We continue in our series Hope Found Here and this month we are considering Hope in the Call or Calling of God. The dictionary defines calling as: a strong inner impulse toward a particular course of action especially when accompanied by conviction of divine influence.
The concept and purpose of a divine call is not something we create, it is something God places within us. Throughout history God has called people to Him and called people to serve Him. Let me tell you about five of them.
In the book of Genesis, from chapter 6 onwards, it records how the people of that time had descended into sin and wickedness. Wickedness so profound God decided to act and decides that the world must be destroyed. So God calls Noah, tells him to build and populate the ark, and become the instrument through whom God would start the world over again.
Jump forward 6 chapters to Genesis 12 and we find the call of God to Abraham. God intended to raise up a nation of people whom He could work in and through to accomplish His purposes. God called Abram to leave a place called Ur and go. With the call came a promise from God, Genesis 12:1-3, The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” Abram was called to leave his home and to travel to a place of promise. Abram responded with obedience. But, his was not a perfect obedience to God. His response to God’s call was marked and marred by poor judgment and sin. Yet God used Abram’s flawed obedience to accomplish His purposes and lay the foundations for the nation of Israel.
Then, later on, there is the call on Samuel’s life. God chose to raise up a faithful priest, and late one night, God called out to Samuel. Samuel heard and responded.
Moving forward in time, God saw there was a problem called King Saul, and God had planned the perfect solution to the problem, a young shepherd boy named David. God calls David to a specific task, to serve as the earthly king of God’s people. David responds with submission and obedience. Again, his obedience is not perfect but David serves the plan and purpose of God.
Those God calls to serve Him are often far from what we would consider perfect, their attitudes, their actions often seem to fall short of what we would expect of someone called by God. The truth is we are not perfect either and often we can use our imperfections as an excuse for us to not serve or honour God in the way he has called us. You and I will never be perfect, but God requires each of us to follow the call He has placed on our lives not resist His call on us.
The Old Testament prophet Jonah is an example of someone who resisted and opposed the call of God placed on his life. Jonah 1:1-3, The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.
Jonah ran away from what God called him to do. Jonah hated the people of Ninevah, he did not want them to turn to God. Jonah did not want God to have mercy on Ninevah so he ran from God and from God’s call. Jonah headed off in the opposite direction, towards Tarshish, the furthest place away from Ninevah he could travel.
You know what happens next, Jonah is on the boat, the storm comes, Jonah tells the sailors the storm is his fault, the sailors throw him overboard and Jonah is swallowed by a big fish. Three days in the fish, dark, damp, smelly, Jonah repents, gets vomited onto the beach, then goes to Ninevah to do what God called him to do. Jonah thought he could run away and resist the call of God on his life, so God uses a miracle to ensure Jonah would go to where God wanted him to be.
In the Bible, there are many other examples of where God has called people to accomplish His plans and purposes. The Old Testament is filled with passages describing different leaders, prophets, kings who were called by God for different reasons. Our time together this morning is not sufficient to look at the calling of the patriarchs Isaac and Jacob, or the calling of the judges, Deborah, Gideon, Samson, and others, or the calling of the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Amos, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. Time is too short for us to consider from the New Testament how God called Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, John the Baptist; or how Jesus called His Apostles to follow Him. All I will say about them is all of them experienced God’s call on their lives.
Often God’s call was not comfortable or convenient for them but each of them responded to the call of God on their lives to serve Him and His purposes. I wonder how have you, how have I, responded to God’s call on our lives? Have we responded to or rejected God’s specific call on our lives? Why do I say specific call? Because each of us is different, different gifting, different skills, different abilities, we are all different people, each with a different call on our lives.
The New Testament records how Paul was called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. In chapter 4 of Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church, he describes how God calls people in different ways, some are called to be apostles or prophets or evangelists or pastors or teachers. Each of us may have a different call, different gifting, but the purpose is the same - all of us who are called by God have a responsibility to do His work and build the church, the body of Christ.
For Paul, calling was not a final destination it was a journey. Calling requires commitment and moving forward in faith. Listen to the words of Paul recorded in Philippians 3:13-14, No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
We have been called to Christ, and Christ calls us to serve Him here until He calls us home to Heaven.
The Bible uses the words ‘Call’ and ‘Calling’; in different theological ways, the words are used in connection with appointment, destiny, election, holiness, invitation, naming, ownership, vocation and worship. The New Testament picks up all these ideas and takes them further, particularly in the writings of Peter and the Apostle Paul.
Peter and Paul use “call” as a semi-technical term for accepting God’s invitation of forgiveness and salvation in Jesus Christ. For example Romans 8:30, “those God predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.” Or 1 Peter 2:9, “you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.”
Every Christian is called by God for a specific purpose.
As disciples of Jesus, we are all called to follow Christ and obey Him. The words of Jesus recorded in Luke 9:23, made it very clear to His first disciples, and also to us today, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” To follow Jesus, or to reject Jesus, is the ultimate choice each of us will ever make, a choice that affects and effects where we will spend eternity.
To respond to the call of Jesus, to follow Him, to trust Him, leads to Heaven. To reject the call of Jesus, to ignore Him, to trust in the things of this world instead of Him leads to Hell. The call to follow Jesus is the ultimate call on each of our lives.
I want us to spend a few moments briefly considering three specific calls from God:
The Call to Salvation
The Call to Sanctification
The Call to Service
The Call to Salvation
Listen to Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus came and told His disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Mark 16:15-16, Jesus told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptised will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned."
The Call to Salvation is a call that is made to every person in the world. It is the call to believe in God and to trust in His Son, Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. It is the call to accept the sacrifice of Jesus as full payment for our sin. It is the call to express our belief by repenting, by turning away from our sins and being baptised in His name.
How does God issue the Call to Salvation to people?
It could come in a sermon from a preacher. It could come as an invitation to a church by a family member or a friend. It could come as we read a verse or passage from the Bible. It could come from a work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life, an urging that there is more to life than what they see, a pulling of a person’s conscience that they need to be right with God. The call to salvation, the call to be saved, it can come in many different ways, but it is the most important call we will ever hear.
For 2,000 years, and until Christ returns, the Call of Salvation has been made - first by Jesus, then by the Apostles and their disciples - then by every generation of Christians. Our place in eternity, in Heaven or Hell, depends on how we respond to the Call to Salvation.
The Call to Sanctification
The word “sanctify” means to set apart. The Old Testament uses the term to refer to both the things and people set apart by God for special use. Sanctification is the call to leave behind habits, attitudes, actions, and behaviours that are wrong in God’s sight. Many in the world today, even those who attend church services, can wrongly assume their own wants, supposed needs or desires are more important than following the commandments of God. The modern world seems to approve and embrace many traits and characteristics that God has said are wrong. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
The Call to Sanctification is a call to reject the things God has said are wrong and a call to live a life that brings glory and honour to God. We are called to be in the world, not of the world, we are called to embrace the character, the concern, the consistency of life demonstrated by Jesus. We are saved from the consequences of our sins but that does not give us a licence to sin.
The Call to Sanctification is a call to live a changed life, a new-life, a born-again life, a Spirit-filled life. In Acts 2:38 Peter said, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The gift of the Holy Spirit, His indwelling presence, He comes and dwells inside us. The Holy Spirit begins the call to sanctification in our lives, and then He helps us to be holy, to be pure, to be more like Christ.
Friends, every time we are confronted with our sin, every time we become aware of a better way to live or to think or to act, every time we experience the desire to be more like Jesus we are responding to the call to sanctification.
The Call to Service
If you are in Christ this morning, you have been called to serve God. God has saved you to serve Him. Serving does not save you, Christ’s sacrifice on the cross saved you. Your service to God is your response to His love and mercy and kindness in saving you from your sins.
How you choose to serve God, how I choose to serve God is a direct reflection of how much we love Him. A direct reflection of how thankful we are that our sins are forgiven. A direct reflection of how thankful we are that because of what Jesus has done for us we are assured of a place in Heaven.
Are you thankful enough to serve God? Do you love God enough to serve Him, to serve His church?
Listen to Romans 12:6-8, In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
The call to serve is seen by some as a nuisance, an inconvenience, an expense of time or effort or resources. Some people see the call to serve as something to avoid - often the same people who ignore the call to Sanctification also ignore the call to serve God.
For those who are being sanctified, the call to service is the opportunity to grow closer to Jesus, the opportunity to offer something of ourselves to the one who was willing to give everything for you. We are called to serve because Jesus served, He was the Servant King, we are called to service to demonstrate His love, we are called to serve to build His church.
Do you love God enough to answer the call to serve Him, to serve His church? Today, what call to service are you hearing in your life? What is God prompting you to do? How can you serve Him? What should you be volunteering to do? What needs do you see in this church, in our group of churches, in this community that God has already given you the gifts, the abilities, the talents, the resources to serve Him? How is the Holy Spirit prompting you to show your love for God in service to Him? May each of us be willing to answer the call to service by saying as Isaiah did long ago “Here I am Lord, send me.”
I will close with this, The Call to Salvation, The Call to Sanctification and The Call to Service, each of these three calls come at different times and in different ways but they all have three things in common:
First, all of these calls come from God. The call to repent and be saved, the call to follow God’s commandments, the call to be baptised, the call to be sanctified, the call to be in the right relationship with God, the call to be Holy as God is Holy, the call to love God and serve Him and Him alone, - all of those calls are from God Himself. When your heart's desire is to follow Christ, God is calling you. When you are challenged by the word of God, God is calling you to hear and respond to His voice.
Second God has given you free will to choose how you will respond to each of these calls. You can choose to either accept or reject the calls of God. You can choose eternal salvation or reject Christ and choose eternal condemnation. You can choose Sanctification and a spiritual life or live in bondage to sin and worldly ways. You can choose to grow in your knowledge and faith in God or seek after the wages of sin and death. You can choose the promise of peace with God now and forever or an eternal separation from God.
The third thing about these calls is they are all urgent. God’s call can be gentle, God’s call can be direct, God’s call can even be dramatic, but God’s call will not always be there. The call to be saved will stop abruptly when you die or when Jesus comes. The call to sanctification can be extinguished if you choose to continue to sin and follow worldly ways. If there is something in your life that you know is wrong in God’s sight and your conscience doesn’t bother you when you do it you are rejecting the call to sanctification. Worse than that, if you are not allowing God to lead you and guide you, if you are willingly choosing to sin you are allowing Satan to control you.
Maybe you have already made your decision, maybe you need to reaffirm your choice this morning, maybe you need to choose to respond to the calls of God for the first time in your life.
Remember, choosing not to make a choice is actually choosing to reject God’s call. Is the Lord calling you to be saved? Is the Lord calling you to purify some aspect of your life or to walk closer to Him than before? Is God calling you to serve Him in some way you never have before, or with a new attitude? Is God calling you to submit to His plan and purpose for your life?
The final thought is this: Every day in different ways God is calling each and every one of us. The question is are we listening and responding to God’s call? What is the call you must answer now?
Friends, let me encourage you this morning, don’t ignore the call of God today, make a choice to answer His call on your life, don’t wait, don’t miss the opportunity to respond to the call of God.
