You're Never Considered A Nobody
by Bro. Duane Marshall
10/19/2023
Romans 6:13 - “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
John Marshal, the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and his wife Mary Marshall had a son named John. John had received a poor education but during the Revolutionary War kept Baptist churches open. He also started thirteen churches in Georgia.
This family became fairly well known however, let me ask you about some other men and women. Who taught Martin Luther his theology and enabled him to translate the New Testament into German? Who was the shoe salesman who witnessed to D.L. Moody? Who was the woman who prayed for twenty years for Billy Graham? Before you dismiss these as trivial, a large part of church history would have been left out if it had not been for these nobodies.
So, when does success happen for the average Christian? It begins when we die to ourselves. Romans 6:13 - “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
There’s a battle going on for the control of our bodies. So how do we experience success? By giving Him our bodies as tools He can use for righteousness. We shouldn’t let sin use our body parts as tools to make us more sinful. Romans 12:1-2 - “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Our success continues when we are controlled by the Holy Spirit. Philippians 3:10 states, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;”. Right now, the Holy Spirit is the deity who continues to apply the power of the resurrection to our lives because we’ve been raised to walk in the newness of life. The Spirit can work the very nature of Jesus into us if only we obey Him. Success continues when we are controlled by the Holy Spirit.
How is success measured? On January 6, 1850, there was a hard-biting blizzard in Colchester England that kept most worshippers at home. At the primitive Methodist church, only about twelve showed up. Even the Pastor couldn’t make it, so a simple man arose and spoke hesitantly from Isaiah 45:22 - “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” The crowd dispersed thinking the day's service was a loss not realizing that a fifteen-year-old boy had ducked into the room to escape the snowstorm and hearing the sermon had been converted. His name was Charles Hadden Spurgeon, a nobody who became somebody in the hands of the Holy Spirit.
10/19/2023
Romans 6:13 - “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
John Marshal, the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and his wife Mary Marshall had a son named John. John had received a poor education but during the Revolutionary War kept Baptist churches open. He also started thirteen churches in Georgia.
This family became fairly well known however, let me ask you about some other men and women. Who taught Martin Luther his theology and enabled him to translate the New Testament into German? Who was the shoe salesman who witnessed to D.L. Moody? Who was the woman who prayed for twenty years for Billy Graham? Before you dismiss these as trivial, a large part of church history would have been left out if it had not been for these nobodies.
So, when does success happen for the average Christian? It begins when we die to ourselves. Romans 6:13 - “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
There’s a battle going on for the control of our bodies. So how do we experience success? By giving Him our bodies as tools He can use for righteousness. We shouldn’t let sin use our body parts as tools to make us more sinful. Romans 12:1-2 - “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Our success continues when we are controlled by the Holy Spirit. Philippians 3:10 states, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;”. Right now, the Holy Spirit is the deity who continues to apply the power of the resurrection to our lives because we’ve been raised to walk in the newness of life. The Spirit can work the very nature of Jesus into us if only we obey Him. Success continues when we are controlled by the Holy Spirit.
How is success measured? On January 6, 1850, there was a hard-biting blizzard in Colchester England that kept most worshippers at home. At the primitive Methodist church, only about twelve showed up. Even the Pastor couldn’t make it, so a simple man arose and spoke hesitantly from Isaiah 45:22 - “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” The crowd dispersed thinking the day's service was a loss not realizing that a fifteen-year-old boy had ducked into the room to escape the snowstorm and hearing the sermon had been converted. His name was Charles Hadden Spurgeon, a nobody who became somebody in the hands of the Holy Spirit.
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