TAKING THE SHEPHERDING WAY
TO PREACH THE GOSPEL AND REVIVE THE CHURCH

SERIES Two
The Outflow of the Vital and Revived Living—
Preaching the Gospel by Visitation Weekly

Message Seven
Grasping the Opportunity to Preach the Gospel

Scripture Reading:

2 Tim. 4:2    Proclaim the word; be ready in season and out of season; convict, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching.

Eph. 5:16     Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

PROCLAIMING THE WORD,
BEING READY IN SEASON AND OUT OF SEASON

Paul told Timothy, “Proclaim the word; be ready in season and out of season” (2 Tim. 4:2). We often excuse ourselves by saying that it is not the right day or time to announce the gospel. But we need to be ready in season or out of season. That means we should proclaim the word whether the opportunity is convenient or inconvenient, whether we are welcome or unwelcome. Paul charged his co-worker to do this while he was ready to receive martyrdom (v. 6). (Crystallization-Study of the Epistle to the Romans, msg. 25)

The Spirit of the Gospel Causing People
Not to Choose a Time or Place

The spirit of the gospel also causes people to preach the gospel in season and out of season without choosing a time or place according to their preference. D. L. Moody was in bed one night when he suddenly realized that he had not preached the gospel to anyone that day. He got up, put on his clothes, and went outside to find someone to whom he could preach the gospel. There was no one on the street because it was late at night. Nevertheless, he looked until he found a night patrolman. He told the patrolman that he must believe in the Lord Jesus and that if he did not believe, he would go to hell. Even though the patrolman was very angry after hearing this, he went to find Moody the next day. Moody then preached the gospel to him in more detail, and he believed. Moody’s willingness to preach the gospel in season and out of season earned him the nickname of “Crazy Moody.” (Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, vol. 3, topic 28)

Being Ready at Any Time and in Any Place to Preach the Gospel

We should be ready at any time and in any place. We are ready at the supermarket, the bus station, the office, and the classroom. We must not say that we are not ready or that there are no opportunities. Every occasion—spring, summer, fall, and winter—is the time for us to be ready. This is not the religious way of preaching. This is the proper Christian living. There is no other way to take. We need to have this kind of gospel living. We should not say that this is not the right place, the right time, or the right person for the gospel. Every place is the right place, every time is the right time, and every person is the right person. We must be instant, ready, urgent, and attentive in season and out of season. (The Normal Way of Fruit-bearing and Shepherding for the Building Up of the Church, ch. 6)

SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITIES TO PREACH THE GOSPEL

It is wrong for us to say that it is not convenient to preach the gospel or that it is not the right time. It is also wrong for us to excuse ourselves and say that we are too busy. Paul said that we need to preach the gospel in season and out of season. (Guidelines for the Propagation of the Lord’s Recovery, msg. 4)

Who would have guessed that one day an illiterate cobbler could become a Moody? If someone had missed the opportunity to preach to him, the world would not have had a Moody. Who would have guessed that Philip would meet the eunuch the day he went into the wilderness (Acts 8:26-39)? The entire church in Africa owes its beginning to that day, and we know that the church in Africa began earlier than the church in Europe!

When an opportunity comes, souls are saved, and the work advances. If we just afford these opportunities a little opening, they rush in. The problem, however, is that opportunities do not wait for us. When God opens the way for us to do something, we must do it. Once time moves on, the opportunity is gone.

Opportunities come and go as the days pass; they are not constant. Time is constant, but opportunities are not. Opportunities appear in time. Time is continuous, but opportunities come and go. Therefore, we must grasp the opportunities. We must sense the opportunities whenever they come and make the most of them.…The Lord may have put ten opportunities before us, but we have not even touched one. Woe to us when we stand before the judgment seat! We do not know how many opportunities we have missed. Woe to us, for we have acted thoughtlessly and have missed many opportunities that God has given us!

The More Our Knowing God’s Will,
the More Our Seizing the Opportunities

More than half of God’s will is found in His opportunity. One day when we stand before God, we will see that most of God’s will lies in the opportunities He has given us. If we can identify the opportunities, we can identify God’s will. This is a very serious matter. Daniel 11:32 says, “The people who know their God will…take action.” This means that the people of God will open up new horizons. The more we know God’s will, the more we will seize the opportunities. Anyone who hesitates is living in a habitual way. Those who know God will never act in a habitual way.

Never Missing the Opportunities the Lord Has Provided

Of the days which the Lord has ordained for us, perhaps yesterday should have been the greatest day of our life, but we may have lived yesterday in an ordinary way. This is what it means to miss the opportunity. One who is learning to serve should not do the same thing today as he did yesterday. If he is the same today as yesterday, he has squandered his opportunities. If we do not know what the Lord is doing today or what is going to happen today, we are missing the opportunity.

Because “opportunity” is something that is found in time. Every day the Lord gives us opportunities. Today we can only bow our heads and say to the Lord, “I do not know what opportunities You have given me today. There is never a day without Your arrangement. Every day You have ordained something to happen to me.” Those whom God can use never miss the opportunities He has provided.

In Order to Not Miss the Opportunities,
Our Needing Spiritual Training and Spiritual Sensitivity

We must have spiritual insight. Once we have spiritual insight, we will identify the opportunities when they come and lay hold of them. We must be quick. If we do not miss opportunities as they march by us one by one, the church will increase by leaps and bounds. This increase will far surpass our greatest expectation.

In order to not miss the opportunities, we need spiritual training. We also need spiritual sensitivity. If we are spiritually sensitive, we will sense the opportunity. With spiritual training, we can identify opportunities when they come our way. We cannot allow opportunities to go away. We must not be dull to any direction from the Head. We must not let the Head have a sense that we are numb to His leading. We have to be desperate for this. We should grasp whatever opportunity we have. If we do not have this kind of training and feeling, we will miss the opportunities the Lord has arranged. Day after day, we will become a person dull to opportunities.

I hope we will spend some quiet time to meditate upon such God-given opportunities. This is the opportunity of opportunities. We do not want to miss it; we want to take advantage of it. We must repent and confess our sins for having missed so many opportunities! We have continually dropped the opportunities which God has given us. If we had not lost so many opportunities, there would be more than one meeting hall and one place for training today. There would be more than one communal farm today. I hope that from now on, no opportunity will escape our feelings and our eyes. If we take the way of opportunities, perhaps we will be able to gain a few more steps along the way. (CWWN, vol. 55, “The Ministries & The Open Door,” Issue No. 21)