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Weekly Sermon 1-25-09
I Can Be Used!!
Last week we had a message that asked the question "can I be used?" Now that we have seen from that message that, just like God used a donkey, He can also use us. Now that we know we can be used, let us find out how we KNOW we can be used, and what it means to be used. If you talk about the word "used" today, it means that someone has taken advantage of you. In this case being used by God is a calling from God for us to do His will.
How do we know we have been called to do God's will? Let me tell you this, there is NO guess work here. YOU have been called. I am sure that some of you are asking how I know this for sure. Well let me explain just how I know for sure that you have been called to the duty of Christ. There is, of course, a message in the Bible that deals exactly with this particular subject. Before we can fully understand that we were definitely sent, we must also understand what we are being sent to do.
If we look around today, we see that there are many that claim to be true messengers of Christ. How can we truly know if they are the true messengers? I have, as I am sure you have, seen many ministers that will talk about how many folks have been led to Christ because of the messages they have given, or how many devils they have had to fight in their journeys. Usually if they talk about the devils they have had to face, they will talk about the victories over these devils. Do not get me wrong here, when they are talking about the devils they have faced and the victories, they have given all the glory to Christ and how it was Him that defeated these demons through them. That is wonderful they have given God the credit for their victories, but that is a true sign that they are not really messengers for Christ. I also understand that there may be folks that have demons in them and the messenger has cast that demon out in the name of Christ, and that also is fantastic, but once they start talking about it and rejoicing in it, then we can also see that as another sign. How can I stand here and state that those that give God credit for defeating demons in their paths are not true messengers for Him? Well let us look at a few passages that may tell us why I have made these statements.
Turn with me to to Luke 10:17-20, "And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. (18)And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. (19)Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (20)Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."
Now, if we start at the beginning of this chapter, we will see that Jesus has chosen seventy other disciples to go out into the lands, before Him, to spread the word. Christ told them that they should go without any provisions, without money, or without change of shoes and go into the towns and into a home. Once they get to that house, they are to bless the house, if the blessing is accepted, then it would be blessed and they were to stay there. If the blessing was not accepted, then the blessing would return to them and they were to move on. Once they found a home that accepted the blessings and stayed there, they were to go and "harvest the grain". Christ told them to go out and harvest. This meant they were sent there to find the lost souls and bring them to God. Our souls are spoken of as the "grain" or the thing needing to be "harvested" throughout the Bible. This was their mission.
Well, they were accepted there and they spread the word. The word that Christ was coming soon. They told them of the things that they should be aware of, like the sins they were committing and how these sins would affect their afterlives. From the scripture above we can notice that they must have ran into a few demons that were trying to stop their mission, as they said "even the devils were subject to them through Christ's name".
As we can also see from the scriptures above, the messengers returned with joy. Let us look at the reason they were joyful. Not once do we see that they were joyful because they brought in a great harvest of souls to the saving grace of Christ. The reason they were joyful was because they had power over the devils. This tells us one thing, they were happy because of the power they had, or as some would say, they got a swelled head because of their power.
How did Christ bring them back down off their little pedestals? Jesus said, so you was able to have some power over demons, but I saw Satan get completely kicked out of Heaven. Then Jesus said, 'yes I gave you power over those devils, and nothing they have can hurt you, but do NOT rejoice because you have power over them, rejoice because your name is in the book of life in Heaven'. As we can see here, we are not to rejoice over what we can do, even in Christ's name, but we are to rejoice that our names have been accepted by God.
That last statement brings us to the true meat of this message. I can be used! As you can see, if you are a true believer of Christ as your Lord, then your name has been accepted by God. If your name has been accepted by God, then you, not only can but, WILL be used by God. How can we be sure of this?
Look in Luke 10:1, "After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come." I want us to notice one thing about this passage, that the Lord sent them two and two into the city. Notice the key word here "sent". The true Hebrew word that we translated from here is the authoritative verb Jesus used to send them. It is the same verb that Jesus used to send the original twelve disciples and the same that is used today to send us. Look in Matthew 10:16, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." This is the same verb used here by Jesus, saying "I send you".
We can see that we are sent with authority by Christ, but how much authority do we have? If we are going to be used, how much can we be used? Let the Bible show us how serious Jesus was about sending us, and how much those that cross our paths need to listen. Turn with me to a few more scriptures to fully understand this. Luke 9:48, "Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all shall be great". Luke 10:16, "He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me." John 20:21, "Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you."
Notice just a couple of things from these scriptures. First I want us to see that in two of the scriptures Christ refers to us as just the same as Himself, 'if they receive us, they receive Him....if they hear us, they hear Him'. This shows the amount of power that Christ has bestowed upon us. The same power that would be if He was actually the one there. Lastly notice by what authority we are sent. It shows in the last passage that 'as His Father has sent Him, even so He has sent us'. God gave Jesus all authority over the earth, and Christ has given us that same authority.
I am in no way saying that the seventy that Jesus sent were not true messengers of Christ. The true messenger goes to do the will of God and that is bringing the lost souls to Christ. Those that go out to defeat devils are not doing the will of God. Those are the ones I am speaking about, the ones that just brag about how they defeated devils. Jesus never came to defeat demons, but to save the lost. We have now seen in the scriptures that we are sent by Him to do the exact same thing. This is how I know that I, as well as you, can be used!
Can you be used? There is only one reason that you can not be used, because you do not know the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you do not know the salvation that I am talking about but would like to, then all you have to do is say a simple prayer with me.
Say this simple prayer with me, Dear Lord, I want you to be the Lord over my life, forgive me of my sins, and give me the gift of everlasting life. Amen.
If you have said this simple prayer, then we believe that you have received salvation. We would love to rejoice with you, so please drop us a note, in our link, to let us know and confess Jesus before man, so that we may send you a few things that we hope will help you in your new Christian walk.
With Love in Christ, Pastor Stone
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