Who Are You?

September 11, 2005

Introduction

 

            Who are you?  Does it matter?  How do you answer that question?  How do you think of yourself?  Have you ever thought, I’m a “no-body”?  There’s two or more ways to take that statement.  Maybe you mean you want to be humble.  It’s good to be humble, but I believe the devil uses this thought to keep us down.  If we truly believe that we are a “no-body,” then we may believe that we can’t do anything.

 

            What does the Bible say about you?  What does God want you to think about yourself?  Does it make any difference?  I don’t know how many of you have heard the story of “the little engine that could.”  I first heard the story when I was in the second grade, so that was 60 years ago, so I may be rusty on the details, but as I recall the story, there was a train load of toys that needed to be pulled over the mountain to get to the children on the other side for Christmas.  As some of the engines looked at the train and the mountain, they said they couldn’t do it.  Then there was “the little engine that could.”  He wasn’t very big, but the difference in him and the other engines was what he said and then acted on.  He said, “I think I can.”  My mother had bought me a little record of that, and I can still here those words as if from one struggling, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can,” and then the words changed: “I thought I could, I thought I could, I thought I could.”  Then one final change, “I knew I could, I knew I could, I knew I could.”

 

            Who are you this morning?  In your mind, are you a “no-body”?  A no-body who doesn’t count for much and can’t do much, or are you of the spirit of “The little engine that could?”

Body

 

I.        Who did Paul think he was?

 

  1. He thought he was the least of the apostles.

 

(1 Cor 15:9-11 NKJV)  For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. {10} But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. {11} Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

 

1.      In spite of his past mistakes, he accomplished much. so we preach and so you believed.

2.      But by the grace of God I am what I am,

3.      I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

 

  1. He said we are fellow workers with God.

(1 Cor 3:9 NKJV)  For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building.

 

1.      Paul was a fellow worker also.

 

(Phil 4:13 NKJV)  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

 

2.      Paul was a great man of faith.

 

(Phil 4:19 NKJV)  And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

 

II.     You are to be a worker for God.

 

  1. We are to be priests to our God.

 

(1 Pet 2:5 NKJV)  you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

 

1.      As priests, we are to intercede for other people.

2.      We need to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God.

 

(Rom 12:1 NKJV)  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

 

  1. We need to be concerned about our fellow Christians.

 

(Gal 6:1 NKJV)  Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.

 

III.   We are responsible for the great commission.

 

(Mat 28:19-20 NKJV)  "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, {20} "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

 

  1. Jesus wanted us to have compassion for the lost.

 

(Mat 9:36-38 NKJV)  But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. {37} Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. {38} "Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

  1. We need to encourage each other in the work of the Lord.

 

(1 Th 5:11-12 NKJV)  Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. {12} And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you,

 

(1 Th 5:11-12 NIV)  Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. {12} Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you.

 

  1. We need to each one do our share.

 

(Eph 4:16 NKJV)  from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

 

Conclusion

 

I.        Who are you?

 

  1. You are not a “no-body.”

  2. You are part of God’s building.

 

(1 Cor 3:9 NKJV)  For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building.

 

II.     You can make a difference.

 

(Phil 4:13 NKJV)  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

 

III.   May God help us make a difference in our community by seeking to reach those who are lost.

 

Scripture quotations marked "NKJV™" are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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