A Certain Man
Luke 10:30-34
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
Acts 5:1 ¶ But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
Acts 14:8 ¶ And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked:
Multiple times (87 times refering to a certain person or persons) the term "certain man" is used in the Bible.
In some cases, we come to find out who that person is; on other accounts, the person stays anonymous. At any rate, there is no doubt that a real person is being referred to.
I. Certain means Real and True
We are not dealing with imaginary, make-believe, or fictious.
These are accounts of people who lived in our real world.
Doubters will try to dissuade us and want us to believe that the evidence is lacking. They say that these are just stories to teach us about morals.
II. Certain means Specific
God talks about specific people with unique stories.
He is not referring to some random person.
The certain person discussed in each case is a distinct person that God created with his or her own specific DNA.
There are over 8 billion people on this earth, yet each one is different and designed with certain peculiarities.
III. Certainty arises as God Proclaims it
The certain person may have been a random person before, but now God has given him/her a divine place and assignment.
John 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
You may have felt like a nobody doing nothing of any consequence, but God is looking, He is calling, He is choosing. Will you be that certain one?
Mt 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
Eze 22:30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
The Lord was looking for a man to answer His call. No one responded. If they would have, they would have been called a "certain man".
Don't be one of the random ones. Decide to be a "certain" vessel for the Lord.
True account from Foxes Book of Martyrs:
In 320, Constantine, the Roman emperor of the West, pressured
Licinius, the emperor of the East, to legalize Christianity in his
region - and Licinius conceded. Later, however, fearing treason
among the troops, Licinius broke his alliance and decided to eliminate
Christianity from his territory. He authorized Agricola, the commander
of his forces in the Armenian town of Sebaste (now Sivas, Turkey), to
carry out his evil intentions.
Agricola knew of forty soldiers who were devout Christians and
skilled in battle. In an attempt to force them to renounce their faith, he
announced to these men, "Either offer sacrifice to the gods and earn
great honors, or, in the event of your disobedience, be stripped of your
military rank and fall into disgrace." Then Agricola had the soldiers
imprisoned to think about what he had told them. That night they
encouraged themselves by singing psalms and praying.
The next morning Agricola brought out the forty men and tried to
persuade them with flattery, praising them for their valor and good looks.
These Christian soldiers were determined, however, not to fall prey to
the commander's empty words. So Agricola sent them back to prison to
await the arrival of an official. While the soldiers waited, they prepared
themselves for martyrdom.
When the official arrived, he again attempted to persuade the men.
Unsuccessful, he ordered the forty men to be taken to a frozen lake.
There, they were told to strip off their clothing and stand in the middle
of the frozen mass of ice. A guard watched over them while warm baths
were set up along the shore, along with fires, blankets, clothing, and hot
food and drink, in order to tempt them to turn their backs on Christ and
sacrifice to the pagan idols. One of the soldiers could no longer bear the cold and ran to the shore. Seeing this, the remaining soldiers cried out to
God to help them. Their prayer was answered as a light warmed the
shivering men. One of the guards was so moved by the resolve of the
Christian soldiers that he stripped off all his clothes and joined them.
One version of the story reports that all the men were frozen to death by
morning. Another account, however, says that in the morning the men,
still alive, were taken back to the prison and tortured to death. Then
their bones were crushed with sledgehammers.
Regardless of which version of the story is correct, the forty soldiers of
Sebaste courageously refused to deny Christ. May we remember their courage and stand strong against anything that might lure us away from Christ. May we, like them, show God's grace even in the midst of great trials!
