God Uses The Ordinary To Do The Extraordinary

It never ceases to amaze me the people that God chooses to do His work.

Such as…

(1) David.

In 1 Samuel 16:1-12 we read how…

• Saul had been rejected as king and God sent Samuel to anoint a new king. Vs. 1-3

• Samuel went. Vs. 4-5

• Jesse and his sons were summoned to the sacrifice vs 5

• The sons were lined up….

• Surely the oldest (Eliab) would be chosen. (vs 6-7)

• Surely the second to the oldest (Abinadab). Vs 8

• Surely the third (Shammah)

• All seven were rejected. Vs 10

• God’s standards are not man’s standards. Vs 7

• Samuel asked, “Are these all your children”. Vs 11

• There was one more…David. 11

• The youngest - keeper of sheep- sunburn - good looking…

• ANOINT HIM FOR THIS IS HE Vs. 11

• The one that was not even considered worthy to be called to the lineup was chosen by God.

• David became Israel’s greatest king ever

• God used David to establish His kingdom.

• To gather the materials to build the Temple.

• To write most of the Psalms.

• If God can use a little Shepard boy and turn him into a great king…God can use you!!!

This is an Old Testament example of God using someone but let me give you a Modern example.

• There was a man born nearly 300 years ago.

• He was 11 years old when he began working on ships in the Mediterranean Sea.

• He once tried to run away, and he was demoted to the lowest rank on the ship.

• He had a reputation as being one of the most undisciplined, rude, foul-mouthed sailors.

• He was so bad the few captains wanted him on their vessel.

• Eventually, he was given his own ship…it was a slave ship.

• He would take slaves by the hundreds to the new world.

• Till one night he was caught in a storm…it seemed that the ship would sink, and all would be lost.

• On May 10th, 1748, He gave his life to Jesus Christ.

• He soon quit as the captain of the slave ships.

• He would go on the study for the ministry and God used JOHN NEWTON to write one of the greatest Hymns in all of Christianity. AMAZING GRACE…HOW SWEET THE SOUND.

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By God’s grace He can use you…

• No matter who you are…

• No matter what you’ve done.

• God can use you….

When the Lord chose His twelve disciples, He chose them from ORDINARY MEN.

If these men were just ordinary people, why did Jesus call them instead of not calling the extraordinary men who were more gifted?

Why?

So often the extraordinary men/women God cannot use them because they are so swollen with PRIDE because of their achievements in life.

Notice, He did not…

• Choose a single Rabbi

• Choose a single Scribe

• Choose a single Pharisee

• Choose a single Sadducee

• Choose a single Priest

• He did not choose a single person from the religious establishment

Why?

His selection of these twelve disciples was a rejection of extraordinary men that belonged to the establishment.

Illus: In his book, “Twelve Ordinary Men”, John MacArthur said this on page 8: “Their rejection of Him was complete. They were hostile to the gospel He preached. They despised the doctrine of grace He stood for, spurned the repentance He demanded, looked with disdain upon the forgiveness He offered, and repudiated the faith He epitomized. In spite of the many miracles that proved His messianic credentials - despite actually seeing Him cast out demons, heal every conceivable sickness, and raise the dead people to life - they would not accept the fact that He was God in human flesh. They hated Him. They hated his message. He was a threat to their power. And they desperately wanted Him dead.

So when it was time for Jesus to select twelve apostles, He naturally did not choose people from the establishment that was so determined to destroy Him. He chose twelve ordinary men to be His disciples.”

This passage of scripture in my text gives us a picture of these special qualities, a picture of the kind of person Jesus calls, then and now.

In this sermon I would like to point out three things kinds of people that God can use.

I. HE LOOKED FOR MEN WHO WOULD WORK

Look at verse 16, we read, “Now as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.”

They had lazy people during their time as we do today.