The Power of One (2)

Introduction

Well, good morning! Listen, its such a great privilege being with you guys this week. Thank you, Pastor Gomez, for trusting me in your pulpit…thank you for trusting me with God’s Word. I know its such a great responsibly to steward this gift us as pastors.

Listen, let’s do this…before we jump into God’s Word, let’s go to Him in prayer. And listen, as we do that, there’s two specific things I want you to pray for this morning.First, I want you to pray that God would show up…I want you to pray that He would allow us to feel His Spirit this afternoon and that He would move in a way that only He can. And second, I want you to pray that God would begin to place someone on your heart, even now, that you can begin to reach for His kingdom. Y’all good with that?…Alright, let’s do it.

[Prayer]

Listen, I’m excited to be you guys with today…to share just a little of what God’s put my heart for you. I know when I talked with Pastor Gomez last on Zoom, we talked a little about what we’d be doing this week and I’ve just been praying, what Word does the Lord have for you this morning. And listen, I’ve talked about this with my church family before…I wanna talk to you about the power of one…the value of one life.

When we think about the value we place in the number one…if we’re honest, it’s really not a lot, right? Listen, our whole lives we’ve been programmed to think this way. I mean how much is one Lempira really worth? How successful can one player on a soccer team really be? We teach you the importance of coming together with the body and using your gifts inside the church, I mean how significant are you really when it comes to you as an individual? And, please listen to me…You need to come together and you need to come alongside a church. You need to use the gift God’s given you in the context of the church but just because there’s power in us together, it doesn’t minimize the power you have as one individual believer. The same Spirit that created everything we see, the same Spirit that rose dead men from the grave, the same Spirit that performed all these miracles we read about, that Spirit lives within each of us as believers. Listen, before I can challenge you in reaching one person in your life, which is what I really wanna encourage you to do this morning….I have to first show you just how significant you are as a singular person. God chose you to be His, He chose to use you to work in you and through…He chose you, as an individual believer, as one person…I need to show you just how impactful you can be in His kingdom, through His power. In fact, He chose you with a purpose, right? And He chose you to do something that He created only you to accomplish. There’s value in your life. There’s value in you alone. God sees you and He’s called you to make an impact. And you can do that wherever you go! But until you begin the see the significance of your own life…in what God’s doing…how He wants to use you…you’ll never see the value in that one person you and you alone have the ability to reach. Listen to me, if you’re willing, God will use your one life, He will use you as a singular person…all for His glory…to do mighty things for His kingdom. I mean just imagine, what if every single person in this room, this morning, recognized their significance in Jesus? What if, because of that, they went out and reached only ONE person? How might that change begin to impact our world for the gospel? How might Jesus begin to use the life of one person?

You know, time in time again, when we turn to His Word, we see this power of one all throughout Scripture. Let’s check out some of these stories together.

1.) God Uses the Available

If you have your Bibles, and I hope that you do…turn with me to the Gospel of John…John chapter six. I wanna look at a story you’re all most definitely familiar with and look at how, even in His miracles, Jesus used one person to make a difference; one life, to reveal His glory.

If you’re familiar with the story, chapter six, it begins with Jesus crossing over the Sea of Galilee and there’s this huge crowd following Him because they’ve seen Him perform all these miracles and they all want something from Him at this point. And so, it’s also near Passover and of course this festival time and so Jesus asks a simple question to His disciples, “What are we going to feed them all?” “Like, there’s thousands of people, what are they gonna eat?” Now, of course He knows the answer to this question before He ever asks it, even the text shows us that here, but check out His disciples’ response, starting in verse 8.

It says, “8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish—but what are they for so many? “10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place; so they sat down. The men numbered about five thousand.” Anyways, it says, “11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks he distributed them to those who were seated—so also with the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 When they were full,” (I love this word, FULL. Jesus didn’t just take care of their needs, He completely satisfied them.) It says, “he told his disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.”

Now keep in mind that most likely this number, its only accounting for the men present. This was just one of those cultural things of the day where men were the only one’s accounted for. There were most certainly women and children in attendance as well, so this figure, it was most likely closer to around 10 to 15,000 people. And notice, it also says, that Jesus didn’t just care for their needs…He completely satisfied them…He provided enough food until they were full.

But listen to me for a minute, there’s a ton here that we could dive into and discuss but what I want you to focus on is the boy used here in verse nine. What we see here in this story is Jesus ask a simple question, “How will we feed all these people?” But why? Like, why does Jesus ask this question, especially if He already knows the answer? You know, when we study the lives of His disciples, we see that they had a similar problem to us. They too thought that how Jesus uses them was based on their own abilities.

But check this out, Jesus asks this question in the text to show them that no one actually has the ability to do what He was asking. No one was going to miraculously feed these thousands of people and no one actually had the means to do so. But this boy, in the story, is important because its his example that shows us that it has nothing to do with our ability but everything to do with our availability. Listen, Jesus uses those who make themselves available.

When we read this story, there’s really nothing special about this boy. In fact, oftentimes, we just kinda overlook that small detail right? But take this boy out of the picture and how does this story change? One boy, one life impacted God’s kingdom in such a way that we’re still reading about it today. Is there value in one life? Absolutely!

What’s this teach us about being used by God? He will use us if we open ourselves up to Him, if we make ourselves available. That’s the key. Will you make yourself available to Him to do miraculous things in you and through you? You may only be one person, but through you, God can do big things when you say, “Here I am, send me!” “Here I am, use me!” You may not have much to offer, just like this boy, but God can take it, when you make yourself available and He can multiply it. There is power in one!

2.) God Uses the Bold

Flip over with me to the Old Testament, to the book of Daniel, chapter six. Daniel, its one of my favorite books of the Bible, there’s just so much that we can learn from the life of Daniel and his friends but this morning what I wanna show you is how God used one man to impact His nation. When we think of Daniel, so many characteristics come to mind but, for me, it was Daniel’s boldness that really stood out the most. Daniel was known for standing firm in his faith and on his beliefs.

You guys know the story of the lions den where Daniel’s thrown into this pit after he refuses to stop praying to His God after this order is signed into law by the king. Listen, Daniel was so respected in his position by the king…because of the things that God had done through him prior to these events. So much so, it caused those in other leadership positions to manipulate the king in such a way that got Daniel thrown into this pit of lions.

If you’re there with me in chapter 6, I just want you to write it down and read it later…verses 15 through 21. The other leaders, they convince the king to sign the law…Daniel doesn’t stop praying and the king’s forced to throw Daniel into the lion’s den as a consequence, right? These guys, they tricked the king…they manipulated him and basically gave him no choice. And it says that after they threw Daniel in, they covered the entrance with a stone. I mean, if the lion’s weren’t enough to do the job, I guess they wanted to make sure he couldn’t get out. But guys, it was Daniel’s boldness here that caused them to go to these extremes…Daniel’s boldness caused them to begin questioning, “Maybe this God is real! Maybe He does exist!”

Also, keep in mind, Daniel, at this point in his life, he’s most likely in his 70’s or 80’s. I mean, why cover the hole with a stone for an old man being thrown into a den filled with lions? And then to top it all off, the king himself, seals the stone placed over the hole with his own seal. Meaning, one else, but the king, could move the stone even if they wanted to. That’s a lot of effort to go through for someone who serves a God that doesn’t exist, right? It’s a lot enough to go through for a 70 or 80 year old man. Anyways, the rest of the story, the king couldn’t sleep that night. So the king gets up the next morning, runs to the pit where his friend is and yells out (with hope I might add, that he’s still alive, still alive in a pit filled with lions); he yells out, “Daniel, are you there!” Guys, it’s been hours at this point but when we read this text, this guy really believes (before Daniel ever says anything) that he’s still alive. Why? Listen, because Daniel, throughout his life has been a testament of God’s glory. Time and time again, Daniel stood firm on his convictions and his beliefs.

In chapter one, Daniel wouldn’t be defiled by the kings food. In chapter two, Daniel confronts the king about his dreams and gives him one the toughest interpretations to give, one that depicted the demise of the Babylonian empire and King Nebuchadnezzar. In chapter three, we don’t see Daniel but we do see his friends, friends he most definitely influenced, we see them stand when the king commanded them to bow to an idol. They stand firm all the way to the fire. We see this boldness with Daniel over and over and over again…and through this, we see God do mighty things even during a time in Israel’s history where disobedience labeled their walk with God.

And listen, at surface level it may not seem like Daniel did much through his boldness in this account but when we study the history of Israel, it was soon after, the Israelites would be allowed to return to Israel. We see, in this story, how Daniel’s boldness caused the king to honor God by sending out a decree to “ALL the people of the world, from every nation and every tongue, to declare that God is a living god and that He endures forever. The king says, “His kingdom will never be destroyed and that his dominion has no end.” Listen, Daniel’s boldness, it caused the gospel message to reach the ends of the earth. God used one man, one life, to advance His message to the world.

Listen, Daniel wasn’t some miraculous man. He didn’t possess some crazy ability to do things we can’t. What separated Daniel from everyone else was his decision to be bold in the face of adversity. He decided early on that he would not defile His God and that He would follow Him no matter the costs or consequences. People around him, his friends, his king, his fellow citizens, they all recognized him because he was bold. They recognized him because of his choice to boldly serve his God.

Listen church, if you’ve been impacted by the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you’ve received Him into your heart. You were called to reach people…You wanna know why it seems like we’re failing in the church when it comes to advancing the gospel? The reality is, we’re not bold. We’re afraid of what our friends might think. We’re afraid of losing someone close to us. We’re afraid what it might do to our reputation. We’re afraid of that lion’s den in our life, so to speak. Listen, you might see insignificance in your life but God sees value. God wants to use you in ways you could never dream of but you have to be willing to take a step. You have to be willing to stand even when it’s hard, even when it seems like the whole world’s out to get you.

Daniel was a nobody, a Hebrew slave, a boy that was trained to serve the king of Babylon. He was one person. Daniel didn’t have any influence. He didn’t have any power. Daniel just believed in God and trusted in God’s promises. Listen, Jesus’ promise to us was that He would be with us. But He gives us that promise on the heels of His command to go into all the earth and what? Make disciples of all nations. How do we see Jesus do that? One person at a time. One life at a time.

3.) God Uses the Faithful

Flip over with me to the book of Genesis.

What about Noah? Noah and the Ark…it’s such a popular story but we forget that it was one man that God chose to use. When we pick this story up in Genesis chapter 6, God sees that the whole world has become corrupt. So because of this evil, God decides to put an end to “all flesh” and chooses to do this by flooding the earth. But it says that there’s one, one man that’s righteous before God. So what God does is He instructs Noah to build this massive boat that will allow him and his family, along with two kinds of every creature, to survive this flood. You guys know how it goes….and in verse 22, it says this, “22 And Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded him.”

Now I know what you’re thinking….”Like what’s this got to do with what we’re talking about this afternoon?” but check this out, when God commanded Noah to build this boat, Noah was mocked by others around him because what most scholars believe is that they had never seen rain up until this point. So when Noah goes out and tell’s his friends, “Hey, there’s this flood coming, you need to get ready,” they all think this fool’s crazy, right? But look at verse 22 again…It says, “He did everything that God had commanded him” regardless of what others said, regardless if it didn’t make sense to him. Noah was faithful to the Lord’s instructions. Listen, even when things didn’t make sense, even when Noah had no one to turn to, even when it felt like he was all alone, Noah was faithful. He believed that God would fulfill His promises. He believed God would do something even he had never seen before. He believed the rain was coming and so he was faithful to God’s command.

Let me ask you something, has God ever asked you to do something you didn’t understand? Has He asked you to do something that was hard? Or maybe something that you haven’t experienced yet? You know, many times, God calls us to do things that really require us to have some faith, right? Things that we can’t really accomplish on our own. Listen, when He commands us to go out and make disciples of all nations, when He tells us to go out and share the gospel in Matthew 28, that’s exactly why He also says He’ll be with us.

Listen, pouring yourself into another person, sharing the gospel with someone else, it’s not easy. I’m not going to pretend it is. I’m as introverted as it comes, it’s hard for me too.

Listen, there was this time when me and Pastor Johnny, we were going out, door to door, evangelizing. We pull into this house and we’re both arguing about who’s gonna take this one. And so finally I agree, “Hey, I’ll do it”, and we walk to the door, and I say, “Hey, I’m Pastor Steven and I’m with Central Baptist Church. And this is Pastor Johnny and he’s got a few things he’ll like to talk to you about.” Listen, you guys should have seen his face…he was so upset. Needless to say, he never chose to go with me again. But here’s my point, it’s hard. It can be scary sometimes…but when we have faith, when we understand that ultimately it’s God that does the hard work, He uses us in mighty ways; ways we could’ve never dreamed of before.

Listen, it’s when we make ourselves available. It’s when we’re willing to be bold in situations where all the eyes are on us. It’s when, no matter what, we decide we’re going to trust in God’s promises. It’s during those moments, God takes one person, one life and He does miraculous things.

3.) God’s Uses the Obedient

You know, when I think of one person and the value we see God place on one life, I can’t help but to think of Jesus. Romans 5, 18 and 19, it say this, “18 So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is justification leading to life for everyone. 19 For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”

Listen, Paul says that through one man, sin entered the world. Scripture teaches us that evil dwells within the heart of every man and that it was one man that caused this divide, this separation we experience with God. But praise God…that through one man, many, those who call upon His name, those who call upon the name of Jesus, they’re restored.

In our darkness moments, Jesus stepped into this world to become the very thing that rejected Him. Jesus stepped off His throne of comfort and peace and glory and righteousness to become the low of the lowest among men. He stepped into this world to become rejected and ridiculed. He came to experience the very things that tear us down and break us apart. He came to us because of His desire for us. Because of Jesus, one man, one life, because of the life He lived and the death He died, we can be restored to Him and be made clean through His blood. You see Jesus’ death wasn’t just any death. Jesus’ death paid the penalty of every evil act that has ever been committed by me or you. And listen, it wasn’t the Jews that sent Jesus to the cross. It wasn’t the Romans that drove the nails into His hands and feet. Guys, it was you. It was me. It was because of us that Jesus had to come. Because even before we ever seen Him, He was there and He saw us. He saw our struggles. He saw our pain. He saw our hopelessness. And in that moment, He knew that on our own, without Him bridging the gap, we were out of His reach. So He came to us. And when He came, He cared for our greatest need. And to experience this He said all we have to do is look up and see Him and turn to Him.

You see, it was through one Man’s obedience to the Father that we’re able to experience this restoration. From the moment Jesus entered this world, every step of His life was an act of obedience. He knew the end to His ministry and the death He’d have to experience long before He ever came, but yet He still came. He carried out the Father’s will fully and completely.

And you might say, “But yea it was Jesus. It’s easy for Jesus to follow the Father’s will.”….Okay, go read the accounts of Jesus in the garden the night before He was arrested. There was some anxiety there. He even asked the Father to take this cup of suffering away from Him. But listen, in the end, He was obedient to the Father’s will because His plan was so much more important and Jesus trusted fully in the Father and His plan.

Danny Akin, president at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary said this, “Last words are meant to be lasting words, and that means that Jesus’ final command is our first priority: ‘Go and make disciples of all nations.”

Those individuals that we read about in Scripture, that were used by God to do mighty things, those guys were obedient to everything God commanded them to do. How might our life be significant? How might we ‘live a life that matters’ everywhere we go? We have to go back to the final commands we’ve been given…we go out and we make disciples.

Closing

Listen to me guys! Your life, it matters to God. You, as an individual, you’re important, and God has a plan to use you in ways that you could never imagine. But, listen, you have to be willing to be available. You have to be willing to stand bold when no one else around you can. You have to be willing to have faith when nothing God asks you to do makes sense. Guys, you have to be obedient even when God asks you to do things that seem hard. When you do those things, when you open yourself up to God, your life is powerful because there’s a Spirit that dwells within you that can’t be stopped. There’s a Spirit that’ll do things in you and through you that are unimaginable. Listen, there’s power in one life and God can use you to impact His kingdom.

But check this out, if there’s power in your life through Jesus, how might He use that one person in your life right now that you have the ability to reach? Listen to me, there are people that only you have influence over. There are people in your life that only trust you. There are people that God has strategically placed around you that He’s called you to impact with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Guys, what I’m asking you to do right now is focus on just one of those people. All I’m asking you to do is to intentionally seek out that person…build a relationship with them, love on them, show them through your life how Jesus cares for them, pray for them. Pray that God would give you opportunities to share with them. Pray that God would tear down the barriers to their heart so that they might accept the gospel. Guys, I’m just asking you to impact the life of one person. That’s it, one life. If everyone in this room this morning committed to one person, can you imagine how we might impact God’s kingdom?

Let’s do this, can you bow your head and close your eyes with me for just a moment?

What I want you to do is ask God to reveal one person in your life, right now, that you have the ability to impact. You take a minute to do that. And listen, when God reveals that to you, here’s what I want you to do…I want you, where you’re at, I want you to write on a piece of paper or put in your phone or whatever and write down that name. And what I want you to do is I want you to save it. Can you do that with me? Can you commit, in front of God and in front of your fellow believers here this afternoon, to intentionally reach one person in your life? Listen, can you do that? I’m gonna pray and I want you to be serious about that one person God’s putting on your heart. Will you make yourself available…will you stand boldly…will you be faithful and obedient to Jesus as He leads you and guides you?

Let’s pray!

[Prayer]