Sermon Tone Analysis

! 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.