Usable

Usable

2 Timothy 2:19-26

Audrey Mieir wrote in her song, "To Be Used of God": "I've a yearning in my heart that cannot be denied, It's a longing that has never yet been satisfied. I want the world to know the One who loves them so. Like a flame it's burning deep inside. To be used of God, to sing, to speak, to pray; to be used of God to show someone the way. I long so much to feel the touch of His consuming fire; to be used of God is my desire." Is that your desire today? Paul speaking to Timothy about the issue of Christians who were caught up in false teaching and Christians caught up in worldliness, instructs us as believers as to how we can be used of God.

I. God Knows Those Who Are His

A. Within virtually every local congregation there exists a mixture of professed believers and true believers. In Matthew 13Christ referred to this mixture as a mixture of wheat and tares. There are those who will become members of a local congregation who have a show of religion, a form of godliness, an appearance of grace, but are devoid of the saving grace of God. They at first look like wheat, like true believers, but their true character and spiritual condition will be revealed at the end of the ages when they stand in judgment before the Great White Throne.

B. 2 Timothy 2:19a " Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: "The Lord knows those who are His."

C. Salvation does not begin with man; it begins with God. He planned it and He executed it. “He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world”."

D. God knows us better than we know ourselves.

E. Psalm 139:1-4 " You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether."

F. Writing over 100 years ago, the great London preacher Charles Spurgeon used a powerful word to describe God’s knowledge of our hearts. He said that everything in the heart is “transparent” to God. Nothing is hidden, everything is clearly seen. - His Eye is On The Sparrow: The Doctrine of God's Omniscience, KeepBelieving.com

G. God knows us because He created us. The story is told of a young man a number of years ago who bought himself an old, old Model A Ford. The Model A's were almost the first Fords that Henry Ford ever made. The young man was driving one night on an Indiana toll road, and right in the middle of what seemed to be nowhere, the car broke down and that old Ford wouldn't run. He was trying to fix it and he was all greasy, was in the motor and the thing just wouldn't start. This kid was getting really uptight.

Suddenly, a Lincoln Continental limousine came by, parked right in front of him, and a gentleman dressed up in tails and black tie -- obviously coming from or going to a party -- stepped out. The man walked up to the young fellow who was enmeshed in the motor and said, "What happened to your car?" The teenager was upset and he said, "Well, can't you see? I can't get the thing started!" The old gentleman, with his nails all made up and looking first class, said, "You want me to help you? Maybe I can help you start the car." The kid looked at him, saw him looking so classy, and thought, "What does he know about mechanics?" He said, "No thanks, I'll fix it myself." The old man just stood there watching him and after awhile the fellow couldn't start it and the old gentleman said, "Let me give it a shot, maybe I can get it started." The young man, in frustration, said, "Alright! If you can do it, do it." The gentleman said, "Okay. You get inside the car, turn the key and wait a second." He put his hands inside the motor, touched a cable or two, and -- because it was the old, crank motor -- went and turned the crank twice and the thing started up! The young fellow jumped out of the Ford, went to the gentleman and said, "Who are you? How did you get this thing going?" The old gentleman said, "I'm Henry Ford, boy. I invented this car and the moment I saw you in the motor, I knew exactly what was wrong." You know, in the same way, God is our Henry Ford. He made me, He made you and God knows exactly what's wrong with us. If today you are seated there and you feel things are not clicking in your life, you feel like the cables aren't plugged in together, you feel the motor of your life isn't working and you say to yourself, "My God what's happened to me? Why is it all falling apart?" You need to come God through Jesus Christ. He made you. He created you. He put the cables together in your soul. He knows how to put you back together again. The Bible teaches that God says in the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you and before you were born I separated you." In other words, Jesus Christ is relevant for you right now where you are. He knows what your problems are, He knows what cables aren't in touch and He knows exactly what you need to do if you are really going to start working again like you should.