THE POWER OF ONE MAN
By George W. Sinquefield
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HomewithGod.com
By George W. Sinquefield
Mark 14:12 through Mark 14:14 (KJV)
12And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover? 13And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him. 14And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?
Jesus sent two of his disciples into the city to find a place for the eating of the passover. As He sent them He said, "...Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him." The Bible tells us that "...his disciples went forth, and came into the city , and found as he had said unto them and they made ready the passover." The interesting thing in this story is that God uses people! Here was an ordinary thing for a man to leave his home with an earthen vessel, go to the public well, fill up the pitcher and return home. There doesn't seem to be anything unusual about this, but it was unusual. This man led the disciples to the place where Jesus was to have the passover. He was used of God!
"Man is looking for better organizations, God is looking for better men." The ancient Herodotus said, "Two legged creatures are very plentiful but men are very scarce." He meant that there are few men who know how to be what God created them to be.
One has said, "We not only need guided missiles but we need guided men who will carry God's Word, whatever the cost, to the ends of the earth."
Drummond was asked, "Is not the need of Christianity more men?" His reply was, "No, not more men but a better brand."
On the airport at Fairbanks Alaska is a picture of majestic snow capped Mt. Mc Kinley, 20,300 feet in altitude. Under neath is this inscription. "Give us men to match our mountains."
It is amazing what one man can do, the responsibility he can assume and the tasks he can accomplish. One has said: "I was fascinated by my visit to the control tower of a busy airport. Here, one man was the final authority for planes taking off, landing and maneuvering on the field. Only in response to his commands was there safety, efficient operation, and progress."
A national magazine carried a pictorial story of a modern freight yard in operation. One man, in a booth high above the tracks operated a control board which shifted engines and cars. Trains were assembled for their runs -- might operations with just one man in control. The universe and man on earth operate properly only a God is in command.
I. One Man Can Discourage Many Others.
He can stand in the way of progress. One day on the crowded street was a long line of vehicles, most of them drawn by strong willing horses. There were carriages, delivery wagons, great trucks, express wagons, etc. but they were all standing still. Why? In the front there was a lean weak little horse attached to a light buggy. He had balked, would not pull a pound. But he succeeded in stopping the whole procession. One man can bring much evil upon himself and many others.
Jonah is a good example. God told him to go to Nineveh and preach. He refused and got on a ship and headed in the opposite direction. God sent a storm and every life on that ship was in danger because of the sin of one man. If we knew the facts, how many families, churches and communitites have been made to suffer because of the rebellion of one person to the will of God.
Aachan is another example. God had given the army of Israel victory over Jericho. They now proceed to conquer Ai. But in Joshua chapter 7 we are told that the army of Israel fled before the men of Ai and suffered a terrible defeat and 36 men lost their lives. Joshua prayed and asked God who they had suffered such defeat and God led him to discover that it was because of the sin of one man. Aachan had disobeyed God. He had taken (stolen) a Babylonish garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold from Jericho. The sin of one man brought on a terrible defeat and cost 36 men their lives.
One has said, "A monkey with a match can destroy more in an hour than a hundred men could build in a year." Let me say that a man out of God's will can tear down more in a short time than the church can build in years.
A young Jewish boy grew up in Germany many year ago. He had great admiration for his father led them to the synagogue faithfully. In his teens the family moved to another town where there was no synagogue, Only a Lutheran church. Suddenly the father announced that they were going to abandon their Jewish traditions and join the Lutheran church. When they asked him why he explained that it would be better for his business. This boy was confused and bewildered. He became angry and bitter. Later he left Germany and went to England to study. He later wrote a book in which he introduced a whole new world view. he presented a movement that was designed to change the world. He called people to follow him in a life without God. Almost half the governments of the world were formed by his ideas. He name -- Karl Marx -- founder of the communist movement which has been a curse to the world.
Romans 5:12 (KJV)
Romans 5:17 (KJV)
Romans 5:19 (KJV)
II. One Man Can Be Used Of God To Be A Blessing To Many.
One man with courage can influence many others for good. As one has said, "One man with courage is a majority."
In the American Civil War Sheridan's army was attacked in his absence. The camp was routed. Men threw down their arms and fled like scared sheep. Suddenly they stopped, formed, turned, and drove back their foes, capturing their artillery. What happened to turn these frightened men into conquering warriors and a disgraceful defeat into a glorious victory? General Sheridan had suddenly ridden into their midst and his conquering personality had passed in these men and they were changed.
Oh, the power that one man possesses to be used for good or for bad. But power has many guises. My father was a kind and gentle country minister in Nova Scotia. He had neither money nor fame. No one, I am sure, was ever afraid of him. When he was 64 years old, he received a letter from a church official in one of his old parishes. "We hear that you will soon be retiring," the man wrote. "Would you come and settle here: We feel that we'd be a better community and better neighbors for having a man whose life is so genuine living among us." Imagine changing a community just by being oneself. That is power.
Paul is a good example. He met Jesus on the Damascus road and cried out, "Lord what wilt Thou have me to do?" God used that one surrendered life to change the world.
You remember when General Douglas Mac Arthur was relieved as United Nations Commander in the Far East. Some think this was one of President Truman's greatest mistakes. I don't know but I cannot help but wonder what would have happened if Mac Arthur's policies had been carried out in the Orient. We all know that he did a grand job in Japan. When he went to Japan, he said that the remaking of that nation was a "theological question." He felt that it was a matter of their getting right with God. He called on us for 1000 missionaries. A large number was sent and some of the greatest revivals in modern history were held in Japan. Because Mac Arthur's matchless leadership Japan is a different country today. Mac Arthur deserves great praise for the work which he did in that nation.
III. God Often Uses One Man To Bring About A Spiritual Awakening.
John Wesley said, "If I had 300 men who feared nothing but God, hated nothing but sin, and were determined to know nothing among men but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, I would set the world on fire." God often uses just one man -- not 300.
A little over 100 years ago, on a gloomy morning in 1857, a man by the name of Lanthier, living in New York City, boarded a horse drawn streetcar to go to his office on Fulton Street. The country was in the grip of an economic depression. Businesses were closing down, one after the other. Wages were down. Thousands of people were walking the streets, out of work. Conditions were profoundly disturbing. Lanthier, along with many others, read these pessimistic and alarming reports and was worried.
Now, who was Lanthier? A great captain of industry? No. A great figure in politics? No. He was only a simple clerk in an office on Fulton STreet. But there was one important thing about Lanthier; he was a man who believed in prayer. And, under the impact of the gloomy news in his morning paper, he got an inspiration.
That same day he sent a note to all his business acquaintances, telling them that, beginning the next day, there would be a prayer meeting in a certain office on Fulton Street daily at noon. He hoped that each of them would attend. For his first prayer meeting he arranged 20 chairs in a circle. That first day only one chair was filled; its occupant was Lanthier himself. But that did not discourage him. Alone, he prayed that there might be a tremendous change in him and in America. The second day a few friends joined him. The next day all 20 chairs were filled. Day after day those men met and prayed together. Soon a similar prayer meeting was started on Wall Street' then one on William Street, then another on Broadway. The movement spread like wildfire to other parts of the country -- Boston, Philadelphia, Denver, the South, and the west coast.
It was one of the greatest demonstrations of the power of united prayer and faith that this country ever witnessed. And it all began with one man, an everyday clerk, who released the tremendous power of prayer.
I thin of men in the past whom God used in a mighty way. Men like Jonathan Edwards, D. L. Moody, George Whitefield, Billy Sunday and John Wesley. Praise God for these men and all others who are willing to be what God wants them to be.
One has said, "You and God make a majority in your community." Wendell Phillips said, "One man on God's side is a majority."
Who a man is is not important. What he knows does not matter but what he is to God is what matters. If he pleases God, that is the important thing. It doesn't matter whether he pleases the people or not.
Jesus sought to please God in everything He did or said.
John 8:29 (KJV)
Paul, "You see that I am not trying to please you by sweet talk and flattery. N, I am trying to please God. If I were still trying to please men I could not be Christ's servant." (The Living Bible)
Hear Paul as he admonishes the Thessalonian Christians. "Dear brothers, you already know how to please God in your daily living, Now we beg you,yes, we demand of you the name of the Lord Jesus - that you live more and more closely to that ideal."
Ecclesiastes 12:13 (KJV)
William Gladstone years ago, was asked to name the sixty greatest men in history. He named sixty and it was discovered that fifty-six of the sixty were Christian men. It is Christ who makes great men.
Christ can make a man a new creature and use him to bless others if that man is surrendered to him. Are you that man?
A pastor shares this experience of his which was a great blessing to him. "Several years ago I was asked to stop by the office of a certain business man at my convenience. When I made the visit, he told me he was planning an important change and venture in his business and said, 'I want to be sure. I'd like to call in a few associates and workers here and ask you to lead us in prayer that we may be sure of God's guidance.' It was a thrilling experience to know that here in the world of business was another -- of which there are many -- who was asking God to direct the way he was to move."
I would offer the following advice to any man who wants his life to count. "Try not to be a man of success, try rather to be a man of value, a man of success takes more from life than he puts into it, a man of value puts more into life than he takes out of it."
12Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
17For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
19For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.THE TEN MOST WANTED MEN
29And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
13Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.