A God Filled Channel — E.A. Johnston

Christian Biography and Spiritual Usefulness

A good part of my life has been devoted to Christian biography, both in the reading of it and the writing of it. And I believe, friends, we can derive a great benefit from studying how God has used men and women as they reach their generation for Christ.

Surrender and Suffering in the Lives of Useful Christians

They are usually two common denominators that connect a life of usefulness to God. And I wanted to share these with you today, friends. These are surrender and suffering. It's those rare individuals who know what it's like to live a surrendered life to God.

And they are deeply familiar with a life of suffering for God. They are also full of God's power. While reading the biography of the evangelist Mordecai Ham, I was astounded to see how God used that surrendered life.

Mordecai Ham’s Suffering and Evangelistic Fruit

But Mordecai Ham suffered for God, for he was attacked by a man with a chain that cut up his face. He was pistol whipped in the lobby of a hotel, and he was dragged from a meeting by a town of angry men who carried a bag of feathers, a bucket of tar, and a rope to hang him from a tree.

The mayor of a Texas town had to call in the United States Calvary to rescue him. But when Mordecai Ham would come to town, the entire spiritual life of a community was transformed. Listen to a newspaper clipping from the Houston Chronicle from the year of 1906, which speaks of the effect that Mordecai Ham had on that town.

I quote, Last night there were prayer meetings until midnight in ten churches. I want that statement to sink in, friends. A secular newspaper is reporting that the lights were on until midnight in ten churches in Houston because Mordecai Ham had come to town.

I want you to catch some of the fire of Mordecai Ham, friends, for I fear very few of us give off any heat from Christ within to this generation of cold-hearted sinners who are in love with their sins.

When I was reading Ham's biography, I learned he was the human instrument of leading over a hundred thousand souls to Christ, and one of them was Billy Graham. Mordecai Ham had a remarkable life that was used mildly of God, and I had to ask myself why, or why did God use him so?

Well listen to his prayer that he made to God, and maybe we'll find out. I have but one desire, only one, and that is to be a channel through which the river of life may flow to some of the people of this world.

I desire no pleasure, no promise of long life, no earthly exaltation, no pride of worldly ambition. I desire only this, that through me the salvation of Jesus Christ may be brought to men and women on this earth.

Brokenness as the Price of Spiritual Fruitfulness

That was a secret, friends, and when I read that my heart was stirred within me, and to the best of my ability I asked God that day to make those words of Mordecai Ham a reality in my life as well. No matter the cost, and I meant it at the time, not realizing what it would cost for what counts costs, and what cost counts, especially in a life lived for God, sometimes God will draw us to a path of a deeper walk with him, through a path of brokenness.

It is the press, great friends, that makes the wine. The olive must be crushed to make the oil. The alabaster box had to be broken for the fragrance to be released. It's been said that when we get to heaven, God's not going to be looking for medals on us, but scars.

We all want to finish our ministries with applause and standing ovations, but John the Baptist ended his with his head on a platter. The apostle Paul ended his with his head on a block. When are we going to stop all this nonsense we call Christianity today?

Drawing Near to God in Hard Places

We need to stop looking for the approval of men, and look to be approved of God. If we're going to hear God's voice, then we need to draw closer to him, and we need to walk with him in an intimate walk if we are to experience him, but we have to be in a place where we can listen.

God revealed some of his choice secrets to the prophet Jeremiah when he was shut up in prison. The question is, do we want to draw near to God, even if it means being put in tough places? Jeremiah had to live Jeremiah 33 .1 before he could understand and experience Jeremiah 33 .3.

Verse 1 states, Moreover, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison. But listen, friends, to what God reveals to his suffering prophet.

Listen to the verse from Jeremiah 33 .3. Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. Sometimes we don't listen very well when we're enjoying seasons of prosperity.

We tend to be more self-reliant then. But if the skies begin to darken with disaster, oh, how fast we go looking for God. God had to put his prophet Jeremiah in a place where Jeremiah could listen to God the best.

In this case, it was the confinement of a prison. Do you realize, friend, that whatever prison it seemingly is in your life, that it may be God's finest hour to speak to you so you can hear him? If God's going to use you, then he must have your undivided attention.

But we have to be willing to be put in hard places so we may have a fuller knowledge of God and his attributes, and a better knowledge of our own wicked hearts, so we will better realize our utter dependence upon him.

Becoming an Unobstructed Channel for the Spirit

Let me ask you, friend, do you want more of God? Then give him more of you. I believe we can get as much of God as we want, so long as he can have as much of us as he wants. Did you hear that? But you have to be self-empty to be an unobstructed channel for the Spirit of God to course through in a life-transforming power.

Perhaps some of you feel led to say to God, Lord, I want to be made willing to be a clear channel for you to flow through and remove every obstruction in my life that hinders you from freely flowing through me.

Are you sincere enough before God to pray that prayer, friend, that God would do whatever it takes in your own life to remove the things that hinder him from using you in a deeper way to be more of a blessing to others?

I will say this, friends, when we promise God a thing, he does not forget it, even if we do. God keeps his promises, and he expects us to keep ours to him. Don't ever casually wish something for God without backing it up with action.

Sacrifice, Discipline, and Knowing God’s Word

I'll never forget a story that the Bible commentator John Phillips shared with me before he went to Glory. He said when he worked for Moody's in the 1950s, there was a professor there at Moody Bible School in Chicago that was a walking Bible.

This professor was in his 70s and had devoted his entire life to the study of God's Word. And this professor invited John Phillips to accompany him one night to a local Chicago church where this man delivered a sermon.

And after the sermon, a stranger in his 50s approached him and said, I wish I had your knowledge of the Bible. And the man looked him over, and the scholar replied, Sir, you will never have my knowledge of the Bible.

And he walked away. That Bible scholar had made the necessary sacrifices in his life to know God's Word like few men were willing to make. How about you, friend? Are you ready for the sacrifices that will accompany your request to God?

I remember I wanted to get to know my God better, but the only way I could free up more time to spend with him was to get rid of my TV and use that time on my knees and in my Bible. If God asked you to get rid of your wicked television, would you do it?

Would you give up your favorite reality TV show? He will test your sincerity. How badly do we want to be used to him to impact our generation with the gospel? How much are we willing to give up for him?

Suffering and Greater Usefulness

What if God took you through a place of suffering? Would you still want to go deeper with him? I'm going to list some mightily used men who suffered losses for God. George Whitefield's four-month-old son died.

John Song lost his only son. F .J. Eagle's little five-year-old daughter was poisoned by the very people he was giving the gospel to in Mexico. Rolf Barnard's four-year-old daughter was struck down in death.

But everywhere Rolf Barnard went, he shook entire towns for God. I remember one day I was sitting with Adrian Rogers in a study, and I asked him to share with me what he felt was the change point in his life.

When God began to use him in a deeper way, Dr. Rogers thought about it for a while, and then looked me in the eye and replied, it was right after we lost our baby boy that God began to use me. When I asked God to make Mordecai Ham's words a reality in my life, well, it wasn't one month's time that I lost my wife of 25 years to sudden death.

I'm not saying that God will remove a loved one from you to use you, but would you be willing to suffer some losses for Christ if it meant greater usefulness? This is where the rubber meets the road. This is where many back away from a deeper walk with God.

Testing the Willingness to Surrender

I can see a pastor's face in my mind right now. This man had heaven on earth, in his church, and a powerful revival. And he related one day that when he was alone in the sanctuary with God, while the embers of that revival was dying off, God asked him for his son.

That like Abraham, God asked this pastor if he was willing to give his son for a deeper work of God to be manifested. This pastor never told how he answered God that day. But the last time I heard that man preach, he had turned his church into a nightclub, and he had become a potty-mouthed pastor, saying such shocking language and using such off-color stories that it embarrassed you to even listen to this man, who was so once used to God, but now had just become a stand-up comedian with a filthy mouth to draw a crowd.

That pastor backed away from God, and God backed away from him. How about you, friend? How badly do you want to see God move in your life and through your ministry? God will test your seriousness with him.

Counting the Cost of Following Christ

Now let me ask you once more. Is there a man or a woman, or a young man or a young woman, willing to go all out for Christ and the sake of the gospel? Then be prepared to be used to God in ways you never dreamed were possible.

And be prepared also, friend, if God so requires, to be a great sufferer for him. Like I said, what costs counts, and what counts costs. It costs God his dear son. It costs the son his own blood. There is a cost in following a crucified Savior.

There is a cost to further usefulness to God, whether we realize it or not. Often times, our greatest losses in this world end up as pluses on God's balance sheet in eternity. But we must each ask ourselves how badly do we want to further be used for God, or are we content where we are?

If we want more of him, are we willing to count the cost, and then still be willing to throw our reputation away for Christ and the sake of the gospel? Perhaps there is someone here who wants to step out and surrender their life to Christ and his gospel.

Perhaps you hunger to be that clear channel God can flow through with power. Get serious with God, friend, and he will get serious with you. May God get you there by his grace. Let me lead us as we pray.

Prayer for Cleansing and Spiritual Power

Almighty God, we come to you desiring more usefulness to you. Shine your Holy Spirit spotlight on the places in our lives which are displeasing to you. Great God, remove the obstacles that block your progress through us.

Burn out the chaff, burn up the wood that gets in your way and that hinders our usefulness to you. Give us the grace, Almighty God, to be crucified to this world and dead to the opinions of man. Make us clear channels which you can flow through with life-changing power.

Cleanse us and ignite us and use us as instruments in thy hand as a means of blessing to others. Fill us with your presence. Overflow us with your power that overflows our banks. Flow through us with such power that will shake this generation for Christ and the gospel.

Amen.