What Kind of Tool Are You?
Presented for: the Joy Christian Center’s
Men’s Prayer Breakfast 05/30/2009
Here is an uplifting Story I thought you all would like. It comes from The Inspirational Bible.
In the shop of a blacksmith, there are three types of tools.
1) There are tools on the junk pile:
a. outdated,
b. broken,
c. dull,
d. rusty.
They sit in the cobwebbed corner, useless to their master, oblivious to their calling.
2) are tools on the anvil:
a. melted down,
b. molten hot,
c. moldable, changeable.
They lie on the anvil, being shaped by their master, accepting their calling.
3) There are tools of usefulness:
a. sharpened,
b. primed,
c. defined,
d. mobile.
They lie ready in the blacksmith’s tool chest, available to their master, fulfilling their calling.
Some people lie useless:
a. lives broken,
b. talents wasting,
c. fires quenched,
d. dreams dashed.
They are tossed in with the scrap iron, in desperate need of repair, with no notion of purpose.
Others lie on the anvil:
a. hearts open,
b. hungry to change,
c. wounds healing,
d. vision clearing.
They welcome the painful pounding of the blacksmith’s hammer, longing to be rebuilt, begging to be called.
Others lie in their Master’s hands:
a. well-tuned,
b. non-compromising,
c. polished,
d. and productive.
They respond to their Master’s forearm, demanding nothing, surrendering all.
We are all somewhere in the blacksmith’s shop. We are either on the
a. scrap pile,
b. on the anvil,
c. in the Master’s hands,
d. or in His tool chest.
e. (Some of us have been in all three.) …
From the shelves to the workbench, from the water to the fire.…[1]
Scriptural Text: 2 Timothy 2:14-26
Introduction:
From the beginning of Joy Christian Center’s Men’s prayer breakfast, the one main theme has been “The kinds of tools God gives us to live the life he wants for us.” However, instead of talking about the tools God gives us, I would like to take the opportunity and share with you just a few of the “main” tools He uses.
(As this question): Does anyone know what kind of tools God uses?
He uses us right? We are the tools He uses to reach others with the Good News of His Grace, Mercy, and Love. He uses us to bring others back to Him.
I would like to share with you only three of the tools He has used in the past and today to help us see that we can be the tools that are ready, willing and able to be the new, repaired and remade tools that He will use ‘if’ we are willing to be used, to reach others for Him.
Two from the Old Testament and one in the New as examples we can fallow.
Body of Message:
I. The First tool we will look at is Enoch.
Enoch is an The Example of what kind of Tool we need to be for the Lord.
a. Enoch was one of the Grandsons of Adam and Eve. From the line of Jared. (Gen.5:18.)
b. Even though the Bible is silent about how Enoch lived we can glean from God’s Word some very valuable information on what kind of a tool he was for God from (Gen. 5:21,22, 24)
i. At the age of 65 years Enoch became the father of the oldest known man to have ever lived, Methuselah who lived 969 years.
ii. Enoch walked with God for 300 years (Gen. 5:22, 24)
We can walk with God to by having a personal relationship with His Son Yeshua (Jesus). (Just as the twelve disciples had done)
iii. Enoch please God (Hebrews 11:5)
We can please God to, remember the Bible spells out for us what God expects or wants from us. (Have someone read Psalm. 51:16-17; 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:22; 1 Pet. 1:22)
iv. Enoch witnessed for God (Jude 14)
We are God’s witnesses; we are commanded by Yeshua to go and be His witnesses of what He has done for us and to share His Good News to all men. (Acts 1: 8; John 1:14)
II. The second tool God used is Noah (Genesis 6:9—9:29)
a. God used him during a time of great wickedness and evil, not unlike today right? (Genesis 6:1-8 11-12)
b. Noah was not perfect he was just like you and me. However, he did have faith in God. (v. 9) from this verse we can see;
i. Noah was a Righteous man, not spotless, innocent, or without sin but he had faith in God this is counted as Righteousness. He was justified by his faith. (Hebrews 11:7)
ii. Noah was a blameless among his people (NIV) NKJV says perfect in his generation
iii. Noah also walked with God, this means he had a personal relationship with God just like Enoch did
We know how God used him to save a remnant of humanity and two of each of the land animals and also the birds as well to replenish the earth.
God, our same God the same One and only used them both all though obedience was this all possible.
Let us look now in the New Testament at one of the best “tools” Yeshua (Jesus) used to spread the Living Word around the World.
III. Simon-Bar-Jona, Peter, or Cephas what ever name use want to call him he as was a real tool of the World. However, after he met the Lord Yeshua and learned from Him, he became a really useful and willing tool of God
a. His life before Yeshua (Jesus) called him
i. A fisherman (Matt. 4:18; Luke 5:1–7; John 21:3)
ii. What are fishermen like in there demeanor?
1. They are very rude, crude, usually have very and bad temper, probably liked to fight, and probably had a very bad nasty vocabulary. Just like many fishermen that you may know.
2. I was much the same way before I came to know the Lord myself.
a. Bad Temper
i. I would snap at a drop of a hat
ii. Hit anyone, no matter whom or what size they were.
iii. Landed in jail a lot for it.
b. Bad Vocabulary
i. I used profanity, cussing, all the time around anyone.
c. Bad thinking
i. I thought that everyone was a fool and a target to be used.
1. I had this motto that was revere of the Golden Rule.
“do unto others before they do it to you”
d. Bad profession
i. Gangbanger, drug dealer, pimp, and scammer.
e. Bad ideas about life
i. I hated everyone equally
ii. Life was just something to get though with as many toys, money, and women as I could get and forget about every one else. Let them fend for themselves just as I did.
iii. When it came to Christians I thought they were all a bunch of hypocritical fools. That was before I found out that the Church is as Jesus said: “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance”
“It is a hospital for sinners, not a country club for saints” My words here. However, just as Peter, his brother, and their partners, had done when they were invited to follow Jesus, so did I.
3. What was Peter’s and his partner’s reaction to Yeshua (Jesus)?
a. Verse 9-10a
b. All kinds of things was probably going on in his head such as:
i. Skeptical
1. Who is this guy who wants me to go fishing in the day time with the Sun’s rays bouncing off the lake? Doesn’t he know that the rays scare the fish?
2. Peter’s response: verse :5
ii. Wander
1. This guy may know about spiritual things but he knows nothing about practical things such as fishing
iii. Curious
1. What does he think he can do, call the fish in?
iii. His response to Yeshua (Jesus) after he met Him?
1. Luke 5:8
a. Verse :5
b. One of regret for saying and acting the way he did before
I’m sure that every time, Peter told this particular fish story he felt a little sheepish but he most likely felt:
† Regret.
† Sad.
† Remorse
† But mainly very, very unworthy
I believe though, that Jesus wants to make Himself flexible to us in ways we can understand. How better could He have gotten the attention Peter, a hardened commercial fisherman, than with a record catch of fish in the noon day sun? Peter may have been fascinated or captivated by Jesus’ teaching, but his attention must have been caught, like one of the fish he just caught, by Jesus’ expertise and visible results in a field where Peter was a specialist.[2]
2. Yeshua’s (Jesus) response to him?
a. Verse :10b
i. One of Love
ii. One of Pease
iii. One of change
That is the same way he response to us when we respond to His call (Invitation).
IV. Who is Jesus though?
b. Colossians 1:15 says:
1. He is the image of the invisible God
2. The firstborn over “all creation
3. The Creator of all the Universe
c. Verse 16 & 17 elaborates on this
i. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
ii. For the Son of Man He came to Seek and save those who are lost. (Luke 19:10)
Who are the lost? We all are, because we choose or chose to do are own thing, not wanting to listen or answer to anyone instead of doing what we know to be right?
iii. All of us are the lost that Yeshua came to seek and save.
i. Romans 3:23 says: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
a. The price we would have to pay for this stubborn disobedience is, as the Bible says is death. That goes back
Romans 6:23a says: For the wages of sin is death,
It is amazing to me to think why Paul used a word that is used for a pay a worker. We done not have to work hard at being disobedient, that comes natural to all of us. Are natural self is very selfish, we want are own way from what seems to be at birth. We learn from a very young age that it is all about us. "Are way or no way” as the motto goes. We need to humbly come to Yeshua (Jesus) ask Him for Help to be the tools he wants from us, Just as Peter did.
iv. However, Yeshua (Jesus) did what He did on that Cross because He loved us
ii. “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (verse 23b)
Conclusion:
I’m sure that somewhere you’ll see yourself.…
† The rubbish pile of broken tools,
† the anvil of recasting,
† the hands of the Master—it’s a simultaneously joyful and painful voyage.
And for you who make the journey—who leave the heap and enter the fire, dare to be pounded on God’s anvil, and doggedly seek to discover your own purpose—take courage, for you await the privilege of being called “God’s chosen instruments.”
Remember that Jesus our Messiah (Yeshua HeMeshiach) is going to be returning very soon; as He said in Matthew 24:37 “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man” (NIV) We need to be ready and help as many others as we can to be ready as well. So to have an Idea of what Noah’s days were like, read and study (right down each thing so you remember what it was like back then) Genesis 6:1-3,5-7,11-13. Also pay close attention to how Noah and his sons were tools for God.
We need to be the same kind of tools for God by faith, though Jesus just as Peter, Enoch, and Noah and his sons were.
(Remember the Words of (Jesus) Yeshua as recorded in Matthew 5:1-12)
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
10 lBlessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecu
----
[1]Lucado, M. (1998). Life lessons from the inspired word of God : Books of 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus. Inspirational bible study series (80). Dallas, Tex.:Word Pub.
[2]Larson, B., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1983). Vol. 26: The Preacher's Commentary Series, Volume 26 : Luke. Formerly The Communicator's Commentary. The Preacher's Commentary series (103). Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Inc.
l [2 Cor. 4:17]; 1 Pet. 3:14