The man God uses

 

The Man God Uses

Acts 3:1-16

I.                Introduction

A.    Desire of Each Person to be used by God or be useful

1.     God has created us for good works, He has a plan and purpose for each of us.

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Eph. 2.10

2.     Personal illustration of wanting to be involved in sports, teaching, job at motorcycle program, missions.  Being a spectator is not fulfilling when you know you can be in the action and making a difference.

B.    God is looking for people whose hearts are fully devoted to Him.

1.     When God finds the right person at the right time miraculous things will happen.

⁹“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him 2 Chronicles 16.9

2.     History is full of people who were “God’s man or woman” for that specific time.

a.      Biblical Examples:  Joseph, Moses, Deborah, Esther, David, Paul etc.

3.     Example of Peter and John being used by God in Acts 3

a.      Learn the principles of being used by God through them.

II.              The Person God Uses

A.    Peter and John had been with Jesus

1.     Jesus invited them to be with him before He sent them out.

2.     Our first and most important ministry is ministry to Jesus, spending time with Him.

3.     They saw Jesus in action, they learned from him for 3 years before they were sent out on their own.

4.     Developed an intimate relationship with him

5.     Witnessed the compassion and power of God.

6.     We must be filled with the knowledge of the Word of God and the ways of God.

B.    They were filled with the Holy Spirit  Acts 2.4

1.     Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem to receive the promise of the Spirit.

2.     Their lives were radically transformed after receiving the Holy Spirit.  Revelation of the Truth, Boldness in their witness, Faith, to believe God’s promises, Action compelled by obedience and compassion.

3.     Our ministry must be empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit.

4.     If we are not being led by the Spirit then we are not operating in the power of the Spirit.

5.     The Holy Spirit must empower and lead us in ministry.We have to be cued into the H.S. who is in charge of the work on the earth today.  He is the Divine, initiator, motivator and administrator for the work of God.

C.    They lived with a Sense of Expectation

1.     Peter & John had seen Jesus do the miraculous on a regular basis.

2.     They had seen God use them to heal the sick and cast out demons. (sending out of the 70)

3.     On this “one day” God invaded time and space and change happened.

a.      God can take the mundane daily rituals and perform miracles.

b.     God can take the ordinary and make it extraordinary.

c.      God can take the hopeless situations and bring transformation.

4.     We must always live with a sense of expectation of what God can and will do through us on a daily basis.

a.      Satan wants us to be hopeless, lacking in faith, unbelieving, doubters, destined to repeat the same errors, never seeing change, accepting of anything less than God’s best.

1.     Alma with her back problems.  Wishing for death.

b.     This could be the day a miracle will happen!

D.    They had a Spirit of Cooperation/Unity

1.     Peter & John were going up together to the temple.  They were opposites who had being united by Christ.

a.      Peter-impulsive; John-contemplative

b.     Peter-quick to speak; John leaned on Jesus’ chest

c.      Peter stood from afar in the courtyard; John stayed close to Jesus.

d.     Peter was a man of action and was called on to preach the first sermon after Pentecost.  John was the apostle of love and intimate revelation of Christ.

2.     Men and women God uses have learned to overcome their differences.

a.      The Mission is greater than my pet peeves, preferences and pride.

b.     Our differences can not serve to divide us.
Delight in our differences!

3.     The synergistic effect of 2 being in agreement is woven throughout the Bible.

a.      No lone rangers, hi ho silvers or hermit crabs allowed.

b.     One can chase a 1000, 2 can chase 10000.

c.      70 were sent out 2 by 2.  Security, synergy, solidarity.

d.     Remember even the Lone Ranger needed Tonto.

E.     They were men of prayer, “they went at the hour of prayer”

1.     Regularly scheduled time of prayer.  They had seen the example of Jesus’ life of prayer.

2.     The gathered to pray for 10 days of constant prayer before the Holy Spirit was given. Acts 1:14

3.     they devoted themselves to prayer Acts 2:42

4.     Prayer must be both scheduled and spontaneous.

5.     John Hyde, “Praying Hyde” was greatly used of God to reach the nation of India.  “Give me souls or I will die” was his battle cry.

6.     Hudson Taylor was a man of prayer who changed the course of China.

7.     George Mueller was known for his faith and his life of prayer.

8.     People of prayer are often more in tune with what God is doing and wants to do.

9.     Be ready for anything.  Pray throughout the day and ask God what you should do in situations that you see.

F.     They had a Sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit  “And Peter looking steadfastly upon him with John said, Look at us.”

1.     Something happened to Peter and John to change their normal encounter into a supernatural encounter.

2.     We must live with an expectation of God’s intervention but we must also develop a sensitivity to the winds of the Holy Spirit.  A lot of ministry happens “on the way.” To do ministry

a.  Jesus was interrupted by the woman with the issue of blood.

b.      Witnessing to the Muslim at the Gopher game.

3.     Develop spiritual eyes to see what God sees.

G.    They knew  the power and authority of the Name of Jesus.

1.     They knew their financial limitation but also understood the unlimited power of the Name of Jesus!!!

2.     When we operate in the Name of Jesus and re-present Him to the world, we can expect the miraculous to happen.

Mark 16:17-18

17 “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;18 “they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

     Colossians 2:9,10

     9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

     Philippians 2:9-11

     9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

     James 5:14

     14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

 

 

3.  I wonder if Peter had a flash back to the time when Jesus rescued him in the water by extending his hand to him.  Peter was so convinced that he pulled him up and commanded him to walk.

H.    They quickly gave Jesus all the credit for the healing of the lame man.  They knew who deserved all the glory because they recognized that without Jesus nothing would have happened.

“John 15:5

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

 

 

     God has good works waiting for me.

     He desires to use me each day.

     He wants me to be full of the knowledge of His Word and His ways.

     He has given me the power of the Holy Spirit.

     I will live with expectancy each day!

     I will strive for unity with other believers.

     I will be a person of scheduled and spontaneous prayer.

     I will be sensitive and obedient to the Holy Spirit

     I will act in the power of the Name of Jesus and give him all the glory.

      

 

III.  Conclusion:  God is moving in these days through His people who are living in expectation of His intervention.  He delights in the unity of His body and desires that we reconcile our differences and stay focused on the mission He has given the Church.  He is calling His people to become people of prayer because people of prayer are ready to hear His voice.  He wants to make us sensitive to the working of the Holy Spirit so we can respond in faith and obedience when He gives us the inner witness of the Spirit.  Finally, God is desiring to work through people who know the authority of the Name of Jesus and will be quick to give Him all the praise.

Leaving a Legacy

 

Leaving a Legacy

What is a legacy?

By definition the word legacy means:
: a gift by will especially of money or other personal property : 

: something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past

 

Each of us will leave a legacy but what we leave will be our decision.  In the USA it is common for the family of the deceased to write an obituary that is published in the local newspaper.  When I read them, I look for comments that are made about the spiritual life of the person, whether they knew the Lord and how they were involved in the Lord’s work. 

What will be your legacy?  How will you be remembered and what will you leave behind that will be a blessing to others?

 

The pages of Bible history give us many examples of people who loved God. We remember them for a variety of reasons, and all are patterns from which we can learn valuable lessons. Following are some Biblical examples of those who left us a spiritual legacy. Look up the references given and tell who left the legacy, and briefly what that legacy was.

 

Genesis 5:22-24   After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

23 Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years.

24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

 

Numbers 12:3   (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

 

1 Samuel 17:32   David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

 

Romans 4:3,20-21  Romans 4:3

3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Romans 4:20-21

20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,

21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

 

2 Timothy 4:7-8  7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

 

James 5:11 11 As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

 

 

When I think of a spiritual legacy, I think of 3 things.  The legacy of your character, the legacy of your conduct and the legacy of your work and impact of your ministry.

 

The legacy of our character.

Our character is based on the values and principles by which we live our lives.   This is the real you.  Is your character one of godliness or worldliness?  Do you reflect the image of Jesus in your values and principles that govern your life.  How we live our lives, the principles and values that govern our lives are observed by others.  Becoming like Jesus should be our goal and a priority of our lives.  Paul said in Galatian 2:20, “it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.”  He also stated, “follow me or imitate me as I follow Christ”.  When people examine your life, what character and values will they observe?  Do they observe the fruit of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5:22,23?

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Character traits opposite of the fruit of the Spirit are: hatred, sorrow, strife, impatience, cruelty, evil, unfaithfulness, harshness, and indulgence.

How does your character measure up to the standards God has given to us in his word and through the life of Jesus?  How will you be remembered and what character traits will  you leave behind that will impact other people’s lives?

 

The second part of the legacy we will leave behind is our conduct.  Your character will determine your conduct.  A godly character will produce a life that will bring glory to God.  How we live our live our daily lives, how we treat other people, how we respond in times of crisis, how we use our time and talents, are all decisions that we make.  The challenge that we face is our integrity.  Integrity means oneness, what you claim about yourself is the same in public life and private life.

 

Are you the “Real Deal” or hypocritical in your words compared to your conduct?  Your life is being observed by others and they form opinions about what it means to be a believer in Jesus.  Your reputation is how other people see you and what they think of you.  Paul stated that leaders in the church must be people of good reputation. Your conduct must be marked by consistency. It only takes one bad decision or action to ruin your reputation.

 We all have witnessed believers whose public life was different than their private lives.  When they are exposed, there is damage done to their reputation and harm done to people that previously respected and admired them. 

 

 

We also leave behind a legacy of the work of ministry we have done in obedience to the Lord.  The most important measurement of our work is not how much we have done but have we been faithful to do what God has called us to do.  We can do many things, even good things that seem to be godly but if we are not doing them in obedience to what God has called us to do, we are really doing them with wrong motives. 

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

We must leave behind a legacy of doing what God has called us to do and not get distracted by other things that seem to be good in our own eyes.  This requires that we have an intimate relationship with the Lord to be able to hear his voice, know his will and then do what he has called us to do.  God may call you to a specific ministry in a specific place that may be very challenging.  The easy thing to do is to quit and find something less stressful.  Staying on course, staying faithful to the calling will leave a legacy that others can follow.  As I look back on 25 years of missionary work, there were times when I was tempted to quit and find something else to do with my life.  Not everything in ministry turns out the way you thought it would.  People can disappoint you, fail you, betray you, speak evil of you etc. and that can become a source of discouragement that can lead to leaving the ministry.  But if you can weather the storms and persevere in faith, God will bring you through and keep you on the right track to fulfill the ministry.

When we venture out in obedience to God’s call it will require faith and dependence upon God.  I think that when we move forward in faith God gets excited and will reward us.

When it came time to purchase property and build, it was a big step of faith for me.  We could have continued renting the building we had been using for 11 years but it had limitations and really did not facilitate the ministries we had and were yet to be discovered and developed.  I reflected on the verses that talked about counting the cost before you build and at times I wondered if the efforts to raise the money were not going to produce the results we needed.  But God honored our faith and obedience and helped us buy the land and build the facilities.  When you respond in faith it also provides opportunities for others to join in with what you are doing and be a part of the ministry.  If we don’t move forward in faith, we stagnate and fail to give others the opportunity to join in and grow with us.

We must always remember that God rewards those who respond in faith.  What we do for the Lord may not always be rewarded in our life time but others may build upon the foundation we have established and advance the ministry beyond what we were capable of doing.  God will provide the right people at the right time to continue the work. 

 

When our life on earth is over, we will receive the reward from the Lord for the work you have done for his kingdom.

I listened to a testimony of David Yongee Chou who was the pastor of a very large church in South Korea.  He related the story of his associate pastor, Kim, whose wife died.  He was greatly affected by her death and five days after she died, he died of a massive heart attack.  Pastor Chou made the arrangements for his funeral and as was the custom of the Korean people, the body of the pastor was washed and then dressed and placed in the coffin.  The people that attended the funeral sang a final song before they would place him in his grave.  While they were singing, the pastor sat up in the coffin and all the people ran toward the door thinking if was a phantom!  Pastor Kim motioned for them to come back in and the very fearfully returned to the casket.  They touched him and realized he truly was alive.  Pastor Kim became angry with them and asked them why they were trying to bury a live person?  The men confirmed that they had a death certificate issued to prove that he had died of the heart attack.  Pastor Kim then related his story of traveling with angels to heaven and meeting Jesus.  Jesus took him on an incredible tour of heaven and at Pastor Kim’s request brought him to his wife’s house.  It was a huge mansion and his wife looked very beautiful.  Pastor Chou had commented that in reality his wife while on earth was not very beautiful but now, she was changed and looked like Jesus.  Jesus told Pastor Kim that the reason he was sent to heaven was because his wife asked to see him.  He asked Jesus to take him to his future home in heaven.  When they arrived at the home, he noticed that it was not finished, there was no roof on the home.  He asked why it was not completed and was told that his home would be finished with materials supplied by the good work he would do when he returned to earth.  He was then sent back to earth and brought back to life in the casket with his friends surrounding him.  There are many more details of his visit to heaven but the main point I want to make from his testimony is that the work that you do in obedience and faith will one day be rewarded when we get to heaven.  Your mansion is being built by the good works you are doing on earth!  God records and remembers your work you are doing for him.

The legacy you will leave behind will be a blessing to the next generation and will be rewarded when our Master says to us, “well done my good and faithful servant.” Like Paul we want to be able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith…

I pray each one of us will leave a legacy of godly character, conduct that glorifies the Lord and works of ministry that will impact many lives or lay a foundation that others will be able to build upon.

 

 

 

 

 Call unto me...

Psalm 50:15
Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me."

Psalm 91:15
When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.

When I was 17 years old I went with a group of friends to climb the Gran Teton mountain in Wyoming.  It is a popular mountain to climb but it also has some dangerous areas in the climb.

It took our group 2 days to make it to the top and after a short time there we started our descent.  On the way down I became separated from the group and decided to take a short cut by sliding down a large field of ice.  I had a plan that I thought would work. I thought I could straddle to edge of the ice field with one leg over the side of the edge that I could use as a brake as I slid down the edge.  My plan was a fail! Within the first couple of feet sliding down the edge, I moved away from the edge and found myself sliding down the center of the ice field.  There was nothing I could do to stop me from sliding and my speed increased as I headed toward the bottom.  At the bottom of the ice field were huge rocks 4 to 5 feet tall.  I knew I was headed for trouble.  Just prior to impacting the large rock in front of me, I braced myself by extending my legs straight out in front of me.  I remember crying out to God and said, “God save me!”  I struck the rock and did a complete somersault over it and landed on my back.  I was carrying my backpack so my fall was cushioned by it and I was miraculously spared injury.  When I stood to my feet my legs were violently shaking, and I was grateful to be alive.

When I called upon God, he delivered me.  This incident became a turning point in my life.  Prior to this my life was involved with different activities, some good and others not good.  My relationship with God was not one of intimacy even though I attended church on a regular basis.  God needed to get my attention to get me on a different pathway.  Shortly after returning from the climb, I enlisted in the US army and was trained to be a medical corpsman.  During my training, I began to read my bible and meet with other soldiers who were believers following the Lord. God was transforming my life and preparing me for the future that was unknown to me at the time.

God has ways of getting our attention so we can hear what he wants us to communicate to us. 

Abraham was ready to sacrifice Isaac when the angel of the Lord called to him

⁰ Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” Genesis 22:10-11

Moses had a burning bush that God used to get his attention.

³ And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” ⁴ When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Exodus 3:3-4

 Moses responded by saying, “Here am I” which meant I am available to do what you want me to do. 

The Apostle Paul had the bright light that knocked him to the ground.

And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” ⁵ And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” Acts 9:4-5

He knew someone more powerful than he, was getting his attention.  God used these dramatic ways to not only get their attention but give them direction for the rest of their lives.

There is a new movie that has recently been released called, “After death”.  It is a documentary about near death and death experiencing people have had.  One of the stories was of a man who had been a horrible husband and father.  When he died he was met by 4 beings dressed in black robes.  He was transported in a dark tunnel that descended into what he described as an endless abyss.  He knew he was on his way to hell and was hopeless to make the journey end.  He remembered that when he was young, he went to Sunday school and learned about Jesus.  All he could think of at the time was to call out to Jesus for help and immediately afterward he was suddenly transported back to his lifeless body and came back to life.  His powerful testimony was rejected by his wife and child who thought he was crazy.  His life radically changed by this experience, and he became a pastor of a church.

God is everywhere present in our lives.  He will never forsake us or abandon us.  We can always count on his faithfulness.  Our faith rests in his faithfulness to be who he is and do what he promises to do.  He is the Great I am, never changing his character or nature.

¹⁷ And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Genesis 21:17

He is near to the broken hearted.  Just as he heard the call of Hagar when she was sent away from Sarah and Abraham, he is present in our times of trouble, rejection and discouragement.  When we call upon him, he will answer and either deliver us or be with us through whatever difficulty we face.

Blind Bartimaeus called out to Jesus, Son of David to have mercy on him. Jesus heard his plea and restored his sight. Mark 10:47

We are entering into perilous times as we see the denigration of the world that is under the power of the evil one.  The situation in Israel today as well as in other parts of the world are creating difficulties for everyone.  In spite of what we see, we have the comfort and assurance that God is our refuge and help in times of trouble.  We need more than ever to be in tune to what God is saying to us each day.  He wants to get our attention and keep our attention so we can hear what he wants to say to us.  We are confronted with many distractions today especially with the media that is available 24/7.  Countless hours of the day can be consumed by filling our minds with words, images, information that are not healthy and can bring discouragement or waste the time God has given us to be about his work.  When I worked with students in our Discipleship Training School, I encouraged them to take a different understanding of Facebook.  Rather than be spending time viewing their Facebook page, I encouraged them to have their face in the book, God’s word.

God wants us to call upon him, he wants to be involved in our daily lives.  He is often relegated to the God of crisis moments but not the God of our daily activities.  How conscious are you of God throughout the day?  Does your life revolve around God or does God revolve around your life?  I want to encourage you today to begin to take time to reflect upon God throughout the day.  Allow God to speak to you throughout the day in your activities. Brother Lawrence was a monk who wrote a book called “Practicing the Presence of God.”  He learned how to connect with God in the different activities he did throughout the day, one of which was washing dishes.  Our communication with God need not be only when we read the scriptures or when we pray.  God can speak to us in a variety of ways if we are sensitive to hear his voice. 

One of the YWAM leaders gave an example in his life of how God used a message on the side of a beer truck to speak to him.  He was very discouraged about the ministry he was involved in with YWAM that used a ship.  Things were not going well and he was ready to quit and give up the ship.  He was calling out to God for direction regarding what he should do.  As he was driving his car a beer truck drove by him and the message on the side of it was, “Don’t give up the ship.”  He believed that God used that message to speak directly to him and as a result he continued the ministry.

God hears the cries of our heart for wisdom, guidance, encouragement, counsel, deliverance etc.  He will speak to us as we tune our spiritual ears to hear his voice throughout the day in our daily activities. Get connected and stay connected with God throughout the day.

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