The Power Of One

THE POWER OF ONE

Joshua 23:10-11 "One man of you shall chase a thousand. For Jehovah your God is He who fights for you, as He has promised you. And take good heed to yourselves that you love Jehovah your God."

Disclaimer: Source material for this sermon has been gleaned from many different sources. I have attempted to acknowledge these sources whenever possible.

INTRODUCTION: Often we are overwhelmed by a sense of personal insignificance. Often a person feels like an expendable commodity. We feel a sense of complete uselessness believing "I am just one--and what can just one do?" Understand God can use you if you will let Him. Helen Keller said, “"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do." Throughout Scripture, we find example after example of the power of one.

I. One little Boy – instrumental in feeding 5000 (Availability)

A. John 6:9-13 "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?" Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost." Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.

B. "God uses what you have to fill a need, which you never could have filled. God uses where you are to take you where you never could have gone. God uses what you can do to accomplish what you never could have done. God uses who you are to let you become who you never could have been." – Five Loaves and Two Fishes. Philip Clarke Brewer in Holy Sweat, Tim Hansel, 1987, Word Books Publisher, p. 25.

C. It is not based on one’s ability but one’s availability. God uses those who make themselves available to Him. He will use you, if you make yourself available to him. That is the key. Are you making yourself available to him?

D. Isaiah 6:8 “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ’Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ’Here am I! Send me."

E. Make yourself available to God to do anything He asks of you, seeking not the gifts, but the Giver.

II. One little Girl – instrumental in healing a world military leader (Boldness)

A. 2 Kings 5:1-3 “Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman’s wife. Then she said to her mistress, "If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy."

B. It Takes Guts to Say "Jesus" This is a true story of something that happened just a few years ago a USC. There was a professor of philosophy there who was a deeply committed atheist. His primary goal for one required class was to spend the entire semester attempting to prove that God could not exist. His students were always afraid to argue with him because of his impeccable logic.

For twenty years he had taught this class and no one had ever had the courage to go against him. Sure, some had argued in class at times, but no one had ever really gone against him (you’ll see what I mean later). Nobody would go against him because he had a reputation. At the end of every semester, on the last day, he would say to the class of 300 students, "If there is anyone here who still believes in God, stand up!" In twenty years, nobody ever stood up. They knew what he was going to do next. He would say, "Because anyone who believes in God is a fool. If God existed, he could stop this piece of chalk from hitting the ground and breaking. Such a simple task to prove he is God, and yet he can’t do it." And every year he would drop the chalk onto the tile floor of the classroom and it would shatter into a hundred pieces. All of the students could do nothing but stop and stare. Most of the students were convinced that God could not exist. Certainly, a number of Christians had slipped through; but for 20 years, they had been too afraid to stand up.