The Touch That Transforms

SPEAKER 01 : 0:01

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, April 4th. During his time on earth, Jesus was constantly reaching out to transform lives, and he’s still changing hearts today. Join us to discover how you can respond to his life-changing touch that transforms.

SPEAKER 02 : 0:20

Jesus was in the touching business. When I think about how he touched people, and usually we think in terms of how he touched them with his hands, Jesus touched people in two different ways. He not only touched them with his hands, but he touched them with his voice, with his words. They sensed his heart. He touched them with his heart as well as with his hands. And so when I think about how he has touched lives all down through the years and down through the centuries, you think about where you are today. The reason you are saved by the grace of God is that he, by his transforming touch, changed your life. He didn’t touch you physically, but he touched you with his word. He touched you with his heart. You sensed his love. You sensed his forgiveness. You sensed in his words something of compassion and invitation and appeal and tenderness and love and kindness and healing. God, through the person of Jesus Christ, was in the process of reconciling men and women to himself. He wasn’t just interested in touching people and meeting an immediate need. He was interested in meeting long-term needs. While he was interested in feeding the thousands, while he was interested in assuring them when he said, don’t be anxious about what you’re going to wear and what you’re going to drink and what you’re going to eat. Your heavenly father knows you have need of all these things. And he says all these things the Gentiles seek after, but he says seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and our heavenly Father who knows your needs. He’s going to take care of those things. He was always encouraging people. So all of us who know him as our Savior, we know what it means to be touched by him. Listen, not just once in salvation, but over and over again. How many of us have been touched in times of deep sorrow? How many times have we been touched in times of discouragement? How many times has he touched your life and mine when… We didn’t know which way to go. We couldn’t make a decision. We didn’t know which way to turn. How often have we felt His touch when in the deepest, darkest moments of our life, somehow the light of His glory and His grace and His goodness and mercy absolutely shined in upon our life and covered us and permeated us and saturated us until what was once time of sorrow turned into great joy. What is it? It is the awesome, divine touch of the Son of God in your life and my life. And you remember how often we repeat these verses that we know so well, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. If you recall also that He gave us what we call a great commission. But I want you to think about it maybe a little different today, because the truth is, when you think about what we call the Great Commission, in essence, it’s an assignment. It is a personal and corporate assignment from Jesus Christ, who is our Lord and our Master. And usually we don’t think in terms of the Great Commission and His mission to us as an assignment, but that is exactly what it is. As the teacher said to you in the fifth of the sixth grade, this is your mathematic assignment. It’ll be due in three days. You took him seriously. You got busy. What I want to ask you today is this. Every single one of us has been given the assignment that is included in the Great Commission. It’s interesting about the Great Commission, how simple it is. What he said is this. As you go about your life, here’s what you’re to do. You’re to make disciples of other people. How do you do that? You explain to them who Jesus Christ is. You tell them how to be saved. You explain to them the necessity of faith and why He died on the cross at Calvary. You explain to them it’s a matter of trusting Him, placing their faith in Him and what He did at Calvary to bring about their forgiveness and cleansing. Then you encourage them to read the Bible. You encourage them to be baptized. You encourage them to join a church that teaches the Word of God. You encourage them to get in small groups, whether it’s Sunday school or some other group. You encourage them to begin to relate to other people who know Christ. You encourage them to begin to grow. You talk to them about how God will speak to their heart and how they can talk to Him and learn how to pray. What are you doing? You are doing exactly what He told His disciples to do. God desires to use you and me to touch other people’s lives that brings about a transformation in their life. Now, let me ask you a question. Have you ever thought about waking up in the morning and saying, Lord, whose life do you want to transform as a result of touching them through me today? Whose life do you want to transform? Often most Christians get up on Monday morning and go to work. They don’t think about transforming anybody else’s life. They think about getting through the day. They think about the bad traffic. They think about the weather. The weather’s bad. There’s so much to do today. We don’t think about the transformation of people’s lives. And I’m not saying that you and I can transform anybody’s life. But here, listen, this is the assignment. The assignment is this, because I have hands and because I have a voice, God can use our hands and our voice to bring about a transformation in someone else’s life. God has sent you and me into this world to do what? To touch other people’s lives, touch them through a handshake that’s warm and inviting, touch them by a warm, godly embrace. touching them with words of comfort and assurance and encouragement in their life, words of instruction, words that will help them in their times of hopelessness and helplessness. That’s who we are. We’re the sons and daughters of God, and he’s made this so simple. So he said, here’s what the Great Commission is about. The Great Commission is about this. As you go about your life, you’re to touch other people’s lives. And so all of us have an assignment. When I think about the Great Commission, I think about how clear it is. It’s very clear. It’s very simple. It’s very plain. Not only that, it’s all inclusive. He did not limit that to 12 men. He didn’t limit it to 120. Listen, that’s the mission of the church. That is the assignment of the church. And see, oftentimes churches become a little miniature country clubs. And that is, let’s all go to church because church is for me. I go, I get blessed, I get helped, I get encouraged, I get this, I get that. Receive, receive, receive, receive. What we don’t realize is the primary reason is that you and I come to worship our Lord. We come to worship Him and to receive instruction and encouragement in our life so that our worship from Him and our love for Him can be such that, what do we do? That we just walk out on Monday morning and Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday doing what? Letting overflow on the lives of other people. Listen, it’s overflowing on the lives of other people what’s going on in the sight of us. Listen, if your life and my life is not overflowing, something’s got it all choked up. It may be sin. It may be unbelief. It may be that your sense of self-worth and your sense of self-esteem has been so barred and so abused. Maybe back yonder somewhere in your life you’ve been so deeply hurt. You think, well, how can I spill over anybody’s life? Because of who’s living on the inside of you. Listen, what this old thirsty, hungry world needs, you have flowing on the inside of you. You may have it stopped up and you may have it plugged up, but I want to tell you, my friend, He is there. Everything the world needs to hear is on the inside of every single believer. Our Lord has given us an assignment. It’s very clear. And what is the reach of it? Here’s the reach of it. He said, in all the world, preach and teach the gospel. He said, out of every tribe, every tongue, and people and nation, He says, that’s where I want you to go. So when I think about what’s the limitation of this, there’s no limitation. And God has called each and every one of us. We have an assignment. Now… Not only do we have an assignment, but God has given us an avenue by which you and I can carry out that assignment. How does God intend to do that? Here’s how He intends to do it. The same way Jesus did it. He was indwelt by the Spirit of the living God. Even though He was God, He was also human. And so Jesus operated, what? Out of the power of the Holy Spirit. Every single one of us who is a believer has the Spirit of God living on the inside of us. We have been indwelt by the Holy Spirit from the moment we were saved. Now… How do we operate? What is our assignment? Our assignment is this. To make our hands and our feet and our bodies available. To make our voices available to people who need to know Christ as their Savior. We’re the sons and daughters of God. We’re the servants of God. We’re the tools of God. We’re the vessels of God. We’re the loved ones of our Father. And He has chosen you and me. And He’s given each one of us a definite assignment. He has a will for our life. He has purposes for our life. Goals for our life. A sense of direction. And so what does he choose to do? He chooses, and he has chosen to carry out his work. Through your life and my life. And so what does he do? He makes it possible by our backgrounds and by our hurts and our pains and our successes in life. You know, he knows exactly where to put you. He knows exactly where to designate your life. He knows exactly how to open doors of opportunity. He knows to whom you can speak best. And he knows that every single morning when you and I wake up, we have the privilege of being that vessel, that catalyst in someone else’s life that could bring about a transformation in their life. Every single one of us has an assignment before our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our master and our Lord. Our assignment is to live each day as a vessel, a voice, a hand, a body, a tool through whom Almighty God attempts and intends to speak and to deal and to transform the lives of other people. How does he do it? It’s a transforming touch of our God. It is not our power and our strength and our voice. It is His working and living through us. And listen, all He wants to do is this. He wants His wonderful, unconditional love to flow through you and me and to express it through our voices and to express it through our hands and our touch and our service to other people and all the different ways in which we can serve Him. That’s the way He intends to do what? To bring people from every tribe and tongue and nation to the face of this earth? But when I think about how God has opened the door, and we have not only a personal assignment, but we have a corporate assignment. We have an assignment as a church, and this assignment is absolutely awesome. And when I think about what God has done and how he’s opened doors of opportunity, listen, when God opens a door of opportunity, he intends for you to walk through it. Now, there are some times when you and I want to push certain doors open in our life. God doesn’t want them pushed open. But when God opens the door and says, this is the door, He intends for you and me to walk through it. And so, here’s what the Bible says. The Bible says, to whom much is given, much is required. Here’s what’s been given to us. What’s been given to us is this, an avenue, a means, access to every single country in the world. What God has done is open the door. We have a personal assignment, but we have a corporate assignment as a body. I think sometimes we forget what God is up to. We forget what He’s doing because all of us have our own pain and problems and heartaches and burdens and responsibilities in life. But you know why God’s put us together? He’s put us together because He has a mission. He has an assignment for each one of us individually, where we live and where we work. He has an assignment for us as a corporate body. Here’s an assignment for us as a church, and that assignment is that we’re to pray, we’re to give, we’re to go, we’re to encourage, we’re to assure, we’re to do whatever is necessary that God use your life individually and my life individually to, listen, be a transforming vessel in the lives of people out there who are hurting so desperately without our Lord. Now, I want to ask you a question. Is it not true that you, at some point in your life, came to a position where you realized that you had sinned against God, that you were separated from Him, and that somebody maybe explained to you or you read in the Scripture how Jesus Christ died on the cross, and when He died on the cross, that He took your sin debt in full, and if you would accept Him as your personal Savior, that He would forgive you of your sin and that He would give you the promise of eternal life? And is it not true at some point in your life that you agreed with him about your sinfulness? You agreed with him about why Jesus died? You agreed with him about the fact that when he died, he took your sin dead and pulled? And you agreed to place your trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and be reconciled to the Father, be saved and forgiven of your sin, and know in your heart you’re going to heaven. You made an agreement with him. You agreed with him that that would be true. And so, therefore, you were saved. Now, listen carefully. That is only one of the appeals of God in the Scripture. What about this one? Go into all the world and preach and teach the gospel to every creature. You see, what happens is we interpret that as this, behind some pulpit. He doesn’t say anything about being behind a pulpit. He doesn’t even say anything about being in a church building. He just says, go into all the world and preach the gospel. As you go, make disciples. And I’m so glad he said, as you go, make disciples. Where do I go? You go to work. You’ve got your friends everywhere. Now listen. Listen carefully. All of us have accepted, and we have accepted the agreement with our Lord about salvation. Have you ever, as deliberately as you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, have you ever deliberately accepted your personal assignment as a servant of God? to allow Him to speak through you and touch through you other people. Have you ever come to the place of realizing that that is a definite decision that you and I ought to make? We have an assignment. Our assignment is that we’re to touch other people’s lives and allow God to transform them through us. Have you ever accepted that as an assignment from the Lord whereby you’ve said, I do believe that the Great Commission, I do believe that your call, I do believe that your method, your means of reaching every tribe, tongue, and nation will be with people like me. Some of us can go. Some of us will send others. We can all pray. We can all give. We can all support. We can all be the supply line to those missionaries whom God calls specifically to go to specific areas. He’s not going to call us all to do the same thing, but He’s, listen, He’s calling us all to an assignment. My assignment may be to go to Albania. My assignment may be to stay here as an intercessor and pray. My assignment may be to give. My assignment may be to be supportive in other ways in the work of the church and in the area of missions and evangelism. But an assignment we all have. And I’m simply asking you this. You’ve accepted the gift of salvation. You’ve accepted eternal life, eternal security. Has there ever come a time in your life when you personally assumed and said, yes, yes, this is my assignment. This is my responsibility. I am accountable for this. How accountable are you? Every one of us is equally accountable to what? Listen, not to do the same thing, but to do whatever God calls us to do with the background, the education, the experience, and God’s specific will for your life and mine. You may be 12, 22, 44, 66, or you may be in your 80s. Let me ask you a question. You lived a Christian life a long time. Have you ever said to Jesus Christ, I do accept the assignment. A being, a witness, a vessel, where I live, where I work, among my friends. Have you ever deliberately accepted that personally as an assignment in your life? Now, I have an assignment and a responsibility. You have an assignment and responsibility, and we have as a church. Now, as I say, for some people, that means they’re going to have to go. And some people will pray, and some people will give. But I want to give you a verse of Scripture that is so very important. I want you to turn to the 15th chapter of Romans now and listen to this carefully. Listen to what Paul says in the 22nd verse, “‘For this reason I often have been hindered from coming to you to the Romans. But now with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had many years longing to come to you, whenever I go to Spain, I hope to see you in passing and to be helped on my way there by you. When I have first enjoyed your company for a while, but now I’m going to Jerusalem serving the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.'” Yes, they were pleased to do so. And they’re indebted to them, for if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they’re indebted to minister to them also in material things. Here’s what he says. Listen carefully. Watch this. Look at this. He says, At the source of your blessing… If there’s a need, that’s where you give. He said, now, where did you get the gospel? You got it from Jerusalem. Now they’re suffering terribly over there. And because you receive spiritual blessing, now they have material need you to give back in return that which they need. You see, God has simple principles by which to operate all of his economy. And how is that? We give of ourselves. We give what God has given to us. Because listen, the only reason you and I are saved today, somebody left the shores of Europe and they brought the gospel across those seas that were treacherous in those days and those little wooden boats. that none of us would get in and think about doing that. You know what? They loved the Lord. They had an assignment, and they said, we’re going to do it if it costs their life. And friend, listen, there’s not any of us who knows how many people laid down their life in order for you and me to hear the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, you and I have a personal assignment, but we also have a corporate assignment. I want you to think about something for a moment. We can talk about our vision, and our vision is to touch the world with the Word of God, motivated by a passion for God, love and passion, devotion to Him, and a compassion for people. That’s our heart. That’s who we are. That’s what this is all about. What we’re all about is fulfilling a very definite, clear, irrevocable, irreversible, unavoidable assignment, and that is getting the gospel of the world. You’ve heard that over and over and over again. Many of you give and you pray and so forth. But you know, I think it’s time has come for us to make a public declaration. And this is the declaration. We, Heavenly Father, assume our assignment. We commit ourselves to our assignment to get the gospel to every tribe, every tongue, every people, every language possible until you call us home or until you come and call us. Would you be willing to say to the Father, Father, I, along with my brothers and sisters in Christ, assume with them, we assume together the responsibility of getting the gospel to every part of this world that you’ll make possible. We just want to be obedient to what you call us to do. Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to you this morning, afresh and anew as your children, to say, Lord, we’re your vessels. Send us wherever you want us to go. Use us however you choose. Speak through us words of hope and assurance. Touch others through us with a touch that transforms. We commit ourselves to you as a body this morning, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

SPEAKER 01 : 19:35

Thank you for listening to The Touch That Transforms. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station. And if you’d like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.