INSTRUMENTS HE HAS CALLED!
by Dr. Edward Watke, Jr.
• Praise God for the instruments of HIS calling!
• The believer’s calling is brought out very effectively in I Cor. 1:26-29.
I. GOD’S CALLING AND PLAN:
• In making up the members of the Body of Christ, is has not pleased God to choose many from among the wise, the mighty, the noble, or the great men of this world.
• Had God selected those whom the world admires as the pillars of His church, to a very large extent it would have destroyed the very thing He had in view.
A. It was His desire to manifest the results of His grace.
1. He works, not with what He finds, but with what He brings.
2. He delights to take up those whom the world looks down upon and to make them devoted saints and faithful servants who will be to the praise of His glory through out all the ages to come.
3. So God hath called the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.”
4. He has, in His sovereign grace, taken up the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty... the base things, things that are despised has God chosen, and things that are not, to bring to nought the things that are.
B. God has called, by His grace, the lowest, the poorest, the most insignificant, bringing such to repentance, creating the faith in their souls by the the Word
of Truth of the Gospel,
1. regenerating them,
2. justifying them from all things,
3. sanctifying them by the Holy Spirit and the Word, and then
4. sending them out as ambassadors for Christ to turn the world upside down by the simplicity of preaching the message of the cross.
The early followers of Christ were, with little exception men from the lower walks of life: fishermen, tax-collectors, Galilean peasants!
Judas was the only gentleman among them in the entire apostolic band. But God filled those men from the common walks of life with the power of His Holy Spirit and through them won thousands more to a saving knowledge of His Son.
I. GOD’S INSTRUMENTS KNOW THEY ARE CALLED
Jh 15:16; II Tim. 1:9
Praise God for His Workers for if there were no people willing, submitted, or desirous --
There would never been a Daniel, or a Jeremiah, or an Ezekiel, or a Joel, or a Joshua, Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Gideon, Abraham, Enoch, Joseph, David, Samuel, Ezra, Hosea, Nehemiah, etc. or a Paul, Peter, Philip, Barnabas, Andrew, Silas, Timothy, Titus, John, Mark, or Luke, etc.
A. Every one of us, as disciples -- knows that God has called US to His task and will!
1. The Apostle Paul surely felt, knew God’s call.
a. Rom. 1:1; Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle.”
b. I Cor. 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.”
c. I Tim. 1:1 To Timothy he wrote: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior.”
2. We ought to feel and know God’s calling.
a. Jh 15:16; II Tim. 1:9
b. It ought to be deeply sensed in the depth of our souls.
c. Everyone of us ought to be thrilled about the fact that God does call us.
d. Your calling is just as definite as God’s calling for the Apostle Paul -- Cf Acts 9:10-16 (9:6)
B. As a Laborer you know that you are called of God
1. You are a gift to the church (Eph. 4:8, 11, 12)
2. You have gifts, talents, abilities given of the Holy Spirit to be used in
ministry for God’s work--as different parts of the body physically minister to
the whole body. So us today.
III. GOD’S INSTRUMENTS ARE TO UNDERSTAND THEIR TASK GIVEN
OF GOD:
A. Effective Workers -- Awanas, S.S., Jr. Church, Children’s church, etc.
B. They are to realize this is a high and holy calling given of God.
C. We know the basic task is a fulfillment of Matthew 28:18-20! -- people saved, baptized, and discipled.
D. In that process -- to teach them to observe all things -- To lead the others to grow in grace, knowledge, and life in our Lord Jesus Christ.
IV. GOD’S INSTRUMENTS ARE COMMITTED TO THE TASK:
• It is one thing to know what the task is -- it is quite another to be totally committed to that task.
• A worker called and submit to the Lord will do exactly that.
• He or she identifies with the Apostle Paul in his commitment to the goal -- “This ONE thing I DO!” Phil. 3:12-14 I must apprehend... that for which I have been apprehended.
A. Committed because we are sent as He was sent! Jh 20:21
1. As Christ, voluntarily came upon this sin-cursed earth to give Himself -- so He sends us.
2. As Paul wrote to the church at Rome -- So He would speak to us --
Rom. 12:1,2
3. The workers reward is measured through a deep and abiding sense of satisfaction derived from doing God’s Will! -- Rom. 12:1,2
4. A worker could well say, “You could not pay me to do what I do.. I come
early,I stay late. I labor, I pray, I agonize over people, and all of this is a
blessing and a privilege.”
5. These serve because they are called; they serve because they want to do
God’s will.
B. Committed because our labor is the outworking of the gifts given by God.
exercised for God’s glory; for the good of the church... God-given, not put on the shelf; gifts to be developed or a grievous loss; crowns to cast at His feet.
1. I Tim. 4:14-15
2. I Cor. 12:1-3
3. Rom. 12:4-8; and Eph. 4:11
C. Committed In reaching children: Matt 18:1-14
1. We are to receive -- these little Ones
2. Not offend one of these little ones
3. Not despise one of these little Ones
4. To see these little ones brought to Christ. 18:10-14
V. GOD’S INSTRUMENTS -- HAVE INTEGRITY!
1. You have integrity when you ARE what you appear to be.
2. You have integrity when your life reflects what you say.
3. Integrity is an indispensable quality in a worker.
4. Character, honesty, truthfulness are the foundation stones of integrity.
5. Paul wrote much about integrity -- both in his life and the necessity of it in any workers’s life. I Thess. 2:1-7, 8 - 9; I Cor. 2:1-5; II Cor. 6:3-6
Such a person can accept criticism, receive advice, and listens to others. He is open, teachable, receptive, and is secure in his position in Christ.
VI. GOD’S INSTRUMENTS PREPARE!
A. No one can truly fulfill his or her task without preparation -- physical, mental, and spiritual.
B. A good teacher will be an effective worker for God only to the extent that the Word of God is a power in the life.
II Tim. 2:15; Prov. 2: 1-4; Psa. 1; Psa. 19; I Cor. 6:19-20; II Tim. 3:15-17
C. He knows that attitudes, love, preparation, and skills are important, but also that he needs the power and the working of the Holy Spirit in his life. He knows the power of the overflow of the Holy Spirit -- Jh 7:37-39
VII. GOD’S INSTRUMENTS WILL BE FAITHFUL:
I Cor. 15:58; I Tim. 4:11-16; II Tim. 4:5-7
A. Watchful in all things.
B. Faithful to endure afflictions.
C. Faithful to do the work of an evangelist.
E. Faithful in making full proof of our ministry.
E. Faithful to finish the course -- to keep the faith.
Sermon by Dr. Edward Watke Jr. #.