The Call of God - Part 2

Dr. Charles Stanley: When you not trust the Lord as has saved the Holy Spirit begins to do what? He begins to bend our wills and our desires, our hungers and thirst in life toward the living God. We want what he wants. We desire what he desires. We want our conduct to be in keeping with who he is. So what's happening? Little by little, day by day, year by year, and the truth is the longer you and I live as believers, the more holy our conduct and our conversation and our character ought to be.
Guest (Male): Welcome to In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. A small child will often ignore his mother's voice simply because he doesn't want to do what she says. That can be frustrating for a parent, but the truth is we often do the same thing to God. Stay tuned to learn how to listen for and respond correctly to the call of God.
Dr. Charles Stanley: God's calls are very deliberate, they're very personal, very quiet. Sometimes they're very difficult. That is he may call us to do something that we either do not know how to do it first, we don't want to do it, we don't like the idea, that does not stop him from calling us. So I want you to ask yourself the question, has God ever called me? You see when God speaks to us, he's got something in mind. It's an opportunity for us and with that opportunity always comes a blessing. So as you look at your life, your Christian life, or maybe you say, well I'm not even a Christian. God's never spoken to me. Has he or has he not? Let's think about it for a moment. When you think about how God speaks, you say, well he speaks sometimes through a pastor or sometimes it's through a book or tract, through the radio, through the television, sometimes a friend, sometimes it's some circumstance that's going on in your life. And in the process of that circumstance, you began to sense that God is trying to say something to you. God is continually calling us in different areas of our life. So what I'd like to do is I would like to sort of share with you the four ways and the four reasons God calls us because he does. And you say, well I'm not a Christian, you're not talking to me. Oh yes, I am. You say, well I've been a Christian a long time. I don't need you to talk to me. Yes, you do. So what I want you to do is I want you to listen carefully. And I want us to think about the ways God speaks to us. Now think about this. God desires to set up a communication with us, to establish communication with us. So what does he do? The first call of God in anyone's life is the call to salvation, to trust him as personal savior. That's the first call. That's how he sets up his relationship with us because you see if you've never trusted Jesus as your savior, you don't have a relationship to God. Now you may say, well I believe he's up there somewhere and I can talk to him and he talks to me. If you have rejected his son, you have rejected the means by which you and I establish a relationship with him. His first call is a call to salvation. And you may not have recognized what's been going on in your life till this very moment when you beginning to think about it right now and you are saying, you know what? I've had these feelings you're talking about. You see it may be a funny feeling, it may be a strange feeling, it may be a difficult feeling, it may be a very disturbing feeling. That's the work of the Holy Spirit doing what? Cultivating and stirring you up so that you will hear and receive the message of the gospel. God's first call is the call to salvation. Now for a lot of people, they say, well I'm saved and that's it. That is not it. That is only the first call. Now watch this again. You do not grow into salvation. You become more and more enlightened and more and more understanding until the moment you receive him as your savior. That call finally is answered once and for all. The sins are forgiven, you become a child of God, your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and you are forever secure. Call number one. Call number two is a call that most people never even think about. Your sanctification. Now does that mean a sinless life? No. And often times we want to take words like sanctification, relegate them to some denomination or so. No, listen. Sanctification, it is a process. Salvation is an act, no process. Save once and for all. What does he do? You receive him into your life. Listen, set your part as a child of God for the purposes of God. Now the Bible says we deliver a holy life. What does that mean? Here's what it means. It does not mean a sinless life because all of us have a little carnality in us and we're going to falter at times and sin against God at times, not because we want to, because we are weak in certain areas of our life. Probably everybody has some area of weakness. But sanctification is a process. It begins the moment you're saved and it lasts for the rest of your life. What is that? That is the Holy Spirit who came into your life the moment you were saved and sealed you as a child of God doing what? Beginning to work and to conform you to the likeness of Christ. So he's the one who begins to show you this in your life needs to go. This you need to add to your life. So what happens? Little by little, God begins to work righteousness and holiness as a way of life into our life. You and I will never reach a stage in our life where he is not calling us to sanctification, where he's not calling us to live a holy life. God calls us to salvation. That's an act of the grace of God. He also calls us to sanctification to live godly, to live holy, to follow the Lord Jesus Christ in our conduct and our behavior. Have you ever made a decision? Have you ever made a simple but very personal honest to goodness decision to say, Lord Jesus, I do want to walk holy. I do choose to be obedient. I choose to live the sanctified life. And God when I fault and fail, bring it to my mind quickly so that I may repent of it and move on in the God of life to which you've called me. Second call is a call to a holy life, the call of sanctification. The third call is the call to service. And there are lots and lots of verses, but I want you to turn if you will to Ephesians chapter two for a moment. And this passage, most Christians probably believers who know anything about the Bible know these passages. But listen to if you want the second chapter and verse eight and nine says, for by grace you've been saved, period. You've been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not as a result of work so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand so that we can walk in them. Listen to that. We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Now when he uses the word walk in the scriptures, that means serving God should be a part of our daily life. So let me ask you this question. Once and for all you've been saved. You're in the process of sanctification, walking a holy godly life. Have you ever said to God, Lord, I'm willing to serve you anywhere, anytime. All you have to do is tell me what to do. I want you to turn if you will to first Peter. Go back over to first Peter chapter four because now you think about this. You have to ask yourself the question, would this be you? How many people go to church Sunday after Sunday after Sunday and you like hearing the message and you love singing the songs and giving and praying and so forth. Let me ask you this. In what way are you serving the Lord? Look at first Peter chapter four verse 10. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. God has called us to serve him. He hasn't called us just to be saved, just to be forgiven. He has called us to serve him. Now think about this. Why didn't God save you one day and take you home to heaven right then? He could have. Why did he leave you here as a representative, as an ambassador? Not only that, God has chosen to carry out his work in the world through those of us who are saved and give our lives to him. That we're not talking about preachers, missionaries, musicians and educators. We're talking about every single one of us. Every single one of us who is saved has the responsibility to serve the living God. And somebody says, I'm just not gifted. We just read he says every one of you has received a special gift. You say, well there's nothing special about my life. That doesn't mean that you can do something no one else can do. It means this. Watch this. That God has tailored a gift just for you that fits you in his plan and his purpose for your life. And so no one can say, well you know I was under the steps when God was handing out the gifts, so I didn't get any. God has given you a special gift in your life specially tailored and suited for what he wants you to be and what he wants you to do in your life. So I want to ask you this question. What are you doing to serve the Lord? You say, well now no. What are you doing to serve the Lord? Now you may say, well um I'm not a pastor, I haven't been to seminary and I can't sing. There are lots of ways to serve God besides that. There are many ways to serve the Lord. But I want you to think about this. What specific thing are you doing that would fall in the category of serving the Lord? It may be that you want to be those persons that you are by nature and God has gifted you to be a tremendous encourager. And it may be that the greatest thing you do is when you go to your job on Monday morning or whatever day it is and you walk up to somebody and say, I just want you to know I I was thinking about you this day and was praying for you today. Or you may say to somebody because it's your purpose to encourage. You do this in the name of Jesus. You don't say, I'm a Christian, I'm doing this for Jesus' sake. No, you just walk up and say, I just want you to know you you're looking absolutely fantastic today. Or you did a great job. You know what? You are sharing the listen the encouraging message of Jesus to those people. Or you may say to someone, I would just love to pray for you. Tell me what I can pray for. Now there are thousands of ways to serve the living God. I think about for example all the nurses and all the doctors there are out there who should certainly see themselves as servants of the living God who's equipped them with knowledge and skill and experience and understanding. And here they're dealing with people who are hurting, who have lots of doubts, who are afraid. I think about the kind of awesome testimonies, the kind of awesome service that could be given to someone while they're doing something physical for them, they could also do something spiritual for them. Servants of the living God. Every single one of us is a servant. You work in a store for example and you say, well you know I work in a hardware store, I work in some department store. How can I be serving God? Here's how you can serve him. That you always have a gentle spirit, that you're kind, that you have a genuine spirit of service you want to help the person. If they're complaining and moaning and groaning and just giving you a fit, you just smile and say, thank you very much and we'll correct this. In other words, there are lots of ways to serve God. And see what he wants above everything else is the spirit. He wants us to reflect him. Watch this. If I'm living a sanctified life, I'm going to reflect him no matter what. And we think the only way to serve God is to do it inside the church building. Another way to serve God is this. Let's say for example you're a painter or a plumber. So man I work I'm out there by myself painting everything. How can I serve God? Give them the best paint job they could possibly get. Fix whatever needs to be fixed the best you can do it. Thank God for the privilege that you have to work. And you are serving somebody by helping them do something that they cannot do. And most of us are not very mechanically minded, at least I'm not. And so when I need some help, I have to call somebody for the simple reason I don't know how to fix anything electrical, I don't know how to fix any plumbing, I don't even know how to do anything about a car but driving. If I need help, I have to find somebody else. And you know what? God's made all of us different. He's given all of us different skills so we can do what? So we can serve one another in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So what I want to ask is this. Have you ever said to him, you said I'm trusting you as my savior. I choose to live a godly life. Have you ever been willing to say to him, Lord, because you're my savior and my God, you've done so much for me. I offer myself to you to serve you anyway I possibly can. You can send me anywhere to do anything. You promised to equip me and to anoint me with the spirit of God to enable me to do whatever you've called me to do. So here I am, Lord, as your servant. Have you ever said that to him? Most people never have. You can ask any pastor in the world, say to them, do you have a need for workers in your church? Oh yes. This church, every church. Why do we have so many people, so many tasks, so many places of responsibility, and there's so many more people than there are servants? I'll tell you why. Because many people have never said, Father, you own me, you possess me. Everything I have is yours. You can take away any of any of it anytime you want to. I owe you my life. What you want me to do? I may not do the best job in the world but I'm willing to do the best I can. Whatever you have me to do for the answer is yes. You see number three will not happen until number two happens and you choose to live a godly life. First there's salvation. Then there's a choice to live a godly sanctified life which is life of obedience to him. And then what a life of service wherever he called you to. Now there's one more. Now watch this one. First one, you don't want to be saved, shut it out. You can say no. Secondly, you don't want to live a godly life, no. Thirdly, you don't want to serve God, no. But here's one call you don't have anything to do with. And that is the call to accountability. One of these days you and I are going to stand before the Lord and when we do, here's what's going to happen. We're going to have to give an account of whether we were saved or not, whether we lived a godly life or an ungodly life, and whether we served him or not. I want you to turn to one verse. There are many verses we could turn to. 14th chapter of Romans. Listen to what he says. Romans 14. So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. There is a judgment in which you and I will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ to give an account for our life. Did we trust him as our savior? Did we live a godly life? Did we serve him? Now think about this. One of these days this is an inescapable, unavoidable time of an appointment, a destiny in our life and we stand face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know what? There will not be any excuses offered in the presence of God. People say, well here's what I am going to tell Jesus. No, you're not. In the presence of holy God, the last thing is an excuse for an unholy life. Now think about this for a moment. Every single one of us chooses to be saved or not to be saved. We choose to live godly or not to live godly. We choose to serve God or we choose to serve ourselves all the days of our life. The judgment we have no choice. It is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment. So then every one of us shall give an account of himself and herself to God. What are you going to say when you rejected Jesus? What are you going to say when you lived an ungodly life? What are you going to say when you served only yourself? And what are you going to say when you stand in the presence of the very one who died for your sins? There are some of you listen to this and say, well how am I going to think about it? Oh yes, you are. You've heard too much to forget it now. Remember this. So then every one of us should give an account of himself to God. And I want to challenge you. If you've never trusted Jesus as your savior, to ask him to forgive you of your sins and tell him you're fed up with life, the way you've been living it. You want life at its best and you acknowledge your sinfulness and you trust him as your savior. If you've never made a commitment to live a holy life, make it now. If you've never committed yourself, I'm willing to serve God, Father, whatever you say, make it now. So that when you stand at the end of the fourth call in the presence of the living God, you can hear him say, well done good and faithful servant. Here's your reward. It's real simple and clear. I mean they're going to say be saved, I'm going to be lost. I'm going to live godly or ungodly. And I'm going to serve him or serve myself. But the judgment I must face. And Father, we pray the Holy Spirit will sink this simple truth into every single heart that there is no escape. It's absolutely unavoidable. It's inevitable that we will one day stand before you. And I pray that the Holy Spirit is convicting even now. And people are making decisions even now. A decision to trust you as savior, a decision to walk godly, a decision to serve you whole heartedly all the days of our life. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Guest (Male): Thanks for listening to In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. On the day of accountability, will you hear God say, well done good and faithful servant? Or will you hear, depart from me, I never knew you. Visit our website intouch.org to learn more about becoming a Christian. And to hear this message again, click on the link to today on radio. If you go to our store page, you can order a copy of today's complete message, the call of God. Again, that's intouch.org. You can also call or text 1-800 In Touch. If you prefer to write our address is In Touch, Post Office Box 7900 Atlanta, Georgia 30357. God prepares the way for us to begin a relationship with him. Hear how the Lord worked in Dr. Stanley's life coming up in today's moment with Charles Stanley.
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Guest (Male): Salvation is an instantaneous experience but it's the culmination of a process God carries out on our behalf. Here's a moment with Charles Stanley.
Dr. Charles Stanley: I can remember the first thing I remember about church and about Sunday school was sitting in little chair. They had green, yellow, blue and the chairs and so forth and giving some money and receiving some candy in return. Then I don't remember too much till I became a little bit older and I began to go to church and I sat on the second row right in front of the preacher, first seat, second row. Why? I don't know. It's just where I began to sit. I wanted to hear what he had to say. He said enough for me to realize that God was trying to say something to me. And then I can remember I going to see my grandfather kneeling in the church up pews beside my aunt who was praying and I remember her calling my name, praying for me to get saved. So what was God doing? He was using all those things to do what? He was using those to bring me to enough understanding. Then on that Sunday morning, I didn't understand a lot but the spirit of God had been working in my heart to bring me the realization I was a sinner. I needed Jesus Christ as my personal savior. And I stepped out and knelt down and prayed and asked the Lord to save me. How much did I understand? Not very much. So when you say, well when I understand it all, I'm going to get saved. Friend, you'll never be saved you wait and understand it all. None of us understand it all. How much do you have to understand? I'll tell you how much I understood it. I was a sinner at the age of 12 and my sins had made me miserable. And Jesus Christ died for my sin and I wanted to be forgiven and I wanted to go to heaven. And I as a 12 year old kid said, Lord Jesus, forgive me of my sins and I'm asking you to save me in Jesus' name. I was saved that day. You know what? I've never doubted it one single time. How much did I have to know? Not much. Was God calling me? Yes. When did he start calling me? Way back yonder before I was saved. But he was very gradually enlightening my mind and my heart and creating within me a softness and a desire to trust him as my personal savior. That was his first call in my life. That's his first call in your life.
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