Title: The Lord's Call
Contents
♡♥♡ The Lord's Call / 2 Timothy 1:9-14
*** Introduction
Let's look at 2 Corinthians 3:7-9. “If the ceremonial ministry of death, written in stone, was also in glory, and the children of Israel did not notice Moses’ face because of the glory that was about to pass away, how much more glorious is the ministry of the Spirit? For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, the ministry of righteousness abounds in glory.”
Have you ever heard of the term ‘stradivarius’? Name of the most famous and expensive violin in the world. Currently, Stradivarius violins are said to cost 1.3-10 billion.
This violin was made by an Italian man named Antonio Stradivari (1644?-1737). Stradivari confesses in the poem:
“If I slow down my hand, I am stealing from God. You cannot make an Antonio Stradivari violin without Antonio.”
He is said to have made over 1,100 instruments in his lifetime. He knew that making these instruments was for God. That is why we put sincerity toward God in each and every hand we cut. That's what made it the world's best luxury.
As such, Christians who are called to work for the world must first achieve one body. The church is a body made up of people who have been called by God. The church is neither a building nor an organization. The church is a living organism, so it is called an 'organism'. Let's look at God's Word about the church as an organism. 1 Corinthians 12.
Let's look at verses 12 and 13 first. “There is one body, and it has many members, and just as the body has many members and is one body, so is Christ. By one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” Let's look at verse 27. “You are the body of Christ, each part of it,” he said. Next, he speaks of offices and gifts.
The need for an office is so that the body, the church, can function properly. The body also has a function of hearing, and it has a function of seeing, a function of speaking, a walking foot, a working hand, and numerous internal functions that make it all move. These are the ‘parts’ of the body. And the functions the members have are the ‘gifts’ and ‘offices’ that establish the church.
In this sense, our Daebok Church has not yet formed a perfect body. In order for us to form the complete body of Christ and to function fully, we need various offices to perform the functions of the body. Let's look at Ephesians 4:11-13.
In this way, the mission of the church is to completely connect the saints to one another, to form one, and to build up the body of Christ, the church. And the church, which is one body, grows together because it is connected to each other. If I want to be good on my own, I will never reach perfection. If it could have been done alone, the monastic movement in the Middle Ages would have been more widespread and would have achieved a great revival today. They prayed for a faith that was separated from the world on a deep mountain, a crypt, or a steep cliff. But the wisdom of knowing God and salvation through Christ are not given only for one's own sake. Let's look at verse 9.
“For God hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus from time immemorial.”
The word 'by calling' is the Greek word klesis (klh'si"), which means 'calling' or 'vocation', and the word 'calling' that follows is the Greek word kaleo (kalevw), which means 'to call', 'to make', 'to make', (Someone's special name) has the meaning of 'to be called', that is, God has saved us, called us individually, and gave us a 'call (gift, office)'.
A vocation is not just for yourself. Our calling is to reveal and fulfill the will of God who has called us to the world. The purpose for which we Christians are called by God's grace is to glorify God by doing God's will in the world. However, God's will is not completed by fulfilling my calling alone.
Just as the jigsaw puzzle pieces are being put together, the church, the body of the Lord, is being perfected as people whom God has individually called and called. Even if we seem to be moving at our own will, God guides every step we take and builds the church that God has chosen. That is why in Psalm 37:23 it says, “The Lord sets his steps, and he is pleased with their ways.” Proverbs 16:9 says, “A man plans his way in his heart, but he who directs his steps. Jehovah.”
This is the testimony of an old whaling captain.
Quite a long time has passed. I left Cape Horn and went whaling, heading south and sailing the open sea. Then one day, a strong wind was blowing straight ahead from the south. We kept sailing in this direction and made little progress all morning. As I was standing by the rudder of the boat around 11 o'clock, a thought suddenly popped into my mind.
'Why are you wrecking the ship in these waves? There are probably as many whales as the south if you go north. Don’t go against the wind, imagine running after the wind.’
With this sudden thought, I turned the boat heading south and started sailing north with the wind. At noon, an hour after the change of direction, the watchman on the mast shouted, 'I see boats ahead.' Not far away were four lifeboats. The 14 crew members of the ship, which had been wrecked in a fire 10 days earlier, were exhausted in the lifeboat. They said, “They were constantly drifting in a lifeboat, desperately praying to God for rescue.” When we arrived, it was the most pressing time to rescue them. Had it been one day later, they would not have survived.
After this article the old whaling captain added:
“I don’t know if you are religious or not, but I am a Christian. I started my day every day praying that God would use me to help others. And I am sure that God put a thought in my heart to turn my boat that day. That thought saved 14 lives.”
God guides our steps in this way. You also go out planning your daily routine, but there are many times when you encounter something completely unexpected, right? So, before starting the day, we must first pray for God's good guidance.
Just as our hopes for God are many, so are God's wills for us. Therefore, there must be constant communion with God. God speaks to us through the Bible and prayer, and reveals His will to us. And when we obey, He leads us according to the will of God.
We who are called today have also been given this calling. What is our calling? First, we must imitate the word of God we have heard and keep it as faith and love. This is to put into practice what you hear with faith and love. And we must keep the beautiful things that have been entrusted to us by the Holy Spirit. Many things have been asked of us by the Holy Spirit. Let's see what Paul asked Timothy by relying on the Holy Spirit.
1 Timothy 4:12,13. “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, so that until I come, devote yourself to reading, to exhortation, and to teaching.” 2 Timothy 4 Verse 2: “Preach the word. Always do your best, in time or out of season. Rebuke, rebuke, exhort with all patience and teaching.”
This is the same thing Jesus asked for. Matthew 28:19,20. “Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. see it I will always be with you, even to the end of the world.”
We have been called to this work, and have been given offices to form the body of the Lord, the Church. Let us now unite our hearts and wills. Let the gifts and talents given to each of us radiate to the fullest through the offices entrusted to us so that the church can stand strong. For those who have fulfilled their duties well, God will prepare a reward. 1 Timothy 3:13. “Those who do well in the office of deacons gain great confidence in a beautiful position and in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.” In other words, it gives us a place to do bigger things and the courage of faith to handle them. This is the same as what was said through the parable of the talents and the minas.
This is Matthew 25:23. “The master said, ‘Well done. Good and faithful servant, since you have been faithful over little things, I will entrust you with many things; enter into the joy of your master.'” And in Luke 19:17, the mina parable, “The master said, 'Well done. . Good servant, you have been faithful in the least of things, so have authority over ten cities.’”
This is the testimony of ‘Jo Malsu’, the president of a steel company. He was a devout believer and was the vice president of the company. But one day, I was assigned as a branch manager in Singapore, where the manager level is going down. He wanted to resign immediately with a sense of injustice and shame, but he persevered and was appointed to the Singapore branch. He thought, “This is the Lord’s work,” and worked hard, faithfully serving at the Korean Church in Singapore.
One day, several years later, I heard the news from the head office saying, “You have been appointed as the president, so please return to Korea.” It was something I hadn't even thought of. He said he was deeply grateful for what God had done while thinking about the Bible.
It is God who guides our steps. Let's unite our hearts in the ministry given for the church, build the church, the body of the Lord, and fulfill our calling by fulfilling the Lord's love in the world. So, I pray that you will be able to enjoy the praise and glory in the presence of the Lord, saying, 'Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master.'