Learning from Missed Opportunities in Biblical Stories
Explore the concept of missed opportunities in biblical narratives, focusing on how individuals failed to seize God-given chances, ultimately leading to loss. Through examples like Noah's time, learn the importance of recognizing and responding to opportunities provided by God. Reflect on the lesson that opportunities are valuable and finite, emphasizing the need for proactive engagement.
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INTRODUCTION Today s lesson can essentially be summarized in two words: Q: How often do we pray to God to provide us with opportunities in a given area? Q: How often does God answer our prayers in the affirmative, yet we fail to do our part? When we fail to take advantage of an opportunity God has given, that particular opportunity is lost MissedOpportunities
INTRODUCTION Through His grace God may give us yet another opportunity in a particular area However, in some instances that opportunity never presents itself again [it is gone forever] God has closed the door and that door will never be opened again Paul in some of his epistles described his opportunities to share the gospel as open doors (1 Cor 16:5-9, 2 Cor 2:12-13, Col 4:2-4)
INTRODUCTION We sometimes describe opportunity in terms of a mathematical equation Ability +Opportunity= Responsibility Accountability
INTRODUCTION In our lesson today we will look at both OT & NT examples of Missed Opportunities Circumstances were ideal for individuals to accomplish something good, but Subsequently, God closed the door on these particular opportunities and they were no longer available to the individuals involved Lesson For Us: Opportunities are a precious commodity and they don t exist in infinite supply
THE PEOPLE OF NOAHS TIME (GEN 6 & 7) Seeing the wickedness of mankind was great upon the earth the Lord God was grieved in His heart and decided to destroy mankind thru a worldwide flood (Gen 6:5-7) But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Gen 6:8) God instructed Noah to build an ark to save himself, his family and various animals identified by God (Gen 6:13-22)
THE PEOPLE OF NOAHS TIME (GEN 6 & 7) Gen 7:13-16 records after Noah, his family and all the animals entered the ark that the Lord God shut them in Essentially, God closed the door of opportunity for anyone else to enter the ark and be saved On that very same day, God brought the flood waters upon the earth and destroyed the human race (with the exception of Noah and his family)
THE PEOPLE OF NOAHS TIME (GEN 6 & 7) ABILITY Recall some important facts recorded about Noah in Gen 6:8-9 #1) Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord #2) Noah was a just (righteous) man, perfect (blameless) in his generations #3) Noah walked with God Q: Was Noah the only person of his time who had the ability to display these traits? NO!
THE PEOPLE OF NOAHS TIME (GEN 6 & 7) ABILITY We learn in the NT of the people s ability to obey God if they had chosen to do so, because of the efforts of Noah (2 Pet 2:4-5) As a preacher of righteousness, Noah tried to persuade others to make themselves right with God before that great day of destruction The people like Noah had the ability to find grace in God s eyes, live righteously & blameless and walk with God (Gen 6:8-9)
THE PEOPLE OF NOAHS TIME (GEN 6 & 7) OPPORTUNITY There is something we can necessarily conclude from the description of Noah as a preacher of righteousness God thru His grace was giving others of that generation the opportunity to be saved Sadly, only Noah and his family availed themselves of that opportunity All others chose to reject Noah s message and the salvation God made available to them
THE PEOPLE OF NOAHS TIME (GEN 6 & 7) RESPONSIBILITY It was the people s responsibility to respond to (accept) God s message thru Noah to be saved God did not force the people to obey Him Neither will He force us to obey Him today The choice to obey was theirs [and ours] Choose life or choose death (Deut 30:19) All but Noah and his family chose death
THE PEOPLE OF NOAHS TIME (GEN 6 & 7) ACCOUNTABILITY God held the rebellious human race accountable for the golden opportunity they squander to make themselves right with God They rejected Noah s preaching and God As He had declared, God destroyed rebellious mankind for their wickedness and refusal to repent (Gen 7:17-23a) Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive (Gen 7:23b)
ISRAELS REFUSAL TO ENTER CAANAN An account recorded in Num 13 & 14 Two years after leaving Egypt Israel arrived at the wilderness of Paran (i.e. Kadesh-barnea) God instructed Moses to send out 12 men (leaders) to spy out the land of Canaan and bring back a report to Moses and Israel Ten spies gave a negative report (Num 13:25- 29), two spies (Caleb & Joshua) gave a positive report
ISRAELS REFUSAL TO ENTER CAANAN Israel accepted the negative report of the ten spies and rejected the positive report of Caleb & Joshua As a result of their great fear, Israel refused to enter Canaan and take possession of the land as commanded by God They rebelled against Moses and God God held them accountable for their rebellion
ISRAELS REFUSAL TO ENTER CAANAN ABILITY Because God was with Israel, clearly they had the ability to take possession of Canaan The land God had promised hundreds of years earlier to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants The land of rest Israel could call their own Caleb and Joshua pleaded with the people, trying to convince them of Israel s ability to take possession of the land with God s help (Num 13:30, 14:6-9), but to no avail
ISRAELS REFUSAL TO ENTER CAANAN ABILITY Instead of listening to Caleb and Joshua, the people chose instead to listen to the evil report brought back by the other ten spies (Num 13:31-33) Their negative influence on the people was powerful (Num 14:1-4) The Israelites were so convinced by the evil report [we are not able to do this] they were ready to stone Caleb and Joshua to death in order to silence them, but God intervened (Num 14:10)
ISRAELS REFUSAL TO ENTER CAANAN OPPORTUNITY How quickly Israel had forgotten how God miraculously delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage (Ex 7-11, 12 & 14) How He had sustained them for two years in the wilderness (Ex 16, 17, 19 & 20, Num 11) How He had safely led Israel to the border of Canaan (the Promised Land) Canaan was theirs for the taking A golden opportunity lay before them
ISRAELS REFUSAL TO ENTER CAANAN RESPONSIBILITY The Israelites had a simple responsibility Obey God and take possession of the land He had promised them Israel refused to fulfill their responsibility to God They squandered a great and precious opportunity They were going to answer to God for their failure to fulfill their responsibility to Him
ISRAELS REFUSAL TO ENTER CAANAN ACCOUNTABILITY God held Israel accountable for their refusal to enter the Promised Land (Num 14:36-37) God condemned Israel to wander in the wilderness 38 more years [40 years total] until the death of the men of war 20+ years old 603,548 men [with the exception of Joshua & Caleb] (Num 1:44-46, 14:29-30) Israel failed to enter their promised rest because of the sin of unbelief (disobedience) (Heb 3:16-19)
ISRAELS REFUSAL TO ENTER CAANAN ACCOUNTABILITY Sadly, the account did not end there After hearing God s condemnation against them, Israel acknowledged their sin to Moses They declared they would now enter the land, but Moses told them they would not succeed God was not with them (Num 14:39-45) God had slammed the door shut on Israel s opportunity to enter the Promised Land for another 38 years
THOSE PRACTICING RELIGIOUS LAWLESSNESS See Matt 7:21-23 This text reminds us of a number of things Entering heaven is conditional, based upon individuals doing the will of God [obedience] Jesus will not accept every religious work men claim to have done in His name [by His authority] On the last day [that day], men s works will be examined to determine their true quality
THOSE PRACTICING RELIGIOUS LAWLESSNESS ABILITY God has given all men the ability to determine what constitutes lawful worship and works By appealing to God s word we are able to determine what is authorized (lawful) and what is unauthorized (unlawful) (2 Tim 2:15) Sadly, many fail to respect the boundaries God has established (2 John 9-11, Rev 22:18-19) Like the Jews of Paul s day men are ignorant of God s righteousness and seek to establish their own righteousness (Rom 10:3, Eph 5:17)
THOSE PRACTICING RELIGIOUS LAWLESSNESS OPPORTUNITY All who have access to God s word have been given the opportunity to obey the gospel and the opportunity to worship God in spirit and in truth (Mark 16:15-16, John 4:24) According to the pattern in His word Our text in Matt 7:21-23 clearly demonstrates not all who call Jesus Lord, Lord are availing themselves of the precious opportunity God has provided to accomplish His will
THOSE PRACTICING RELIGIOUS LAWLESSNESS RESPONSIBILITY All who claim to follow Jesus as Lord have a serious responsibility to truly do all in the name of the Lord (Col 3:17, Luke 6:46) That is by His authority V22 in our text declares on that day (the last day) many will claim to have done many works in Your name These claims will be proven false by Jesus Jesus declares they will be held accountable
THOSE PRACTICING RELIGIOUS LAWLESSNESS ACCOUNTABILITY Jesus will renounce and banish the lawless eternally from His presence on the last day I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness! (V23) On the last day the door to do God s will accurately will be slammed shut There will be no opportunities available for a do-over Now is the time to accurately do the will of God according to His divine pattern
THE RICH MAN & LAZARUS (LUKE 16:19-26) ABILITY During his lifetime the rich man obviously had a significant amount of material resources at his disposal He was clothed in purple and fine linen He fared sumptuously every day He therefore had the ability to accomplish much good where the poor were concerned He could have easily assisted Lazarus, and perhaps others, if he had chosen to do so
THE RICH MAN & LAZARUS OPPORTUNITY Lazarus (a beggar) was laid at the gate of the rich man with the hope Lazarus would receive aid (alms) from the rich man The text appears to infer an awareness on the part of the rich man Lazarus was at his gate Lazarus didn t desire much, but simply the crumbs that fell from the rich man s table The rich man wasted a golden opportunity to show compassion to needy Lazarus
THE RICH MAN & LAZARUS RESPONSIBILITY Whether he recognized it or not the rich man had a responsibility to help Lazarus, but he refused to do so The law of Moses was very clear in this matter (Deut 15:7-8) The rich man failed miserably in fulfilling his responsibility toward Lazarus In the process he squandered a great and precious opportunity he would later regret
THE RICH MAN & LAZARUS ACCOUNTABILITY In the course of time both Lazarus and the rich man died (V22) The rich man was held accountable by God for his lack of compassion toward Lazarus After death he was condemned to torments in Hades where he sought relief (V23-V26) There was no relief and physical death had robbed the rich man of any additional opportunities to do good in this life
CONCLUSION Hopefully, we have seen in this lesson the Bible contains numerous accounts that relate to the subject of opportunities The greatest of these opportunities God has made available to us is the opportunity to be saved and spend eternity in heaven (John 3:16, Titus 2:11-14, 1 Tim 2:4) Those who have obeyed the gospel have availed themselves of this precious opportunity
CONCLUSION However, like God instructed OT Israel, we must remain faithful to avoid forfeiting this great and golden opportunity (Rev 2:10) A part of remaining faithful as Christians is recognizing and taking advantage of the opportunities God presents us to do good in His service (Eph 2:10, Titus 2:14) We must never forget one day time will cease for each of us, thru death or the Lord s return Then, all opportunities will cease (John 9:4)
CONCLUSION Q: ARE WE STRIVING TO MAXIMIZE THE PRECIOUS OPPORTUNITIES GOD MAKES AVAILABLE TO US?
