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The Danger of Entering the Ministry
With NO Call of God Upon YOUR LIFE
When I attended Bible College I was determined not to stay there if it was not God's Will. I set aside some time for prayer and deep meditation and after about 3 months the LORD gave me this verse to stand upon for Bible College.
"Ye have NOT CHOSEN ME, but I have CHOSEN you…." John 15:16
PUT This Down
1. There is a Danger of Refusing to Enter the Ministry When God Calls
You Will Have NO Peace, because God Has Called
Charles H. Spurgeon is often quoted in this regard:
"If any student in this room could be content to be a newspaper editor, or a grocer, or a farmer, or a doctor, or a lawyer, or a senator, or a king, in the name of heaven and the earth let him go his way; he is not the man in whom dwells the Spirit of God in its fullness, for a man so filled with God would utterly weary of ANY PURSUIT BUT THAT FOR WHICH HIS INMOST SOUL PANTS."
When God Calls a Man, That Man must answer to have the PEACE of God in His Life of he will grieve the Holy Spirit and misery will dog his steps.
You Will Shed Tears, because God Has Called
When I was in Bible College Men Came That Had Refused at a Young Age to Do God's Will, and after they arrived on campus and were in the classes, many times they were in their 50's and 60's and had trouble memorizing and concentrating and tears would come because of their refusal when God had called at a young age. DO NOT DELAY-DO TODAY WHAT God ASKS OF YOU!!
You Will Find NO Place fits, because God Has Called
"THE eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the WHOLE EARTH, to show himself strong on behalf of them whose HEART is perfect toward HIM…" 2 Chronicles 16:9
IN an address given to ministers and workers after his 90th Birthday, George Mueller spoke thus of himself:
"I was converted in November, 1825, but I only came into FULL SURRENDER OF HEART 4 Years later, in July, 1829. The love of money was gone, the love of place was gone, the love of position was gone, the love of worldly pleasures and engagements was gone. God, God alone became my PORTION. I found in HIM my ALL; I wanted nothing else. And by the grace of God this has REMAINED. And has made me a HAPPY MAN, and it led me to care ONLY about the things of God. I ask affectionately, my beloved brethren, have you FULLY surrendered the HEART to God, or is there this thing or that thing which you have taken up irrespective of God?"
IF you are Reading This you need to come to the realization that for one to hear God's call, he must get into the place where God can speak to him and that is in Bible College.
A man can be as George Mueller just spoke and be saved, but never has surrendered his life to the Lord. IF you ask folks today where they got saved they will tell you at church, at home, in revival meeting, in Sunday School, in Pastor's Study, at camp, but when you ask the question, "where did you surrender your life and give all to God? "They hesitate!"
"ALSO I heard the VOICE of the LORD, saying, WHOM shall I SEND, and WHO will GO FOR US? THEN said I, Here am I; SEND ME." Isaiah 6:8 Are you Within Hearing Distance-God is Calling!!
NOW Let's Look at the Other Side of the Coin in The Call
There is a Danger of Refusing to Enter the Ministry When God Calls
There is the Danger of Entering the Ministry When There is No Call
Result-is-Failure
Many Try the Ministry and Fail-Why-God Never Called Them
I ran into a man recently Pastored a nice church for a few years and I said, to him, "how's the church going?" He said, back to me, "I don't Pastor anymore; that was my mother's idea for me to Pastor. She always wanted a minister in the family." I now work for the I.R.S. as an auditor that's my love: accounting. This man was a failure in the Pastorate, because he'd never been called of God.
NO CALL OF GOD upon the LIFE is to Walk in failure in the Ministry.
We will get into a Lesson soon entitled: The Misconceptions of the Ministry.
Many Try to Start a Church and Fail
Why? God Never Called Them
Evidences of a Divine Call
Be a Hunger to Preach the Word of God
Evidence of God's Call is People Will Listen to That Preaching
Be success in the HEART of the Listeners When There is a Divine Call.
People will be saved and baptized and go on and live for the SAVIOUR
Be a Desire Above ALL Others to do the Work of the Ministry
You WILL NOT BE A PART-TIME Preacher
Sometimes Have to Work a Job to Pay the Bills, Until a CHURCH is able to Pay the Pastor a Decent Salary, but the Man God Calls is always Full-Time and Successful, because HEAVEN is Behind the God-Called Man and God-sent Man.
Many Try to Get Some Pastor to Ordain Them to the Ministry to Make it Legitimate
WE have a lot of Men today that have been ordained by a Zealous Pastor so he can brag about how many men have been called to Preach under his ministry.
Many of these men are failing miserably in the vineyard of the LORD, because their emotions have called them and not the LORD.
Many Today in Today's Modern Thinking come to believe that ordination makes them equal with their Pastor and the result is much trouble in the body of CHRIST.
A God-called man is in the right place and doing what God called him to do, not competing with his fellow-shepherd.
"AND Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, HEAR now, ye rebels; must WE FETCH you water out of this rock?" Numbers 20: 10
Moses exalted himself and said, "must we fetch?" He wasn't fetching water out of the rock-God was. And the Lord disciplined him for this statement in Numbers and today many are in the ministry not by divine call, but have exalted self and faked a call, and the result is FAILURE.
BEFORE Men lay their hands upon you make sure that God has given you a DIVINE CALL. Down the Road you will be glad you have God's backing when the going gets rough and the seas of the ministry get high.
Conclusion
To get into the ministry many times men have to leave the PLACE of SECURITY. Step Out by FAITH!!
"AND he said, COME. And when Peter was come down out of the SHIP, he walked on the WATER, to go to JESUS." Matthew 14:29
Peter left the place of security-THE SHIP. YOUR security may be your job and benefits or finances or leaving a certain community whatever to walk on water or to go into the ministry requires FAITH on the part of the Individual. Be assured of.. "BUT when he saw the wind boisterous, HE WAS AFRAID; and BEGINNING TO SINK, he cried, saying, LORD, save me." "AND IMMEDIATELY Jesus stretched forth HIS HAND, and caught him, and said unto him, O THOU OF LITTLE FAITH, wherefore didst thou doubt?" Matthew 14:31
When JESUS says, Come, Believe It, Step Out by FAITH WHEN There is a Divine Call upon the LIFE There is an Unseen Hand Helping Us!!
Watch for Next Lesson-Entitled: A View of the Ministry
Read-2 Corinthians 6:1 Thru 10 Say a prayer for Us Today!!
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