God is seeking useful vessels to reinforce His work, by Pastor Samuel Obafaiye
Our God is Almighty and All powerful. There is nothing He can’t do (Jer. 32:27; Lk. 1:37).
Jeremiah 32:27 – Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?
Luke 1:37 – For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Interestingly, for God to achieve His aim, He can use anybody or anything. E.g. donkey, ravens, He even said He could even use stones.
However, the greatest vessels God love to use aside His holy angels is Mankind.
Psalms 115:16 – The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.
So that God expects us to carry out exemplary work for Him while we yet live.
Romans 8:18-19 – For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Some sons of God are not manifesting because they shy away from the suffering of this present time. Working for God is a sacrifice, it is not easy, and it is very challenging. It is however eternally rewarding and glorious.
What are the works of God?
– To reconcile Man back to Himself
– To destroy the works of the Enemy
In order to do these, God aim at:
– Declaring His will and assisting hearers to obey
– Spreading the gospel to the ends of the Earth
– Equipping the saints to live a successful Christian life.
These are some structures with which God is seeking useful vessels to reinforce His work. The question is which aspect of this structure do we function? Can we beat our chest to say that we are useful vessel in the hand of God in any of these areas?
Jesus Christ and His disciples did spread the gospel in their days. The Holy Ghost assisted the later disciples to continue the spread of the good news. In our days, the Holy Ghost is counting on us to do the same. We need to render ourselves as useful instruments to be used.
God is All Sovereign. He atimes chose to declare His sovereignty through us.
In Ex. 17: 8-13, the children of Israel were in combat against the Amalekites. With fewer swords, their victory was to come from God. The way God had designed it is by Moses lifting up his rod. So as Joshua was physically fighting on the ground, Moses was raising his hand up on the mount. Whenever Moses hands stay up, the Israelites prevailed, and whenever Moses hands come down, Amalekites prevailed.
But how can a man lift up his hands all day? Aaron and Hur devised a means of making Moses comfortable so his hands could stay up till evening and victory was achieved.
Many Christian are ignorant of the fact that when the hands of their leader is up it generates a collective victory. They assume the lifted hands is just for the leader alone.
God is seeking men like Aaron and Hur who are able to discern when the hands of their leader needs to remain up and steady and so act accordingly.
Though there are different biblical explanations for the age of Hur, Aaron on the other hand was three years older than Moses and born of the same parents. He and Hur were standing to hold up Moses hands all day!
God is seeking elders who will put age and seniority aside and just make themselves useful for God. Not elders that will only stand and say “why can’t Moses keep his hands up?” Or gossip to one another and say, “can you imagine Moses can’t even keep his hands up”. Meanwhile they are suffering collective defeat.
In Acts 6:1-8, the bible says as the work of God progress in Jerusalem, the pressure became enormous for the 11 Apostles to the extent that they didn’t realise that some sections of the church were being left out of provision. So seven vessels were selected from amongst the people to oversee that aspect of the ministry.
God is seeking men who are of good report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom that will assist in moving forward with His work. People that may be behind the scene, but yet crucial to the smooth running of His work. Five of the people chosen were not popular, but they did their job, as no such complain was recorded again.
At times, God might even desire to show His power through unusual vessel that is available. In Judges 4:4-9, God wanted to deliver Sisera the captain of Canaan into Barak’s hands, but he was not willing. He said he would not go to the war God asked him to fight except that prophetess Deborah would go with him. Deborah then told him that the honour from the war will go to a woman.
God made use of a woman called Jael who made herself available for the job and therefore earned the honour (Judges 5:23-27).
Our women are not to be left behind in the reinforcement work God is planning to do. God is counting on you. Our women must be very active and zealous for The Lord.
God can use teenagers to bring glory to His name. In I Sam. 17: 1- , the Philistines were terrorising the Israelites and defying the Armies of The Lord. All the soldiers and adults were full of fear. It was a teenager called David that God used to bring glory and honour to His name.
I challenge our teenagers that you don’t have to be an adult yet to be useful for The Lord. You can be zealous like David. Demonstrate willingness and passion towards the service of God and you will be promoted like David in Jesus name.
When God could not find an adult or youth, He can make use of even children. God had promised Aaron that He will always make use of his descendants as the High Priest in Israel. During Eli’s time however, his two sons were not in a state to occupy such a position. God had to make use of a child in their stead.
It is my prayer that our children will be used of God mightily. But it shall not be because of our inactive; rather it will be to reinforce what we are doing.
So God can use elders, men, women, youth, teenagers and children, if they make themselves available. Which category do you belong? Are you going to be useful for God?
Criteria to be useful for God
– Be sanctified (Daniel & friends) Dan. 1:8
– Be willing and determined (Mary) Luke 1:38
– Be prayerful (David) Ps 57:5; 119:64
– Don’t procrastinate (Parable of the Supper) Luke 14: 15-20
Prayers
Almighty Father, hold every part of my life and family very securely.
Almighty Father, provide additional strength and support for my life and household.
Almighty Father, let every part of my household fulfil their purpose.
Almighty Father, fortify and sealed up any fault line or weakness that might have appeared in my destiny or home.
Almighty Father, help me and my family to bear the pressures we are carrying
Almighty Father, reinforce my destiny and home for the task ahead of us in Jesus name.
The Sermon, God is seeking useful vessels to reinforce His work, by Pastor Samuel Obafaiye, was delivered on November 30th 2014.