I've always asked myself the following question.
Why is it that some men are so
different from other men regarding their usefulness to
God?
What is it that makes George Whitefield or
DL Moody stand out?
What do these men have that others do
not?
We all have the same Bible.
We serve the same God.
What's the distinguishing factor in the man God
uses?
Why are some given deeper usefulness and wider
influence over others in their generation?
How did they get there?
Why is there only a handful of these
mighty men in each generation that stand head
and shoulders above the adequate or merely commonplace?
I was reading the diary of John Song
and in it he expressed the same desire
that he had recognized in men in former
generations.
He wrote one time in his diary, in
desperation, he wrote, Lord, I don't want to
live unless you give me the same spirit
of a Finney and a Moody.
Well eventually John Song joined the ranks of
Finney and Moody as God used him to
shake all of China in powerful revival.
But how did he get there?
Well that's our subject today, friends.
Perhaps there are some of you who long
for more in the Christian life.
You hunger for wider influence for God and
deeper usefulness to Him, but you don't know
how to get there.
Wouldn't it be wonderful, friend, if you could
have your heart's desire to be a mighty
weapon in the hands of a holy God?
Well I believe God is looking for someone
today that He can depend on.
God is not looking for outstanding men, but
dependable men.
Adrian Rogers shared with me about the time
he was preaching in Romania shortly after God
brought spiritual revival to that nation which had
just been liberated from a cruel communist government.
One of the leaders of that revival was
a Romanian pastor who had been beaten and
imprisoned for his faith.
This man's name was Joseph Tyson.
One day Adrian Rogers was riding in a
car with Joseph and he asked him to
describe the difference between American Christians and Romanian
Christians.
At first the man was reluctant.
Finally, he answered, Well Adrian, since you asked
me, the key word in American Christianity is
the word commitment.
When you make a commitment, you are still
in control.
One can commit to pray, commit to study
the Bible, even to witness whatever he chooses
to do, he commits to.
Americans love commitment because they are still in
control.
The main difference between an American Christian and
a Romanian Christian is the word surrender.
If you hold a gun on someone and
ask them to lift their hands in the
air as a token of surrender, you don't
tell that person what you're committed to.
You simply surrender and do as you're told.
For a believer, nothing can take the place
of absolute surrender to the Lord Jesus.
Well I agree with that assessment friends.
I believe a pastor cannot lead his congregation
with any true authority and power without being
fully surrendered to the Lordship of Christ.
And I also believe that God will not
use someone in the capacity he wants to
use them in until they are fully yielded
to his will.
This is where the rubber meets the road.
Are you committed or are you surrendered?
Are you still in control?
Are you willing to give up that control
to the Lord Jesus?
Well I want to issue a challenge to
you friend.
How badly do you want further usefulness to
God?
Are you sick and tired of making vows
to God that you can't keep?
Are you ready to lift your hands in
the air to surrender yourself entirely to God
holding nothing back?
Christ gave his all on Calvary holding nothing
back.
It's time to give it all to him.
Get along with God today friend and settle
this matter once and for all.
You can have as much of the spirit
that you want so long as he can
have as much of you as he wants.
But for this to occur there must be
a surrender to a living Lord.
Let us pray.