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Chapter 1. The Call of God
"Go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel." (Acts 9:15)
The Call
There is nothing haphazard about the ministry of God. From the moment of our new birth God has ordained a life and ministry for us: ?But to each one of us was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore he says: "When he ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men." And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.' (Eph. 4:7,8,11-13)
What a privilege it is to hear God's call. Fishermen working for their father's business were called to be "fishers of men." (Matt. 4:19) A tax collector sitting at the receipt of custom heard the call of the Lord: "Follow me." And he arose and followed him. (Matt. 9:9) Saul of Tarsus was met by the living Christ on the road to Damascus after rampaging through the streets, so zealous in his determination to stamp out this new sect called Christianity that many died at his hand. Ananias, the one chosen by the Lord to minister to this seeking man, was told: "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel." (Acts 9:15) It is important to note that if we are not called of God, we may be in danger of destroying the work of God rather than building up men and women. I know of many who have assumed that because they live in a certain place where there is no clear testimony of the Lord and the need seems great, that this constitutes the call, but have found that the work came to an end after perhaps five or ten frustrating and fruitless years.
The Place of Gods Call
Every flock must have its own shepherd. God places men in the ministry as it pleases Him, and for as many years.
The pastor must be prepared to stay for fifty years, attend every meeting and not be tempted to be drawn away by what may be seen as an itinerant ministry. Many churches have been destroyed by the shepherd's desertion which has left the flock open to hirelings. In the Acts of the Apostles, Paul's distress over the Ephesian church was revealed when he warned them that, "after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves." (Acts 20:29-30) I have sadly experienced this crisis first hand, and believe it to be the worst situation that can ever happen to a pastor and his flock.
God sets the members 'each one of them, in the body just as he pleased.' (1 Cor. 12:18) People can be very difficult. There may be some who do not like you, or even hate you. There will be those who are spiritually blind, deaf, lame; but God has added them to his church. There will be those who regularly sin, needing many times to be led back into the fold.
The Preparations of the Call
God's preparations in our lives take two forms. The first is the preparation before our call when He is dealing with us prior to our new birth. We cannot be able ministers of God if we have not finished with the roots of sin and self. How many thriving churches have come to nothing, overseen by men who, although trained in ministry, still have their roots in sin. I remember visiting a church which gathered over two hundred worshipping people. They had asked a young man to be the pastor, but over a period of ten years I saw the church whittle away to a handful. Deep in this man's heart was unrepentant sin. He had been involved in a homosexual relationship, and this had reared itself again in contact with a young lad in the church.
Many in the church had felt uneasy and had eventually moved to another place. For those left, the respect for men ordained in the ministry had prevailed over their thoughts, and they had been reluctant to face such serious issues, preferring to leave it to others in the church who were elders. Sadly though, the elders' view was that God forgives, and so they allowed the pastor to continue his ministry, but the sin remained. Eventually, due to the testimony of the lad, now a young man in his early twenties, the sin was recognised and the pastor accepted the necessity to withdraw from the ministry. Those for whom he had prayed would not have received that pure clear ministry of the Holy Spirit: 'Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people's sins; keep yourself pure.' (1 Tim. 5:22)
In the Scriptures we have remarkable illustrations of how the lives of God's people are influenced by the sin of others. In the story of Achan we see how such a seemingly small and insignificant sin, by just one person out of all that great multitude, brought the whole blessing of God to a dramatic halt: 'And they returned to Joshua, and said to him, 'Do not let all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai; Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few.' So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai.' (Jos. 7:3-4) Again, through David's sin in numbering the people he saw seventy thousand of them struck down by a deadly plague. 'So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died. And when the angel stretched out his hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, 'It is enough; now restrain your hand.' And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, 'Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done' Let your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father's house.' (2 Sam. 24:15-17)
Let every minister know that he must be free from sin, so that he may minister the gospel to those he cares for. God must deal with our sin if we are to be able to help those who are in sin. The natural life and the outworking of self is another area which needs the dealings of God. It can create pressure for the minister of God; "I cannot cope", "I need a holiday", "Its all too much". If we look back into the days before the commencement of our ministry, we will know whether we are qualified for such a precious responsibility. If we were unable to handle our everyday work, how shall we handle the work of God'
Joseph was seventeen years of age when God revealed to him his future. His boastful disclosure of this to his family caused the hatred in his brothers that eventually set him on course for thirteen years of suffering in slavery and imprisonment. In the end he was to become the saviour of his family: "But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life." (Gen. 45:5)
Preparations During the Ministry
The preparation of Elisha, one of the Old Testament prophets, under the hand of Elijah his predecessor, began well before any obvious signs of ministry were recognised in the simple response to the direction of the one making the call. 'So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, 'Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.' And he said to him, 'Go back again, for what have I done to you?' So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen's equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and served him.' (1 Kings 19:19-21)
Elisha was to become prophet after the departing of Elijah. Although this was not revealed to him at the time, his obedience in staying close to Elijah and following him, proved Elisha's ministerial qualifications and eventually he received the double portion that he had desired. So we see that ?all things work together for good to those that love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose.' (Rom. 8:28)
God fashions men as they proceed with
the work that he has given them. Sometimes our experiences along the way seem as mistakes or failures but they are all part of the deepening work of God in our lives. One example in Scripture is the life of the apostle Paul: 'For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! you are distinguished, but we are dishonoured! Even to this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. And we labour, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure it; being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the scum of all things until now.' (1 Cor. 4:9-13)
Are they ministers of Christ? - I speak as a fool - I am more: in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three time I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness - besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.' (2 Cor. 11:23-28)
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