Sermon Prepared by James McCullen
Email Preach Him with Dr. Jim

The Calling of God
Eph. 4:1 NAS

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

Introduction
When I turned 21 years of age I got a card from the Draft Board to come down and take a physical. When I got there we were ushered into a very large room. I saw a another young man from my church and we sat and waited together.

They began calling names and his name was called. He did not understand the directions so he spoke put "what did they say." A young man near by tried to be funny and he said the names they just called are for immediate induction. I saw my friends legs literally melt as he collapsed onto the bench and said "I can't go."

He was not called for immediate induction but if he had been he would have had the choice of obedience or disobedience. I want to point out to you four areas in which we are called of God.

They are :

The Call for Life In Christ.

The Call for Living In Christ.

The Call for Service In Christ.

The Call for Death In Christ.

1. He Calls for Salvation.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; NAS

A. Do you see the Initiating of this Call? v 9 a
". . . For God's Own Possession, . . . "

B. Do you see the Intention of this Call? v 9 b
". . . That we may Proclaim. "

Illustration
You know I was christened in the Catholic Church as a baby. Then I was dunked in the Baptist Church as a child; But really got saved when I was 20 years of age. I am a possession of God and because He has taken me out of darkness into light I want to proclaim the excellencies of Him.

Application

Have you experienced this call? Have you answered it and received the blessing of redemption?

2. He Calls for Sanctification.

1 Thess. 4:7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. NAS

1 Peter 1:15-16
15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." NAS

1 Peter 2:21
21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, NAS

3. He Calls for Service.

Acts 13:1-3 1 Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 3 Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. NAS

4. He Calls for Heaven.

Deut 31:14
14 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, the time for you to die is near; call Joshua, and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may commission him." So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. NAS

2 Tim 4:5-8
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. NAS

2 Peter 1: 14 knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. NAS

Illustration
My Mom had a curfew for me when I was a teenager. None of the other boys had a curfew, but if I forgot the time my mom came looking and calling. The other boys would make fun of me and say "Jimmy, you mommy is calling you."

Looking at a tapestry from the underside as opposed to looking from the other side makes quite a difference. Looking at my Mom's rules for an adult perspective changes everything.

Illustration
A rabbi was asked a question by a pupil, referring to Deuteronomy 6:6-- "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart." "Why is it said this way?" the pupil asked. "Why are we not told to place them in our heart?" The rabbi answered that it is not within man's power to place the divine teachings directly in his heart. "All that we can do is place them on the surface of the heart so that when the heart breaks they will drop in."
--James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 12.

How many of these Calls have you heard?

How many have you obeyed?