Is Everyone Called To Preach The Gospel?
What does it mean that the Lord has called you to preach the Gospel? Has he called everyone to the ministry of the Gospel? How do you know that the Lord has called you to preach?
Today I continue my Book of Acts Bible study and I want to use this opportunity to say Happy New Year to all Students of The Word.
It has been a few weeks since I have done a Bible study, but I am here again and I am here to stay.
So in today’s scripture reading, we are going to pick up where we left off in Acts 16 and we are going to read from verses 9 through 12.
If you would rather watch the video for this Bible Study, click this link!
Here Are A Few Verses About Preaching The Gospel
“And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, come over into Macedonia, and help us.”
Acts 16:9
“And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.”
Acts 16:10
“Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis;”
Acts 16:11
“And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days.”
Acts 16:12
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Now let us resume today’s Bible study and I want to resume with a question.
What Does it Mean That The Lord Has Called You To Preach The Gospel?
This means that you know God’s purpose for your life. You know it and you are not guessing that the Lord has singled you out to preach his Gospel to a particular people.
The Lord called Jonah to the Ninevites, he called Samuel to the Jews and he called Saul of Tarsus to preach the Gospel of Christ to the Gentiles.
When the Lord has called you, you are summoned to a geographical region and to a particular people; therefore, your calling is not general.
It is not generic; it is not vague, but very specific. So, the Lord does not call us to preach the Gospel to everyone.
He calls a particular person to preach the gospel to a nation of people, a group of people, a community of people and it is in a particular geographical region.
Biblical Examples Of People The Lord Called To Preach The Gospel
Now, let us explore a few examples of people the Lord called to preach, just by mentioning them. He called Moses, Samuel, and his Twelve Apostles.
He called these men and they knew the purpose of their lives. After he called them, they knew the purpose of their lives.
Yes, so the calling of the Lord gives your life purpose. The Lord called Moses to liberate the Children Of Israel.
He called Samuel to lead and to minister his Word to the nation of Israel. Finally, he chose twelve men to dispense his Gospel to the world.
Has the Lord called you, and what has He summoned you to do?
The Meaning Of The Calling!
Consequently, if the Lord has called you to preach the Gospel, which means that you have recognized this, you have separated yourself from the world, and you are focusing on learning, understanding, applying, and dispensing the Word of God, to the people and the region that he has called you.
Has He Called Everyone To The Ministry of The Gospel?
Has the Lord called everyone to the ministry of the Gospel? Absolutely not! When Christ was on earth, did he call everyone to preach his Gospel? No!
He specifically chose twelve men to do that. He called twelve men, leaders, or apostles and he commanded them by name. Reading from Mark 16:14-15:
“Afterwards he appeared onto the eleven” [that is Jesus, after his resurrection, appeared unto the eleven, eleven because Judas was dead and the substitute was not selected yet until in Acts] as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.”
Mark 16:14
“And he said unto them [unto the eleven disciples, not to the world, not to every Christian, or to every Believer, but to them, these disciples] Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Mark 16:15
And the world here is not the context of the entire earth, no; it is the world in the Mediterranean, that region in the Mediterranean that is what the Lord was saying.
Go Into All The World And Preach The Gospel
Go into all this region and preach the gospel to everybody. Many Christians misinterpret this to mean that as a Christian, you should go out and evangelize, but this definitely is not talking about that.
So everyone cannot preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ either, because everyone does not possess it.
For example, today, look at Christianity. There are so many people preaching and preaching what they consider to be the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
But they are not sharing what the Bible says is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Additionally, they think they have the gospel but they are far away from it as the East is from the West.
How Do You Know That The Lord Has Called You To Preach The Gospel?
How do you know that the Lord has called you to preach? This is not an easy question to answer. But the nature of the Lord’s calling to preach varies with each person.
Additionally, how the Lord calls you while he was on earth differs from his calling since he returned to Heaven.
While Jesus was on earth, he called his Apostles by name. He said to Peter, “Come, follow me.” Jesus called them explicitly, but a notable exception to this is his calling of Saul of Tarsus.
He also called him by name, but from heaven. Yes! Remember when he said “Saul, Saul”? He called him by name, but from heaven.
I did a Bible study on this and I will leave a link to it in the description below this one.
The Lord Will Call You To Preach The Gospel In This Manner!
Since the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven and the advent of the Day of Pentecost, how the Lord calls you to preach his Gospel has been formalized.
In the Old Testament, the Lord spoke and called people to do things directly. Yes, he spoke directly to Samuel.
He spoke directly to Moses, and he spoke directly to Jonah, for he called them directly and spoke to them in conversation.
Pentecost Change This
But since the Ascension of Jesus and the Day of Pentecost all that has changed. You will no longer have the Lord calling you directly saying, “Leroy, come, I want you to go and preach.”
No, that has changed; it has been formalized; now he does this primarily through The Church.
He no longer calls you directly by name, instead, he instills your calling into your heart through his Word and he does this when you hear the preacher proclaim the goodness of God and this ignites a desire in you to be like him.
This is how the Lord does it now.
How To Discover Your Calling To Preach The Gospel?
So if you continue to listen to the preaching of God’s word that desire will grow also and after a time it matures and you know that this is your calling.
So, as a result, you will possess an insatiable desire to know, to study the word of God, and to dispense it. What that does, is it awakens you to your calling and to your passion.
This desire or passion will result in new habits, which will cause you to dig deeper and deeper in pursuing the knowledge of God and Christ.
In Assessing Your Calling To Preach Examine This
One way to know that the Lord has called you to preach is your attitude to the world. When your peers, friends, or families are content to have fun and enjoy themselves, you delight in the pursuit of the knowledge of God.
While they are at the park partying, you are seeking God. While they are playing football, cricket, or dominoes, you are doing Bible study.
You are searching and searching the Word of God, you are studying your Bible. The Bible explains:
“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
2 Corinthians 6:17
You May Not Know That You Are Called!
Sometimes the knowledge that the Lord has called you to preach his gospel, is not readily evident to you.
It is at this time that a spiritually matured Believer in the Church, who has intimate knowledge of your life, could assist you.
Such a one could guide you concerning how to navigate this confusing time because it is really confusing at that time.
You are not sure what you are going through, what it is about, or why you are going through this, it is heart-rending.
It can also be a lonely time too because you are all by yourself. Others are around you but they do not understand what you are going through.
Thus, you have no one to guide you, to lead you, to explain to you.
I Was Called To The Ministry In 2010
In 2010 when the Lord called me to his ministry, it was difficult for me, because I had no support.
My wife supported me wholeheartedly, but I did not understand what I was going through and people in the church did not understand what I was going through.
It was an emotional time also, physically draining and emotionally draining. I did not have anyone to assist me navigate those times.
There were a few Believers in the assembly that I attended, who knew what I was going through but they did not know how to aid me to navigate it or deal with it.
So if you do not have the right support during this time, it can be very lonely.
Why Are You Studying The Bible So Much?
I could remember Believers at the church plaguing men with questions like, “why are you studying the Bible so much, you want to be a Pastor, you want to be an Evangelist?”
Nope! I had no such desire, I just wanted to know the Word of God. I just wanted to get deeper and deeper, and at that time too, I was not very confident about doing a Bible study and knowing with one hundred percent certainty that this is the true Word and not my opinions.
Yes, I was not, and it was during this time that the Lord showed me and guided me through scriptures and through the listening of sermons by many mighty men and women of God, including the great Evangelist Iona Locke.
Listen To People Whom The Lord Has Called Deliver His Word
Yes, I listened to her in Youngstown, Ohio, minister the Word of God. I also listened to her in Jamaica, minister the word of God and it ignited a fire in me to learn and know the word of God, but that was not the start of it.
It was the continuance of that flame that started to burn from Sunday school.
Now, there was this brother in the church that I was very close to or I considered a friend, and one day he asked me,
“I don’t understand you, every day you just into the Bible, studying the Bible for hours, Do you want to be a Minister, or do you want to be a Pastor?”
You Are Going To Need The Right Support
Coming from other people it would not have mattered to me, but coming from him, it hurt so much it really hurt.
So I’m saying at that time when you are recognizing that you’re called by God you need support. You shall need people who understand what you’re going through and will support you physically, morally, intellectually, spiritually, and you know all the ‘allies’ to bolster your faith.
Conclusion
So to conclude, you will know that the Lord has called you to preach because he has placed that desire in your heart through the preaching of his Word.
It will be all you want to do, all you desire to do, all that will grab your attention is just the word, you will dedicate your life to it.
The Lord has called you to preach because you have separated yourself from the world and devoted your life to the knowledge, dispensing, and exploration of the Word of God.
When the Lord calls you to preach, there is no quitting. It is not that you are saying,
When You Are Called You Don’t Resign From Your Calling!
“Oh, I feel like giving up”, no, that never enters your mind. There will be difficult times, there will be hard times, but quitting is never an option when the Lord calls you. You will not give up for you will devote your entire life, from the time he called you until you die, to seeking, learning, and preaching the word of God. It will be the focus and the passion of your life, so there is no quitting from that.
When He calls you there is no resignation. You won’t resign from pastoral or preaching duties.
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” Mark 16:15.
In closing, the Lord will never call you to preach the gospel if you are not in the church.
No, the church is the only unit through which the Lord operates on the earth after the Ascension of Jesus Christ.
Your Calling Is Geographical!
The fact that the Lord caused you to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ may not be evident to you until you are in a particular place or region.
This is because your calling to preach is geographical; you are called to a place and a people.
I never realized that the Lord had called me to preach the gospel until I migrated from Jamaica West Indies to the United States of America and that is when I realized that the Lord had called.
Are you currently attending a church? Has the Lord called you to preach? Do you have the desire to preach the word of God?
Find The Right Church
Finally, find a Bible-believing church and join yourself to it and grow in the knowledge of God and Christ and you will realize your calling.
That is all for today and as always I bless you in the mighty name of Jesus. The blessings of the Lord are on you and if he wills, I will see you in another Bible study.
