Luke 22:31-34 & Acts 2:14 A
I’m Qualified
One of the great quotes of the Bible is found in the Book of Isaiah where the God of Glory reveals through the prophet to us, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways
saith the LORD.”(Isaiah 55:8)
The whole point and premise of that prophetic word was the fact that God sometimes acts in ways that are contrary or the exact opposite of how we think that God should act. And that sometimes God does things and allows things that just don’t make sense to us.
Some of the things that God allows we cannot fathom in our minds. Some of the things that God does, don’t make sense to us. Sometimes we are amazed at some of the people that God puts gift in.Because if we were honest some of the people that God is using or has used we would have never used, chosen or even thought about. Because we know some things about them that would make us say, “they don’t qualify”.
We‘d say stuff like. “They have issues, they’re not smart enough, they’re not intelligent enough. They do not have social status. They don’t have the right look.” Let’s be honest, all of us have seen some folks that are being used by God and said “how in the world did God choose them”?
That’s what’s wrong in the church.The church exercises a spirit of hypocritical perfection. Because we come in here and parade like pious peacocks of pomposity. As if we have it all together and stick our
sanctimonious nose of snubbery up at people of whose business we know. One of the reasons that so many people stay away from the church is because there are too many people in the church smelling themselves.
They stay away because they are made to feel less than because they have something or are into something that you don’t approve of. The church has developed a very cold and stuck up spirit. We hide behind our stain glassed windows and we walk or drive right pass people that are on their way to church and instead of stopping to bring them we say, “THANK GOD FOR THE FACT THAT PERSON DOESN’T GO TO OUR CHURCH”.
I don’t know about you but I’m glad that I am not perfect. Because if I were perfect I wouldn’t know
how to relate to people. If I were perfect I wouldn’t even know how to praise or to worship God. Because when I realize all of the things that God does for me that I cannot do for myself, if I’m perfect then I think that I can do it by myself. But when I admit that I’m not perfect then I admit that when I’m weak, God makes me strong. That gives me something to praise God for.
Admitting that I am imperfect helps me to worship God. Because worship is the result of a revelatory encounter with the divine nature of God. And there are many revelations that you would never get from God unless you were in an imperfect situation.There were some things that God could not reveal to you until you got yourself into something. And the only way that you could admit that is when you can admit that you are not perfect. Tell your neighbor if you ain‘t too mean, “I’m glad that I’m not perfect”.
Can I make an announcement? Your greatest power is not in your perfection. Your greatest power is in your regeneration. The greatest power that you have is to realize how jacked-up you were but God gave you another chance. The greatest power you have is the gratitude of your life. Because you recognize that in spite of yourself, God has given you another chance! I’ve got to preach this thing today.
In our text we find Peter in just that one little phrase that I read Peter as some of you may know always was usually always the first to do things amongst the apostles. Peter was a trip. He was the first on the water. First to open his mouth. He was the first to go ghetto and pull out the switchblade. Peter had a position of primacy.
It was his position of primacy or of being first that led him to presumption. Peter could be arrogant and offensive. He once said, “Lord I’ll never leave you or desert you or deny You”. And it was his spirit of presumption that prepared the way for his plunge.
He messed up. We know the story. It’s found in Luke 22:47-62. It was there that we find that Peter did in fact denied the Lord three times, cussed a little girl out and then ran away. He had great dysfunction but the fact that he is in this text raising his voice suggest that your dysfunction do not disqualify you from being used in the Kingdom of God.
As a matter of fact if you have dysfunction that’s when you’re qualified. If you have some things that are not right that’s when you’re qualified. The text says “that Peter was “standing”. The last time we saw Peter back in Luke 22 he was running, but now he is standing. The last time we saw Peter in Luke 22 he was hiding. The last time we saw Peter he was denying Jesus, but now he is filled with Holy Ghost and preaching Jesus crucified and resurrected with great power.
Tell somebody, “Don’t you dare judge me by what you saw me doing the last time”. Because God has a way of giving me another chance! So you better be careful how you judge me because of the last time. Because God will call my name and slap His anointing on me, and use me to His glory.
Is there anybody in here who knows that you were just like Peter? You were screwed up, you were messed up and did some things that you wish that you’d never done but God arrested you and gave you another chance. And I’ve come to make an announcement and the announcement is “that if you are screwed up; racked up even f you’ve been jacked up, and messed up, YOU’RE QUALIFIED! “
For all of you holier than thou perfect people, I’m going to excuse you right now by giving you the benediction so now you can leave. But for the rest of us who know that we have some imperfections, it’s time for you to apply for use in the Kingdom of God!
Because God can use you with your mess. God can use you in spite of your mess. God can use you through your mess. God can use you because of your mess. Because sometimes he just wants to show the world what He can do with messy people.
Can we be honest? Half of the time your praise is not over how good you’ve been or how clean your life has been or how perfect and pristine you are. Half of the time your shout is over the fact that you know how messy you’ve been. But God keeps waking you up every morning. Keeps blessing you to go to that business or that job or that school and gave you a family. Is there anybody in here that can say “my shout isn’t over my perfection; my shout is over the fact that even in spite of my imperfection God still uses me”.
And this is a word today for people who are gifted and have potential but sit like pew potatoes because they have been convinced that the things of their life make them unusable for God’s Kingdom. This is a word this morning for the people in here who have empowered the opinions of other people and allowed them to dictate your consciousness to the extent that you come to church but you don’t think that there is anything that you can do in the kingdom because there is something wrong in your life.
This is a word today for somebody whose been in some low places and experienced some hellish things but God liberated you. This is a word for somebody who may have dropped out of school and feel as though you lack the intelligence to work in the kingdom of God.
I came to let you know today that God came to give you a chance. He’ll bring you out of jail and make you a lawyer. He’ll let you go ahead and have a child before you’re married and then let the child grow up and go to college and become somebody great. He’ll let you be hooked on crack, p-dope or whatever, set you free and deliver and make you a super counselor or a pulpit preacher. He’ll let you get divorced and get remarried and council folk who are single.
How many of you can say as did Peter, “I have messed up but thank God I’m still standing. I did some things wrong but I‘m still standing!” Will you high five someone and tell them “. In spite of my history. In spite of my mess, in spite of my bad choices; In spite of things that failed; In spite of things that I have done wrong, Blessed be the name of the Lord, I’m still standing!” The devil gets scared of people that he though he knocked down but they got back up! Here’s the real shout of the story. Tell your neighbor, “He’s about to help you”.
Here’s Peter. Peter was always impulsive and
passionate. He was very bold. Very aggressive. He gets sifted and denies the Lord and becomes a coward. But now in the text all of a sudden, he’s back acting like he used to act before the devil got involved with him.
But because God is so awesome, He will help you to recover the things that you lost when you went through your hell with the devil. I’ve stopped by to tell somebody today that your mind, your sanity, your peace, your joy, your happiness, your health and your family, God can get it all back.;
So here’s the process: The first thing that happens is and has to happen is. Watch the text.
1. When God qualifies you and starts to use you there
must be a season of separation.
Sometimes you are going to let some folk go. We know that you need to separate yourself from bad folk that ain’t thinking about doing any better. They’re trifling, they’re no good. But sometimes we’ll even have to separate ourselves from some “good folk”.
Sometimes God will charge you to separate yourself even from people that are good to you and good for you but this is simply not their season for them to be with you.
Because not everyone can be with you for every assignment and every assigned place in your life. Many of your old close friends are not around you now because the seasons of life bring distance. There are some people who are only seasonal in your life.
The problem with many of us is that we’ve got temporary people in permanent positions.I’m going to prove that point in the text. The text says that Peter was standing with the eleven. But back in chapter 1:15 you’ll discover that there were 120 of them where all of this has started in this upper room when the Spirit fell.
120 disciples were participating in the upper room prayer meeting in the same place at the same time and on one accord. That brought about the power of the Holy Ghost falling upon them and empowering them to do in the Spirit what they could not do before. Now it says, “Peter, not standing with the hundred and twenty, but standing with the eleven”. The 120 are still there. But at this point in Peter’s life and ministry the other folk that were around him were not chosen for this moment that has come to him.
There will be moments in your life where God will bring you to a point of purpose where you must be smart enough to downgrade some of the folk that are around you. Because there are some things that the people around you are not commissioned for to be with you at some point in your life.The eleven were set apart. The eleven were consecrated. You’ve got to know when to separate yourself from the crowd! You’ve got to be bold enough to tell them, “I love you but this is not your concern. This ain’t your business. Let’s pray for each other from a distance.”
Some of us stay messed up in our lives and don’t move in our season of breakthrough because where still hanging out with the 120 when God says, “It‘s time to get with the eleven“!
1. When God qualifies you and starts to use you there
must be a season of separation.
2. You’ve Got to Know Who’s Appointed And Who’s
Anointed.
Peter is the only one that gets up to speak and none of the others of the eleven tries to shut him up or put him down. Remember, this is that same Peter who cussed a little girl out and denied the Lord three times and ran. He’s been a failure.
Peter had messed up before so badly that when Jesus rose from the grave He told the women to “go get the disciples and Peter“. That’s how much Peter has messed up. Here are these disciple that know how badly Peter has messed up and yet they let him lead and just stand around him. They don’t fight him being used by the power of God. I said to myself that, “that couldn’t be the modern church. It sho nuff couldn’t be the Black Church because many black folk still have a
slave/crucifixion mentality when it comes to each other.” We are quicker to celebrate each other’s failures than to celebrate each others successes.
People gossip and that celebrate your failures and focus only on your flaws are only revealing their dislikes of themselves. And as they parade themselves thinking that they’re better than you, in reality they wish they were you. Because they hate the fact that you bounced back!
They hate the fact that you were a high school drop-out but went back, got your GED and am now working on your P. HD. They hate the fact that you were a teen-age mother that was once struggling and now your up on your feet with your head held up and climbing the mountain towards success despite your past drawbacks.
They hate the fact that even though you lost your job you didn’t lose your mind. They hate the fact that the crisis didn’t kill you but made you stronger. They hate the fact that you are black, stayed black and continue to act black but didn‘t get held back.
I’m so tired of this crab mentality that we black people have where we pull each other down instead of lifting each other up. I’m so sick of it I don’t know what to do. That’s why I’m sick of just having church. Because in the church there are a lot of folk that are busy trying to pull each other down so that they can shine. But in the text they weren’t concerned about who was getting the credit.
They were only concerned about who was getting the glory! Credit hungry folk get on my nerves. Got to have their names called. They’ve got to be seen. I said it, I meant it and I’m here to represent it. I’m tired of credit hungry folk. I couldn’t care less who gets the credit as long as GOD GETS THE GLORY!
They respected the anointing and the appointing on Peter’s life. They know that Peter’s has the anointing that God has placed on his life for this moment. He has the anointing for this purpose. He has an anointing on him that has nothing to do with history or his past.
Some of you in here today don’t like yourselves because of mistakes that you’ve made. But, it doesn’t matter what is in your history or in your past God can anoint you and use you anyhow!!!
Here is Peter. He’s been jacked up in the pass but now He’s standing boldly for Christ.
Peter, how did you do after denying the Lord and all of that other stuff? How did you come back from such a low point and place in your relationship with God and life?
He said. “Clay, don’t you remember, Luke 22:31 when the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.
But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
3. Satan’s power is nothing when Jesus is praying for you.
Do you know you have been able to bounce back from some of the horrific and horrendous things that you have had to deal with in your life? It’s because Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father praying and making intercession on your behalf.
Is there anybody in here that has ever wondered how you got out of some of the stuff that you got in? I’ll tell you why. It’s because Jesus was praying for you.
How you got healed when the doctors told you that you weren’t going to recover? It’s because Jesus was praying for you!
IS THERE ANYBODY IN HERE THAT IS THANKFUL FOR THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE AN INTERCESSOR LIKE JESUS!
“Satan has asked for you”. Satan must first get permission before he can mess with you. Jesus is saying here, “Simon, Satan can’t do anything to you without first knocking on My door”.
This means that whatever the devil tries to do to you to destroy you but that’s the stuff that I’m going to use to develop you.
I’ve prayed for you. Not thank you don’t get sifted, because you need some sifting every now and then. It’s the sifting that will teach you how to sing. It’s the sifting that will teach you how to lift up your hands.
Jesus said, “I’m praying not so that you don’t get sifted, “I’M PRAYIING THAT YOU’RE FAITH WILL NOT FAIL”. THAT WHEN THE SIFTING COMES YOU WILL KNOW WHOSE YOU ARE.YOU WILL KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND YOU WILL REMEMBER WHAT YOU HAVE!
And when you (NOT IF YOU) have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
BECAUSE WHEN YOU RETURN. (LOOK AT YOUR NEIGHBOR AND TELL THEM, “I’LL BE BACK”)
BECAUSE THEN YOU WILL BE READY TO STAND IN MY POWER AND SAY, “I’M QUALIFIED!”
Like a ship, that’s tossed and driven,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
