Keion Henderson - Self-Defense

This is my message today. I want to talk about self-defense. I want to talk about self-defense because, sometimes in your life, you can’t depend on somebody else to look out for you. Sometimes, you have to do it for yourself. Let 's talk about self-defense. You know, when you read this letter that Paul has written to the church at Corinth, this is his second letter. You have to ask yourself: why does anybody repeat themselves? If you have children, you know that sometimes you have to tell them something more than once. Sometimes, they get it the first time; every once in a while, you have to tell them again. Why does a person repeat themselves? Why does God say, «Abraham, Abraham»? Why does God say, «Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me»? Why would God say, «Moses, Moses»? Why would He repeat Himself to you? Isn 't God loud enough for you to hear Him the first time? I mean, isn’t His voice proficient enough to be effective initially, as opposed to eventually? Of course it is! We’re talking about the God who said, «Let there be,» and there was. If He can call a world into existence, shouldn’t He be able to call a person to attention? You didn’t hear Him say, «Let there be light»; light said, «Not yet.» God said, «I said, let there be light.» Light said, «Not yet.» God says, «If I have to say let there be light again,» and then there’s light! See, only humans have trouble listening. Everything else God created, let’s be honest, got His command initially. We, who were born into sin, shaped in iniquity, tend to hear God eventually. This text was written, in my estimation and opinion, by the greatest preacher of the New Testament. This is Paul. Now, if you don’t know Paul, if you just met him in Acts, if you just met him in the book of Corinthians, if you just met him in Ephesians, if you just met him in Philippians, then I can understand that you cannot have full respect for the gravity of how Paul and his life and his journey are applicable to your situation. You met Paul when he was blind on the road to Damascus, and perhaps you met Paul when he was surviving shipwrecks. Perhaps you met Paul when he was digging his hand into firewood and was bitten by a snake to help other people. But can I tell you that Paul was imperfect? He was imperfect when God initially summoned Paul. He wasn’t preaching in the synagogue. In fact, according to Acts chapter 9, Paul was on his way to murder Christians, and the Bible says he was breathing out threats and slaughter until he was arrested by a blinding light from God that left him without sight for three days. He was on his way to do something wrong when God called him to do something right. I could just stay there. I could stay there because it is the opinion of most of us that God is seeking that which has value. But the truth is, God is actually seeking that which has no value so that intrinsically, the thing that doesn’t have any value will assume that it got all of its value from the One who gave us the victory-talking about Jesus the Christ, Emmanuel, the One who was slain before the foundation of the world, and the One who died on the cross, and in the presence of His enemies, He never said a mumbling word. This is Paul that we’re talking about, and Paul acknowledges his confusion as to why God would choose him to put this level of apostolic ministry in this kind of person. We’re still talking about a strategy for the imperfect. How does this kind of glory live in the spirit of a man that has this kind of story? Why would God put this immense valuable gift of preaching the gospel in a man who was looking to kill His children when He found them? Paul said, «I’m confused.» That 's what he meant. He says, «I am perplexed. How could such a treasure be placed in this kind of vessel?» Have you ever asked yourself that? And if you’re humble enough, you have. Have you ever asked yourself, «Why is God this good to me?» Yeah, this is for somebody right now. Have you ever actually said what, after knowing — all the things you’ve done, after every place you’ve been, after all the things you’ve said-have you ever asked yourself, «Why does God keep on blessing me? Why would God give a job to somebody like me? Why would God give this kind of opportunity to somebody like me? Why would God bless somebody like me?» Because He puts these treasures-help me, Holy Ghost- can we walk this thing out? He puts this treasure in an earthen vessel. Why would God call a man to cure the very thing he was trying to kill? Couldn 't He have picked somebody better? You mean to tell me it wasn’t some good righteous saint that God could have used to write half of the New Testament? God, you mean to tell me you had to step out of the faith to bring somebody into it? You better be glad that’s God 's strategy! You better be glad that God is not looking for the in-crowd. You better be glad that God is not looking for people who are without fault. You better be glad that God still uses people who have bad motives, and He can still turn you into a miracle. Paul says, «I cannot understand why this level of apostolic ministry has been placed in my soul,» and how can God put this kind of glory…