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Friday, August 20, 2010
Episode 4 :: Question 1 on the Christian's Calling
7:43 PM | Posted by
St. Burnish
 |
| Pastor Chris Oyakhilome |
Introduction: Hello, I’d like to welcome you to today’s webcast in which I will try to answer some of your questions. We are getting a lot of beautiful responses from around the world, and I appreciate that. And just in case we don’t take your question today, you can check our blog and get involved and I’m sure that somehow, someone will respond to it and before long, I’ll get on it myself. Today, I have several questions.
Question 1 – Mamello (Canada): Dear Pastor Chris, I would like to know sir, what is a call to a Christian? Can we say one is called to be an intercessor? I understand that Ephesians 4:11 talks about ministry gifts and 1 Corinthians 14, the gifts of the Holy Spirit; so for the call, what is it, and what am I supposed to do if I have that call? Thank you, dear Pastor.
Answer 1: Well, you said, "what is a call to a Christian?" Firstly, it is important for us to understand that there are two kinds of callings that the Bible refers to. The first one is the general calling and every one of us is called in Christ Jesus. Now, I want to read that to you from the Bible. I’d like for you to turn to Romans 1, from verse 7; Paul is writing here to the Roman Christians, every Christian in the Church of Rome, now Rome at the time. And it says, “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. [Romans 1:7]” To all that be in Rome - every one of the Christians there was called to be a saint. So, we are all called to be saints. That’s the first one. I’ll read another one to you in 1 Corinthians 1:2: “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, [every one in the church] to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:” So we are all called to be saints. Now, that’s a general calling for all Christians. We are all called of God, called to be saints, called to be his children, born of him. And then, in 1 Peter 5:10: “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus [You see that? He has called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus], after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” So, those scriptures help us to understand that we are all called to God’s glory - called to be saints.
But then, the second kind of calling is for individual ministers, individuals in the Lord. And an example is given to us from the Old Testament into the new. From verse 9 into 10 of Hebrews 5, “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. [Hebrews 5:9-10]” And then verse 4, “And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.” So Aaron in the Old Testament was called of God and then Jesus Christ, called of God. So, the calling here has to do with individuals. And then you come also to Paul’s declaration and reference to himself in Romans 1 and you will find it in several of his epistles how he opens it. From verse 1, “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, [He didn’t say called to be a saint now because we are all called to be a saints, so he says called to be an apostle], separated unto the gospel of God. [Romans 1:1]” In 1 Corinthians 1:1, it says, “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,” He didn’t say Sosthenes called also here. But he says, He [Paul], was called to be an apostle, and he was with Sosthenes our brother, he didn’t say our apostle. So you notice there that there are different kinds of callings - the general calling and then the specific calling.
Now, you have a question, “Can one say that he is called to be an intercessor?” Well, the intercessory ministry is for every believer. Every Christian is called to be an intercessor, because the intercessory ministry is in our office as priests; we are priests of God, and we are all called to intercede for other people. Now, there will be certain Christians who will take that more seriously than others, not necessarily because there is an office of an intercessor because we all have that office. We are all called into that office, and it’s the office of priesthood. So, every Christian should be an intercessor. But, like in everything, it’s just like evangelism. We are all called to be soul-winners, but some are going to take that responsibility more seriously than others. It’s the same way. So, we can’t say some people are called into soul-winning; we are all soul-winners. Now that’s different from the ministry of an evangelist. An evangelist is a preacher, and a soul-winner may not be a preacher, but he wins souls. It’s got nothing to do with preaching [announcing]. You talk to someone; you may not preach, you might teach, you might explain - explain the gospel, live by example, and lead people to Christ [reconcile others to Christ] and that is the ministry of every Christian. But, some will do it more seriously than others - the same thing with intercession. So, because of that, there are those who say that they are called into the office of an intercessor, but there is no such thing in the Bible; it belongs to every one of us. Every one of us has that responsibility to intercede.
Now the other part of your question is “What am I supposed to do if I have that call?” You answer it. If God calls you, you’d know; you’d hear it. You’ll hear it in your spirit. You answer it, and do what he has called you to do. Thank you!
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