Eccl 9:11
“I returned and saw under the sun that— The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all.”

All things that happen to man under the sun are due to time and chance; due to opportunity.

In Greek mythology, there’s a character called kairos which represents opportunity. Kairos is one of the younger sons of Zeus. Kairos was a handsome young man whose feet had wings. He moved quickly through the air. He has hair growing from his forehead while the back is bald. To catch him, you can only do so when he’s facing you. To catch him means catching hold of the opportunity. Once he goes behind you, you can’t catch him anymore because there’s no hair behind to grab hold of.

In Singapore, while some people may not be highly educated, they know how to seize hold of opportunities. When the economy is poor, they purchase property. When the economy is good, the value of their property increases. Consider Jack Ma - the owner of Alibaba - who started off as an English teacher. He observed how many companies came into China and also that technology was booming. He decided to invest in an internet sals company. At that point in time, no one thought what he did was profitable, as the internet was just starting off in China then. But Jack Ma persisted. No one expected the 3G/4G network would grow. This changed people’s shopping habits. On single’s day 11/11, Alibaba earned $42billion. Seeing this opportunity, Jack Ma seized it and became one of the wealthiest men in China.

The speaker missed his family in Sabah but finding a job there was difficult. 40 years ago, there was no internet, smartphones or Singapore papers. There was no way for him to know the situation of the job market in Singapore. He happened to meet a businessman from Singapore who told him they needed someone that possessed the skills the speaker had. An interview was arranged. He missed Sabah and thought he’d just work in Singapore for 2 years before going back.

He didn’t expect the workload to be so heavy; he OT-ed often. Colleagues were bad. They’d be nice to your face but try to claim your credit in front of the boss.

After this difficult training of 2 years, 3 big companies came to find the speaker. One was an American company that offered thrice his pay but required him to work on Saturday. The second required him to work overseas. The third offered him a place that allowed him to keep the Sabbath. He seized the opportunity and worked there for 30 years.

The speaker remembers being in the old Telok Kurau church. Elder John Yang was there teaching the theological course. He said to the speaker, “You’ve been assigned here to look after Sabah brothers and sisters who come to Singapore.” This resonated deeply with the speaker.

To the young people in the congregation, seize hold of the opportunities God has given you. Whether they’re positive or difficult, we have to wait on God’s timing. Just like Joseph who was in Egypt. We need to have a positive attitude. Do our part as Christians to finish the work allotted to us, because a greater blessing from God awaits us at the end.

If we don’t have such good opportunities in life - we don’t get promoted, we don’t get our bucket of gold - don’t worry. Because in life there’s a greater opportunity that we must never miss.

3 opportunities we should seize hold of with regards to our faith will be discussed in this sermon:

1. Seize the opportunity to repent and enter the true church that saves
   2 Cor 6:2
   The True Jesus Church has been raised by God to be the church in the last days to do the work of evangelism. Now is the acceptable time when the door of grace is open. Everyone needs this salvation because life is difficult. In Psa 90:10, Moses talks about how our lives are (copy paste verse).

Eph 2:12
Before we came to believe in the Lord, we like these believers were without hope and without God.

Two people in the Bible who seized the opportunity of salvation will be discussed:
a) Zacchaeus
He was a rich man but knew how to seize the opportunity to meet Jesus.

Luke 19:8-9
Zacchaeus is the son of Abraham. But because of his greed for money, he became lost. But now he seized the opportunity to believe in Jesus. What more, he had actions to prove his repentance. This is why Jesus said salvation came to his house.
b) Thief on the cross
He seized hold of the opportunity at the very end. While the other thief said, “Aren’t you the Christ? Why not save Yourself and us?” (Luke 23:40-43 [read])

When Bro Ivan Lee’s brother, Albert Lee, contracted cancer, he seized the opportunity to preach to him and his wife. Thank God that despite being in the hospital, he insisted on being baptised. The nurses were adamant against him being brought out to the sea. “Other churches sprinkle!” Thank God Albert and his wife insisted. He ultimately rested in the Lord full of joy.

A few years ago, the speaker’s grandmother was 93. She stayed in the countryside of Sabah. But because of her illness, she was hospitalised in Kota Kinabalu. The hospital said, “Your grandmother is old. There’re not enough beds here. The young need it more.” The speaker preached to her. Miraculously she said, “If believing in Jesus gets me to heaven, I want to be baptised.”

From then on, she no longer saw images of ghosts, including the spirit of her oldest son. 3 months later she rested in the bosom of the Lord.

After the funeral, then the speaker received an invitation to go to Singapore to work. If he hasn’t seized the opportunity to preach, she wouldn’t have been saved.

Today let us seize the opportunity to preach about the baptism that saves and to enter the true church.

Luke 16:20-24
Both Zacchaeus and this rich man were both sons of Abraham. Zacchaeus seized the opportunity to repent. The rich man indulged in his riches and lost vigilance, ending up in Hades. Today, we too are sons of Abraham. Let us seize hold of the opportunity to repent. Don’t love the world.Let’s not be like Esau who sold his birthright for a morsel of food. Preserve ourselves in the love of God. Endure to the very end. Complete this race. Before us will lay the crown of righteousness.

By the grace of God, we are in the church today. We need to be able to repay him; to be thankful; to seize the opportunity to serve God. So that no matter what happens in the future; no matter what difficulties we face, we don’t leave the true church.

1. Seize the opportunity to do good and love others
   Gal 6:9
   God wants His people to be zealous for good works.

Titus 2:14
“…His own special people, zealous for good works”
God’s people need to be zealous for good works. What are they? The best we can do is to preach and save souls.

Prov 24:11-12
We have to show filial piety above all other virtues. If we truly love our family, we have to preach to those who have yet to believe because God wants to save our whole household. Let us not let them slip past this opportunity for the salvation of their souls.

Bro Ivan Lee prayed for his parents’ salvation for more than 30 years. Thank God they got baptised and his father rested in the Lord.

In 1973, the speaker received the Holy Spirit, returned home and preached to his family. 9 of his family members including himself got baptised. His mother didn’t because of his father’s objection: “We’re already baptised in the Catholic faith.” If we want to be filial to our parents, giving money is a way but what use is it if a man gains the whole world but loses his soul? (Matt 16:26)

When his mother had to undergo an operation, she said she didn’t want to die on the operating table and run the risk of not being saved. His father couldn’t oppose then. She got baptised. After 13 years and 8 months, his father finally got baptised in the true church.

Besides praying for our family members, we can also pray for people out there.
1 Tim 2:1-4
We can pray for people God has chosen, or for people God has given us the opportunity to meet. When truthseekers come, let us seize the opportunity to tell them of the true church.

1 Tim 6:17-19
Esteem giving to and helping our brothers and sisters. Exhort one another. Do more visitation, especially for those who are weaker or poorer. If we find they’re lacking in anything, we have to help them. Furthermore, we have to go out and seek the lost sheep. So that on the day of judgement, we can receive God’s blessing and the kingdom He has prepared.

Matt 25
On the day of judgement, God sits on His throne and divides the sheep from the goats on the left and right.

Prov 3:27
“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so.”
e.g. Abraham received the 3 men hospitably

1. Seize the opportunity to work for the Lord
   John 9:4
   “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.”
   Time is short. Life is short. Seize the opportunity to work while we’re still young.

Eccl 12:1
Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,
Before the difficult days come,
And the years draw near when you say,
“I have no pleasure in them”:
Thank the Lord a couple of young brothers and sisters come early on Saturday morning to set up the tables and chairs. They clean up the premises and sweep the leaves at the front. It is good that the youths here know how to seize the opportunity to serve the Lord.

30 years ago, Bro Wang came to Singapore Mount Elizabeth for check up. His chest hurt, which could’ve been because of a golf ball hitting it. His mother was a deaconess. He went overseas and married someone from another church. He then started to stop (lol) coming to church. The check up revealed he had lung cancer. When the ministers visited him, he said if he recovered he’d go to Australia to preach. But he didn’t have the opportunity. He passed away in 3-4 months.

Let us seize the opportunity to use our gifts to serve the Lord more. Besides listening to sermons, we need to do other areas of service. The more we participate in church work, the more the Lord will add on to our gifts. The longer we serve, the sweeter it grows.

1 Pet 4:10-11
Our service to the Lord will never be in vain, we’ll receive a reward in the end.

1 Cor 15:5
“…be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

Rev 14:13 also tells us that blessed are those who die in the Lord. They will rest in their labours and their works follow them. Rom 12:11 tells us that we shouldn’t be lacking in diligence but fervent in spirit serving the Lord. We should strive to be what the Lord Jesus tells us to be: a faithful wise servant.

Let us take a look at a very special commandment Jesus tells us.
Mark 14:9
Mary seized the opportunity to offer up the fragrant oil she had to anoint Jesus. As a result, her good deeds remains till today. She seized the opportunity to offer. Other women missed their opportunity. When they went to the tomb intending to anoint Jesus, they found it empty.
Conclusion
The speaker hopes we will seize these opportunities. 1. Seize the opportunity to enter the true church that saves. Seize the opportunity to repent and turn back in our life of faith. 2. Seize the opportunity to preach to our family and friends. 3. Seize the opportunity to do good. When there are areas of work where people are lacking, wise the opportunity to fill up this gap.

There’re many more things under the sun we need to seize opportunity of. With regards to marriage, we also have to seize the opportunity. But this sermon won’t cover that.