HELP WANTED: Apply Within
EVERYDAY you’re still alive on this side of the land of the living means that God has PURPOSE for YOUR life, and God desires to use your life for His glory! How many of you would like to give God glory through your life? Well, you know what, God has a HELP WANTED sign in your room right now. No, it isn’t in your physical room, but it’s in the room of your heart that HE has posted a HELP WANTED sign. Most statistics (Lifeway, Barna) show that 60% of Christians have never shared their faith with an unbeliever. So today, I want to talk with you about God’s HELP WANTED sign.
Many of you may remember reading the WANT-ADS of a newspaper growing up. If not the newspaper, surely you have seen a HELP WANTED sign posted in a store window or perhaps on a billboard? When someone sees a HELP WANTED sign, a minimum of three things should come to mind:
- There is a position available.
- There are qualifications needed.
- There are responsibilities to perform.
Would you agree that’s true?
Likewise, in the kingdom of God, HE too has a HELP WANTED sign and three things should come to mind:
- There is a position available.
- There are qualifications needed.
- There are responsibilities to perform.
Let me show you more specifically what I’m talking about. Second Corinthians 5:17-20 reads as follows in THE LIVING BIBLE (TLB):
“17 When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand-new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun! 18 All these new things are from God who brought us back to himself through what Christ Jesus did. And God has given us the privilege of urging everyone to come into his favor and be reconciled to him. 19 For God was in Christ, restoring the world to himself, no longer counting men’s sins against them but blotting them out. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. 20 We are Christ’s ambassadors. God is using us to speak to you: we beg you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, receive the love he offers you—be reconciled to God.”
Do you see the HELP WANTED sign in these verses? Do you see the three things a HELP WANTED sign informs you of? Let’s look closely.
- Vs. 20 points out the position available: AMBASSADORS for Christ.
- Vs. 17 points out the qualifications needed: To be a Christian, a new creation.
- Vs. 18 & 19 points out the responsibilities: To tell others to be reconciled to God.
Now, this is just one place but there are several more cross-references in Scripture that highlight the same point, that God is looking for co-laborers someone to work with HIM, HE is looking for AMBASSADORS, those who would represent HIM in the earth to get HIS message out the message of reconciliation which is simply the message of the Gospel. How that through Christ Jesus your sins have been blotted out, you have been forgiven because JESUS paid the price for all sin. Believe in HIM and be reconciled, be saved from God’s wrath!
Now, most if not all of you in this room are believers in Christ Jesus. Thus, all of you are qualified to apply for the HELP WANTED position God has available. Again, what is the position God is seeking ALL believers to fulfill— AMBASSADOR. Say it with me, AMBASSADOR!
Now, what does an ambassador do? Think about it for a second or two? What does an ambassador do? [According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, an ambassador is a diplomatic agent of the highest rank accredited to a foreign government or sovereign as the resident representative of his or her own government or sovereign or appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment.]
In general, an ambassador is an authorized representative or messenger of a sovereign nation sent to a foreign land. For example, the United States of America sends their ambassadors to foreign countries such as England, France, China, Russia, and South Africa. The Ambassador’s role is to reflect the official position and policies of the sovereign nation that gave him/her authority. As Christ’s ambassadors, we represent HIM to the world, He gives us that authority. Matthew 28: verses 18-19a states, “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.”’
Also, just in case you forgot, America isn’t the highest nation we represent and fight for. Listen to the words of Jesus closely found in John 18:36 (NIV), “Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”’ As it was then, so it is now. It is our responsibility to reflect the “official position” of heaven, and not that of this world. Believers in Jesus Christ are simply in the world—physically present—but not of it, not part of its values. Jesus declares in John 17:16 (NIV), “They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” The author of Hebrews reminds us in chapter 13 verse 14 (TLB), “For this world is not our home; we are looking forward to our everlasting home in heaven.”
Yes, Saints of God, being an American citizen is GOOD, but being a citizen of the kingdom of God is even BETTER. Yes, the blue passport has its privileges, but your name written in The Lamb’s book of life affords you so much more. Since I’ve been alive, I’ve never talked to the president, but since I’ve been BORN AGAIN, I’ve had countless conversations with the KING of Kings and LORD of Lord’s, and you know what else, I’m sure HE’s the PRESIDENT of Presidents too. You’ve probably had conversations with the King of Kings & Lord of Lords too! He listens to our most pressing concerns in prayer, and then leads and guides us along the path. I’m confident He’s been doing that with you also, listening to your prayers, providing you with peace and comfort in the struggles of your life, reminding you that it won’t always be this way for I have gone to prepare a place for you.
So, since this is not our home, and we ultimately belong to Jesus, being a member in the Body of Christ, in the nation of God’s kingdom, let us represent HIM. As Christians, we are a chosen people comprised of a royal priesthood and are “a holy nation”, God’s very own possession. As a result, we can show others the goodness of God, for he called us out of the darkness into his [marvelous] light – 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV). Therefore, brothers and sisters, I ask, “is it too much for GOD to ask of us— to be an AMBASSADOR for HIM? Is it too much for GOD, the one who saved us— to ask of us to live our lives for HIS purpose and represent HIM in the earth, even now in your older age? We will be empowered by The Holy Spirit, as we take the message of our king, KING JESUS, to the ends of the earth begging men and women everywhere to be reconciled to God.
Now, just in case there is someone who may say to themselves, “God doesn’t need me, my days of working have passed young fellow, I’m done!” Let me remind you of what Apostle Paul once said in Romans chapter 10 verses 13 -15 (NIV), “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.”
So, yes, YOU’RE right, “God does not need you!” The eternal God of all the heavens and earth, the God who created the very universe, and even created YOU—- does not NEED YOU— does not need me— but He does desire to partner with you so that you can earn some righteous rewards, a treasure stored up in heaven as a result of your work for HIM in the earth.
You see, GOD desires to send you as HIS ambassador to reach the lost. No, I’m not asking you to go around the world and witness to people, but I am asking you to go to the neighbor next door, the lunchroom at work, the recreation room, the grocery store, your next doctor’s visit, your next hospital stay, and any other place the Lord would strategically place you to share the message of reconciliation, to share the GOSPEL with those who are unsaved.
I leave you with this final observation, the words of Jesus himself as recorded in Matthew 9:35-38 (NIV). It states,
“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Saints of God, very few people are pleased when things are needlessly perishing. Yet, when it comes to being wasteful with the most precious and priceless gift of all, there is often too much silence and many undisturbed days. Why is that so? Is it too much consumption and concentration on me, myself, and I, which leaves little room for compassion given to others?
Brothers and sisters, you may not be able to perform any miracles like Jesus, but you can certainly proclaim HIS message, the GOSPEL. “God has given us the privilege of urging everyone to come into his favor and be reconciled to him… This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others.”
You can share the GOSPEL message verbally, you can write it out, or you can pass out tracks. The only question yet remaining is will you OBEY. Will you allow God to use your life— until your very last breath– as Jesus did, as Stephen did, as Paul did, and so many others. Will you apply today for the HELP WANTED position God has available? And for those who have shared the GOSPEL message in the past, will you come out of retirement and FINISH THE WORK GOD HAS FOR YOU? In doing so, you will help populate the kingdom of God, and one day we will all look around in heaven and see as it says in Revelation chapter seven,
“A great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb…”
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever. AMEN!”
Brothers and sister, BE HIS AMBASSADOR – FINISH THE WORK!
