It was at that time that Vice President nominee Dan Quayle made reference to something that President John F. Kennedy said, to support what he believed. Senator Benson's response was, "Mr. Vice President, I knew President Kennedy, and you are no John Kennedy!"
Ever since then, when someone claimed to be like someone else, that phrase is used, "YOU ARE NO_________!"
Keeping that in mind, as we read in scripture of the DEVOTED and HUMBLE servants of God in New Testament times, we recognize WE ARE NOT THE CHRISTIANS THEY WERE. We may claim to be, but when you read of what they did for the Lord and how they suffered for the Lord, we cannot help but conclude WE ARE NOT WHAT THEY WERE.
However, IT IS OUR DESIRE that God will make us everything they were.
IT IS OUR DESIRE to win souls and be used of God the same way they were used of God, but before that can happen we need to learn, from God's Word, to have the Christ-like characteristics they possessed.
Why? BECAUSE that is why God was able to use them the way He did.
Notice also that...
I. THEY WERE COURAGEOUS.
We have many examples of courage in God's Word.
The devil knows all he has to do to stop some people from witnessing is place some FEARFUL SITUATION before them and they will run like scared rabbits and hide and you will not hear another thing out of them.
History reveals many men overcame their fear and went on to do great, courageous things.
Illus: Can you imagine what it must have been like to live in the days of Christopher Columbus and take off on a voyage across the ocean, not knowing if perhaps somewhere out there you might drop off the edge of the earth like going over a gigantic Niagara Falls?
Columbus and his men set out to discover a shorter route for commercial ships to travel and did not know what they would be facing. WHAT COURAGE!
Illus: Can you imagine the courage it took for the former astronaut, now Senator, John Glenn, to climb into Sputnik, and for the first time in the history of man be shot into outer space like a bullet out of a gun. WHAT COURAGE!
The history books are filled with accounts of men and women of great courage, but never have men shown greater courage than the men of God who suffered persecution and some, even death.
Illus: When John Knox was killed it was said of him as he was dying, 'There lies he who never feared the face of man.'
Yes, some of the most courageous men and women who ever lived on this earth were men and women of God.
We may claim that we are like them, but we are not. MANY Christians today lack raw courage.
Some Christians say, "Well, I am a courageous person, but I also believe a Christian should be cautious."
It is smart to be cautious, but we must remember, even a turtle knows he will never get anywhere until he sticks his head out of his shell. Multitudes of professing Christians are not making the impact the New Testament Christians made because they do not have the courage to stick their heads out of their spiritual shells.
This problem is not confined to Christian circles. In fact, in general, people are not very courageous.
Illus: Someone said, 'There are more twins born these days than ever before. Maybe it is because children today do not have the courage to come into the world alone!'
Let's examine some of the most outstanding examples we have of GODLY COURAGE in the New Testament. We see courage in...
A. THE LIFE OF STEPHEN.
Acts (6 & 7) tells us of Stephen, because of the great works God worked through him, being brought before a hostile council. There, in answer to their accusations, he demonstrated great courage as he charged them with:
BEING stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart (verse 51).
BEING a chip off of the old block and resisting the Holy Spirit as their fathers had done (verse 51).
BEING betrayers and murderers (verse 52).
He had the courage to look them in the eyes and tell them things about themselves that they did not want to hear.
lllus: Some folks have the courage to speak the truth, or a lie, about a person if that person is not present. Oh, what a marvelous job they do behind a person's back, but, when it comes to confronting that person face to face it is a different story, they do not have enough courage to open their mouths.
Stephen spoke to them face to face. He had the courage to tell them what they needed to hear. Did they pat him on the back and commend him for this courage? No! That crowd was so angry at his answer that, the Bible says, "...they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth."
His knowing he might be killed did not stop him from speaking the truth. WHAT COURAGE! Another example of courage is found in...
B. THE LIFE OF PAUL.
He was one of the most courageous men who ever lived. When we read of the things he had to face in his life we wonder how anyone could face such opposition and not throw in the towel and quit. Among other things:
• He was stoned.
• He was jailed.
• He was whipped.
• He was rejected.
Any one of these oppositions would cause the average Christian today to buckle under. But not Paul! He said, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me."
And he looked to God for strength and courage.
If we are GOING TO DO the things they DID, we are going to have to possess the things they POSSESSED.
We will have to possess COURAGE because: - THEY WERE COURAGEOUS. Also-
II. THEY WERE COMPASSIONATE.
A successful soul winner always possesses compassion. Many Christians love the Lord, but they do not have a love for lost souls.
Psalm 142:4 says, "I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me: no man cared for my soul. "
If you have a desire to be used of God to win souls to Christ, you MUST ask God to give you a love for souls. Because so many Christians lack compassion, sinners can look all around and they can truly say, "...no man cared for my soul."
Illus: It is amazing the number of homes you can go into and the people will tell you:
• No Christian has ever been to their home. It is astounding when you talk to lost people and they can tell you ".
• No Christian has ever asked them could they show them the plan of salvation.
Is this Christian America?
When are we going to wake up, Christians! This is what God has COMMANDED US TO DO!
The New Testament Christians had the COURAGE and the COMPASSION for lost souls, but we are missing out.
We will never do it until we get "...endued with power from on high," (Luke 24:49) and have COMPASSION FOR LOST SOULS.
Illus: It is no wonder the apostle Paul was the great soul winner he was. Look at Acts 10:31, he said, “Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.”
He said in II Corin. 5:14, “For the love of Christ constraineth us...”
Illus: We live in a world in which it seems like someone has picked up the dictionary and some very important words have fallen out. I am convinced that one word definitely has fallen out: COMPASSION!
So many Christians have become cold and indifferent, many of them cannot remember when it was they shed a tear for lost loved ones and friends.
Illus: In Virginia there is a place called CAREVILLE.
Now wouldn't it be wonderful if the people who lived in that place in Virginia really CARED ABOUT EACH OTHER instead of being like most folks in the world who only care about SPORTS, HOBBIES, and MATERIAL GOODS.
Far too many today will go across town and knock someone over the head and kill someone for a few dollars in a cash register because they love money more than they value human life.
And far too many Christians, who are supposed to love souls, will not go across the street to try to win a lost soul to Jesus.
We must have this love for souls before we can be soul winners.
It is clear, the New Testament Christians had a love for lost souls.
The Scriptures tell us in Acts 17:6, that they were accused of turning "...the world upside down," with the gospel because they had so much compassion for the lost.
That compassion that they had is the compassion that the church today DESPERATELY LACKS.
III. THEY WERE CONTROLLED.
Because these men were Spirit-filled they were Spirit CONTROLLED, and because they were Spirit controlled they were determined to win every soul they came in contact with.
Illus: There is an inscription on a tablet in the South Sea Islands placed there in memory of a great soul winner by the name of John Geddes. In his honor it says, “When he landed in 1848 there were no Christians here; when he left in 1872, there were no heathen here!” What a powerful tribute to a soul winner!
Holy Spirit filled men and women are like John Paul Jones who fought in the Revolutionary War. It is said of Him, "He fought as though the whole cause of the American liberty depended on him."
This is exactly what the New Testament Christians did, they diligently waded into a lost world realizing the opposition was many but with GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT WITHIN THEM, they were more than a MATCH FOR THE LOST.
We can claim all we want to that we are like those New Testament Christians, but anyone who had read of them and then looks at most of the churches today, would say, "YOU ARE NOT A NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH!”
Why could this be said?
Because, when we look into the Scriptures and see how they conducted themselves when they were Spirit filled, it certainly is not the same thing as we see today in people who say they are spirit filled.
Illus: We have millions of Christians who think they are filled with the Spirit, yet they have never won a soul to Christ. We have millions who have claimed they are filled with the Spirit, and this week they have not witnessed to the first lost soul.
Why? Because they are not filled with the Holy Spirit.
If they were filled with the Spirit, as the Bible states, “YE SHALL RECEIVE…AND YE SHALL BE WITNESSES!”
If they Spirit filled they would be out desperately seeking the souls of mankind, to win them to Christ!
What happens when a person is first saved?
He wants to tell everyone what has happened to him. It is the greatest thing that has ever happened to him and he wants everyone to know about it and experience the same thing.
Look at Acts 1: 8, the Word of God says, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
Notice, this marvelous verse of Scripture is telling us two things about being Spirit-filled:
A. “... YE SHALL RECEIVE POWER..."
B. "...YE SHALL BE WITNESSES ... "
The Scripture makes it clear that, "…Ye shall receive power..." and as evidence that you have received that power is, "...Ye shall be witnesses..."
If you are not actively seeking for lost souls this week it is because you are in a backslidden condition. When God first saved you, you wanted to tell everyone about Christ. When you were saved you wanted everyone to discover and share with you what you had because it was so great. But now you do not care if anyone knows how they can have eternal life.
Why? Because what you HAD, you NO LONGER HAVE! This is call "backsliding"!
New Testament Christians were filled with the Spirit and they went as God commanded them, witnessing to lost people. They depended upon the Holy Spirit for:
A. GUIDANCE.
Look at Acts 16:6-7, "Now when they had gone throughout Phyrgia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. "
B. DECISIONS.
Look at Acts 15-28, "For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us..."
C. DIVINE UNCTION.
Look at Acts 4:8, "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them..."
D. RESULTS.
Look at how Acts 11:24 describes Barnabas, "For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord. "
He was full of the HOLY GHOST and FAITH. In other words, that godly man lived it, talked it, and trusted God for the results.
E. JOY.
Look at acts 13:52, "And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost."
That was probably one of the reasons that the world was attracted to Christ as they preached the gospel, sinners could see THE JOY OF THE LORD IN THEIR LIVES.
Conclusion/Summary:
Dr. A. J. Gordon tells of his visit to the World's Fair. Among the many displays that caught his attention was an oriental man who was laboriously turning a crank on a pump handle to pump a large volume of water out of the spout. It intrigued him so much that he decided he would get closer to get a better look. Upon close examination, he discovered the man was made of wood. He also discovered that instead of turning the crank to make the water flow, the flow of water turned the crank that made the man go.
This is what the Lord is doing in the life of a soul winner. It looks like what the man is doing is a great thing, but actually it is the Holy Spirit that is producing the results. If we are going to be effective soul winners, we must be like the New Testament Christians. They were: 1. DEVOTED. 2. HUMBLE. Also,
I. THEY WERE COURAGEOUS.
II. THEY WERE COMPASSIONATE.
III. THEY WERE CONTROLLED.
