Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that I wanted to tell you a little story.
One day a mechanic was working out in his shop, and discovered to his surprise that his successful son had just purchased him a brand new tool chest that was filled up with a plethora of shiny new tools. There were hundreds of them, each of which looked immaculate. As he went through the drawers, he noticed that many of them were still in their original plastic wrappers. But one day when the son was watching his dad at work, he noticed that he really didn’t use the new tools at all. Whenever he reached out for a combination wrench, rather than grabbing one of the nice new ones, he would reach down into his old toolbox, and pull out an old rusty one instead.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
When repairing a vehicle, a lot of mechanics will reach out for a shiny new tool, but the tools that the Heavenly Father chooses are men who are broken and humble in his sight. He will pick out men who the world considers foolish, and use them as an instrument to carry His message of biblical truth.
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.
In the military, many men are chosen for a specific duty because they are the best of the best, but God chooses the foolish things of this world to lead the charge as a soldier of Christ. A manager will review many resumes and do many interviews in order to find the best person for their company, but God will choose the one that no one else ever expected. He will pick out the one who is a simple janitor and then exalt him into high places in the church. There were many high society leaders during Jesus’ time, but rather than picking out religiously trained people as His Apostles, he chose a few common fishermen, a publican, and even a thief! He chose the Apostle Paul who at one time of his life was persecuting the Christian church. But this is just as Jesus taught……He didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners unto repentance.
Mark 2:16-17 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Jesus chose men who understood what they were, wretched sinners. Peter understood this, and so did the Apostle Paul who called himself the chief of sinners. But many times God uses the men who society looks down upon as the dregs of the Earth. You know why He does this? This is to show through their lives, the power of faith and repentance towards God. After all, He used the chief of sinners to write most of the New Testament that we have today, and if the Apostle Paul repented, you better repent of your wickedness too!! God chooses men who society might claim are the filth of the Earth, but it’s for the reason of showing others what humility, obedience and true faith is all about. This is for the purpose of casting down those who are filled with religious pride, so that no flesh will glory in His presence.
Consider the life of Moses, who rejected the treasures of Egypt, and lived like a humble Bedouin for many years. But He returned as a simple and meek man of God, who was endued with power from on high. He might not have looked like much to Pharaoh, but one should never judge by appearances. God used His humble servant to strike fear into the heart of Egypt, and through Him, God taught Pharaoh the lesson, that no matter how high you are in this world, no flesh will glory in His presence. Some people in the church were treating the Apostle Paul in the same manner, but he forewarned them they had better be careful.
2 Corinthians 10:10-11 For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible. Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present.
It is the poor of this world who are rich in faith, but most of the time the poor are hated by their own neighbor. Consider John the Baptist, who many people probably ridiculed because of the way that He lived and dressed
But, God chooses men that society deems as foolish to serve His purpose. He will choose a man, fill him with wisdom, empower him with the Holy Spirit, and then use him as a Divine tool to fulfill His purpose.
Luke 7:24-26 And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings’ courts. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.
God is looking for preachers, and many times the men that He chooses are not the ones that people would expect. He reaches out to the worst of sinners and then transforms them through faith into an instrument of God. He takes a vocal opponent to the teachings of Christ, and through conversion and repentance transforms them into an oracle of God. He does this to display the power of genuine repentance and sincere faith in the gospel, so that no flesh should glory in His presence.
Some of us need more grace than others, but through faith and repentance, a sinner can become a Saint. To be used as a tool of God, most of the time He’s not going to reach out for the mighty, the noble, and the shiny ones. God will look deep down inside the sinful toolbox of mankind, and reach out for another,….
……..Rusty Wrench
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
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