Characteristics Of A World Changer

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A WORLD CHANGER

Acts 17:6

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: HUMOR: THE PREACHER & SIN

1. A pastor was in a discussion with an woman church member about her elderly Aunt who’d finally “seen the light” and joined the church after a lifetime of riotous living. "Will my Aunt's sins be forgiven?" she asked.

2. "Oh, certainly," replied the pastor, "Remember, the greater the sin, the greater the saint."

3. The woman sat stunned to silence for a moment. Then she said, "Oh, Pastor, how I wish I'd known this thirty years ago!"

4. NOT TRUE. Having greater sin actually makes it…

a. Less like you’ll ever come to Jesus, and

b. Gives you greater trouble with temptation. So don’t think it’s ever a good idea to sin!

B. TEXT

“1…they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded….5 But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason and sought to bring them out to the people. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too!” Acts 17:5-6 NKJV.

C. THESIS

1. It took a certain type of Christian, a certain type of disciple, to overthrow the Roman Empire. Even then, God was looking for quality, and not quantity.

2. As you look at the ministry of Jesus, the closer you get to Calvary the less people there are. When he was out on the hillsides of Galilee, breaking bread, feeding the multitudes, there were thousands out to watch the religious show, but as he moved toward Calvary and said to that multitude, "Except you eat my flesh, and drink my blood, you have no part of Me" (John 6:53), they left him by the droves. They were saying in effect, "we didn't come out here to be told this kind of stuff. We're not here for you to tell us we are going to have to suffer. We are here to watch the miracles. They walked off and left him.

3. Pentecost didn't come out of a full-page ad in the Jerusalem Post or 300 television stations. It came out of God's terrible dealings with 12 men. He squeezed every emotion, every ambition, until he broke them.

4. They said, "Let me sit on your right hand." He said, "It’s not for me to give." He pulled them from the tax office, doctor’s office, and fishing boats and moved them out. When he left them, they were empty, broken, bruised, and it was into those broken vessels Pentecost came the first time. It will be to those same kind of vessels He will come the second time, when there’s no other place to turn but God.

5. Those early Christians turned whipping posts into pulpits, prisons into churches, and fought wild beasts at Ephesus. They were beaten, tortured, driven from their homes, and yet they proclaimed the gospel that toppled an empire.

6. The lack of courage often seen in our generation is a sad commentary of the times. Ours is an age of conformity. But I can tell you that we serve a nonconforming God who has called us to be different. We must know that the cause we serve is greater than ourselves.

7. Today, God looks for quality, not quantity. He changed the world with a handful of people. It isn't that big, soft under-bellied religious crowd that will make the difference today.

8. It will be the disciple who has sold out, stepped over the line, jettisoned their past life; doesn’t care about prestige, position, or popularity, who has a new, superior life in them(Zoe- God-kind of life, 2 Pet 1:4), and with burning hearts fixes their eyes on the goal, where their Master – the Lord Jesus Christ – awaits them. Will you be one of them?

[I think this section is a Leonard Ravenhill quote]

D. THESIS

1. So this morning we’re going to look at the “Characteristics of a World Changer.” You say, “What? I have enough trouble changing my clothes!”

2. But you underestimate your power, your potential (what you’re capable of), and your responsibilities (what God has called you to).

3. God doesn’t need much to change the world – just one man or woman. So we’re going to look at: