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We are in a series in Ephesians entitled “Fitting into God’s Plan”
I started by saying that God has a plan in to bring everything under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the KEY to absolutely everything!
Knowing the mystery of His will.
Entering into his purpose
Yielding to Jesus’ Lordship.
Then we talked about finding your place in God’s plan, that is, knowing who you are in Christ.
Last week we talked about overcoming obstacles to God’s plan.
Much of that comes down to understanding and accepting God’s grace.
Today we are going to talk about calling, not that we haven’t already touched on it, but Paul goes back to the subject so we will too.
Calling is often referred to as that inner call of God, just like Jesus calling the disciples to “come and follow me.”
How many of you have heard God’s voice at one time or another which caused you to change the course of your life?
There is also an outer calling of the church, which is really an affirmation of the inner call.
It is the recognition that God has called a person an set them apart for the work of the ministry.
But that can be confusing because we affirm the call of God on the life of leaders, but all of us are called to be followers of Jesus.
During the Charismatic movement this was referred to as “every member ministry” or “body ministry”
In today’s story, each of the Wemmicks was given a gift to use, not just for their own enjoyment but for the benefit of others.
The concept comes from Ephesians chapter 4 which states that gifts are given for equipping so that the whole body of Christ is built up and working together.
Some churches have gone so far as to grant all of their members a ministerial license or a lay-ministry certificate so they would know their assignment.
We believe that leaders are not the only ones called to do the work of ministry, but that they are called to lead, to demonstrate and to equip the whole church to do the same.
So whenever you hear the word “calling” today, don’t think that I’m talking about someone else.
I am talking to everyone in the church.
You are called by God and you have a ministry!
The mystery of calling
Ephesians 3:
Calling is a stewardship of God’s grace.
We talked last week about how great God’s grace is.
Grace is not just the fact of God’s goodness, but it is a divine impartation as well.
We said on the first week that our divine inheritance comes with a responsibility.
Grace is a stewardship, an inheritance.
A stewardship means that you are entrusted with preserving, ultimately increasing, what you are given.
(ex.
- parable of the Talents)
luke
Grace is not yours to keep for yourself.
It is yours to grow and to give away.
Grace is not yours to keep for yourself.
It is yours to cultivate, grow and to give away.
Calling is a revelation of God’s mystery.
All of the other Apostles were called by Jesus early in his ministry.
Paul received his calling by revelation.
There was the revelation of Jesus on the road to Damascus.
Acts 9:3-6
I believe that every calling begins with an encounter with Jesus Christ.
Maybe not literally getting knocked off your horse, but certainly the realization of who Jesus is - Lord of heaven and earth!
The second part to the revelation has to do with what Jesus told Paul to do.
“Go to the Gentiles.”
We get the first part of the revelation when we realize that we are called to Christ and to His church.
The second half of revelation comes when we realize that God’s heart is really for the world and we are called to the world.
Calling is a gift of God’s power.
Remember that grace is not just a realization of who God is and what he says about you.
It is a divine impartation of the power to be who God has called you to be.
When you are called by God, he also gives you the resources to do what he has called you to do.
You can expect wisdom and guidance for each step that you are to take.
(v.
8)
You can expect God to give you strategies and creative ways of expressing truth.
(v.
9)
You can expect that you have the God-given authority in the spiritual realm to defy threats from demonic opposition.
(v.
10)
You can expect God to give you courage and boldness.
(v.12)
You can also expect some set-backs and suffering along the way.
(v.13)
But cheer up! It’s all for glory, God’s and others!
The strength of calling
Ephesians 3:14-21
The strength of humility.
For this reason- Paul has just described the opposition that he is facing.
He is in prison, not because he is in trouble with the Romans, but because he appealed for protection from the Jews.
Paul’s language here is intense.
Not just bowing the knee but plural -both knees!
What follows is actually a sort of prayer.
Not for himself, but for the readers, believers in Christ, for you!
What do you do when things get tough?
Go low!
It reminds me of what Moses and Aaron did when the people turned on them.
When confronted, we tend to get cocky and defensive and push back.
Better to press into God, make sure you are doing exactly what God told you to do and if so, just hold fast.
When I had been serving in Denmark for some years and was considering coming home again.
I received a call from our Associate Pastor back home.
He urged me to come home and serve on staff at our home church which had grown quite a lot while we were away.
But when we came home there was no immediate offer of employment so I got a job and was told to give it six months.
After six month I met again with our Pastor.
by that time I suspected that not everyone was in agreement with his plan to bring me on staff.
So I asked him, “We’re going to have to fight for this aren’t we?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so,” was his reply.
“Well, I don’t think a position is something I should fight for,” I said.
“You’re right.”
He said, “because I’ve learn that what you have to fight for to get, you will have to fight to keep!”
And with that we informed him that God had spoken to us about going to Hopewell.
The beautiful thing about calling is that if you are walking in obedience to God you don’t have to promote yourself or defend yourself
Your calling comes from God first, when its challenged you should go to
The strength of Christ in you.
In chapter one we learned that the Holy Spirit is given to us as a seal and a deposit.
At the end of chapter one and again in chapter two we are told that we are designed to be a place for God to dwell.
Here Paul says it three times in three ways in just four verses.
God, Christ, the Holy Spirit is in you!
God has chosen to dwell in us and to work through us.
That should change the way each of us live our lives.
You have divine power residing in you!
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