, but David calmly stood there and said, “who is the uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God (1Sam.17:26).  You know the rest of the story.  Israel prevailed that day.  The difference was one of perspective. 

Israel saw everything from ground level.  David saw everything from a divine perspective.  Our perspective makes all the difference.  We see the ground level perspective of Mary and Martha, and the divine perspective of Jesus.  The last two weeks we have talked about:

The Death Of Lazarus And Its Purpose’s

Purpose 1: to glorify God and to proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God (v.4).

Purpose 2: to show Jesus’ great love (v.5).

Purpose 3: to show the necessity for waiting upon God in great crises (v.6).

Twelve Reasons Why We Experience A Delay

·                     Disobedience (Ps.81:10-12,16)

·                     Doubt (James 1:5-8)

·                     Wrong motivation (James 4:3)

·                     Our attempt at manipulation (1 Sam.13:8-14)

·                     Our lack of responsibility (Prov.6:6-11)

·                     An illegitimate need

·                     God’s Redirection (Gen.37, 39-50)

·                     God’s desire to teach us (Phil.3:13)

·                     God’s desire to bring us to repentance (Luke 15:11-31)

Purpose 4: to teach the need to grasp opportunity (v.7-10).

Purpose 5: to show Jesus’ great power over death (v.11-14).

Purpose 6: to help strengthen the disciples’ belief (v.15).

Purpose 7: to stir the disciples’ courage and loyalty (v.16).

A.                  the summary and purposes concerning lazarus and his sickness(11:4-16).  Jesus uses this sad event to overview the purpose for his earthly ministry. 

1.                  Purpose #4: To Teach The Need To Grasp The Opportunity (v.7-10)

a)                  The disciples could not believe their ears (v.7-8).

It had been three days since Jesus had received word of Lazarus’ illness. Jesus now said it was time to go into Judaea, for Bethany was in the district of Judaea. The disciples protested, for it was the Judaean leaders who had stood so opposed to Jesus and had threatened to kill Him (John 10:31).  Why would Jesus jeopardize their lives?  Jesus’ answer was forceful and it stands as a great lesson for us all.

b)                  There are only twelve hours in a day (v.9).

(1)                 Most people do their work in the day when it is daylight.

(2)                 go and do His work while it is day.

(3)                 go and do what is right, regardless of the danger (v.8).

(4)                 go and do what is right lest the day pass and the opportunity be lost (John 9:4).

c)                  Mary Grasped the Opportunity (Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:7)

(1)                 The Anointing Was A Grasping Of Opportunity.

The disciples censored Mary and condemned her act, but Christ defended her. He gave two reasons why Mary’s act was justified.

(a)                 Mary’s anointing was a good work, a work poured out upon Him personally; that is, it was a personal gift.  It was not a gift to an idea or program of His. It was done to Him personally!  Mary’s Love for Jesus grasped the opportune time!

(b)                Mary’s opportunity to show her love for Christ would not always be present. Christ was soon to be gone and ascended to the Father. Bodily, He would not be present for Mary to show her love. The poor would always be present to whom Mary could minister, but not Jesus. He would be gone. If she was ever going to demonstrate her love and faith, she had to do it now. The opportunity had to be grasped now; it would soon be gone (Mark 14:7).

(c)                 Opportunities to show our love for Christ must be grasped now (Matt.25:34-40).  If Mary was going to show her love to Jesus, she had to grasp the opportunity.  Christ is not physically present with us now as He was with Mary, but there are many who are poor.  We can show our love to Jesus by loving the poor.  The Motel Ministry we have (Jay Gaither) 

"Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work." (John 4:34, NASB95)      

"Making the most of your time, because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:16, NASB95)

"Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity." (Colossians 4:5, NASB95)

"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14, NASB95)

d)                  Note: Four Lessons About Grasping The Opportunity.

(1)                 Opportunities Do & Will Pass: In fact, they pass ever so rapidly. If we do not act immediately, we miss the chance forever.  The privilege of witnessing, helping, growing, advancing, improving, and discovering—on and on the opportunities arise.  If we fail to act, the opportunities pass on never to return, and we lose the chance to reach out and help.

(2)                 The Great Tragedy Of Most Lives: This can be summed up in two simple words: missed opportunity.  Opportunities come and go, and once they are gone, they are gone for good!

(3)                 Caring About What others think: Even their condemnation and censorship, should never keep us from showing our love and faith in the Lord Jesus.  Our witness should always be strong for Christ, just as strong as Mary’s was: strong in grace and kindness, in courage and unashamedness.

(4)                 Our Works And Gifts Should First Of All Be Given To Christ Personally.  Our thoughts should be upon Him, concentrating and not wandering as we serve and give. They should be performed and given as though they were being laid at His feet.

2.                  Cause’s For Missing An Opportunity Are Caused By:

(1)                 Putting Yourself First (Luke 9:57-10:1-2)

(2)                 Making Excuses (Luke 14:16-24)

(3)                 Not Willing (Matt.23:37)

(4)                 Being To Busy (Luke 2:1-7)—“it came to pass”,”there was no room for them in the inn”

(5)                 Being Unprepared (Luke 12:35-40)

(6)                 Luke 10:29-37—“he passed on the other side”

b)                  Several things can make us miss opportunities.

(1)                 Not looking for opportunities.

(2)                 Not grasping for the opportunities at the right time.

(3)                 Not having the initiative to grab an opportunity when it arises.

(4)                 Not handling the opportunity properly.

B.                  Seizing the most of every opportunity.

a)                  Jesus seized the opportunity to teach (Mark 1:21).

(1)                 Note the word “immediately”, He entered into the synagogue, and taught.” He excitedly entered and immediately began to teach. This was the very day He was to launch His ministry; this was the first chance He had to take the podium and teach. He immediately rushed forth and seized the opportunity.

(2)                 Opportunities must be seized when they present themselves. We must not let them pass.

b)                  Jesus utilized the moment.

His time was short, so He seized the opportunity to teach. Time is short. We must use every minute to the fullest, for the night is coming when no man can work (John 9:4).  Several mistakes made with time.

(1)                 We can lose time: just let it pass, never seize the opportunity.

(2)                 We can ignore time: pay no attention to it, give it little if any thought.

(3)                 We can neglect time: be unconcerned and non-caring, fail to realize its potential and exactly what could be achieved with its proper use.

(4)                 We can abuse time: use time to do the opposite of what we should be doing; misuse time by using it half-heartedly, sloppily, inefficiently.

c)                  Making The Most Of Your Time (Ephesians 5:15-16)

(1)               It Is Common Not To Finish What We Begin.

(a)                 Many things or projects go uncompleted or half-done.  

(b)                 Usually it is simply the death of a person’s commitment that causes the incompletion.

(c)                 However those who are truly productive have mastered the use of the hours and days of their lives.

(2)                 Christians Need To Maximize Their Time God Has Given Them.

Definition of Time  —   Is not the term for clock time, the continuous time that is measured in hours, minutes, and seconds.  Is the term, which denotes a measured, allocated, fixed season.  "If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;" (1 Peter 1:17, NASB95)

Making the most of —  has the basic meaning of buying, especially of buying back or buying out. It was used of buying a slave in order to set him free; thus the idea of redemption is implied in this verse. We are to redeem, buy up, all the time that we have and devote it to the Lord. The Greek is in the middle voice, indicating that we are to buy the time up for ourselves—for our own use but in the Lord’s service.

(a)                 God has set boundaries to our lives, and our opportunity for service exists only within those boundaries. It is significant that the Bible speaks of such times being shortened, but never of their being lengthened.

(b)                A person may die or lose an opportunity (Heb.9:27).

(3)                 The Bible Warns Those Who Think They Will Always Have Time To Do What They Should.

(a)                 When Noah and his family entered the ark and shut the door, the opportunity for any other person to be saved from the flood was gone.

(b)                The five foolish virgins who let their oil run out before the bridegroom came were shut out from the wedding feast (Matt. 25:8–10). “We must work the works of Him who sent Me, as long as it is day,” Jesus said; “night is coming, when no man can work” (John 9:4).

(c)                 To the unbelieving Pharisees He said, “I go away, and you shall seek Me, and shall die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come” (John 8:21).

(d)                After centuries of God’s offering His grace to Israel, Jesus lamented, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling” (Matt. 23:37).

(e)                 Judas, the most tragic example of wasted opportunity, spent three years in the very presence of the Son of God, as one of the inner circle of disciples, yet he betrayed His Lord and forfeited his soul for thirty pieces of silver.

(f)                  Peter said, “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth” (1 Pet. 1:17).

(g)                 In his farewell remarks to the Ephesian elders at Miletus, Paul said, “I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:24). Paul’s course was prescribed by God, and within that course he would minister to the utmost until his last breath. He was determined to run with endurance the race that was set before him (see Heb. 12:1). At the end of his life he therefore could say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7).

"How long, Lord? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire? Remember how short my time is; For what futility have You created all the children of men?" (Psalm 89:46-47, NKJV)

"“Lord, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor." (Psalm 39:4-5, NKJV)

"So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90:12, NKJV)

Paul spoke to the Corinthians about the time having been shortened (1 Cor. 7:29)

James warned, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.’ Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4:13–14).

d)                  There Is No Assurance Of Tomorrow.

(1)               The Self Satisfied Farmer (Luke 12:16-21)

(a)                 The only time we can be sure of having is what we have at the moment.  He had already lived his last tomorrow.

2.                  Spiritual Laziness—Sleeping Spiritually (Romans 13:11-14)

a)                  It Is Time To Awaken Out Of Sleep.

(1)                 Too many believers are slumbering and paying no attention to what is going on in the world; too many are not watching; too many are not observing the signs of the time.

(2)                 Too many are complacent and slothful, lazily passing through life with little commitment to serving Christ.

(3)                 Too few are meeting the needs of the suffering and dying massses of the world. It is time “to awaken” (egerthenai) out of sleep: time to wake up, to be aroused and stirred. It is time to get up and to move and act—now—before it is too late. The exhortation is strong, and there are two reasons for its forcefulness.

b)                  Our Salvation Is Nearer Than When We Believed.

(1)               The word “salvation” is being used in a future sense, referring to the glorious day when we shall be fully saved. It is the day when our salvation will be consummated, and we will be delivered from this present evil world and perfected forever to live in the presence of God. The point is dramatic: the day is nearer than when we believed. Awaken out of sleep—arouse yourself—get up—pay attention:

(2)               The day of salvation, the day of our redemption, is nearer than when we believed.

"Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them." (Luke 21:8, NKJV)

"Has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;" (Hebrews 1:2, NKJV)

c)                  Judgment Is At Hand.

(1)                 The night is far spent; the day is at hand. What day? The day when we will meet God face to face, either through death or through the return of the Lord Jesus. Time is fleeting, passing ever so rapidly—so prepare.

"Prepare to meet your God”" (Amos 4:12, NKJV)

"Prepare the way of the Lord;Make His paths straight.’ ”" (Matthew 3:3, NKJV)

""Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God” (1 Corinthians 15:34, NKJV)

"Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”" (Ephesians 5:14, NKJV)

"Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober." (1 Thessalonians 5:6, NKJV)