Mark 3:7-19 Pressure, Prayer & Provision May 15, 2016

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1 Transcription of 16ID1908 Mark 3:7-19 Pressure, Prayer & Provision May 15, 2016 Shall we open our Bibles this morning to Mark 3:7, as we continue our verse-byverse study looking at this letter that Mark wrote based on the testimony of Peter, who had led him to Jesus. Mark was a young man by the time that Jesus died maybe 12 or 13 or so. And it was released in the year that Peter and Paul were both murdered by Nero, as he turned his anger against the church. Mark s interest is only singular. He want us to see Jesus came to be a Servant. And as the church was suffering, especially in those days, that the church would stay busy even though the cost was great. And Mark s argument is pretty clear. The Lord did that. Our God did that. And so should we. Mark isn t a chronological gospel. He just kind of picks and chooses newspaper headlines, if you will, things that really stood out to him, to drive home that one point that we see the Lord working and serving and always busy, never wasting a moment. At every opportunity, He s available to serve. And so, that s really what the lesson of the book is. If you re reading the book, there s that urgency. There s the word immediately and and and and and and, this ongoing kind of move forward - under pressure, huge crowds; and yet, at the same time, faithful. And God calls us to follow His example. Well last week we looked at Jesus confrontation with the religious leaders who were very interested in His behavior on the Sabbath because they had misinterpreted God s Word, had limited the Law to external behavior, and were teaching the people wrong. And Jesus came just to show that He was right. Not only was He right, He was powerful. He did on the Sabbath what they said was not allowed. But He did it out of love and compassion. We left them in verse 6 last week, plotting to kill Jesus how they might get rid of Him. So, as we move along through Mark, Jesus ministry, for those 3½ years publicly, and especially the second and third years, was filled with opposition but also with an ever-growing crowd. They got bigger and bigger and bigger, as you might suspect. And so the Lord finds Himself under the demands of these huge crowds. And this morning, in the verses down through verse 19, we want to take a look at three things: the pressure He faced, the prayer that He prayed, and the provision 1

2 the Father made for Jesus in terms of the ministry that He was pursuing, if you will. The apostles are formally called this morning. Their first job was really simple. Here s their job just hang out with Jesus. There s something about withness. The best discipleship method is to be with somebody that you want to learn from, and these guys are just going to kind of hang out with Jesus so that they might learn what they re to do later on. Let s start in verse 7. We read, in verse 6, The Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him. Verse 7, But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him. So the religious leaders run off to plot a murder. Jesus runs off to minister some more, to serve others, and He goes back to the Sea of Galilee from Capernaum. And twice, notice in verses 7 and 8, we are told there was a large following, a great multitude, a vast multitude. The Sea of Galilee is about thirteen miles or so long, seven miles across, and notice that Mark lets us know that in the crowd with Jesus are people from down in Jerusalem. That was ninety miles away. Idumea is past the Dead Sea, almost 175 miles away. Tyre and Sidon are to the north, on the eastern side of the Mediterranean, almost 90 miles to the north; east across the Jordan. Can you imagine how many people were coming, and how far they came, simply because they heard what Jesus was doing? The many things He was doing. And they came in hope, I suspect. People traveled for days and for weeks bringing with them the sick and the possessed and the blind and the lame; everyone desperate, everyone wanting immediate attention, everyone wanting to see Jesus. Can you imagine the kind of pressure - that long days of travel, great need in your life, and then the possibility of some help, how that crowd would have been handled or how they would have responded or behaved themselves? Wouldn t it be great to see a revival in our country that people can t wait to get to church? Where they ll travel miles rather than, Oh, that s too far. Oh, that s too early. Oh, that s too long. Oh, I don t know about that. We need a revival, don t we? Maybe people just aren t desperate enough yet. Because these folks are desperate. And maybe the Lord is allowing us, as a country, to get desperate. Well, in any event, verse 9 says that Jesus, because of all of these pressing crowds, told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. Well that s a big crowd, isn t it? 2

3 And along the seashore, they were to float a little boat just in case He needed to be removed from the crowds. Now if you read this, you might say to yourself, Well, He s Jesus. Maybe He could just use His divinity to part the crowds and push them back. And I guess He could have, except remember Jesus came and emptied Himself of that prerogative of who He was, and He lived as you and I do in a body dependent upon God, filled with the Holy Spirit. It doesn t mean He was any less God, but His relationship with God was like ours is because that s our example. So, rather than parting the crowds supernaturally, He just, Here s common sense. How bout we get a boat in case I need to bail out? Right? And, along with some good planning, Jesus is our example. He want to avoid the pressure of the throngs, and this is the way that He came up with. And, by the way, verse 9 is only found in Mark; and since this was Peter s personal experiences, I think this must have stuck out in his mind - he passed this along to young John Mark. Oh, there was a time when we had to have a boat at all times a getaway car, so to speak. And it was one of Peter s personal memories. I almost see Peter as an usher giving them a back-away-from-jesus look. Hey, hey, what are you guys going?! He loved Him. But notice that the driving needs of the people kept them coming, and Jesus wouldn t disappoint them. We are told, in verse 10, that, He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him. And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, You are the Son of God. But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known. So the reason people came was pretty simple. They heard about His power, they saw His might, and, in the flesh, they came for healing and deliverance. The sick just wanted to touch Him, the demons cried out when they saw Him. Jesus wouldn t allow the father of lies to help in His testimony. But just imagine the demonic activity. In a couple of weeks, I want to talk to you about demon possession - we re going to get to it at the end of chapter 4 and the beginning of chapter 5 because I think there re some interesting things in the Bible regarding demon possession. But you have to know that no one in hell was getting a day off when the Son of God showed up on the earth. Everyone was dispatched. Right? No vacations during this time. The One who had come to crush your head is here (Genesis 3:15). So demon activity in the New Testament is far greater than in the Old, but it was most prevalent in this format during the time of the gospels. You can imagine, though, how dangerous this situation would have been that Jesus purpose for coming was not to heal the flesh, although He did. He did that so that He could get you to the purpose for which He came, which was to take our sins, to 3

4 save us from ourselves, to bring us into the kingdom of God, to turn us in faith to Him rather than to ourselves. But you have to know that, in the crowds unfortunately, most of the folks who were there, that wasn t their driving concern. If we could just get Uncle Bill here to stop having his head spin around, that would be good. Or, My aunt can t walk anymore, so we ve had to carry her. Lord, just let her walk. And there were all of these needs that the crowd really could care less for Jesus words. They were attracted by the possibility and the availability of physical healing or spiritual deliverance. And the fact that He could, and the fact that He did, should have pushed everyone in the crowd to the next step to at least say to themselves, Well, then, who is He? Who else can do these kinds of things? Who else can open the eyes of the blind? Who else can make the lame to walk? It should have been a natural progression. I meet God through Christ. He s the Lord, in the flesh, and His power says He is who He is. But that never seemed to take place, and often, sadly, most of them came and left spiritually dead; physically well, delivered from the devil, free to walk on their own for the first time, but not like subjecting or submitting themselves to God. There are a lot of people in the world like that. Oh, man, do they pray when they need something! And if God, in His grace, gives it to them.. Thank You, Lord. I ll be back. And off they go until the next need. There s no relationship. There s no submission. It s like it s nine out of the ten healed lepers who don t return. Right? It s the John 6:26, where Jesus said to the big crowds (who were running around the lake all night to try to catch Him), You re not seeking Me because you saw the signs. You re not seeking Me because you saw what I did. You re not seeking Me because of the marks of distinction in My life the miracles that no one else can do. You re seeking Me because you ate the loaves, and you were filled. That was what drove you. You just wanted something, and when you got it, you figured you d hang around. But you didn t come for hearing what I had to say to you. And that s a huge distinction, isn t it, that so many of these folks found temporary relief, but they didn t find life. Now, that doesn t mean Jesus didn t help them. Because He continued, throughout the gospels, to meet all of their physical needs. And oftentimes people came. No one ever walked away unhealed or untouched. But they did walk away unwilling to follow. The rich young ruler he had all the answers given to him. He went, Nah, I can t do that. But he saw in Jesus something he didn t have. He realized all of his money didn t help him. There were so many things that God showed him. He gave him the way of life. He didn t want it. So, I suspect that when Jesus looked at these crowds and said, Keep the boat ready because we may need to bail out of here at any moment, Jesus was well aware of the fact that what looked like real victory or real success in the crowd 4

5 size that the real work was far less than it appeared on the surface. We have a pretty good ministry on Tuesdays feeding those who are in need here. But if all we do is feed them every week, we ve really not accomplished much. Until they come to know Jesus, it hasn t really gotten to the point where anything has been done. We may say, Well, look, we re feeding hundreds! Great. How many are coming to life? And I think that Jesus looked at the crowds, and He realized that there were a lot of people in the crowd, but that doesn t mean there were a lot of folks following Him. You find that sometimes. We get literature in the mail, or somebody wants to promote something some ministry, and they ll say, Well, we ve had record turnout. And you want to say, Well, Jesus had record turnout. He needed a bailout boat, He had such record turnout. But the crowds and the popularity if that s all you re interested in then you ve lost the interest for the real work, which is calling people to faith in Christ. Is there fruit, or are the seats just full? You would want the hearts to be touched. But look at the pressure, here, that the Lord was under because His heart is to save, and the people just want, Give me, give me, feed me, heal me, touch me, deliver me, help me. And the Lord s saying, I ve come to give you life. No, no, no. Don t talk to me. Touch me! Maybe You didn t hear me the first time. So many folks that He can barely get away. And the religious were watching Him and watching His every move, interpreting Him in the worst possible light, hoping to kill Him. The sick were desperate, as sick people can be. The demons screamed in fear, acknowledging Him. And He has to have an escape plan just in case. All the while, the crowds are missing the hope of salvation. They re not coming for forgiveness. They re not looking to Him for eternal life. They re just caught up in the clamor for the temporal things that God wants to give them. Only Jesus saw the spiritual death gripping their lives, and so He pressed on. That s a lot of strain, isn t it? That s a lot of stress, I would suspect, on a person s body. And Mark focuses on it - for our example - because Jesus knows the pressure you re under as well. Remember, his point is he wants you to serve in the hardest of times. And the Lord knows. And look at Jesus, our example lots of needs all around Him pressing on, being available, day in-day out. God knows the pressure you re under: the pressure you moms face to raise your kids, or you husbands face to operate under responsibility of providing for your family and leading your family in God s ways, He knows the work deadlines and the expectations of others. And, if you re a single parent, or you re not well maybe you ve been ill, or you re out of work, or you have relationship problems, you name it, He knows it. But yet we re called into that position to worth. I was at a light yesterday, and the light turned green, and 5

6 I don t think it was green a millionth of a second, and the guy behind me started honking. I mean it went green, and, Haah (sound of a honking horn) like he was timing it, like (sound of a hand hitting the horn) there it is right there. And my first response was, I m just gonna sit here now (Laughing), but it was just a fleeting thought. I didn t do that. But I did think to myself how can anybody be in such a hurry? How can life treat a guy like that, that he s got to honk.? I couldn t have gotten out there s no way I could have made him happy, I don t think. The rush hour, the traffic, the growing list of concerns. Jesus knows all about all that stuff. The cost that you have to pay when you begin to minister to others, and people begin to mark you as one of those kinds of guys. The kindness that gets taken advantage of. Few people listening. The disappointments when people won t listen. And yet you know it s the right way for life. The assaults from hell. The Lord knows the cost of faithfulness in your life. But you can find it in Jesus here, who had good news to bring, and the people just wanted a touch; every day like this so that He even can you imagine floating a boat around just in case you had to dive in and swim away? So many needs. Well that led to verse 13. We read, And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons. So, Luke gives us some of the context of this. He starts the words, in Luke 6:12, It came to pass in those days. In what days? In the busyness of all that was going on and the growing popularity and the increased opposition. And Jesus does what we would call head for the hills. He literally headed for the hills. He d had enough. A time to be alone with His Father. A time to pray and seek His face. A night, according to Luke, a whole night to hear God s voice, the Father s voice, regarding who He would want to raise up to help carry the load, to have that power that Jesus had that people were looking for, that could also communicate His Word to them. Out of all of those who were following Him, which ones would He now choose to reach the nations? I love Jesus picture of how to handle pressure because, as my example, the best thing you can do when you re under a lot of pressure is just get away from the noise, and go seek the Lord, and pray. It s something we usually don t do. We don t have time to pray! Well, He had time to pray, and He was about to make some big decisions. He was going to choose twelve men out of thousands that were following, that were going to be His choice. In fact, look at the way verse 13 is written, which I think is so interesting. It says, He called to Him those He Himself wanted. And yet in Luke, it says that He went to the Father to see who 6

7 He would choose. So by the time He was done, what He wanted was what He knew the Father wanted. His will and the Father s will were the same. There s that Scripture in John 17:6 where Jesus, in praying, says, I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. And yet here He says, These are the guys I want. Why are these the guys He wants? Because these are the ones the Father wants. He was able to discover what the will of the Father would be. And these men would be the ones through whom the foundation of the church would be established. You read in Ephesians 2:20-21, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building fits together, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, of the teaching, if you will, of those. So Jesus gets away from the crowds the doorbell, the phone, the dishes, the TV. Okay, maybe not all that stuff for Him. But He gets away, without distraction, so that He might seek the will of the Father. And after a night of prayer, He would get the answers He needed. And I thought - how often have you just ask yourself the question had such an intense need to hear from God that you stayed up all night praying? How often has that happened in your life? Ever? If we did, maybe we d get a clearer view of what God wanted; not that you d have to stay up all night, and somehow that s a good exchange, but that you d have that kind of desire that would drive you to do that, if necessary even to hear from Him. So, they are chosen by His will. They are called to be with Him. They will learn from Him for the next long time. And they will be sent by Him with the power to preach, to heal, to cast out demons just like we read here. That s the presence of God in their lives. He called them, notice, to preach first and foremost to preach and then the power over these other things was just a simple, if you will, support for the fact that what they were preaching is true. It s what Jesus will say to His naysayers several times (John 5, John 10, John 14). If you don t believe Me, then look at the works that I do. They testify of who I am. In other words, If you re writing Me off, how am I doing all that I m doing? Well, the religious leaders said, Well, He s got a demon, and Jesus said, Well, that doesn t make any sense. If I have a demon, and I m casting out demons, it seems to Me I m messing up My own work. So His power was with them so that they might preach. Verse 14 says, Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him. Disciples that would become apostles. Twelve that He picked. The word disciple is the word mathetes in Greek, and it means to learn or to be a student. And the word apostles is literally used in different kind of context in the New Testament. By 7

8 itself, it means someone who is sent forth as a delegate or a messenger or as an ambassador for someone else. Luke 6:13 will tell us that day He called His disciples, and He chose twelve apostles. An apostle is a general term. Barnabas, in the Bible (Acts 14:14), is called an apostle somebody who is sent out by the church. So is Timothy; he s called an apostle (1 Thessalonians 2:6). But then there is an office of apostle twelve guys. Eventually Judas is replaced by Paul. There are twelve pillars in the new heavens and the new earth, as you will read (Revelation 21), in the new city. There are twelve portions of the wall. They all relate to these foundational offices. There is no office of apostle today. You don t find it in the early church as well, once these apostles have come and gone. But they re unique guys. The qualifications were that they had to be eyewitnesses of the resurrection, they had to be empowered by God to display His authority (His power, if you will). 2 Corinthians 12:12, Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds, Paul will write. So, they were known for God s anointing, if you will, upon their lives, and they would continue to do a work Jesus began. I think it was Acts 1:1 where it begins, This is of all that Jesus began, both to do until the day He was taken up; how He, through the Spirit, gave commandments to the apostles He had chosen, and then they continued that work. So, the book of Acts could easily be entitled The Acts of Jesus Through the Apostles because that s indeed what that book speaks to us about. And notice in verse 14, they were appointed. The word means to be ordained or to be chosen. By the way, not by vote, not by survey; not a response to How many of you want to be apostles? Raise your hand. Jesus prayed, sought the heart of the Father. There was no contest, no lottery. Chosen by God. God chose the nation of Israel. God chose the twelve apostles. God chose you to be His. Isn t that good to know? You re not getting in by accident. No one in heaven is going to say, Hey, how did you get in here? Nobody s going to look for a pass, or, Do you have a hand stamp? Do you have a wristband? No. You re in. God chose you. And He s appointed you. He s anointed you. His hand is upon you. You didn t choose Me, I ve chosen you. That s what it says in John 15:16. So, after a night of prayer, He chooses the ones that the Father has, and He chooses those to be with Him. And they came to Him that they might be with Him. Notice, verse 14, that they might be with Him. The best way I think you can learn ministry is to hang around with somebody who s doing it. The withness of Jesus it might be the best outline for discipleship that you can find because true discipleship is teaching in word and in deed, and these guys had a lot to learn. Paul will write to 8

9 Timothy (his last letter-2 Timothy 2:2), Timothy, the things that you ve heard from faithful men, commit those things now to them so that they might go and teach others. In other words, pass it along. And these disciples would. So, soon these guys would be going out to preach and pray for healing and bring deliverance. Well, then we are given the names of these twelve, verse 16. It says, Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder ; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Canaanite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house. I think that the list of the names given here should tell you clearly that God doesn t pick like the world does. Right? He picked a defective bunch of guys. I mean, if you read through these guys qualifications, it brings life to 1 Corinthians 1:27, where the Lord says He uses the foolish to confound the wise. For sure. I think we d have picked a sports hero as a spokesman, and a rich man for finance, and a lawyer for protection, and an advertising exec to let everyone know we were here. You don t pick fishermen and insurrectionists and publican traitors. It is a motley crew, to say the least. But I ll tell you what every time I read the list of these apostles, it gives me hope that God can use us. No superstars here. Just those who the Lord loves and God wants to choose. So these twelve enter into leadership training. Three of them become His inner circle. Each would have a job to do. But I ll tell you what if you read through the gospels, you can make a list of what they didn t have, which might encourage you to be available. Because these men lacked many vital qualifications. They lacked tremendous spiritual insight. They were chosen to reach the world with the light of Jesus, and they were living in the dark most of the time. I mean, if you read through the gospels, you ll find them to be slow on the uptake. Peter said one time (Matthew 15:15), Lord, can You explain that parable to us? And Jesus said, Are you still without understanding? Come on, man! You ve got to be kidding Me! But they didn t get it. Jesus sat them down in Luke 18, and He said, Look, we re going to go to Jerusalem, and everything that the prophets wrote about the Son of Man is going to take place. I m going to be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles. They re going to mock Me and insult Me and spit upon Me and scourge Me. They re going to kill Me. But on the third day, I will rise again. And verse 34 of Luke 18 says, They understood none of these things. These are your leaders. Hey, I m going to die for the sins of the world, but I m going to rise. And they go, Huh? You re going to what? They look at each other with confusion, totally confused, totally confused. Slow is a good description of them. Philip said in John 14:8, 9

10 Just show us the Father, and we ll be happy, and Jesus had to say, Philip, I ve been with you how long? You say, Show me the Father, you ve seen Me, you ve seen the Father, Philip. What??? These leaders. The last supper, Jesus gets up, and He washes the feet of His disciples (John 13), and Peter says, No. You can t do my feet. And Jesus said, What I m doing you won t understand now, but you ll get it later, and Peter said, Yeah, that s going to be like never. Can you imagine picking this kind of? You d let them all go and pick a whole new group, wouldn t you? Unbelievable how unable they are to see. But Jesus solves the issue. He patiently teaches them. Even for forty days after the resurrection, you read in the book of Acts that the Lord would come and go, just handing them new information sending the Holy Spirit; they were born again, teaching them from within. They lacked real spiritual insight. They lacked a whole bunch of humility. They didn t have any. They were proud and envious and jealous. Man, they re not at all like us! Mom gets sent to Jesus to try to candidate for a couple boys getting good positions (Matthew 20). Jesus speaks to them about the fact that, among the Gentiles, that s the way that works, but out amongst the kingdom, the greatest is the servant. And she goes away kind of chagrined, and everyone s mad at the guys for talking their mom into it when their mom wouldn t do it. Everyone was upset. When He takes the cup at supper (Luke 22) that third cup of redemption to talk about His blood being shed, and there s going to be a new covenant between God and man, and then they began to argue amongst themselves who would be the greatest, Jesus is going, I m going to die! And they re going, Yeah, I think I m more important than you are! Wouldn t you get rid of these guys? Jesus taught them by example. He washed their feet. He gave them a new commandment to love one another (John 13:34). His appearance left no one to want to envy what He looked like. He had little worldly goods. He came from a carpenter s family. He had no place to lay His head. He was an example to the disciples about humility. Four different times, Jesus said to these men, Ye of little faith. Why would you pick a group like this? They re in the boat in a storm in Mark 4, Ye of little faith. Lazarus grave with Mary and Martha (John 11), Ye of little faith. After the resurrection, Luke 24:11, it seemed to them like idle tales that He d been raised, and they did not believe them. Ye of little faith. You feeling like God can use you? Lacking humility, not quite a lot of faith, not great spiritual insight. And yet the Lord used them. He took these three with Him into the Garden and said, Just pray with Me for an hour, and they all three went to sleep (Matthew 26, Mark 14). In Luke 5, when He called them, it says, they forsook all and followed Him. By the time we get to Mark 14, it s going to read, they forsook all and fled from Him. Jesus prayed for them, that they wouldn t fail. He said to Peter (Luke 22:31), 10

11 Satan s tried to sift you like wheat. He s after you, but I m going to pray for you, and when you re restored, you come, and bless the brethren. So Jesus has great pressure, and He prays, and God provides these men. But they re not perfect. Not in our eyes, not in His eyes. Even Judas would betray Him. There are four lists of the names, in the Bible, of the apostles: here in Mark, Matthew 10, Luke 6, Acts 1. Just informationally, in every one of the lists, Peter is listed first, Judas is listed last. There are always three groups of four, and in every one of those groups of four, the guy at the top is always the same like maybe he was in charge. All of the rest of the names change. There s also lots of different names. Bartholomew is called Nathanael; Judas the brother of James is called Thaddaeus, called Lebbaeus somewhere; James the son of Alphaeus is called the Less. And the way that God puts them together, to me, is very interesting because Peter is the impulsive, on-the-go, eager, you get three words out of your mouth, and he s gone. All right, let s go. He doesn t really need to know the facts. He just wants to jump out the window. And God puts him with John who s the thinker, the contemplative guy, the guy who sits back, and long before he moves, he s got to think it all through. He lays on Jesus breast, Yeah, let me think this out. And he s with Peter. They must have frustrated each other. I don t know. But they re teamed together, even in the book of Acts, early on. Nathanael, who is always ready to believe the moment he hears he s just an instant believer, he s easy going, his head s not filled with complicated thoughts, he s convinced of Jesus, and he hears something, he s off, he loves it God says, I need to put you with.let s put you with Thomas, the guy who, you say to him, Hey, isn t it a beautiful sunny day? and Thomas says, Probably get skin cancer. I mean, those are the two extremes, and yet they re put together. Matthew, who was a traitor, a publican, a tax collector, who went to work for the Romans is placed by the Lord with Simon the Zealot, a guy who was a member of the Sicarii (the word means daggers) a group that was designed to overthrow Rome, violently if necessary. God put those two guys together. I don t wonder if Matthew went to sleep at night with one eye open, making sure this guy didn t jump into his sleeping bag and end his life. I can just imagine the political discussions. And yet thirty years later, from this time, Colossians 1, Paul is able to say, We give thanks to the Lord.for the hope which is laid up in heaven, how you ve heard of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, but it s also gone to all that are in the world. Twelve defective guys, filled with the Spirit, in thirty years, have the world hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. 11

12 Pretty amazing, isn t it? With all the examples of these men and you can read about them and by the way, even the book of Acts says The Acts of the Apostles, but very few of the apostles acts are actually in there. But with all of these examples of who God is willing to use, I hope that you can come to the conclusion that God has a place for you as well, that you re vessel material. The only one who wasted this opportunity is Judas. Right? He had privilege. He wasted his life. He made the wrong choice. He went the wrong direction. He sold out to the wrong team. He took the wrong turn. But everyone else God picked. And I love verse 13. He called to Him those He Himself wanted. And I would say that s you. He Himself wants you, and He wants to do something with you, and so you ought to get busy doing what He wants. Even if He pairs you up with someone you can hardly get along with. God has a plan. Submitted by Maureen Dickson May 16,