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Sermon Illustrations: Yielding

Years ago the great composer, musician, performer, Mendelssohn, was on vacation in Germany and went out to a little village. There was an old church in that village with an old organ. And so he went to the church wanting to see if it was open and whether he could go in and play a bit at the organ. As he came to the church and opened the door and stepped inside he heard music. He sat down in the back pew and listened as the old organist was there practising. After some time he went up to the organist, put his hand on his shoulder, and said, "Pardon me, but would you let me play for just a few minutes?" The old organist looked at him and gave him a sharp reply that said, in essence, "No, this is my organ. I play. It's not for anyone else." Mendelssohn stood there a few moments and listened. A little later he put out his hand and said, "Please, just for a few minutes. I won't hurt the organ." Again the old organist gave him a sharp reply. After a few minutes, Mendelssohn again put his hand on the organist's shoulder and said, "Just five minutes - I won't hurt the instrument - just five minutes." The old organist slid off the bench and Mendelssohn seated himself at the console and began to play. Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes, twenty minutes, and half hour, forty-five minutes and the old organist was standing there with tears running down his cheeks, listening. Suddenly, Mendelssohn stopped, and looked up, embarrassed that he had played so long. The old organist leaned forwards and said, "Who are you?" "I'm Mendelssohn," came the reply. The old organist threw his hands up in the air and said, "Alas, I almost lost the opportunity to have the master play my organ." Myron R. Augsburger

Trying to maintain control in your life as a Christian, is like holding one side of a horse's reins while the Lord holds the other side. It's going to cause major problems.

Parable told by Reinhard Bonnke: A man had a 2-storey house. He heard a knocking, opened the door, and found Jesus there, so he invited Him to live in the house and gave Him a room in the top floor. Jesus will only take what you give Him. The man was sleeping and heard a pounding on the door, opened the door a crack and the devil barged in. He had a terrible fight, trying to resist the devil and his temptations, yelling out for help all the time. Eventually, he managed to throw the devil out. In the morning, he said, "Why didn't you help me last night? Couldn't you hear me calling for help?" Jesus: "The problem is, you've got this whole big house to yourself, and I've only got one room." Man: "Ah, I see your point. You can have the whole top floor, and I'll keep the bottom floor." The man was sleeping and heard a pounding on the door, opened the door a crack and the devil barged in again. He had another terrible fight, trying to resist the devil and his temptations, yelling out for help all the time. Eventually, he managed to throw the devil out. In the morning, he said, "Why didn't you help me last night? Couldn't you hear me calling for help?" Jesus: "The problem is, I have the top floor, but you still have the bottom floor to yourself." Man: "Ah, I see what you mean. From now on, the whole house is yours." That night, the man was asleep, and there was a pounding at the door again. This time Jesus went to the door, opened it wide, and stood in the doorway. The devil looked at Him, bowed very low and said, "I'm sorry, but I think I knocked on the wrong door."

To feed the 5,000, you don't have to go to the shop to buy food. You need to find the little boy who doesn't have much, but is willing to submit it to the Lord.