Hearing the Call of God
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
last week we started looking at this new missionary journey that Paul was on. At the end of chapter 15 we see that Paul and Barnabas have been stirred up to go back to the churches that they have helped to start and to see how they are doing and to encourage these people.
we saw that they were both in agreement as to what they needed to do and what God had called them to do, but there was a division as to how they would go about fulfilling the mission that God had put on there heart.
we see two good godly men with both the right heart to minister to the people yet there was a difference of option on how to accomplish the mission. Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them. The same Mark that had left them mid way through their first missionary trip.
Paul on the other hand did not want to take Mark with them for the very reason that he had left them on their trip last times.
and so we saw that Barnabas and Paul went on two different directions. Barnabas took Mark and they went down to the area of Cypress, their hometown.
Paul would take with him Silas, a leader who came up with them from Jerusalem to Antioch.
So in chapter 16 we see Paul and Silas come to Derbe and Lystra. This was the same place they came to in chapter 14 where Paul would be stoned almost to death.
Here as Paul and Silas return to Derbe and Lystra, it has been some 5 years later. And they find a young man by the name of Timothy. We took a look last week at Timothy and how it is believed that he got saved on Paul’s first trip when he was stoned. Timothy was a young teenager .
now Timothy some 5 years later in his 20’s possibly, is a young man that has a good reputation around the church in Derbe and Lystra. They spoke well of him. And one of the things that we spoke about last week, was the fact that Timothy was half jew and half greek. His father was a greek.
now this would play out as Timothy would grow up with 2 different influences in his life, both the influence of the God of the Jews by his mother and Grandmother and the Greek (secular) influence of his father.
now we could see what influence had the greatest effect on Timothy by who he became 5 years later. He was a young man respected by the church. They could obviously see that Timothy was a Godly young man. The decisions he had made in life, including the influences he chose to follow were crucial in developing his character.
and so we saw that Paul was able to see this calling on this young man, and he wanted to take Timothy on his journey with him and Silas.
Transition
now we also saw that part of Timothy going would Paul and Silas was that he would have to be circumcised. The reason was not for salvation’s sake, but it was for the sake for being effective in ministry. They would attempt to reach the jews in the areas that they would visit and they did not want anything to hinder their opportunities to reach the jews with the gospel.
- Timothy being a half Jew and half Greek would be an issue with the Jews that Timothy was not circumcised. so there was a cost that had to be counted in order for Timothy to follow Paul . There was sacrifice that was needed to be useful to God.
and we talked about practically what that looks like to you and me. The same principals are at work in our lives. The reality that there is a cost that has to be counted in our lives in following Christ. Lk. 14 talks about this.
the need for sacrifice in my life , the removing of things, of habits, of people even, in order for me to be a useful vessel for God. not because i will obtain salvation through my works, but it will allow me to be useful and available to the master for his use.
so from the area of Derbe and Lystra now Paul, Silas and Timothy continue in the 2 missionary journey .
Read. Acts 16: 6-10
Expound on the passage and the map
God has a Calling on Our Lives
God has a calling on all of our lives. Everyone has a calling .
when we talk about God having a calling on our lives, we are talking about two different aspects that are important to understand.
GOD’S CALLING ON MY LIFE AS A CHILD OF GOD.
The first aspect of God’s calling on our lives is , God calls you and I to be a child of His. He calls us into His family
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
so God’s main calling on our lives is to be brought into His family, to be a child of God. This is God’s desire and purpose for your life and mine.
this calling is for all Christians.
and with this calling comes specific standards that we are to live by.
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
Paul tells the Ephesian believers that they are to live in such a way that is worthy or that matches that call of God on their lives.
There is a standard , a way of living and conducting ourselves that is part of the calling of a child of God. And this standard is for all Christians, and we find this standard in the word of god.
to be....
- pure, holy, set apart, to walk in the spirit, to be loving , kind, forgiving, to spend time with God in devotions, worship and in prayer.....etc.....
this is God’s desire for all of us .
but there is also a specific calling on every individual that works hand in hand with our general calling as a child of God.
2. GOD’S CALLING ON ME SPECIFICALLY AS HIS CHILD
Not only does God have a calling on all of us as a whole, but God knows you individually and he places a specific call on your life specifically.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
This verse tells us that we are God’s “workmanship” or that word is “poema” in the greek, where we get poem from.
We are God’s masterpiece that he created for a specific purpose. Think about that. God made you specifically with a purpose in mind, he made you with specific gifts and talents, specific interests, specific look, all for the purpose of accomplishing His plan for your life.
God desires to reach a lost world, to further His kingdom and to spiritually build His church.
And God chooses to use you and me for this task. That we may do good works and that we would walk in them.
Transition
This is where things get a little bit harder.
it is easy to find out what God’s call on my life is as a child of God and what His desire is for me and all christians as a whole, we have His word, the bible to look at.
in the bible we find exactly what God desires from us and how we are to live , what we should stay away from, what we should do and not do.
where it becomes difficult is finding out what God’s specific calling on my own life is. To find out what God has called me to do in life specifically.
this can be a challenging questions for you that are about to graduate, for those that are young adults.
Transition
One of the important things to understand is that everything in my life is tied together into the calling God has placed on my life.
The job or career i get, the person i marry, the gifts and talents i have been given, the hobby’s or interests i have…
all these things will play out in helping me effectively accomplish the calling of God on my life in reaching the lost, furthering His kingdom and building up His Church.
this is why it is important to know what career path to take, why its important not just to date people, but to know exactly who God has called me to marry, because all these things will help you accomplish what God has called you to do, or if you choose the wrong career path, or get into the wrong relationship , it can hinder , even keep you from fulfilling God’s call on your life.
Question:
How can i find out God’s will for my life?
How does God reveal His will for my life?
we are going to break down the story of Paul and the team. Because what you find in them is this very thing. That they are moving and seeking to fulfill God’s call on their lives and God begins to reveal His calling on them.
This passage is called the Macedonian Call. Because God revealed His specific will for Paul, Silas and Timothy.
How Does God Reveal His Calling ON My Life ?
THROUGH NATURAL MEANS
we see that Paul was going through the area of Galatia and wanted to go South in Asia, which is current day Turkey. He wanted to go down to Ephesus, Colosse, Smyrna.... but we are told that the Holy Spirit Forbid them.
we do not know how exactly the spirit forbade them, but it is believed that Paul was not able to go to Asia minor from Galatia because he was sick.
Brethren, I urge you to become like me, for I became like you. You have not injured me at all. You know that because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first. And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. What then was the blessing you enjoyed? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me.
Paul wrote this to the Church Galatia reminded them how he was sick when he came to them. It is also believed that his sickness stopped him from going forwarded because of the pyshician Luke joining them,
remember Luke is the one who wrote this letter, v. 6 says “ when they had gone” , v. 10. 11, changes now and it says “ we”
it is at this time that Luke Joined Paul, Silas and Timothy. Him being doctor may be the reason that he joined the team at this time.
what we see is that God was directing Paul and the team through nature events. Paul was sick. that is a very normal, natural thing that happens. it even happens to us.
what i want you to know is that God doesn’t always use crazy supernatural ways to speak to you, but it may be that through natural events , he will be leading you.
Transition
it could be like Paul, that there is a specific sickness or injury that came your way , that you don’t understand why this is happening to you only. God may be using this as a means of leading you in a certain direction that he may not have been able to otherwise.
but its not just through sickness, its through normal everyday life. Think about your upbringing, your heritage, your hobbys, your interests.. These things that seem basic and normal things and the very things that God uses to prepare you for your calling.
think about King David. He was a simply shepherd taking care of the sheep of his father. The youngest son. Yet God was able to use all of David’s upbringing, his family history and family tree, his family career , his experiences as a shepherd , defending the sheep, protecting the sheep, leading the sheep. all this came into play into David becoming a King and leading the nation of Israel.
God knows what family you were brought into, it wasn’t a mistake. he knows what City you would grow up in, what hobbys you would have, it is all for a purpose, to fulfill his calling on your life.
2. THROUGH CLOSED DOORS
We are told that (2) times the Holy Spirit closed the door on Paul and the team. This must have been disappointing. The fact that Paul had a specific desire, a specific interest to go and do something for God.
And yet we see that God closed the doors. The reason God was closing the doors was because he was opening up a different door that was part of God’s plan for Paul . God did not want Paul going to Asia at this time, for he wanted him to go to Macedonian area, or Europe.
and this is huge because by going to Europe, the gospel would spread all over the world. Yet Paul was focused on Asia.
this is key to understand , that there may be things that we have in our hearts to do. We may want to go into this career path or that path, we may want to go do this for God or that, we may want to go to this school or that school. and somethings God closes those doors. and that can be disappointing , even heartbreaking.
what we can often fail to see , is that God is closing a door that is not part of His will for me, it may even be that that thing can be detremental to me, and he is closing the door for my benefit in order that he can open up a door that is perfectly suited for me.
Transition
i am older than you guys and i have lived longer. i have personally experienced this time and time again. Times where i wanted to go a specific career path, get a specific job, and God closed the doors. At the time, it was the most painful thing to have doors closed on you.
i have experienced it in things for God as well.
before we came to La Habra some 4 years ago, God was moving in our family. We had a bible study in our house , people were coming, people were all in and we taught God was going to have us plant a church.
we were praying about what to do next and to see if this was what God wanted us to do. And if you know me, i can be all in when it comes to the things of God no matter how crazy it sounds.
so i was all in and ready , ok God do what you want to do here with these people. God began to move and at this time we were coming here already. And i was torn. Because God was begining to move in our family here at La Habra, and i felt like we weren’t all in because we had this other bible studying going on.
as i continued to pray, God spoke to me to let the bible study go and to commit myself and my family entirely to La Habra. And so we did , we shut the bible study down, we committed ourselves here and went all in .
years later , one of my best friends that was with me at the bible study who supported me and was all in for a church plant, he and his family ended up starting a bible study and it has blown up. God has began to do an amazing work. and i am super happy for his family.
but if “m honest, that closed door was and is painful , to see that our intensions were good, but God had different plans for us. He wanted us here at La Habra to come alongside of Lance and Jay and the rest of the staff to support them.
Years later i see that God had great things that he wanted to do with us here and God isn’t finished yet.
Transition
i tell you this because at some point, a door will be closed on you. and it can feel painful and it can hurt. Yet you need to realize that even in the closing of a door, God is leading you exactly where he wants you to be.
3. Through A Specific Word
We see that Paul received a vision at night . This vision was a Macedonian telling him to come and help. a specific word was spoken to him to lead his next step.
this is how God reveals His will for our lives. God will often times reveal His specific will for you life through the bible. Through a specific text or verse. Sometimes in prayer , God will bring a specific bible verse to mind.
i have many bible verses that God has given me over the years that have been promises and confirmations about my calling, about what i am supposed to do. Many of those God has brought to pass.
and there are some verses that God gave me when i was 18 years old, that 20 years later i am still holding on to those promises. i am still trusting that God will bring those promises to pass someday.
A specific word can come...
Personal Devotion time with God
Public teachings
Prayer
Personal Friend -
i got involved in teaching youth because of a word from a friend. I was 18 or 19 and was walking down the hallway in our church where the High School room and the Jr high room were.
i had been helping with high school as a leader, with worship and other stuff. as i was walking down the hall Jay stopped me, and he just said, “ Hey i need help teaching 2nd service, you want to teach”
-those few words were from the Lord to direct me in a certain direction and now some 20 years later I’m still teaching the youth. sometimes God will use your friends, leaders, pastors, parents to give you a word from the Lord.
4. Through Accountability
V.10- tells us that after the vision, “they concluded” that it was from the Lord
that word “concluded” - “ putting together in reason”, “ to grasp a truth by intertwinding ideas needed to get on board or to come to a necessary judgement.
Paul had the vision and he was able to discuss this with the team, Silas, Timothy and Luke and they all came to conclusion based on the facts. They concluded that this was from the Lord.
this is key for you to understand. That the bible talks about safety in the multitude of couselors. Prov. 11:14
When you have godly friends that are all going the same direction, you can bounce ideas off of them. you can share what you think God is putting on your heart, and they can help you determine truth from a lie.
i spoke to the interns a couple of weeks ago about accountability and what that is.
the bible tells us that our hearts are decietful and wicked. Jer. 17:9
our heart is always wanting to do what is wrong, it will deceive us. This is the problem we have. so we need to counter act this reality in us by having someone speak truth to us. This is what an accountability partner is. Not just a friend that i can share what i am going through. but a friend , a leader, a parent who will be able to speak truth into my life that will counter act the falsehood and the deceit within my heart.
we see this picture as “they concluded that it was from the Lord”