God Uses Ordinary People
The Bible says in I Corinthians 1:27-31 “but God has chosen the foolish things of the
world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to
confound the things which are mighty. And base things of the world, and things which
are despised, has God chosen, yea and things which are not, to bring to naught
things that are. That no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him are you in
Christ Jesus, who of God is made to us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption. That according as it is written, he that glories, let him glory in the
Lord”. God chooses ordinary people for service in His kingdom. Paul is declaring that
no amount of human knowledge can replace or bypass Christ’s work on the cross.
Skill and wisdom do not get a person into God’s kingdom, simple faith does, so no one
can boast (Ephesians 2:9).
Lets look at some examples:
Moses – in Exodus 4:1-17 God talks to Moses from the burning bush, and
commissioned him to return to Egypt to free His people, and told him, perform this
sign, and they will believe you, the Lord told him, “then they will realize that the Lord
Yahweh, the God of their ancestors – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob, really has appeared to you”. God sometimes takes joy in using
ordinary things fro extraordinary purposes. What are the ordinary things in your life?
While it is easy to assume God can only use special skills, you must not hinder His use
of the everyday contribution you can make. Little did Moses imagine the power of his
simple staff would wield when it became the staff of God.
Gideon – following seven years of cruel oppression by the Midianites, Israel cried out
to the Lord Yahweh for relief. God sent His angel to Gideon. The Angel’s greeting
“the mighty man of valor” (Gideon was threshing wheat secretly for fear of the
Midianites, yet God addresses Gideon in revelation of what God’s mighty power is able
to accomplish in him (Judges 6:14-16) “and the Lord Yahweh looked upon him, and
said, go in this your might, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites
have not I sent you? And he said to Him, oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel?
Behold my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. And
the Lord Yahweh said to him, surely I will be with you, and you shall smite the
Midianites as one man”. Gideon was conscious of his own weakness and the difficult
tasks before him, he was an ideal example of how God works deliverance.
Samson – Samson’s mother had been barren and an angel of the Lord announced to
her that she would have a son who was to be a Nazirite all of his life. She was also
told that he would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines who had controlled them
for 40 years (Judges 13:1-5). Samson made many mistakes and even took God for
granted, that the power was his and he didn’t know when the Lord left him, however at
the end of his life he cried out to the Lord Yahweh and God used him, at his request
he asked the Lord for strength and pushed against the pillars of the temple of their
god Dagon as they mocked him, and some 3000 people was killed as the entire
building collapsed. Samson died with the Philistines as he requested, but he killed
more Philistines in this final act than he had previously (Judge 16:1-20).
Paul – even though in ignorance he persecuted the church. God called “him to be a
vessel to Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of
Israel (Acts 9:15). His dramatic conversion from a zealous enemy of Christians to a
tireless advocate of the gospel ranks as one of the most dramatic stories in scripture.
The transformation of this zealous persecutor of Jesus Christ into the chief advocate
of the gospel (I Timothy 1:12-16) “and I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled
me, for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Who was before a
blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious, but I obtained mercy, because I did it
ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith
and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to same sinners, of whom I am
chief. However for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might
show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on
Him to life everlasting”.
What we consider ordinary, God puts to good use. Jesus selected “ordinary” men with
a mixture of back grounds and personalities to be His disciples. And He still is. We
are all ordinary people, God has a plan for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11). We have to
surrender, in other words “let go and let God” Paul says in Philippians 1:6 “being
confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in you, will perform it
until the day of Jesus Christ”. God is looking for ordinary people who will be willing to
be used (Ezekiel 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”. On the other hand we see that Phinehas was accounted righteous
because he stood in the gap and turned the wrath of God away from the children of
Israel (Numbers 25:11-13). Let’s consider what we can do.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: November 23, 2007
The Bible says in I Corinthians 1:27-31 “but God has chosen the foolish things of the
world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to
confound the things which are mighty. And base things of the world, and things which
are despised, has God chosen, yea and things which are not, to bring to naught
things that are. That no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him are you in
Christ Jesus, who of God is made to us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption. That according as it is written, he that glories, let him glory in the
Lord”. God chooses ordinary people for service in His kingdom. Paul is declaring that
no amount of human knowledge can replace or bypass Christ’s work on the cross.
Skill and wisdom do not get a person into God’s kingdom, simple faith does, so no one
can boast (Ephesians 2:9).
Lets look at some examples:
Moses – in Exodus 4:1-17 God talks to Moses from the burning bush, and
commissioned him to return to Egypt to free His people, and told him, perform this
sign, and they will believe you, the Lord told him, “then they will realize that the Lord
Yahweh, the God of their ancestors – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob, really has appeared to you”. God sometimes takes joy in using
ordinary things fro extraordinary purposes. What are the ordinary things in your life?
While it is easy to assume God can only use special skills, you must not hinder His use
of the everyday contribution you can make. Little did Moses imagine the power of his
simple staff would wield when it became the staff of God.
Gideon – following seven years of cruel oppression by the Midianites, Israel cried out
to the Lord Yahweh for relief. God sent His angel to Gideon. The Angel’s greeting
“the mighty man of valor” (Gideon was threshing wheat secretly for fear of the
Midianites, yet God addresses Gideon in revelation of what God’s mighty power is able
to accomplish in him (Judges 6:14-16) “and the Lord Yahweh looked upon him, and
said, go in this your might, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites
have not I sent you? And he said to Him, oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel?
Behold my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. And
the Lord Yahweh said to him, surely I will be with you, and you shall smite the
Midianites as one man”. Gideon was conscious of his own weakness and the difficult
tasks before him, he was an ideal example of how God works deliverance.
Samson – Samson’s mother had been barren and an angel of the Lord announced to
her that she would have a son who was to be a Nazirite all of his life. She was also
told that he would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines who had controlled them
for 40 years (Judges 13:1-5). Samson made many mistakes and even took God for
granted, that the power was his and he didn’t know when the Lord left him, however at
the end of his life he cried out to the Lord Yahweh and God used him, at his request
he asked the Lord for strength and pushed against the pillars of the temple of their
god Dagon as they mocked him, and some 3000 people was killed as the entire
building collapsed. Samson died with the Philistines as he requested, but he killed
more Philistines in this final act than he had previously (Judge 16:1-20).
Paul – even though in ignorance he persecuted the church. God called “him to be a
vessel to Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of
Israel (Acts 9:15). His dramatic conversion from a zealous enemy of Christians to a
tireless advocate of the gospel ranks as one of the most dramatic stories in scripture.
The transformation of this zealous persecutor of Jesus Christ into the chief advocate
of the gospel (I Timothy 1:12-16) “and I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled
me, for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Who was before a
blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious, but I obtained mercy, because I did it
ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith
and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to same sinners, of whom I am
chief. However for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might
show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on
Him to life everlasting”.
What we consider ordinary, God puts to good use. Jesus selected “ordinary” men with
a mixture of back grounds and personalities to be His disciples. And He still is. We
are all ordinary people, God has a plan for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11). We have to
surrender, in other words “let go and let God” Paul says in Philippians 1:6 “being
confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in you, will perform it
until the day of Jesus Christ”. God is looking for ordinary people who will be willing to
be used (Ezekiel 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”. On the other hand we see that Phinehas was accounted righteous
because he stood in the gap and turned the wrath of God away from the children of
Israel (Numbers 25:11-13). Let’s consider what we can do.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: November 23, 2007
