God hath set some in the Church. There is a divine call.1 Corinthians 12:27,2827
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
28And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.
Ephesians 4:11 says "Jesus gave." This passage says "God set."
God sets ministrygifts in the Church- not man.
There is a vast diffrence between God's setting some in the Church- and man's setting some in the Church.
God does the setting. God does the calling.
You do not enter the ministry-any phase of it- just because "you" feel it is a holy calling and you would like to respond. It is dangerous to do something just because "you" want to do it. You do not enter the ministry because "someone else" tells you that you are suited for it.
So how can you tell a divine call?
You will have the conviction in your own spirit. You will have the witness in your own heart. God deal's with man's spirit. Listen to your spirit. Listen down on the inside of you and you will know many things you don't otherwise know. There will be a divine compulsion on the inside of you.
"No man taketh this honor upon himself, but he that is called of God..."
Hebrews 5:4
Are you convinced that God has called you into the ministry? The ministry to the called is not an option, it's a necessity. As Paul expressed it, "Woe unto me, if I preach not the Gospel!"
1 Cor 9:16.
The call of God is very relevant today as it was in Paul's day.
".A call generally starts in the form of a consciousness within one's
own spirit, an awareness of a kind of pressure being brought to bear
upon one's spirit, some disturbance in the realm of the spirit, then
that your mind is being directed to the whole question of preaching.
You have not thought of it deliberately, you have not sat down in cold
blood to consider the possibilities, and then having looked at several
have decided to take this up. It is not that. This is something that
happens to you; it is God dealing with you, and God acting upon you
by His Spirit; it is something you become aware of rather than what
you do. It is thrust upon you, it is presented to you and almost forced
upon you constantly in this way." (Martin Loyd Jones)
So the call of God is absolutely necessary, for it is this single event that
initiates and ultimately sustains all genuine pastors!
As the apostle Paul so properly observed, .WHO IS SUFFICIENT FOR
THESE THINGS?. And everyone who is called, and everyone who
responds favorably, and everyone who actually enters the work, will know
to the depth of their beings the full impact of these words upon their own
lives and ministries!
Is there urgency, or personal constraint? You know that you must
do this great task. You have the feeling that you can do nothing else.
Spurgeon always told his students, .If you can do anything else do it.
If you can stay out of the ministry, stay out of the ministry.. I agree
whole-heartedly! The man who is really called will not be able to do
anything else with his life.
The one who is called to preach, and answers that call, must give up
his entire life for the service to His Lord. There can be no misunderstanding at this point. Going into the ministry will not cost
you something; it will not cost you dearly; it will cost you your life
and everything in it! Are you willing to abandon your life to God.s
service, expecting nothing in return for your efforts?
The methods by which men are called are unimportant. But obedience to the call is important.
Ministry gifts ARE NOT SET in the Church by prophecy. There may come a confirmation.
Acts 13:1,2
1Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
Barnabas and Saul were not called by prophecy. They were not set in by prophecy or by man. God just confirmed something that already was. If so called prophecy does not confirm what you have in your own spirit, forget it.
Seeing a need is not a call to the ministry. An anointing evidences a divine call. Knowing that YOU know you are divinely called settles the matter once and for all. There should be no confusion on the subject.
I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe. Learn to look to your spirit. Your spirit will tell you. Your spirit knows things your head doesn't know.
Pastor Samuel Eli Silverstein
