CALLING OF GOD
God calls into His service those that we would not call. It is interesting that Jesus did not call the high priest of His day to be one of the apostles—in fact, none of the original 12 apostles were priests, but instead they included a tax collector, a political zealot, and smelly fishermen. Jesus does the same today: “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called” (1 Corinthians 1:26). He did not say that He called no wise men but that “not many” were called. Paul was considered one of the wisest men of his day. But by and large, God bypassed the wise and noble. Why? “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise…that no flesh should glory in his presence” (1 Corinthians 1:27, 29). When God calls someone to do something, He will give that person what he needs to fulfill his calling, and God will accomplish the calling through the person’s life. “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). What is the calling of God, or how can one recognize it? First, God never asks someone to do something against the teachings of the Bible. Second, though some fight the calling of God in their lives as Jonah did (Jonah1:1–3), still God will give us a “desire” to accomplish His will.
I was in my second year of Bible college when a missionary came and spoke in our pulpit speech class. He only spoke for about 10 minutes and talked about starting churches in a foreign field. And it was as though a little match was struck, and I thought, I would like to do that. “This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work” (1 Timothy 3:1). See our short story “HE THAT DESIRES TO SERVE GOD,”
http://www.truechristianshortstoriesfreebygmmatheny.com/he-that-desires-to-serve-god.html
CALVANISM See PREDESTINATION
God calls into His service those that we would not call. It is interesting that Jesus did not call the high priest of His day to be one of the apostles—in fact, none of the original 12 apostles were priests, but instead they included a tax collector, a political zealot, and smelly fishermen. Jesus does the same today: “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called” (1 Corinthians 1:26). He did not say that He called no wise men but that “not many” were called. Paul was considered one of the wisest men of his day. But by and large, God bypassed the wise and noble. Why? “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise…that no flesh should glory in his presence” (1 Corinthians 1:27, 29). When God calls someone to do something, He will give that person what he needs to fulfill his calling, and God will accomplish the calling through the person’s life. “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). What is the calling of God, or how can one recognize it? First, God never asks someone to do something against the teachings of the Bible. Second, though some fight the calling of God in their lives as Jonah did (Jonah1:1–3), still God will give us a “desire” to accomplish His will.
I was in my second year of Bible college when a missionary came and spoke in our pulpit speech class. He only spoke for about 10 minutes and talked about starting churches in a foreign field. And it was as though a little match was struck, and I thought, I would like to do that. “This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work” (1 Timothy 3:1). See our short story “HE THAT DESIRES TO SERVE GOD,”
http://www.truechristianshortstoriesfreebygmmatheny.com/he-that-desires-to-serve-god.html
CALVANISM See PREDESTINATION
