“When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” (Matt. 19:25-26) “If I don’t get up and go to work for money, we won’t eat,” but on Sunday morning we like to say that “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19) The apostles told those around them that it was not for them to serve tables, to go to work for money anymore, (Acts 6:2) Mary did the good part. (Luke 10:42)
How much faith does a born-again believer need to know for a fact that God is calling him out of the sheepfold to serve Him only, to no longer serve tables, to no longer serve the world for the money it can provide, to step out of the sheepfold when Christ opens the gate and says “Follow me.” Was it easier for Matthew, a tax collector hated by his own people because of the employment position he took with the Roman government, was it easier for any of the apostles because they got to look into the eyes of Christ. We are to live by faith, faith in the fact that nothing is impossible for God, the unending promises are real, for He is faithful who has promised. So why then since we serve a God for which nothing is impossible, do not all of His sheep leave the sheepfold when the gate is opened and He beckons, why do so many desire the companionship of fellow believers more than going apart with Christ alone.
I mean no offence by this to any of my brothers and sisters in Christ, but the impossible for many of us is transferred to God as also impossible, we limit our Lord to the created, to the limits that He Himself has placed on that creation, in a sense making the Creator subject to His creation. By doing so we limit our thoughts of what is possible for Almighty God to do, which in turn limits our faith in Him, not the position that any Christian should ever take. Again, I mean no offence, but those whose lives are led by such a weak faith will need very little to be deceived, the miracles for them are few and far apart, and will need to be repented in their lives on a regular basis, their faith, their trust in Him is at its greatest when the provisions are supplied, when there is a comfortable bed to sleep in, when life is at ease, but they do not see these minor conveniences as miracles, they will look only with their worldly eyes, and not their spiritual ones.
My friends, it is a miracle that you can breathe, that you have been given life, that He has not only called you but chosen you, but the real miracle is that He has done so but you are not following Him, at least not to the fullest extent that you could. Notice I did not say should, for I do not know the path that He has you on, only the gate that you are heading towards (Matt. 7:14) if you are truly one of His children. On both sides of that path is the world, and those that call to you every day from it, call loud and clear, enticing, cajoling, tempting you to stray, if only for a moment, and their main call to those who are chosen? “Come over here, for if you don’t do this, He won’t do that.” What and for how long was going through the apostle’s minds when they began to converse among themselves about no longer being employed at their trade, about leaving their jobs, as it were, to serve full time in the ministry. Did one of them say, “But how will we eat, how will we provide for our family’s.”
How does a man know when he has been called by God to leave the world behind and begin to serve Him full time, and how do we look at that man who has determined by faith to do so. Unless I am mistaken, the only individuals that just came into your mind are the pastors of churches that you have known, not those tickling the ears of the congregation for the sake of vanity and pride, not those seeking filthy lucre, (Titus 1:7) but those who preach the word of God boldly and in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit of God, those who have been truly called out. But my friends, have not all of the children of God been called to come out of the world, (1 Cor. 7:17) have not all been commanded to trust and obey, to die to self, (Mark 8:35) to go and serve.
I place no burden upon any of my brothers and sisters, that is the Lord God’s place, but are we to presume because those that were blessed to meet the Lord Jesus in person while He was here among us had some sort of advantage over us today, that their faith, that their determination to trust was greater than any that we will ever be able to attain to? “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (John 20:29) Now what excuses do you have for thinking that the impossible is still impossible to God. The Lord is calling out a people to Himself, people who are willing to stand on the wall and warn all who will listen, a people to come out of the world and work only for Him, and do you know what they are called? Christians. These are those who do not seek anything for themselves, but always for the glory of God, they carry no concerns whatsoever for anything in this world, only for the souls of men, their thoughts are never on what they will eat that day, what they will wear, they have used their spiritual eyes and looked into the face of their risen Savior, the One with whom nothing is impossible.
Placing our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior is only the beginning my friends, it is the most blessed event that will ever happen in your life, but it is just the beginning, the moment that you did so He became both Lord and Savior, there is no distinction between the two, at the same moment you accepted Him, He became both. And at that exact same moment the Holy Spirit of God Himself entered into you, from that moment you were blessed with everything that He is going to bless you with while you are here. (2 Cor. 9:8) That is why it should make absolutely no difference to us in our service to Him about our current circumstances, we should need to see no miracles, we should not need Him to ever prove Himself to us in any way. But He remembers that we are but dust, and so He does, He shows us that nothing is impossible for Him, He shows us that He is in complete and total control of every single aspect of every one of His children’s lives, He shows us continually that He is Sovereign, that He has no limits.
If you have not already done so, and you have the possibility to do so, go online sometime soon and look at the images of the Hubble telescope or other deep space images, then look at the images that have been captured by the most powerful electron microscopes, and then as you stare in awe at the mighty creations of the Most High God, try to tell yourself that there is something impossible for Him, try to tell yourself that there are limits to what God can do in your life. There is no such thing as a Christian who cannot serve well, but there are many I am sorry to say, who will not serve well, for they put limits on what they believe the Lord can do with their lives, He has saved them thru Christ (2 Tim. 1:9) by His grace from the wrath of God and eternal separation and damnation, “But if I don’t do this, then He can’t do that,” ridiculous thinking in the extreme.
There is only one thing that He requires of His children, that they be willing to be used, to trust Him without hesitation in that willingness. Our Lord is longsuffering, (1 Tim. 1:16) beyond anything that we can imagine, but longsuffering does not mean forever, there is a time limit on His patience, a fact which has been shown over and over in the Scriptures. He desires to use you to the fullest capabilities that He has enabled you with, but He will not force Himself on any of us in this area, the choice must be ours. He will never leave us or forsake us, (Deut. 31:6) those whose names are written in the Lambs Book of Life (Rev. 21:27) will enter into the eternity of His joy, but the amount of service that we desire to give unto Him, in His mercies, He has left completely in our hands, you will not be forced to serve.
Whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not, it is fear and the lack of trust that hinders us, and until we are ready to die to self, we will never be useful to Him in the fullest potential that He has waiting for us. You have to let go my friends, and when you do, you will gain all that He has to offer, your cup will not just be full, it will overflow.
