What is this call that we hear preachers talking about? Many words have been spoken by those who are in positions of leadership about the “Call”. I hope to show you three different types of callings this morning in the Word of God. But first I want to see what Mr. Webster has to say: to summon to a particular activity, employment, or office. A divine vocation or strong inner prompting to a particular course of action. He also has dozens of other meanings, but I want to keep this focused on scriptural meaning to us as Christians.
Mr. Strong’s concordance says about the same as Mr. Webster except he is much clearer in his definition. We are all invited by God to come to Jesus and we are free to except or decline. The decision is entirely ours to make. God will not force you. This is the first call we will focus on, and it is found in Romans, chapter one, and 1 Corinthians 1:24. We find in these words that those who are Christians are the called of God. If you have accepted Jesus as your Christ, then you have heard Gods voice, and you came to Him because of the call of God. Much like when we were children and our parents called for us as we were playing outside. We knew their voices so we responded to it and came home. This is the Call of Salvation and Jesus looking for us as a shepherd looks for his lost sheep. In the Greek this word is kletos, which means invited or appointed.
The second call we will find in 1 Corinthians 7:17, and I will call this one the Call of Accepting who we are once we believe, or in other words we are to continue as we were, but with a different outlook. Blooming where we are planted, as we are fond of saying. A light in the darkness and could be called the call of continuance. Not one that most of us like, but one that is of great benefit to those who knew us before we accepted the call of salvation. We need to take our calling seriously as Priest unto God doing the Ministry of Reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18) to those who are afraid of God.
The third calling I want to show you is the Call of Ministry. It is found in Acts 13:2. This call is one where you are groomed by Holy Spirit, who is your teacher (1 John 2:27, John 14:26) to go and proclaim to someone other than those to whom you are familiar with, or your place of comfort. Not everyone has this calling to go forth into the unknown and proclaim the gospel to strangers. So many try to do this on their own and fail. We need to be at peace where we are and if God has promoted you to be a missionary then you will know it. Faithfulness is the key. Please don’t try to do it on your own. We are all missionaries to those around us daily, just let God be God in your life and trust Him to show you who needs your words of life.
Now I want to make some comments about the call and callings of God. In Acts 6:4 we find the disciples putting in their daily time praying and ministry of the word of God. This is the ministry, not your daily job, which is your calling. The main difference between the two is in the one you are only doing study and prayer, and teaching others the walk of faith. The other is a Christian who is employed in the task of everyday life with no particular call to minister but always ready and able to help someone whom God places in your path to find their way back to Him.
The book of Acts is unclear as to whether the disciples were employed or dependent upon the people for their support. People often wonder if they should quit working and just study the Bible or do as Paul, working with his hands for his daily needs. I would imagine the other disciples had these skills also. We should never be a burden to those around us, 2 Thessalonians 3:10 is pretty clear as to Biblical stance upon this issue. The disciples were compelled by the Holy Spirit to prayer and study because they were creating the New Testament.
I know you are probably tired of me being so critical on organized religion (The Church), but for the last seventeen hundred years this ” Church” has screwed up the real gospel so badly the world sees us as just another religion. All organized religion has ever done is re institute the Old Testament priesthood for their benefit and left the people outside to support them and their great cathedrals. Makes me want to vomit with all the waste of resources and loss of human life that trusted these buffoons.
All of us are born of God if we believe on the Lord Jesus, and no one is above another. We are all Priest unto God, equal in Gods sight. We all have our own call (2 Corinthians 5:18) of the ministry of reconciliation. We are all priest, and we each need to take our position seriously. I know I have rambled a little this morning but I hope you see where your call is and I hope you get comfortable with it. Study to show yourself approved unto God, never mind what others think. You are the only one responsible for what God gives you. Remember, you will make it, just don’t give up.
See you next week.
In His Service, as Kilted Priest
The Kilted Priest 