In the Bible we often read the accounts of when God calls people. He called
Abraham, He called Noah, Moses. The Old Testament is filled with passages
describing different leaders, prophets, kings who were called by God for
different reasons. Even in the New Testament we read of God calling Mary
and Joseph, Elizabeth, John for special reasons. And then of course Jesus himself
calling His Apostles to follow Him. Now some may think that since this time
God no longer calls people like He did in the past but this is not so.
Although the age of miraculous calling is passed
the burning bush for Moses or the vision of Jesus that Paul had on the
road to Damascus these miraculous ways of calling people to Himself, God still
calls people through His word today. Now there are four calls revealed by
scripture and each one is as genuine and divine today as the calls were in the
past. So in my lesson this evening I'd like to share with you these
four calls. The first call of course is the call to salvation the call to
salvation Matthew 28 for example verse 18, "And Jesus came up and spoke to them,
saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
the Son the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo,
I am with you always, even to the end of the age." And there are a similar passage
in Mark 16:15-16. So this here this first call this is a call made to every
single person in the world. It is the call to believe in God and His Divine
Son Jesus Christ, it is a call to accept His sacrifice as
our own payment for sin, it is a call to express our belief by repenting of our
sins and being baptized in the name of Jesus. It is not a spectacular call as
calls go it's not a miraculous call we usually hear this call in a lesson from
the preacher or maybe an invitation to church by a family member
or a friend with the hope that that call will be made and heard. Perhaps a passage
of Scripture that we read that touches us and draws us into the word makes us
begin to think more seriously about our own salvation. And then of course there's
the pulling of our conscience urging us to do the right thing to respond to the
call to confess Christ to be baptized but the call to be saved is the most
important message we will ever hear from anyone because it speaks to the
condition of our souls for eternity and so it's the primary call. Some have asked
me why did you become a preacher, what was the motivation? Well I
became a Christian because I sincerely believed Romans 3:23 and 6:23
that without Jesus Christ people would go to hell forever and that meant me.
Yeah it's funny how that works you're reading and it's always for everybody
else wow those people better be saved hell is a terrible place and that all of
a sudden I realized wait a minute that means me too.
And so I responded because I really believed that God would judge and
sinners were lost and I was one of those. Now I became a preacher because I
believed what Paul said in Romans 1:20 that ignorance was
not an excuse to be absolved of the demands of the gospel. The idea that
people were lost and didn't know it, that haunted me until
I decided that someone had to call them to salvation and why not it might as
well be by me. For 2,000 years and until the end of time this first call to be
saved has first been made by the Apostles and their disciples and then
since then by every generation of Christians in this world. The call of the
gospel is the first priority of the church and it is the first
responsibility of each individual who hears the call to respond to this call
with faith and obedience. The second call is the call to sanctification. If you
have your Bibles I'll be going from one passage to another I Corinthians 6:9
Paul says, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not
inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of
God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but
you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and in the Spirit of our God." The gospel of Christ calls us to believe
and in believing we're united to Jesus and saved from the consequences of our
sins. Our sins deserve punishment and Jesus suffers that punishment on the
cross on our behalf so that we don't have to, but being saved from the
consequences of our sin does not change the fact that we have a habit of sinning.
A habit that is well engrained in our hearts and minds and lie
style. On the day we're baptized our sins are washed away and we're
saved, but on the very next day we continued to be the type of people we
are right we continue to we continue to sin. In other words, baptism washes away
our sins and saves us from hell but it doesn't change our character it doesn't
change our habits the Holy Spirit helps us to do that. So in Acts 2:38
Peter says, "Repent and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
the forgiveness of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit." The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit begins, and here's my point
through all the coughing and everything here's my point, the indwelling presence
of the Holy Spirit begins the call to sanctification which is a draw to live a
holy and pure life that is like Jesus Christ. Every time we are confronted with
our sins, every time we become aware of a better way to act, each time we
experience the desire to be more like Jesus we are hearing the call to
sanctification. The word sanctify means to set apart it was an Old Testament
word that referred to the holy things and the holy people that were set apart
by God for special use: the temple, the priests, and so on and so forth. And so
the gospel calls us to turn away from this belief and embrace Jesus Christ as
our Lord. Sanctification is the call of the Holy Spirit to leave the habits and
the sins and the attitudes of the world and embrace the character, the concern,
and the quality of life demonstrated by Jesus Christ. And so the gospel calls us
to be saved by believing in Jesus; sanctification calls upon us to remain
saved by living like Jesus lived. And so the second call is a
call to sanctification a call that we receive continually throughout our
Christian lives. The third call, the third call is the call to service. Let's go
back to Acts chapter two shall we, Luke writes, "Everyone kept feeling a
sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.
And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common;
and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with
all, as anyone might have need." Another passage also in Romans chapter 12 Paul
writes the following, "Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given
to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly; if prophecy, according to
the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches,
in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality;
he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness." The old saying
is true we have been saved in order to serve. Some however have the wrong idea
about service, we don't serve in order to save ourselves, I mean the cross
of Christ has accomplished all of that for us, we don't serve in order to make
ourselves better people denying sin and self is what makes us better people. No,
we serve God in Christ because it is our natural response to His kindness in
calling us out of the world, we serve because Jesus served and this is the
best way to demonstrate His love towards others and it's the best way we can
demonstrate not only our love towards others but our love towards Christ. We
serve in order to build the church and provide the resources to maintain the
call that the church makes to all nations in order to be saved; everything
is interconnected. Sanctification which is the purifying of our lives is
to become like Jesus by avoiding the things that He avoided, service is to
become like Jesus by doing the things that He did. Today the call to service is
heard again in a variety of ways; every time the volunteers are called for
I think him Mike and his announcements there there's got to be you know a
request for all kinds of different people to serve. Wait it may have
only been the announcements you know some people think well it's only the
announcements you know it's not important we can keep I can finish my
whatever I'm doing but the announcements are part of what's happening in the
church. So all of us heard the call to service because there were so many
requests for help for different areas of work in the church. Every time the
phone rings for help, every time you see a need and realize you have the
resources to fill that need, every time you experience
the prompting of the Holy Spirit the the encouragement of the brethren the
urge of your own conscience to say, here I am Lord send me. The call to service is
seen by some unfortunately as a nuisance, an inconvenience, an expense something
to avoid at all costs, that's because the call to sanctification has been ignored.
Usually sinful Christians don't like the call to serve because they're
too busy being involved in the world. For those who are purifying their lives the
call to service is the opportunity to please God by offering something of
ourselves to Him in the service of other people. For those who have answered the
call to sanctification, the call to service is usually the answer to a
prayer, usually that prayer is dear Lord show me what I can do,
dear Lord reveal to me how I can be fruitful in Your kingdom, what do you
want me to do Lord? When we make those kinds of prayers I'm very confident that
the Lord answers those prayers and sometimes those prayers are being
answered by the humble piece of paper called the announcements. We need to pay
perhaps more attention to that part of the service in the future. For those as I
said who have answered the call to sanctification the call to service is
usually an answer to prayer and not something they feel guilty about or they
don't need to do. And then the fourth call is the call to suffering, the call
to suffering. Turn if you will to II Thessalonians please
II Thessalonians Paul says, "This is a plain indication of God's righteous judgment
so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you
are suffering." and then in II Timothy again Paul writes, "It is a trustworthy
statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will
also reign with Him;" well endure what well endure suffering, "if we deny Him, He
will also deny us;" I think most Christians are familiar with the ideas
that we are called to be saved to be sanctified in other words to grow and
mature in the character of Christ and called to be served.
I think we're familiar with those ideas but so many are surprised
even angry and depressed when as Christians they encounter opposition,
inconvenience, trials, even persecution what a poor use of our spiritual
energy when we see our sufferings as a waste of time, that's terrible. Some
people think that being sick or losing our work or encountering opposition
makes us lose our value as people, our value as Christians but Paul tells us
that suffering all by itself regardless of the circumstances if done in the
spirit of Christ is worthy of receiving our place in heaven. He says if we endure
with Him, endure what? Endure suffering, we'll be with Him. He didn't say if
we work hard, if we produce a lot, if we're on a lot of committees, if we.. which
is alright, he just said if we endure if we endure suffering. It's not that we can
trade in our pain for our salvation that's a work no flesh is justified by
works, the point is that suffering in Christ is equal in value to service in
Christ or sanctification in Christ. If what your life is about right now is
suffering and struggle then that is what God has called you to for the moment. Try
to see that in that framework and if suffering is what we have been called to
at the moment then we must respond in faithfulness and obedience just like
when we respond to salvation and sanctification or service because Jesus
is also the Lord of suffering as well.
Unfortunately as we grow older there's more suffering in our life suffering
because our own bodies are not acting like they should like they did
but also because we're losing loved ones and we see others that we care
about who also may be sick and we think well I've lost my value I well I can't
teach a class anymore if I'm not you know, I used to be able to do all the
groundskeeping I can't do that anymore I don't have any stamina my back hurts my
head hurts.
Sometimes that's what we're called to, suffering, it's how we react to that
suffering that makes it worth something to God. Now the calls come these four
calls they come at different times and in different ways but they all have
several things in common, let me just share those with you and the lesson will
be yours. First of all they all come from God Himself, know that when the preacher
calls you to repent and be baptized or urges you to be restored God Himself is
calling you. I'm not allowing to myself or to Marty
or Mike an importance that we don't have, but from this pulpit and from this
word when we appeal to you and call on you to be saved or to be sanctified or
to serve or to suffer in faithfulness it is God Himself through His word that is
calling you. Know that when your heart desires to be right with Christ, God
Himself is calling you, every time the word or the church or your conscience
calls you to come to Christ or to come closer to Christ you have heard the
voice of God calling you to that end. And so the first thing that all these calls
have in common is that they all come from God Himself.
Secondly, they are all calls for blessing or for cursing. There's a simple
division and decision in each one of these calls, each respond will bring a
blessing or will bring a curse. So the call to salvation well is either
salvation or condemnation; the call of sanctification greater
spirituality or greater carnality; the call to growth and serve is a call to
grow in Christ or a call to die in Christ; the call of suffering will either
bring us peace or turmoil, it depends on how we respond. You can't ignore the
calls, you must choose and failing to choose properly is choosing to reject
what God is offering. In the end each person will spend eternity either
regretting or rejoicing the responses that they have made to all of these
calls. And then thirdly another thing that all these calls have in common
they're all urgent, the calling is gentle, the calling is insistent, and direct at
times sometimes even dramatic but the call will not always be there.
The call to be saved will stop abruptly when you die or when Jesus comes and the
call to sanctification is extinguished as we continue in sin and worldliness.
Some people get confused thinking that if their conscience does
not bother them anymore when they sin it must mean that this is okay with God. I
mean if your conscience doesn't bother you when you sin it means that God no
longer controls you Satan does, that's what that means.
The call to service if ignored will no longer find our ear, the call to
suffering for Christ can be drowned out by our own anger and depression,
each call must be answered now if we are to receive the blessings that are
attached to each call. Everyday in a variety of ways God is calling each
one of us every day, the question is are we listening, are we responding? Which
call are you hearing today? Is the Lord calling you to be saved, is the Lord
calling you to purify some aspect of your life to walk with Him more deeply
than ever before is that the call, is God calling you to serve Him in some way
that you never have before or with the new attitude perhaps even join this
congregation if you haven't and serve with us, and is God calling your
attention to the fact that your suffering is valuable to Him and that
you should submit to it in faith and in patience? Let's never forget that God can
tell time, we think somehow He doesn't know what time it is.
God knows to the heartbeat when your suffering begins and when your suffering
will end, He knows that, there's no need to pray about that particular thing, the
prayer that we need is to help us be patient with His timetable that's always
the difficult thing. We have our timetable this ought to be over here
because I got to do this and then I got to do that and when we're suffering and
when we're in a situation that's difficult and it's all uphill we have to
give away you know we have to the first step in acceptance is to throw away our
timetable and say okay Lord all right we're on your timetable please help me
to be on your timetable help me to forget my own. And so whatever way that
God is calling you or has called you today I encourage you to respond to Him.
Some responses are private obviously in our own hearts when we say to the Lord
yes Lord on this or that or whatever and some responses are public and if at this
time you need to make a public response either to
confess Christ to be baptized to confess sin and find forgiveness,
whatever your response is a necessary tonight we encourage you to do
that now as Mike leads us in our song of encouragement.