Most of the divine encounters throughout the Bible have related to God’s call on the men and women of God.
1. For the Christian leader.
The call of God is the point of revelation. The call is the foundation for ministry. Our goal and identity as Christians is to know God and serve the body of Christ.
2. God’s calling to a believer.
God uses the calling as part of His Plan to Build the Church. If you have not heard God’s call for your life yet, continue to love and serve Him, and the day will come when you hear His voice. God has a call and purpose for every born again believer.
3. Every Christian must be called to a specific ministry.
Unfortunately, many leaders have managed to enter into leadership ministries without receiving a divine call from God. Through their failures, these people have discovered that victory in the ministry hinges upon the initial call from God.
4. In the Old Testament, there were so-called leadership without the call of God, and these men failed.
5. Jeremiah the prophet spoke on the subject of God’s call. Jeremiah 23:31-32 – I sent them not, neither commanded them, therefore they shall not prosper this people at all.
Jeremiah 27:15 – I have not sent them; saith the Lord.
Jeremiah 28:15 – Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear not, the Lord hath not sent thee, but thou makest this people to trust a lie.
Jeremiah 29:9, 31 – They prophesied falsely, I have not sent them saith the Lord.
God rejects false leadership.
6. Throughout the Scriptures, we encounter the Lord’s judgment, “I have not sent them.”
Leaders down through the ages have run without a divine call, and God’s people have suffered for it. They were not sent by God.
7. In the Old Testament, it was a very serious offense to take upon the office of any ministry without a divine call.
If a man was called a priest, he dare not try to take the office of a king. If a man was called a king, the priest’s office was off limits to him. Such presumption always resulted in the judgment of the Lord.
8. No person ever entered the presence of the Lord without a divine commandment.
God called Moses to come see the burning bush.
Exodus 3:5 – Take off your shoes, for the place wherein you stand is holy ground.
God ordained the High Priest once a year, on the Day of Atonement, to come into His presence in the Holy of Holies. For a man to take this upon himself was likely to take his life into his own hands. It is presumptuous for a person who is not called by God to go out and say that he is the Lord’s representative.
9. There must be a divine encounter with the Lord before a person can be sent out by the Lord.
All believers are called to a specific function. Many cannot believe that God could call them to a place of ministry. All Christians have the ministry of being servants in the house of the Lord and have received the command to serve.
10. Though there are different callings in the body, all of the callings are important and necessary.
The difference lies in the function, not in the importance.
