(From a Gospel Address).
I DESIRE this evening to press upon my hearers the deep importance of one word, the word “OPPORTUNITY.” It occurs in a verse in Gal. 6 “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” It is addressed, you will observe, to Christians, to those who are left in this world to represent Him of whom it is written, “He went about doing good, for God, was with Him.” Hence they also are exhorted to “do good to all men.”
We may well remember, dear friends, that there is no time for doing this like the present. We shall not always have the chance of comforting the distressed or succoring the needy. Let us do it, then, with heart and energy, and do it at once if we would do it at all.
But tonight I wish to speak to another class, and to draw their special attention to this same word, “opportunity.” I refer to you who are, alas! still unconverted.
First, I would with all earnestness remind you that there is a time coming when the only thing you will have to do with that word is to bitterly mourn its loss. Oh, how soon will every gracious opportunity be behind your back forever! You cannot count upon the past; the future is absolutely veiled from you; the present only is yours.
Now if you cast your eye backward for a moment, you will see that there have been certain very distinct features in your history. For example, you have had a school-day history; perhaps, too, a business history; and, interwoven with all the rest, you have had a gospel-hearing history.
Standing out in bold relief, I can see in the latter two great wonders. As I look into your faces tonight, especially the faces of those who have for years been under the sound of gospel preaching, I cannot help feeling amazed that when the word of salvation came to you for the first time you did not at once accept it. In that lies the first wonder, and perhaps you yourself may be led so to regard it if you consider that when God Gave you that opportunity He never promised you another. Mark this well, I pray you. There is no such thing in Scripture as the promise of a gospel opportunity to any man. Of promises there are many—promises to Israel, promises to the church, promises to individuals, promises “exceeding great and precious”; but as to promised opportunities, there are none. No promise is needed for today’s opportunity; for tomorrow’s no promise is given. In a deceived heart the devil may succeed in depositing a few counterfeits, but in the pages of God’s holy Word not one is to be found. Would it not be wise of you, therefore, to take this to heart at once?
You may remember the parable which speaks of “a certain man” who “made a great supper” (Luke 14:1616Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: (Luke 14:16)). You may remember that when the guests refused to come, he bade his servant go and invite others, that his house might be filled, adding, “None of those men that were bidden shall taste of my supper” (v. 24).
Oh, the solemn import of those words God gives no guarantee of another chance to any man. Whenever you hear the gospel, therefore, as far as any assurance on God’s part is concerned, it is your last invitation! So that, as far as you knew, your first opportunity was your last. And the miracle is, when you heard of this wondrous love of God in giving His Son, when you heard of the death of Jesus for sinners at Calvary, that you did not instantly close in with the proclamation of a blood-sealed pardon, that you did not fall down then and there, and with a broken heart bless Him for it.
A poor ignorant criminal, who had, possibly, never before heard what has been pressed upon you times without number, was condemned to die. At the hand of the administrators of his country’s laws he had no hope of receiving mercy in any form. But to let him tell his own story.
He said: “When I heard there was pardon for me from God, I just grabbed at it!” That is, he eagerly and instantly grasped what you have so long and so coldly slighted.
Now let us turn to the second wonder. It is this: that, after all the neglected opportunities of the past, God should tonight be giving you another! Oh, that your eyes were opened to see all that hangs upon an opportunity that comes late if not last, and that, on your face before God tonight, this vital soul-matter may be definitely settled! What is the worth of the whole world in comparison with your precious soul? When you stand before His judgment throne, ready to be bound hand and foot and cast into hell fire, you will have found out your folly too late. But the God who will judge men then gives you advice now. Take it; for depend upon it, as surely as it is God’s advice it is good advice. If you turn to Isa. 55:66Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (Isaiah 55:6), you will find it thus recorded: “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near.” And again “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sills be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” What gracious pleading is here! But mark the warning that follows: “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it” (Isa. 1:18-2018Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. (Isaiah 1:18‑20)).
A young man went to a gospel preaching where a dear old Christian friend of mine was preaching. This young man, mark you, had that night reached the point which you will one day reach—his last chance. Did he know it? We may take it for granted that he did not. Yet from that hour he must bid adieu to gospel opportunities. If you had known that young man, if you had been in this secret concerning him, would you not, after that preaching, have been anxious to learn how he made use of such an august moment? You shall hear, for you could hardly guess if you tried. His father was a Christian, and expected his son to go with the rest of the family to the preaching; but he had no heart for such things. Perhaps some hearer even now may be in a similar state of mind. Had not some anxious friend warmly pressed you, you would not have been here tonight.
Well, this young man, as we have said, had been brought to listen to God’s farewell offer of mercy, and this is how he treated it. He picked up a Bible, and between its open pages he placed a novel, so that he might appear to be reading the Bible. But God could see through that—nay, even his companion could. The preacher had said during his address, “Perhaps there is someone here that will never listen to my voice again, who will never have another offer of salvation.” But on he went with his novel, and even the prayer that followed did not deter him, and he read on to THE END. He “refused and rebelled.”
Now for the solemn sequel. That week he went to the baths. He was a vigorous swimmer, an intrepid diver, and from the usual spring-bar he took a “header.” A few hours before he had had his last gospel opportunity. Now he was having his last plunge, for this plunge into the water was a plunge into eternity He never spoke again.
Now what would that young man give to occupy your place tonight—to sit there and share with you one more gracious opportunity! But he had had his last, and, to all appearance, when he had it he fatally trifled with it. How will you treat yours?
As far as you have any authority from God, you are having your last opportunity; and once more I ask, How will you treat it? “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near.”
God delights in mercy, but sin’s judgment is no less a necessity. Jesus has died; the blessed Saviour is risen; the Holy Ghost has come from heaven, come with the gospel of free pardon from the very throne of God. “God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” The Day of Judgment is fixed, but it is future; the day of salvation is present, but it is fast wearing away. Only one opportunity can be counted on, and it is the present one. “Behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation.”
GEO. C.