Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church
Every man longs for God to use him. But what kind of men does God use? What kind of man most manifests the power of God? How should men live in this world to make the most impact for the next? How must a minister live? How must a husband serve? How must a Christian occupy himself? To be used by God in a mighty way, let the reader understand that God uses particular kinds of men.
1 Corinthians 2:3 — “I was with you in weakness…”
1. Weak men
The Apostle Paul boasted in few things but one such characteristic that he often boasted in was his weakness. He was a weak man in the eyes of the world. Indeed, the way of the Lord so often flips human things upside-down. God does not use the strongest of men to accomplish the greatest of tasks. He uses weak men, frail in the eyes of the world, empowered by God to do great things for His glory.
2. Broken men
Godly men sorrow over sin. Men of God who accomplish much in the kingdom of God repent over sin and mourn over their own specific sins. God does not use men who will not and refuse to repent over their transgressions. But the broken, the penitent, the contrite, the lowly, and the repentant men are those who, by God’s grace and by His power, shake the world for Christ.
3. Godly men
The men who have done the most in the world are those who were devoted most to God. The men whom God uses most are the most pious of men. They happily content themselves to remain unknown in the eyes of men. They seek not the applause and acceptance of men. They fear God and Him alone. The men used of God seek God and love Christ. They joyfully commune with the Triune God in incessant fellowship and in unbroken prayer. Godly men do much for Christ.
4. Pure men
Holy men must live wholly devoted to the Master for His service. Unholy men profane Christ’s kingdom. An impure minister is a disgrace to the gospel of grace. God saves wretched sinners and then He begins the process of purification, of transformation, of sanctification. All those whom God saves, He sanctifies. All those whom God converts, He changes and conforms them to the character of Christ. Men of God who wage war with the kingdom of darkness are those who prioritize personal piety and radically resolve to live righteously. Godly men are pure and holy.
5. Desperate men
A godly man lives with a holy discontentment. He has a sanctified desperation in that He longs ever-increasingly for greater holiness and for greater power. He can’t get enough of God’s power upon Him in his proclamation, in his praying, and in his communion with Christ. He desperately longs for God to use him more. He longs for revival. He pleads for holiness. In his soul, deep in his inner man, he desperately wants to be as holy as a justified man can possibly be.
6. Courageous men
Men of God courageously stand against the Devil himself. Men of God fear no one except God. Soldiers of Christ stand firm against the fiery darts and luring schemes of the Tempter. Courage comes from God who is the Fountain of strength and delights. He is the mighty Rock and strong Refuge. Men of God live courageously because true love casts out all fear. A man that God uses stands unafraid to proclaim Christ’s gospel to the most repulsive of sinners. A man of God stands before the armies of Satan unflinchingly because the arm of the Lord is always with Him.
7. Gentle men
True men are gentle. Godly gentleness refers to that character quality of strength -- strong strength -- under control. It is a mighty man who serves a mighty God with a mighty Gospel in a mightily dark world who walks and talks and lives with self-control over his spirit. Christ Himself exemplified a perfect man who was meek, gentle, strong, humble, and unflinchingly bold. God uses men who are controlled in their strength as Christ Himself lived in a controlled way even in the severest and most unjust of circumstances. Men that God uses do likewise.
8. Heavenly men
Christ lived for one predominant purpose which overshadowed everything that He did. He lived singularly and solely for the glory of the Father. He passionately wanted to glorify His heavenly Father. He longed to be with the Father and be with His redeemed. Men whom God uses have an eyeball gazing upon the Lamb of God seated on heaven’s throne. True men are so consumed with the next world that they do the most in this world. They live for eternity. They preach for eternity. They shepherd souls toward eternity. They plead with sinners to consider eternity. They know that a mere breath separates them from stepping into eternity. Men empowered by God and who accomplish much for His glory long for heaven, are assured of coming heaven, earnestly long to be with Christ in heaven and they live storing up treasures for heaven. They are in the truest sense other-worldly men.
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