2017-09-10
Ben Guttierez
MEMORY VERSE: Matthew 19:26 (NKJV)
But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
What type of person Does God use? Does a person of real influence have to be a ‘perfect’ person? What determines if we are going to do great things for God? Can God use me? Answer: God Can Use Anybody! God is the forgiver of sins & the determiner of one’s mission in life. If we submit our hearts and lives to God, God can use us to bring Him great glory. God uses a heart that has humbly confessed all sin and desires forgiveness by God. God uses a heart that is submissive to His Will. God can receive glory from a heart that is totally committed to living for Him. Therefore, God Can Use Anybody! We need only submit to Him in all things. You can be used of God! You don’t have to be experienced in ministry, professional, perfect, or sinless. As long as you have a submissive heart that remains sensitive to the Holy Spirt, God Can Use You!
Matthew 10:2-4
2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these:
The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.
Matthew 9:9
As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, “Follow Me!”
And he got up and followed Him.
Luke 3:12-13
12 And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them,
“Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.”
Luke 18:10-11, 13a
10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector… 13a “But the tax collector, standing afar off was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’”
Luke 5:27
After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth.
Matthew 9:9
As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth…
Matthew 9:1-6
1 Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city. 2 And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your SINS are FORGIVEN.” 3 And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.” 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? 5 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your SINS are FORGIVEN,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to FORGIVE SINS”—then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.”
Matthew 9:10-13
10 Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many TAX COLLECTORS and SINNERS came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the TAX COLLECTORS and SINNERS?” 12 But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are SICK. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but SINNERS [to REPENTANCE].”
Matthew 16:26
For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Luke 7:34
“Jesus…is a friend of tax collectors and sinners!”
Matthew 19:26
…With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.