CAN GOD REALLY USE YOUR LIFE?
Acts 9:1-6 (keep your bibles open here)
9 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. 3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
Acts 9:10-16
10 And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. 11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, 12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. 13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: 14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. 15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: 16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.
Every time I read this story, I stand amazed at the great grace of God.
I see the Lord take this man Saul, save him by grace, and transform him into the great Apostle to the Gentiles ….and I realize that there is hope for people like you and me to be used of the Lord.
The truth is, Saul was a very unlikely candidate for the service of the Lord.
He was a man who was hated by Christians. He did everything in his power to destroy the name of the Lord Jesus.
Yet, God reached down in grace and took this man from where he was and used him to change the world.
You may feel you are not worthy to be used of the Lord in His work, But
Jesus can and will use you if you will make yourself available.
Over the past few weeks ¾ of CCM have responded saying you know you are not where God wants you to be. Many responded saying you have dethroned God in some area of your life.
So here is the all-important question… "Can God really use my life?"
I would like to answer that question today by taking a few minutes to look at the life of the great Apostle Paul and by showing you the obstacles that seemed to be in the way of his service.
Obstacles incidentally which God had no problem in overcoming by His power and grace.
YOUR PAST CONDITION IS NO OBSTACLE
According to Paul's own testimony, he was guilty of doing every thing in his power to put Christianity to death
In Acts 7:58, the Bible indicates that Saul whose name as you know was changed by the Lord to Paul gave his approval to the murder of Stephen
In fact he held the very clothes of those who stoned the preaching deacon to death. ….Paul was a wicked man, but this proved to be no obstacle to the grace and saving power of the Lord.
When Paul received Jesus into his heart, he was changed forever by the grace of God!
And Jesus is still the same…he can save a murderer….he can change the heart of a person that hates Christianity….
Let me tell every person under the sound of my voice today that your past is
no obstacle to your future in the Lord's work!
Regardless of what you did before you received Jesus as your Savior, it doesn’t matter any longer….When He saved your soul, He washed your past away forever!
It is just as though you got a brand new start at that precise moment. In fact, the Bible refers to that event as a "new birth", John 3:3; 7.
Don’t let your past keep you from allowing God to work through you today
We have all done STUPID things in our past….
There are 3 records of your past deeds in the world today.
First there is the record you carry in your mind.
Secondly, there is the record carried by all those who knew what you were before.
Third, there is the record carried by Satan, and he will throw your past up to you all the time.
But, may I remind you today that even though I may remember my past, ……my friends and family may remember my past..…..Satan surely remembers my past,……God in Heaven has forgotten my past and it is no obstacle to Him using me now or into the future!
Psa. 103:12;
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from
us.
Isa 38:17
Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered
it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
Throughout the Bible, God used people in spite of, and after their greatest of
failures.
Simon Peter preached his greatest message and had his greatest ministry after he
denied the Lord.
Moses was a murderer, yet God used him for His glory.
Samson sinned against God, yet he slew more Philistines in the end of his life than
he had during his entire ministry.
Abraham lied, yet he was used of the Lord.
Jacob was a deceiver, yet the Lord transformed and used him greatly.
Rahab was a prostitute but was used of the Lord…
Lord can take those who have failed in the past and use them for His glory today, and into the future!
UNDERSTAND AND KNOW …Your Past Condition Is No Obstacle FOR SERVICE
TODAY
Look at V. 2 -YOUR PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES ARE NO OBSTACLE
Paul was on his way to Damascus to round up Christians and kill them
He was filled with hatred and wanted nothing more than to completely destroy anyone or anything connected with the name of Jesus Christ.
Yet, in spite of all this, the Lord was able to change this man and to use him for the glory of God.
May I remind you that He can do the same thing in your life and mine.
He can take us, with all the baggage that we carry, and He can use us for His glory.
Some years ago the Gaithers wrote a song Something beautiful (All I have to offer you is brokenness and strife….but he made something beautiful of my life
We all bring certain liabilities to God’s table. Some are uneducated, ….others have few resources, …..some are weak in faith, …..others are arrogant and filled with pride.
However, I would like to remind you that the Lord is able to take us exactly where we are, change what needs to be changed and then use us greatly!)
Again, the Bible is filled with this kind of story.
Moses was 80 years old when the Lord called him into the ministry, Ex. 7:7.
Besides being an old man he studdered
He was filed with fear, Ex. 4:1.
He was totally opposed to the Lord's plan for his life, Ex. 4:13.
Yet, despite all this baggage, God was able to use this man for His glory.
The Gadarene Demoniac, Mark 5:1-20, was a man feared by everyone.
But, the Lord was able to take this man, who had caused has caused so much trouble and He was able to use him as a witness for the glory of God.
God took him where he was and used him for God's glory.
2 Kings 7:1-10 tells the story of four lepers who became the unlikely Saviors of
Jerusalem.
God just took them where they were and used them in spite of their circumstances.
What I am trying to get you to see this morning is that your present circumstances did not catch the Lord by surprise!
He knows everything there is to know about you,
Heb. 4:13.
Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
He knows where you are,
Job 23:10.
But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
And, He still can use your life if it is yielded to him for His glory.
The secret lies in putting Rom. 12:1-2 into practice!
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
So then….Your Past Condition Is No Obstacle..Your Present Circumstances Are No Obstacle
Thirdly V. 11-16 tell me that YOUR PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS ARE NO OBSTACLE
Paul was feared by the followers of the Lord Jesus.
His conversion was seen by many to be a trap designed to find their leaders.
Had it not been for Barnabas, who was a trusted disciple (Son of Consulation) The Apostles in Jerusalem would not have met with him.
Yet, God was able to overcome this hurdle and still used Paul in an awesome way
If you take the time to look at Paul's life, you will find that he was a man with many personal characteristics that seemed to be unfavorable to his success.
2 Cor. 10:10 For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.
2 Cor. 11:6 But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things.
Gal. 4:13-14 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.
14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus
Gal. 6:11. Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand.
He has been described by historians as short…hunched back…large pointy nose…..Paul had many personal hurdles to get over to be used by the Lord, but God was able to use him in spite of what was wrong with him physically.
Jonie Erickson has been used by the Lord mightily
Dave Rever….thousands of others
If we get into the business of comparing ourselves with others, then we are
in for a rough ride!
Many of us have personal characteristics that may make us feel that we cannot be used of God effectively.
However, I would like to remind you that God can take that thing that we consider to be a weakness and can use us anyway.
He excels in taking the weak and foolish things of this world and using them in a great way - 1 Cor. 1:27!
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
Remember how God used Moses a man slow of speech
God used a young Jewish girl named Esther to save His people from slaughter.
God used a young, unknown boy named David to be the greatest king to ever sit
on the throne of Israel.
God used a beggar named Lazarus to preach a daily sermon to a rich man.
God used 12 unknown men from various walks of life to set the world on fire for God - Acts 17:6.
Even the Son of God had several strikes against Him.
Most all the people assumed that He was the bastard child of a Roman soldier, John 8:41. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
Others saw Him as being no more than the son of Mary and Joseph, John 6:42.
And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?
Most thought that there was no way God could use someone from Nazareth, John 1:46. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.
Others questioned the fact that He came from Galilee, John 7:41-42. Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? 42 Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?
Some even said that Jesus was nothing more than the tool of Satan, Mark 3:22.
And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.
Even with these marks against Him, who can deny that the Lord used this life more than any other which had even walked upon the face of the earth?
I said all of that to say this, regardless of who you are, …where you came from, …..what problems you have, what personality quirks you exhibit, ……what your level of education may be, what your level of acceptance by other in society is……God can and will use you if you will make yourself available to Him and His work!
God has all kinds of people in His service,
All He is looking for are those who are willing to serve Him! Are you one of them?
Your Past Condition Is No Obstacle
Your Present Circumstances Are No Obstacle
Your Personal Characteristics Are No Obstacle
And lastly YOUR PRIVATE CONCERNS ARE NO OBSTACLE
I have already touched on this, but God was able to use the Apostle Paul in spite of all the physical infirmities that plagues his life.
In fact, Paul stated that his weaknesses guaranteed him greater strength. 2 Cor. 12:10!
Like Paul, you may look upon yourself as being weak and unable to do much for the cause of Christ.
However, the truth of the matter is that God doesn't need us to be strong and able to stand up on our own two feet.
He needs us to be weak and to be totally dependent upon Him and His power.
God isn't looking for spiritual powerhouses, He is looking for people who have nothing more than faith and a desire to cling to the Lord.
As we look back at the Bible, we can find times when God took the weak and
used them in a great way.
Hannah wanted a child and she turned to the Lord in desperation and God gave her a son who was destined to be a great spiritual leader to the Israelite people.
Daniel was only an insignificant teenage boy of his day when the Lord gave him the strength to stand against the king of Babylon. All because Daniel was totally
yielded to the Lord.
Mary was a young teenage girl when God asked her to carry the Messiah in her virgin womb.
What reproach she lived under! Yet, she was strong in the Lord and He used here to minister to millions! For when she gave birth, she gave life to the Lord Jesus Christ. So that he could walk where we walk…He could be tempted in every way like we are (yet without sin) and ultimately he could die upon the tree at Calvary for you sins and mine and those of the world…that whosoever will may call upon His name and be forgiven
Some of you fight depression, ..so did Moses, Jonah, and Elijah to name a few others battle loneliness, ….some fight against feelings of inferiority, some are constantly reminded of their wicked ways of days gone …they cant seem to let go…..some of you feel so inadequate to do the Lord's work.
Listen closely….Whatever name your particular weakness may carry, it can be an obstacle to you ONLY IF you allow it to be. However, to the Lord, your problem is nothing! He can take you in the midst of your weakness and still use you to confound the strongest of those about you. He can take your life and make it an inspiration to everyone who comes into contact with you.
The secret lies in one word - Surrender! Are you totally surrendered to the Lord and to His will for your life?
Conc:
Can God use your life? Yes, He can! …However, it must first be His to use!
There are just a few questions that need to be considered as we wrap up these thoughts.
Are you really saved? (Not good, baptized, church member, but truly saved?)
Are you fully surrendered? (Is you absolute all on the altar for Jesus? Are you
holding anything back? Everything must be His!)
Are you available for Him to use? (That is, is your life so cluttered with everything
that you do that there is nowhere for the Lord to get in an use you?)
Are you willing to be used by the Lord? (He won't force you to serve Him.
He may make you wish you had, but He will never force you into anything.
You must come to the place where you are willing for the Lord to use you.)
If the answer to any of these question is "no", then the Lord cannot use you until those things are taken care of by His grace.
I challenge every person in this room to examine your hearts and do that thing that you need to do right
