DEUT. 7:6 Preached at Silver Dollar City Branson, MO Sunday Morning, 6/28/09
YOU’RE SOMEONE SPECIAL
INTRO: I’m Bill Hathaway. I’m not a Billy Graham or a Billy Sunday. I’m just Bill Hathaway, retired missionary to Japan. It seems that every so often that I wake up in the middle of the night with a message on my mind that I must get out of bed to put it on paper. This is the case with this message. As I write out the words of this message it is exactly 2:45 AM on June 23, 2009. Without a doubt, Almighty God woke me up with three words on my mind. They are “You’re SomeOne Special.”
1. THE GREAT HEART OF GOD FIRST COINED THESE WORDS WAY BACK IN THE BEGINNING OF TIME.
- Way back thousands of years ago, God looked down and saw mankind. He saw them in all their sin. Yet, the Bible, says, De. 7:6 " For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth." Thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people. You might be thinking, “Why would God call these people special?” The answer is in verse 8 where it says,” But because the LORD loved you.” When God says, “You’re SomeOne Special,” it comes from His great heart of love. You can’t say these words without some affection… without feeling concern…without having compassion…without LOVE! ILLUS. I remember when our kids were babies and they would wake us up in the middle of the night crying as though something was wrong. We would get a bottle of warm milk, but they didn’t want milk. We would check to see if a pin was sticking them, but no pin was sticking them. When we would pick them up, they would smile so big. I didn’t like getting up in the middle of the night. I felt like giving them a big spanking, but I didn’t. Why? Because I loved them. God loved us when we were yet sinners. Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
- ILLUS. Imagine seeing a 2” by 3” magnet on your refrigerator door with the words, “You’re SomeOne Special!” How would you feel? (OR) Just imagine you are lying on a hospital bed. You have been in a terrible accident and your life is hanging in the balances. Along comes a nurse. On her blouse are some words embroiled which read, “You’re SomeOne Special.” What would that do to you? I know what it would do for me. It would make me feel important. It would make me want to live. It would cause every fervor of my body to react with the result of miraculous healing taking place.
- Do I deserve to be told, “You’re SomeOne Special?” No! Of course not! Maybe I look like something worthwhile to you, but if anybody knows me, I know me. I was a little pimpled-face, mischievous boy growing up in the midst of 2,000,000 people in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania way back in the 1930’s. We were poor. We had nothing. I was just a little mischievous insignificant, insecure, insincere little dot in the maze of massive humanity.
- Then one day, we orphan kids were sent across the street to a little Cumberland Presbyterian Church with the purpose of filling up the seats. The members were out celebrating the end of the war. An old Pennsylvania Coal Miner came to preach one of those old time down-to-earth hell, fire and brimstone messages. I felt like I was dangling over hell and could almost feel the heat. It was as though God, Himself leaned down and whispered in my ear, “You’re SomeOne Special!” Wow! That was the turning point of my life. God not only saved me, but He called me to preach at the same time. The workers in the orphanage drilled it into us that none of us would amount to anything; but God looked at this wayward kid and whispered, “You’re SomeOne Special!”
2. WHAT DOES It MEAN TO BE “SPECIAL?” Mayo Clinic says it is safe to say that you are One in 200 Million, as far as Sperm Cells are concerned.
- My dictionary defines “Special” as: “of a particular kind, not ordinary, more than ordinary, unusual, exceptional, having a particular purpose, important.”
- Jesus was the One most special person who ever walked this earth. He was God Almighty in human flesh.
- Why would God condescend to take on a frail human body and come here to this sin cursed earth? He could have just given up on the people of this earth and enjoyed Heaven. Just as He spoke this world into existence, so He could have easily spoken the word and this world with all its sin would have vanished into nothing.
- But God is special because there is no other God. Not only is He special and not only is His great love special; but He looked down through the ages of time and He saw us in our hopeless and helpless condition. Although none of us deserve it, He devised a plan to save us because He considered that “You’re SomeOne Special” and God's focus is on the One, that's you, me and everyOne who wants Him.
- Why did He go to that extent for you and for me? There can be only one answer: He considered you and I as being SomeOne Special.
3. NOW, CONSIDER WHAT IS PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT WORD IN THAT STATEMENT: YOU’RE SOMEONE SPECIAL…..IT’S THE WORD “ONE.”
- There is only one way to heaven. Mt. 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. The way to heaven and eternal life is but ONE way. In Eph. 4:5, we read that there is but ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism.
- The door or gate to heaven as our scripture says is but ONE door. There is a song I used to sing many years ago that says:
- One door and only one,
And yet its sides are two;
I’m on the inside,
On which side are you? - Did you know that the number ONE is the most important number in the entire Bible? I was curious, so I checked how many times certain numbers appeared in the Word of God. Guess what I found? I’ll save the number ONE for last.
- No. 2 – 835 times (No. of choices: the wide road or the narrow road)
- No. 3 – 485 times (No. for trinity)
- No. 4 – 328 times (No. of New Testament Gospel books: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)
- No. 5 – 345 times (No. for faith – F-A-I-T-H)
- No. 6 – 202 times (No. for the six days of creation)
- No. 7 – 463 times (No. for perfection)
- No. 40 – 158 times (No. for a generation)
- NO. 1 – 1,969 TIMES! (1,134 times more than 2)
- There is power in the number ONE~ WHY?
- ONE is the number of our God.
- ONE is the number of salvation:
- There is ONE way to salvation.
- There is ONE Person who can save.
- We are made ONE in Christ.
- ONE is the number for God’s love:
- He loves even me although I am just one.
- He stopped to save me.
- He continues to seek sinners.
- ONE with Christ makes a majority! That’s why I can say “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Phil. 4:13
- Think of what God did with just ONE man:
- Abraham: a very old man with a cynical wife.
- Moses: a man who stuttered and couldn’t control his anger.
- David: the youngest son in a very non-royal shepherding family. Greed, envy and lust led him to murder.
- The Apostle Paul: a man dominated by hatred toward Christians that he went out of his way to persecute them.
- Billy Sunday: Born in a poor family – His father died when he was 2 – sent to orphanage – ran away – saved from a life of drinking – called to preach – preached hard against booze – bars were closed in Chicago because of his preaching.
- Then there is me – not worthy to be included with these great men of God; yet, God chose me. I am only one person in this world, but I am ONE.
- As I mentioned before, when I was just a boy, I considered myself as unimportant. I was a nobody! Nobody cared for me. Oh, I had a mother and I know she cared, but she was helpless to do anything about my condition. The Psalmist cried out, Psa 142:4 I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. Perhaps you feel like that. Have you ever cried out, “Nobody likes me!”? Today everyOne wants to be appreciated for something, sometime, someplace. Now you see the power of those 3 words "You're SomeOne Special." It lets people know You Care enough to be a good Samaritan to them. They smile and say "thank you," I did not know I am someone special to God until He leaned down and whispered those three words in my ear.
- There is a saying, “You may be only one person in the world; but you may be the world to one person.” I have always said that if I were the only person in this world, God would have come down here in the person of Jesus Christ and died just for me. Don’t take me wrong; I don’t consider myself worthy of such a great sacrifice, but love constrained Him to come for me. Now I am constrained to go into the world with the message,"You're SomeOne Special" in God's eyes and preach His unsearchable riches.
- I may be just a tiny dot in this wide world of humanity, but I am ONE. You are ONE! The Bible says, “For God so loved the world…” I am part of this world. You are part of this world. You’re SomeOne Special to God.
- Billy Sunday was an orphan like myself, but God whispered to him just like He did to me those words that drew me to Him. Those words, “You’re SomeOne Special” became the turning point in his life. Let me quote what he said: I'm against sin. I'll kick it as long as I've got a foot, and I'll fight it as long as I've got a fist. I'll butt it as long as I've got a head. I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth. And when I'm old and fistless and footless and toothless, I'll gum it till I go home to Glory and it goes home to perdition! I too feel that way.
4. NOW, LET ME WRAP THIS UP WITH THIS VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION…HAVE YOU MADE GOD SOMEONE SPECIAL TO YOU?
- You are just ONE person, but you are SPECIAL to God.
- I’m glad the Bible doesn’t say, “If Bill Hathaway calls upon the name of the Lord, he shall be saved.” Why? Well, I happen to know there is more than one Bill Hathaway in the world.
- The Bible says, “For WHOSOEVER shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved (Rom. 10:13).” That means you! You are the ONE!
- Just as God chose Paul, so also He has chosen you to shower His love upon. Act 9:15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel
CONCLUSION & INVITATION
God has made you “SomeOne Special,” will you make Him “SomeOne Special?” Let me give you 5 Steps Of Salvation as printed on this card.
- Steps Of Salvation – Rom. 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"
- Sentence Of Sinners – Rom. 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
- “Source Of Salvation – John 3:16 "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."
- Shortcoming Of Service – Titus 3:5 "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;"
- Simplicity Of Salvation – John 1:12 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:", Rev. 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."
Lastly, Securing Our Salvation – Pray a prayer similar to this, “Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner. I do believe that Jesus Christ died for me to pay my sin debt, and the best I know how, I trust Him and receive Him by Faith, In Jesus Name, Amen.” (use the SOS card.) INVITATION! View the card on www.soshelp.com web site.
PS
You have observed the focus of You’re SomeOne Special (YSS) 3 word Mark is on the word "One" as its Foundation. YSS Hdqs asked IBM and Walmart Executives to give us their comments on the 3 word Mark and they said "You're SomeOne Special" is a very strong Idea and a powerful Statement." The same word was used when America was formed in 1776 "One Nation under God." These 3 words properly used is the "Oscar" of marks with a "Midas" touch for Changing people lives. For more information Dr. Hathaway will help in the "rescue" of America & beyond. Remember, "When You Care Enough You're SomeOne Special"
"God gives His best to those He Trusts the Most."
