The Influence of One Man

The Influence of One Man

Zac Poonen |

"I searched for ONE MAN among them who should build up the wall and stand before Me........but I did not find even one man" (Ezekiel 22:30). In the history of the world, of Israel and of the church, we see a number of examples of how God has very often been dependent on just ONE man in a particular situation to accomplish His purposes. But one man with God is always a majority.

“God needs a pure testimony for His Name in EVERY generation."

Noah: When the whole world was filled with wickedness and rebellion against God, in Noah's time, although there were eight God-fearing people on the earth, yet the fulfillment of God's purposes depended entirely on the faithfulness of just one man, Noah. Noah was the only man who found favour in God's eyes at that time (Genesis 6:8). If that one man had been unfaithful to God, the entire human race would have been wiped out, and none of us would have been alive today!! We can certainly thank God that Noah remained faithful.

Moses: When the Israelites were in Egypt, God could not set them free from their slavery until He had found a man who was fit to represent Him. And God was prepared to wait till such a man was ready. Once when Moses was away from the Israelites for just 40 days, all 2 million of them went astray (Exodus 32). It took just a few days for a whole nation to forsake the true God and to go astray worshipping idols, once God's man was away from the scene.

Joshua: We read that the Israelites "served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua" (Judges 2:7). Joshua's influence was so powerful on the Israelites that they did not dare to worship idols during his lifetime and during the lifetime of his fellow-elders. But once Joshua died, Israel backslid badly. Such is the effect of the life of one man of God.

Elijah: The Bible says in relation to Elijah, that "the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. (James 5:16-17). One man single-handedly, turned a whole nation back to God, routed the forces of wickedness and killed all the prophets of Baal.

Elisha: There were fifty “sons of the prophets” (Bible-school students) in Elijah's time who were all hoping to be prophets in Israel one day. But the Spirit of God bypassed all of them and came upon Elisha, who was not a “son of a prophet” (2 Kings 2:7,15). Elisha was known in Israel only as a servant – “one who used to pour water on Elijah's hands” (2 Kings 3:11).

Daniel: When God wanted to bring the Jews out of Babylon into Jerusalem, He needed a man. He found Daniel. Daniel had been faithful from his youth and had passed every test with flying colours. As a young teenager in Babylon, he took a firm stand for the Lord. “He determined in his heart that he would not defile himself” (Daniel 1:8) - a good verse for all young people to remember. Whereas all the other young Jews readily ate the food served on the king's table for fear of the king (food that God had forbidden in Leviticus), Daniel alone refused to eat it. There were three other young men at that table that day, who saw Daniel take a stand, and joined him. Daniel and those three men then became a powerful influence for God in Babylon.

Paul: Paul spent more time in Ephesus than in any other church. Every single day, for 3 years, he preached the whole counsel of God there (Acts 20:31). It was the most privileged of all the churches. The high standard of the teachings in Paul's letter to them indicates that it was a spiritually-minded church too. So, if there was one church where believers should have entered in great numbers into new-covenant life, it should have been this church at Ephesus. But alas, it was not so. Not even the elders there had entered into such a life. Paul told those elders when he was leaving them, “I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:29, 30). As long as Paul was personally present in the church at Ephesus, no wolf could enter it, because Paul was a watchful shepherd of the flock and a strict doorkeeper of the Lord's house.

God needs a pure testimony for His name in EVERY generation. And He will not leave Himself without a witness even in our generation. Will you pay the price to be wholly available to God in this generation?

Recommended Sermon: The Witness of One Man (click here)

https://www.cfcindia.com/sermon/the-witness-of-one-man

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