A0346_More Than You
Date: 18th November 2007 (Sunday PM) Ref: A0346
Place: Kambah P.S.
Title: More than You
Text: & 2 Peter 3:9
Illust: A great time, in Zim & Malawi – saw numbers of people make decisions for Jesus. – many people healed.- Challenge is to believe that we could see the same here, souls saved, people healed. – An outflow of the power of God. ~ Why don’t we see this?
I. Heart’s Desire
A. God’s Heart
i. Firstly we need to see from our text that God’s heart, His desire, His passion is that people would repent & be saved. This is His consuming passion.
1 Timothy 2:4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (NKJV)
ii. God looks down on the sin of the world, on the billions of souls carelessly, trudging along the wide road to hell & He grieves. His heart is for the lost – He has done everything necessary to purchase their salvation. – & John 3:16
iii. The heart of God is for the Lost. Think about it this is the essence of the Commission, the task that Jesus left us to fulfil. – Preach the Gospel. – Reach the lost for whom He died. This is His heart.
B. Our Heart
i. What is your heart, is it for the salvation of the lost? – Is it for your own pleasure / desires / plans / purposes / fulfilment / agendas? – What is the desire of your heart.
ii. Does your heart burn with compassion for the lost. Do you grieve over the eternal fate of souls that do not know Jesus? – Do you have a consuming passion for the lost? – Truth be told many don’t – Too caught up in the things of this world our own agendas’ – No fire, no passion for the lost
iii. Should we be this way, obviously not. – In light of eternity, in light of the sacrifice that Jesus paid on the cross. We should have a passion for the lost. – This is the biggest problem faced by the church today. – By & large consumed by self.
II. God’s Power
A. Can God?
i. Can God do anything? – Yes, He is omnipotent (all powerful), He is El Shaddai (almighty God)
Jeremiah 32:17 ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You. (NKJV)
ii. Thinks about the creation, the vast majesty of space, the diverse beauty of the oceans, the intricate web of life on earth; from the rainforest to the deserts and the polar ice caps – All of this created by His spoken word. - The more we know, the less we know
Isaiah 40:12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance? (NKJV)
Isaiah 40:22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. (NKJV)
iii. Our God. The all powerful, amazing God for whom nothing is impossible.
Psalm 65:6-7 6 Who established the mountains by His strength, Being clothed with power; 7 You who still the noise of the seas, The noise of their waves, And the tumult of the peoples. (NKJV)
Luke 1:37 For with God nothing will be impossible.” (NKJV)
B. Will God?
i. The answer has to be – “Absolutely” – We need to settle in our hearts that God desires this church to grow, for your family member, neighbour, work colleague, friend to be saved more than you do.
ii. God delights in showing Himself strong on behalf of those who will wait on Him, - Who will cry out to Him, seek Him, believe Him.
Isaiah 64:4 For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him. (NKJV)
iii. When God moves / acts on your behalf, nothing can stop Him.
Isaiah 14:27 For the Lord of hosts has purposed, And who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, And who will turn it back?” (NKJV)
III. Our Part
A. Pray
i. What then is our part – Firstly to pray: - Seek Him, pray for “Thy will to be done” ~ & we have already seen that His will is for all men to be saved. – Pray for salvation of the lost.
Pray for your unsaved loved ones – family / friends / city / nation / nations of the world
1 Timothy 2:1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, (NKJV)
Ephesians 6:18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—(NKJV)
ii. Pray for the Supernatural to be at work in you life, the gifts of the Spirit. – Who here would get a gift for someone & not want to give it to them? – Alternatively How would you feel if you did have a gift for someone, you tell them you have a gift & they say “ummm that’s nice” with a distracted air & go off & do something else. They never ask you for the gift, ignore your offer – You would be hurt – Never happen with a child – pester you until they get it.
Maybe we need some more childlike faith when it comes to receiving the Gifts of the Spirit.
Earnestly desire – pray / seek the gifts of the Spirit.
B. Walk in Faith
i. Secondly we need to step out in faith and believe God. The Christian life is a life of faith, to believe what you don’t yet see.
2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. (NKJV)
ii. That means we take God at His word, we believe that He can save, heal & deliver and that He is going to do that & He is going to do it here!
Isaiah 59:1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. (NKJV)
iii. You will step out in faith & witness, outreach, be involved in services / revivals coming out with an expectant heart to see what God is going to do.
iv. Key word is expectancy, God speak to me, draw in the lost the backslidden – believe that He will.