USED! Being the Instruments of God
BRAINSTORM:
God’s mission is to bring the world to a love of him!
He desires that none should perish but all come to eternal life!
In the beginning of the church, God birthed her at Jerusalem, under the apostles labour.
He used them to proclaim to all of the Jews (Hebraic and Hellenistic alike) the good news about Jesus Christ.
3000 were added the first day, and many, many more in the following weeks, months and years.
But when Stephen the Hellenist was martyred by his fellow Hellenists, a great persecution broke out against the church that caused it to leave the cradle of Jerusalem!
All that is except the Apostles. And why not them too?
Remember Gamaliel:
5: 34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them, Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God! So they took his advice, 40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
Saul didn’t persecute the present apostles, likely because of Gamaliel’s wisdom. The apostles did not run in fear, but stayed in the heart of the persecution.
This leads me to believe that much of the persecution was against the Christ followers who came to Jerusalem as Jews and left as Christians. Perhaps even against the Hellenistic Judeo-Christian converts.
The men, Stephen, and Philip, two of the ones chosen to care for the daily distribution of food, went out to preach the good news, Stephen was killed, and upon the scattering Philip went to Samaria.
The Samaritans were deeply despised by the Jews, but perhaps a Hellenist, also a half-breed Jew would have been God’s perfect instrument for proclaiming the good news to them.
Saul’s persecution was fierce, but it was not without God’s purpose. God used him to bring the good news to the rest of the world.
Were it not for Saul, the church would have remained in the bassinet of the temple longer than was healthy. It would have been inundated with Judaism, and lost as a sect and nothing more. But God would not allow that!
God used Philip and many others to fulfill much of his good working in the rest of the world.
Philip preaches to the Samaritans and performs many wonders and signs in the cities of Samaria.
Simon, who used to be the center of attention, respected by all, was now overshadowed by God’s great works through Phil.
Driving out demons and healing the lame were not among Simon’s repertoire of tricks.
He’s so astounded, as are all the listeners that he along with many others believes and is baptized.
Many a preacher (including myself) have preached sermons from here.
We’re very good at judging poor Simon’s thoughts and attitudes, because when the apostles here that one of their ministers is converting in Samaria they come down to see and encourage the people only to have a bold run-in with this Simon.
Incidentally, recall when Jesus was in Samaria with his apostles and he tells them at the well, “Look at the fields, they are white and ready for harvest.”
The Apostles now see that the harvest has begun in Samaria.
But Simon wants power, so when he sees that the apostles lay they hands on the people and pray for them that they may receive the Holy Spirit, he wants the same power.
THE MESSAGE VERSION OF THIS TALE SAYS:
“ When Simon saw that the apostles by merely laying on hands conferred the Spirit, he pulled out his money, excited, and said, “sell me your secret! Show me how you did that! How much do you want? Name your price” Peter said, “To hell with your money! And you along with it! Why, that’s unthinkable – trying to buy God’s gift! You’ll never be part of what God is doing by striking bargains and offering bribes. Change your ways – and now! Ask the Master to forgive you for trying to use God to make money. I can see this is an old habit with you; you reek with money-lust!”
Wow... Oh yes, we’re well aware of Simon’s motives aren’t we? We preach; “don’t be a Simon who lusts after ourselves!”
We preach the Gospel is not for personal gain!
We preach that this event means that Simon wasn’t first convinced by Philip, that Simon’s original conversion was insincere!
That the Apostles, didn’t lay their hands on him as well as all the other believers?
That’s not the point of this sermon, but the point is that God worked in Saul, and in Philip, and in the Apostles...and perhaps even in Simon.
That we are reading his story today teaches us doesn’t it?
But that is not the message of Simon the sorcerer...no! In fact, the message is look at what God is doing, not what man is doing.
Simon believed that he could have this power, he believed that Philip had amazing power, that the Apostles had amazing power, and that he too could have amazing power.
The truth of the matter is that none of them had any, that it was God who was working His will through them.
Why did the apostles pray before laying their hands on the Samaritan converts? Because they knew it was not their power or will that would have it be done!
God sent Saul to persecute and scatter.
God sent Philip to preach and be the message
God sent the apostles to encourage and strengthen
God sent His Spirit to work and grow the church.
The question we ought to ask ourselves is, “What is God doing in us?”
The story doesn’t end here. We follow God’s instrument Philip for a little while more!
We’re taken with him as God’s spirit tells Philip to go down a desolate road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza. And there God uses him again.
We follow him as he’s taken to the road where a caravan headed south to the port to sail back to Ethiopia can be found.
A pilgrim who traveled to Jerusalem, perhaps for the passover and Pentecost, on his way home is seen by Philip reading in his chariot.
Words that were familiar to Philip rang out, it was Isaiah, a book he knew well.
God’s spirit told Philip to go and climb into the chariot...so he did,
and then he asked the Ethiopian, ’do you understand what you are reading”
The Eunuch replied that he can’t without an interpreter. That the words are difficult and the meaning beyond reach.
But surely he’d heard about Jesus and was lead by the Spirit himself to turn to a prophecy directly about Him.
Philip seizes the opportunity and begins to tell all that he knows about Jesus Christ. God’s work put him in the place that he needed to be.
The Ethiopian is convinced by the gospel, he’s convicted by Grace, and moved by God’s spirit, and responds accordingly, “Look”, he said to Phil, “water...let’s get me in it!” So, the Eunuch ordered the chariot to stop and Philip and him went down into the water and baptized him!
HALLELUJAH! God is good...
But God wasn’t done his work with Philip yet...it says that the Holy Spirit ’Beamed’ him to Azotos and he continued on from where the Holy Spirit sent him all the way north to Caesarea, and he preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ all the way that he went.
We’ll read later on about a man named Cornelius (chapter 10) how in Caesarea he was known as a thoroughly good man! God fearing! He had a vision to ask for Peter.
My guess is that Philip, a man brought to Ceasarea by God Himself, preached the gospel there too...and may well have been heard by this Cornelius. Another sermon for another day!
THE MESSAGE FOR US!
God uses whomever he desires to do his bidding.
God is on a mission, he’s working in this world to save the world.
God’s mission should be the very mission that we are seeking out!
What is God doing in our world today?
God is creating a distinct people to live His life for the sake of this world.
What does it mean to be God’s distinct? Does it have anything to do with anything we do?
What does it mean to live His life?
What is our mission in this world?
We need to stop asking ourselves, “what are we going to do”...and start asking ourselves, “what is HE going to do?”
We have grand visions for what our mission is, what program can we implement to reach out to the community?
What action and attitude should we have that will entice people to the church?
Should we be running schools and implementing our ideas?
Negative...we should be seeking out the mission of God for the whole of creation, and getting on with submission to whatever it is HE is doing!
The apostles didn’t have power, Philip didn’t have power, GOD had the power!
God has the power today, and by Him working and us falling in line with his mission gives all glory to Him.
Our weaknesses will show his strength! His power! His will!
And we will not be working hard to show people how righteous and holy we are and convincing them that they need to be like us, or attend where we attend, or indoctrinate them as we have been!
Instead we will be out seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness,
we will be out striving to Live HIS life
We will be made Distinct by HIS working
and the world will see Christ in us, but not bound by us!
We will not be the force that stuffs God into our personal mold, God will not be in a box limited to only the works that we think we need to do for him!
He does not require us to work, he does not need us to spread his Gospel, but if we are willing to surrender to HIS mission, we will end up proclaiming HIM in a way that nothing else can!
Let me tell you the story about a man who wanted to develop a business that would yield unending success! He worked hard to come up with an idea, an invention that all the world would need or want. Then he set out to sell his work. He forced himself upon people, and tried to describe and inflict his invention upon them stating that without it their lives would be miserable. Door to door he wandered, his intentions were clear. He published his works on billboards, and spent millions on advertising, and set up an 800 number for the torrent of calls that he expected to receive. His neigbourhood soon began to recognize him, and would close the shutters and lock the doors when they saw him coming. Upon realizing that his business plan was failing he decided to reevaluate his strategies. Taking his product to the corporate big-wigs he sought out sponsorship, and backing by the bigger companies, but nobody seemed interested in his grand scheme! No one saw it as a lucrative investment. Disenfranchised, and demoralized he retreated to a solitary place. Depressed he all but gave up on his task. The few people that bought into the idea slowly began to abandon it, and his product sat in their storage rooms and garages. And before long, his billboards were covered over with beer ads and his bumper stickers pealed faded and his product fell into the well known category of History. Broken! He wasn’t just trying to sell a product, he was trying to sell himself...and it felt as though nobody even wanted him anymore!
Then it struck him! This isn’t about me, or even about my product! The world is shifting and changing every day, cultures differ generations live in constant tension of one another, and the need of the world goes far beyond a vacuum cleaner or a set of encyclopedias. Not long ago, the world was told that everyone needed a body shaker...you know the kind...you stand on a platform and then pull a thick canvas strap over your back and lean into it. Then you flip the on switch and the contraption began to shake violently. You were vibrated from the waste up...it was supposed to increase circulation and melt away the excess rolls of fat! Oh, everyone needed one of those...now life would not be complete with your very own ’SHAMWOW!’ don’t you know it’s better than a sponge, it soaks up water, and removes spills from your carpet. Or how about the ’listen-in’ device, you know the one that you plug into your ears and it’s hand held unit will, through it’s microphone, pick up a quiet TV so that everyone else in the room doesn’t suffer from it’s outrageous volume. Incidentally, don’t sneeze into the device while the headphones are in your ears, you’ll likely blow out your eardrums. Or what about the kinsai 1000 knife set that can cut through a brick of lead without dulling...how about those! WE NEED THEM DON’T WE? I have to tell you, with the many products out there, I’m not sold! Sure I think a sham-wow would be neat, or a listen-in would provide me with a great way to spy on folks, but just like the clapper, it won’t be long until the fad is gone, until the device is history, perhaps even legend.
If we only have a product to sell, then we can guarantee that this world will not buy, and if they do buy, it may very soon become a sawhorse leg holding up something more important in the garages of their souls!
The apostles weren’t selling, Philip wasn’t selling, God isn’t selling!
But preacher, you say, “IF WE BUILD IT THEY WILL COME!” Don’t you know!
IF we grow a grand program it will appeal to people and they will be sold?
If we make our worship service more entertaining, people will buy!
If we appeal to a younger generation, we will be able to reach more people!
If we hand out invitations, and present people with documentation and tracts, they will convert.
WE CAN SELL THIS CHURCH! We can make it something great!
God never told us to sell?
God never planned for us to invent items to meet the ever changing demands of this world.
He never asked us to implement a program
He never told us to make our togetherness more appealing to the world
He simply asks us to do the will of God who is in heaven.
To seek first His Kingdom, and His righteousness
To listen for, and live the life of God...and by doing such showing people his great work in us! Sinners!
God’s work in this world is far greater than any of our own...the question we must ask ourselves is this; “how today and I going to fit into God’s work?”
Will I seek out His will, and His mission, and by doing such gleam with His glory!
This church, our salvation is not about us, it is about Him...Let’s give him the glory today.
