Admonition Podcast

Good afternoon.

You're sitting in your house and your phone rings.

You pick it up and you answer it.

A little bit later you get a text message.

You look at your phone again and you answer it.

A while later, your doorbell rings and you go to the door and you answer it.

Question for us today is: what do you do with this, the Holy Bible?

Do you open it and do you answer it?

My topic today is going to be who is called?

If you would open your Bibles to Romans chapter 12.

In Romans chapter 12, Paul tells us that we are living sacrifices to God, to serve God
with spiritual gifts and to behave like Christians.

I'm going to read from Romans 12, verses 1 through 16.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

For I say, through the grace given to me to everyone who is among you, not to think of
himself.

himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly as God has dealt to each
one a measure of faith.

For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same
function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one

another.

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us given to us, let us
use them.

If prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith, or ministry, let us use it in our
ministering.

He who teaches in teaching, he who exhorts in exhortation, he who gives with liberality,
he who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy with cheerfulness.

Let love be without hypocrisy, abhor what is evil, and cling to what is good.

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love in honoring perfect in honoring
giving in honor giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in

spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing
steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse.

Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

Be of the same mind toward one another.

Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble.

Do not be wise in your own opinion.

We need to serve God with the spiritual gifts that He has given to each and every one of
us.

So the question today is, who is called?

Are only select individuals called to do God's work?

Are you called?

Am I called?

Are only certain people called to do important work for God?

Certainly not.

Many people assume that an occupation such as a pastorate or ministry work are true
callings that have significance before God, while others are just jobs.

This is not true.

We are all we all have a God-given talent, and we should be using that to perform God's
work each and every day.

So does your occupation truly define you as a person?

Does it define you as a Christian?

Does it limit you to what you think you can do?

Even though work is an important part of life.

It by itself falls short of describing the significance of an individual.

There are many other aspects of being a person.

Faith is number one: personal growth and development, your family, citizenship, and your
friendships.

So to define oneself by one's occupation is inadequate.

It tends to place more value on the material things of this world and on yourself than on

God, more on activity than on character, and more on success than on relationships.

In short, it tends to equate employment with human worth.

What is God's point of view on calling?

Calling describes the responsibility of all believers to serve God with all their lives.

Romans 8 28 tells us, and we know that all things work together for the good of those who
love God to those who are called according to his purpose.

Every believer is called to belong to God.

Paul indicated to the Christians at Rome that both he and they had the same calling.

Romans chapter one, verses one and verses six and seven, Paul tells them, Paul, a bond
servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle of God, among whom you are also called of

Jesus Christ, to all who are in Rome.

Beloved of God called to be saints.

So what is a saint?

A saint is a holy person that set apart by God for his purposes.

Likewise Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesus that just as there is one spirit and one
body, that is the church, you are called in the hope of oh your calling.

That is from Ephesians four four.

Every believer is called to be a child of God.

In his love, God brings us into his family.

If you would turn now to first John chapter three.

First John chapter three, beginning in verse one, behold what manner of love the Father
has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God.

Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know him.

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be,
but we know that when he is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is,

and every one who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.

That was Roma J first John chapter three verses one through three.

Who is called?

All Christians are called.

Every believer is called to accept the work of Christ on his or her behalf.

Though we are sinners deserving of judgment, Christ's death on the cross has justified us,
made us able to stand before a holy God and receive his salvation and his grace.

Romans chapter eight, verses twenty-eight through thirty tells us, and we know that all
things work together for the good to those who love God and to those who are called

according to his purpose.

For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he
may be the firstborn among many brethren.

Moreover, whom he predestined, there also he called, whom he called, and

He these he also called these he also justified, and whom he himself justified, he has
also glorified.

In uh Paul's second letter to Timothy, in chapter one, verse nine, Paul tells Timothy

Who has served, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and the grace which was given to us in Christ

Jesus before time began.

For this we have every reason to live our lives in gratitude.

First Thessalonians chapter two, verse thirteen.

For this we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God
which you heard from us, you welcomed it not.

Every believer is called to become like Christ, living the life of God calls that God
calls us to.

This involves change in our lives in which we take on the character of Christ.

That means resisting the temptation to turn away from Him, even though others may
encourage us to do so.

It involves fleeing evil and pursuing good.

Fight to maintain our faithfulness just as Christ is holy, so

We are to develop holiness in everything that we do.

As we pursue Christ's likeness, we can do so with certainty that the Lord is helping us,
equipping us for every good work.

Second Peter uh Chapter 1, verses 3 through 10 reads and tells us

For what the law could not do that was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin.

He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be
fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh.

But those who live according to the Spirit, the things

Things of the Spirit.

For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life in peace.

Because the carnally minded is enity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God,
nor indeed can be.

So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Now if any one does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not

is not his, and if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is
life because of righteousness.

So every believer is called to serve God and other people.

God Christ himself

Christ has called us to Himself to live out our faith in a manner that is worthy of Him.

We have the privilege of declaring God's work through everything we do and everything that
we say.

Every believer is called to become a citizen of the new heaven and the new earth.

The Christian life leads ultimately to the end of being glorified, raised up to stand with
Christ in eternal glory, pure and holy at last.

In that day we will celebrate the final coming of Christ and all of his faithful followers
together.

Revelation chapter nineteen verses nine and ten tells us.

He then said to me, Write, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the
Lamb, and he said to me, These are the true sayings of God, and I fell at his feet to

worship him, but he said to me, See that you do not do that.

I am your fellow servant and of your brethren who have testimony of Jesus.

Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Our obedience to the Lord.

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Right now confirms this ultimate calling.

If you are a believer in Christ, you have the same significant calling as any other
believer in Christ, no matter what your workday occupation may be.

We should all examine ourselves each and every day and ask ourselves, what will I do for
my Lord and Savior today?

There are times I think about what it means to be called.

We all do not have the talents or the abilities to be preachers of the gospel of Jesus.

Jesus Christ.

And I'm reminded of Brother Gary Collie, and a lot of you here know Brother Collie.

He always amazed me because he's one man that I have met that could quote any verse out of
any of the 66 books of the Bible to you, and he would have it word for word.

He would not miss a word of that.

And he just amazed me.

But we cannot all do that.

So we have to take the abilities that God has given us and use them in our everyday lives
as

Christians and use it through our words and our actions to get others to stop and ask
themselves, why am I not like that person?

We need to strive each and every moment of every day to be like Christ and follow his
commands so that others see Christ's love through us and in us.

We are all called by Christ to be his faithful followers, and we use the talents that we
have been given by Christ to be Christ-like and call on the lost to confess Jesus as Lord

and Savior, repent of their sins committed, be baptized, and remain faithful to the end.

Calling is not just a matter of what job one has, it means living as a child of God.

It is is that the calling you are pursuing?

Paul told us in Acts chapter 20, I have shown you in every way by laboring like this, that
we must support the weak and remember the Lords of Jesus, that he said, It is more blessed

to give than to receive.

We are called to be serve the Lord, and we need to examine ourselves daily and seek to do
all that we can for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

If you are not already a member of the body of Christ and have a desire to become a member
of the body of Christ, we can assist you with that calling today, or if you have needs of

the prayers of the church, please come forward as we stand and we sing.