According to Rom 14:7, we don’t live to ourselves. Your life affects others. Therefore, we are commended not to put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in our brother’s way [v.13]. We are not to have a bad affect on others. But we are also to “follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another,” [v.19]. We are to be a good influence on others. We want to talk about these things today. God wants to use you to help someone else get closer to God.
God used Moses to get Israel to the promised land. Who was Moses? Acts 7:20-22, he had an early upbringing as a Jew but he was raised in the wisdom of the Egyptians. Egypt is a type of the world. So, you can say he is like a child raised in a Christian home who had more influence from the world than he did from church. Acts 7:23-24, when he was 40 years old it came into his heart to visit his brethren. But, there he murdered a man. Acts 7:29, so he ran away and married an Ethiopian woman by whom he had two children. Acts 7:30-33, while in the back side of the desert, Moses saw the burning bush and “drew near to behold it.” It was here that he got closer to God. Pastor Brent Logan said, “You’ll never have a passion for souls until you have a passion for God.” Acts 7:34-36, Moses returned to deliver Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness, so they could get Israel closer to God in the promised land. Moses tried to get out of this calling, but he went, anyway. No matter how much time you may have spent in the world, and no matter what you did while you were there, if you will draw near to God, God can use you to help someone else get to him.
God used Andrew to bring Peter to Jesus. Jn 1:35-42. Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. John showed Andrew Jesus Christ and Andrew came to the Messiah. And then he brought his brother, Peter, to Jesus. When Andrew drew near to Jesus, he was able to bring Peter to the Messiah. I’m sure there were times when Andrew questioned his judgment considering the number of reprovable things Peter did as a disciple. But Peter eventually became the apostle of the circumcision [Gal 2:8]. And what became of Andrew? He didn’t attain the “status” that Peter attained but he stayed close to the Lord. He’s the one who found the lad with the five loaves and two fishes in Jn 6:8. And Andrew was with the 120 who were praying in Acts 1:13. Some people are reluctant to bring anyone else to the Lord unless they can be the pastor or the leader. Don’t worry about that. Be content to bring someone else to the Lord, even if the Lord intends to do more with them than he’s doing with you. God uses each of us to help others get to the Lord.
God used the woman at the well to bring many Samaritans to Jesus. Jn 4:39-42. You are very familiar with the story of the woman at the well. She became intrigued by Jesus’ offer of “living water” that would be in her “a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” When she said “Sir, give me this water,” Jesus knew that she was sincerely interested. But according to Jn 4:16-18, she had messed up her life big time. Nevertheless, in Jn 4:25-30, she believed that Jesus was the Messiah, and went and told the men in town that she had found him. She brought others to him who believed on him, not only because of her words, but because of his. She knew that they needed Jesus and she didn’t let her past keep her from telling them. You can have a beneficial affect on the lives of others despite a wicked past.
God used Philip to bring the Ethiopian eunuch to Jesus. Acts 8:26-40. In Acts 6:1-5 Philip was one of the men chosen to serve tables. But notice that he was also a man full of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, in Acts 8:4-8, when they were scattered, Philip went to Samaria and preached Jesus to the Samaritans. Later we find that in Acts 21:8, he was an evangelist. God will use you where yo are to affect the lives of the people around you.
Conclusion: Get close to God. God will use you to bring others to Christ. He wants to use you to help someone else get to God. Don’t worry about your past. God brought you to this point by whatever means you got here [like Joseph got to Egypt to save his family alive]. Don’t worry about that. Just realize that God will use you. Like Philip, get filled with Holy Ghost and let him use you to help others. Be available for him to use you to bring someone else to Jesus.