God's Touch On Your Shoulder
God's Touch On Your Shoulder
John 21:15-22
Some people have the idea that God is a great giant sitting on a throne a billion miles away,
not caring whether we live or die.
How wrong they are.
God is a gracious, loving Father.
He is interested in every phase of our lives.
He wants the best for us in this world and in the world to come.
He does not leave us to be guided by blind chance.
He guides us by His Holy Spirit.
Often, He comes and touches us on the shoulder saying, "This is the way, walk this way."
In the text Peter is talking to Jesus before His ascension.
Peter pointed to John and said, "What shall this man do?"
Jesus answered, in effect, by saying, "Peter, that is not your concern, follow me."
He says that to all of us.
The essential thing for you and me is to follow Him.
There are special times when God touches us on the shoulder.
There Is The Touch Of Salvation
We were born in sin.
We have all gone astray.
We are all lost and condemned without a Saviour.
We walk a straight line to hell.
- Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."
- Psalm 53:3: "Everyone of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy;
there is none that doeth good, no, not one. But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our
righteousness are as filthy rags..."
All who remain without Christ are without life and without hope.
- God says in Isaiah 1:18: "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord:
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18)
- Jesus said in John 3: 16-18: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.
He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
Many here have experienced that touch on the shoulder and have received Christ as their Saviour
and have life everlasting.
That is wonderful!
There are also those here who have never received Christ as their personal Saviour.
They have never asked Jesus to come into their hearts.
They have never been forgiven of their sin of rejecting Jesus as their Saviour.
They are still in their sins.
They are lost and without Christ.
They are dead in their sins.
They are already condemned.
They are already judged, and condemned to an eternity in hell without God.
If this describes your present condition, then you need to know that Jesus is here,
and He is calling you to come unto Him and receive forgiveness for your sins and receive
His life for your death.
Just be still and look to God, and you will feel that touch of God.
That touch varies with each individual:
Remember how Matthew...Andrew...Peter... James and John were called.
Look at Saul on the Damascus Road. The murderer becomes a minister.
Look at Zaccheus up in the tree.
There was Lydia, a business woman attending a prayer meeting on a Saturday in Philippi.
Paul preached and God touched her on the shoulder, and she opened her heart to Jesus
and became a dynamic force for the Lord.
Paul and Silas were in jail and a jailer saw their faith and received their Lord.
What About You?
Do you remember the day when Jesus touched you on the shoulder, and you opened your heart
and asked Jesus to become your Saviour?
There are those who feel that they have to work for their salvation.
They believe that they have to pay their way to heaven. Not so!
In fact, there is no way anyone can do that.
- Ephesians 2:8 -10 proclaims: " For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
God just simply touches you, and you feel it in your heart.
You'll know when God touches you.
It is like nothing that you have ever experienced.
Right now, God is ready to save you!
He will give you His great gift of salvation.
All you have to do is to receive it. But you must receive it.
He will not force it on you!
I pray that you will receive Him today.
This very moment!
There Is The Touch Of Service
After a person has received Christ as His Saviour, God touches Him again, and says,
"Now, I want you to confess me before men..."
He expects us to be obedient and follow Him.
That means that we would follow his example and be baptized.
Jesus was baptized.
He said that He was baptized as an example for us to follow.
In fact, Jesus commanded us to be baptized.
- In Matthew 28:19-20: "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
It is a sin not to obey our Lord.
Baptism is a public profession of our faith.
It is our testimony of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord.
- Romans 6:3-5 states: "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ
were baptized into His death?
Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead
by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the
likeness of His resurrection."
Then God touches us and says, "Here is my church - now join and serve Me!"
Which church should you join?
Should you join one just because you like the preacher? I hope not!
Should you join because they have such great facilities? I hope not!
Should you join because you have been pressured? Certainly not.
You may find a church that has everything for which you are looking.
That would be wonderful!
But the reason that you join any church is because God says, "This is the place!"
Thousands of people move to other cities and other communities and never move their church membership.
I know this displeases God.
I believe that when this is true:
Most just drift away from God.
They have stopped worshipping!
They have stopped Bible reading!
They have stopped praying!
They are not serving God.
They are just satisfying themselves.
They no longer care about the church for which Jesus gave His life.
Every Christian needs to have a church home and a church family.
The family needs the ministry of the church.
We all need the fellowship of other Christians.
We need the Bible study that we get in Sunday School.
We need to hear the Word of God proclaimed.
Every Christian should have a desire to serve God in His church.
No one should have to be asked to serve in God's service.
One who has been redeemed from hell and saved for heaven should be going to the pastor
and the nominating committee and letting them know that you want to serve God
in the greatest work on the face of the earth.
The church always needs workers.
Too few are having to do too much.
God has placed everyone in His church where He wants them.
I believe that He has given His church all the resources to do what He expects the church to do.
If every member served as he should and gave as God has blessed Him, then God's great church
would have all it needed and much, much more to carry forth the work of God in this community.
There are those who God touches for special service.
And many times He calls those who are already busy serving Him.
Moses was busy tending the sheep.
Isaiah was busy in the temple.
Peter, James, and John were busy as fishermen.
God calls people from all walks of life. He calls people of all ages to do work in His fields.
I thank God that He called me.
All of us, as Christians, have been called to tell the world about our great Saviour.
It is our responsibility.
It is our greatest privilege.
Something tremendous has happened, and we have the opportunity to tell the world.
God stepped out of eternity into time and was born of a virgin in a manger in Bethlehem,
and lived on this earth thirty-three years.
He loved people.
He loved everybody.
He made sick people well.
He made the blind to see.
He made the lame to walk.
He even made dead people alive again.
He proved by many signs and miracles that He was the Son of God.
He lived a sinless life.
He was crucified on a cross at Calvary so that we could be forgiven of our sins.
He was buried and remained in the grave for three days and nights.
He rose from the grave so that we also might live forever with Him.
He remained on the earth for another 40 days and was seen by His disciples on several occasions.
On one occasion He was seen by 500 people.
He then ascended to heaven right before their eyes and sat down by the right hand of God.
And He is coming again for all who have received Him as their Saviour and Lord.
THIS IS WHAT WE MUST TELL THE WORLD!
There is no better news than this.
This is the best news that the world could ever hear!
Tell them that you have a priceless gift from God to give them, and that if they will receive
this gracious gift, they will never die.
They will live forever in heaven with all the saints of God.
Do you know anyone who is weary? Lost? Without Christ?
Tell them about Jesus!
" 'Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But he held it up with a smile!
'What am I bidden, good folks, ' he cried,
'Who'll start the bidding for me?'
'A dollar, a dollar - then two! Only two?
Two dollars, and who'll make it three?
Three dollars once, three dollars, twice;
Going for three' - but, no!
From the room far back, a gray-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow;
Then wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening the loosened strings;
He played a melody pure and sweet
As a caroling angel sings.
The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
With a voice that was soft and low,
Said, 'Now what am I bid for he old violin?'
And he held it up with the bow.
'A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two?
Two thousand! And who'll make it three?
Three thousand, once; three thousand twice;
And going and gone,' cried he!
The people cheered, but some of them cried,
'We do not understand.
What changed its worth?'
Swift came the reply:
'The Touch Of The Master's Hand!'
And many a man with life out of tune,
And battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like the old violin.
A mess of pottage, a glass of wine;
A game and he travels on.
He's going once, and going twice
He's going and almost gone.
But the Master comes and the foolish crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul
And the change that is wrought,
By 'The Touch Of The Master's Hand!' "
- Myra Brook Welch
Sermon by Dr. Harold L. White
