The Calling – Ephesians 3
On the lighter side of life:
Bulletin Bloopers from beliefnet.com
The pastor will preach his farewell message, after which the choir will sing, "Break Forth Into Joy."
A songfest was hell at the Methodist church Wednesday.
Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and community.
The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The Congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
Thursday night Potluck Supper. Prayer and medication to follow.
Thesis: What’s the calling? God calling you to surrender yourself to Him!
You responding to God’s call and saying “Yes, Lord! Not my will but your will be done!”
Scripture Text:
1For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—
2Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
7I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power.
Show video illustration from Acts 9:1-31 - The Visual Bible – This clip reveals the power of Jesus Spirit and His dispensing of grace to Paul. (10 minute clip)
8Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Introduction:
The calling of Paul and of us is a divine act rooted in grace and in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. We have all been called to reveal the mystery of Jesus to this lost world.
There are two parts to the mystery: 1. We are all called by God – Jew or Gentile to become part of His family. 2. We are also required to call the Lord back with our answer to His call:
He says, “Hello Mike – I have a gift for you and I would desire that you become part of my family. All you have to do is to believe in me and then I will give you the gift of eternal life. Then your responsibility to keep the gift is to remain faithful to me. So Mike, if you want this spiritual blessing call me back ASAP and it will be yours and I will answer your call!” Blessing God!
The calling of God has to do with understanding the mystery of Jesus Christ and His message of grace to the faithful. God’s spirit reveals this message to the current people of God. The mystery is that we are saved by grace not works and this applies to both Jew and Gentile alike. They are joint members with the Jews and both are the chosen people of God. They share in the promises and in the spiritual blessings from Jesus Christ. These are:
Grace, redemption, forgiveness, adoption, holiness, being sealed by the Spirit of God, wisdom, revelation, and we understand the mystery of His will.
Paul says to us, I personally know about this mystery of grace because I personally encountered it and it changed my life. This is why I played the video clip for you today to remind you of Paul’s call. Paul notes that it was revealed to him by the Spirit of Jesus and he actually encountered His power. I was the recipient of His divine revelation which revealed to me how lost I was and I admitted it and experienced the power of His grace. I am now the least of the apostles because I do not deserve the gift of grace and forgiveness.
Paul tell us that the church is the source by which this message is to be delivered and clarified to the world and to the heavens. The mystery once hidden is now revealed through the power and the ministry of the local church. When people observe the church they should see wisdom, revelation and the power of the Spirit of God. This is the manifold wisdom of God to use the church as a dispenser of grace, forgiveness and spiritual power for both Jew and Gentile. The truth is God will use imperfect people to do His perfect will and to set people free from the bondage of this fallen world.
The church is to communicate His eternal promise of everlasting life through redemption. This spiritually great and glorious gift was given to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is why we need to praise Him and honor Him. The truth is because of Jesus’ sacrifice we can now approach the throne of God with confidence and with freedom.
Paul adds, “Do not be discouraged by my suffering.” Remember Paul is in prison when he is writing this!
He prays for the church again like he did in chapter 1:17, 18:
He prays for the power to overcome discouragement and suffering. This power will not come from within ourselves but it will come to us by the Spirit of God. It will rise up from within us to lift us above our circumstances and to help us press on to fulfill the call that is on our lives.
Example Jeremiah: Jeremiah 20:7-9:
7 O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived;
you overpowered me and prevailed.
I am ridiculed all day long;
everyone mocks me.
8 Whenever I speak, I cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction.
So the word of the LORD has brought me
insult and reproach all day long.
9 But if I say, “I will not mention him
or speak any more in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot.
Why do we need this inner power from the Spirit?
*So that Christ may dwell in our hearts and lives. When Christ has sole residence in our hearts then He will use us to change the lives of those around us.
He prays for them to be rooted and established in love and that they truly understand how great –deep-wide- and long is the love of Jesus.
He prays that they would understand this love which surpasses knowledge.
He prays that they would be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
He then reminds them and us:
God will do immeasurable more than we ask – more than we can even imagine.
He will do this by His power which is working inside of us.
To Jesus be the glory in the church and throughout all the generations from now until eternity.
Our whole chapter today has to do with the fact that God calls us and he leaves us the message of Jesus and then says, “Read the message of Jesus from me and then call me back I have a gift for you if you choose to accept it.”
How powerful is the call? The call of God challenges us to be faithful and holy and our response to the call should be a call for forgiveness, help, wisdom and insight into living His way.
Illustration: Cell Phone – two types of call – One is someone calls me – 2nd is I call someone else.
2 dimensions of the power of the call – The fists deals with God’s call to us and he wants us to become part of the faithful. The second dimension of the call has to do with us calling on God for salvation, then for insight into how we are to live our lives.
I. God’s call to us is very simple – “Come to me all of you who are burdened and find forgiveness and then receive the gift of holiness!”
a. The idea of the call is one of the most profound of all Biblical concepts because it communicates the idea that God does call people to Him and to specific missions.
i. If you spend any time reading through the Bible you quickly discover that many have been called by God.
ii. Gordan MacDonald states that all calls have similar commonalities and the following information is gleamed from his article “God’s Calling Plan” (Leadership, Vol. 24 page 25):
1. The call originates from the Godhead:
a. God called Abraham
b. God called Moses
c. God called Isaiah
d. God called Amos
e. Jesus called the 12
i. Then He sent them out to the nations.
f. Jesus called Saul changed his name to Paul.
g. The Holy Spirit called Barnabas
i. No where in the Bible did anyone call himself but they were all called by the Godhead and anointed to do the call by the Godhead.
2. Many of the calls of people in the Bible were quite unpredicatable and the hearers were not always very receptive to the call:
a. Gideon – responded to his call with “How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest, and I am the least in the family.”
b. David – was the youngest in the family.
c. Jeremiah – complained he was too young for this job.
d. Moses said “I cannot speak!”
e. Simon Peter – he was a fisherman not a public speaker.
f. Saul – He was a persecutor of the church and was involved in killing Christians.
3. Biblical calls usually focus on mind boggling, seemingly mission impossible requests.
a. Noah – was asked by God to build a huge boat.
b. Moses – was called to lead over a million people out of the bondage of Egypt the most powerful nation of the day.
c. Elijah - was called to face down a wicked King.
d. Paul – was called to bring salvation to the heathens - the Gentiles!
i. But even though the call seemed impossible the call was so compelling that it gave courage to the one called to perform the God given task at hand.
4. Biblical calls were unique.
a. The calls differed for each individual and for each instance.
b. Some of these people were strange like John the Baptist.
c. Other’s prominent like Paul
d. Some were doctors others were farmers or blue collar workers.
e. Some were criminals
f. Some young and others old.
iii. The truth is if we have lost our faith in the idea that God calls people supernaturally then we have lost touch with the supernatural element of God.
b. The question could be asked today “Does God still call people?”
i. The answer is “Yes” He does.
ii. In Acts 2: we see Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost with the invitation of the call of God to be saved through Jesus.
1. Acts 2: 36-39: 36“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” 37When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
a. We are all called to acknowledge that Jesus is the Lord and the Savior of the world.
b. God has called to us to accept Him and to obey Him.
c. God called this generation out of love by sending Jesus to die for our sins and to embrace the gift of grace and forgiveness.
d. God is still calling people today to Him – He is calling each of us even today to stay faithful to Him and to serve Him.
i. God wants us to be saved.
ii. God wants us to be delivered.
iii. God want us to be holy.
iv. God wants us to be faithful.
1. Paul reminds us of the call of God to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 1:2: 2To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
iii. Share about your calls from God.
1. The calls in my life:
a. When God called me to be saved.
i. The evening prayer I prayed and the deliverer of God’s call by Thomas the next day.
ii. I had to agree to respond back to God’s call!
b. When Pastor Nate recommended me for the offer for Bible college through Mike McAhan in England.
i. Mike you are called to preach God’s Word!
c. When God spoke to me at work through Adolph and it rang out in my spirit.
i. You are called to become a preacher – Why aren’t you?
d. When I felt the spirit calling me into the ministry.
i. When Kathy and I discussed it on the docks at her work.
ii. The tugging in my heart and the many affirmations from others.
2. The call of God and the Scripture text at Christian Hills when it was time to go.
a. This is the scripture verse that the Lord gave me to share to the congregation that it was time to go: Matthew 21:1-3: 1As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
T.S. – God still calls today but the issue is will you return His call or not!
II. The second part of the call is God’s admonition to have us call on Him in our life.
a. Illustration from Blue Fish TV. Illustrate 4 – Cell phone parody.
b. Romans 10:12: 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
i. The reality is that we also have to respond to the call from God to us. He first called us and now it is our responsibility to call him back.
1. He promises to us that all who return His call will be saved and in essence will be responded too.
ii. Share about the e-mail problem at the church- I feel bad that I was unable to e-mail back and respond to these questions from others.
1. Share some of the e-mails:
a. I feel bad that I did not reply but this is why I find it amazing how many do not respond to the call of God on peoples lives. He calls and leaves messages and they ignore the messages from “The Great I Am,” the “Alpha and Omega” and the “Creator” and to them what’s the big deal?
c. The idea of calling on God centers in the concept of prayer.
i. Ephesians 3: 20-21 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
1. Paul reminds us that God will even do more than we ask in regards to the call He has on us for our lives.
a. The truth is when you are faithful and call on God He will provide more than you could imagine.
i. Luke 11:9: “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
ii. Mark 11:24-25: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
iii. Luke 10:2, “He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
iv. James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”
v. James 4:2, 3: “You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
vi. 1 John 5:14-15 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”
2. We are challenged in Scripture to ask – to call on God for things in life and God will do more than we could have ever imagined.
a. Share the e-mail reports from Dr. Dave Nichols in India.
i. The story of the bee’s
ii. The 22,000 plus conversions.
1. Quote from Discipleship Journal Russ Johnston “Faith That Works” May 1981, “Most of us believe God can move mountains. But how many of us believe he will? There’s a world of difference. We believe God can work mightily on our behalf, but we really aren’t sure he will. In Hebrews 11:6 we learn that without faith it is impossible to please God. We must respond to God by faith. The basis for that faith, the verse goes on to say, is who God is—“Anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists.” And who is God? He is love. He is a giver. He is a helper and a provider. He is the Great Physician. He is the Creator. There are hundreds of things God is, and this is the basis for our trust in him.”
b. The key is to call on God not just for salvation but for all dimensions of life.
i. For direction
ii. For wisdom
iii. For miracles
iv. For loved ones
3. Psalm 99:1-9:
1 The LORD reigns,
let the nations tremble;
he sits enthroned between the cherubim,
let the earth shake.
2 Great is the LORD in Zion;
he is exalted over all the nations.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name—
he is holy.
4 The King is mighty, he loves justice—
you have established equity;
in Jacob you have done
what is just and right.
5 Exalt the LORD our God
and worship at his footstool;
he is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel was among those who called on his name;
they called on the LORD
and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud;
they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.
8 O LORD our God,
you answered them;
you were to Israel a forgiving God,
though you punished their misdeeds.
9 Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.
Conclusion:
I will close today with my daily devotional from Oswald Chambers:
Being an Example of His Message by Oswald Chambers -- Friday’s devotion March 10th:
“Preach the word!” (2 Timothy 4:2).
We are not saved only to be instruments for God, but to be His sons and daughters. He does not turn us into spiritual agents but into spiritual messengers, and the message must be a part of us. The Son of God was His own message—“The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). As His disciples, our lives must be a holy example of the reality of our message. Even the natural heart of the unsaved will serve if called upon to do so, but it takes a heart broken by conviction of sin, baptized by the Holy Spirit, and crushed into submission to God’s purpose to make a person’s life a holy example of God’s message.
There is a difference between giving a testimony and preaching. A preacher is someone who has received the call of God and is determined to use all his energy to proclaim God’s truth. God takes us beyond our own aspirations and ideas for our lives, and molds and shapes us for His purpose, just as He worked in the disciples’ lives after Pentecost. The purpose of Pentecost was not to teach the disciples something, but to make them the incarnation of what they preached so that they would literally become God’s message in the flesh. “… you shall be witnesses to Me …” (Acts 1:8).
Allow God to have complete liberty in your life when you speak. Before God’s message can liberate other people, His liberation must first be real in you. Gather your material carefully, and then allow God to “set your words on fire” for His glory.
God Calls You To The World
“Where are you?” the stranger said.
I didn’t understand, “What do you mean? I am right here.”
“But where is that?” he persisted.
“Right here on the planet earth,” I said.
He went on: “Who put you here?”
“I’m proud to say that God did, of course.”
The stranger smiled, “Who else is here?”
“Who else is where?”
“Who else is with you,” he patiently continued, “here on the earth?”
I looked around, suddenly noticing everyone else for the first time. I was awestruck. After a few moments I answered, “There are billions of others here!”
“And how are they?” the stranger said.
I gazed out at what was going on around me, slowly taking in all I could. “Not very well, it seems.”
“Can anything be done to help them?”
Why is he asking me? I thought.
“Surely something can be done,” I managed to reply.
I continued looking out, overwhelmed by what I saw. Finally I turned back to the stranger. He had been watching me, quietly and earnestly.
“I have one more question,” he said. “Why are you here?”
From Discipleship Journal May/June issue 1981
Closing thoughts: Ephesians 4:1 “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”
Thesis: What’s the calling?God calling you to surrender yourself to Him!
You responding to God’s call and saying “Yes, Lord! Not my will but your will be done!”
What’s our responsibility? Pick up the hotline to Heaven and respond back to God!
