Grace According to Moses – The Call of God II
Matthew 22:14 (NLT)
For many are called, but few are chosen."
Matthew 22:11-14 (NLT)
But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who
wasn't wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. [12] 'Friend,' he
asked, 'how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?' And the
man had no reply. [13] Then the king said to his aides, 'Bind him hand
and foot and throw him out into the outer darkness, where there is
weeping and gnashing of teeth.' [14] For many are called, but few are
chosen."
1. God does not micromanage our lives—He trusts us to choose and manage the gifts and opportunities in front of us with His guidance and empowering
God guides, leads, empowers and indwells us through special revelation in the Bible, empowering and indwelling by the Holy Spirit, and prayer and teaching
God’s Guidance is to help and empower us to make our own good decisions to follow God’s Primary, Secondary and Specific Call
2. Our Primary and Secondary callings can be a preparation for a later Specific calling – but that order cannot be reversed!
Acts 9:26-27, 13:2 (NIV)
When
he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all
afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27But
Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how
Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to
him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of
Jesus…While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit
said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
Genesis 37:5-8, 28; 39:1-4, 2-22; 41:39-41 (NIV)
Joseph
had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all
the more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: We were
binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose
and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed
down to it."
His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you
actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream
and what he had said… So when the Midianite merchants came by, his
brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty
shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt… Now
Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one
of Pharaoh's officials… When his master saw that the LORD was with him
and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found
favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge
of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned…
Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the
king's prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the
prison, the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him
favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in
charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for
all that was done there. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has
made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as
you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to
submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be
greater than you." So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt."
If we understand our Primary and Secondary Calling, even suffering becomes a bridge to greatness and not a roadblock that turns us away from God’s best
If we understand and live out our Primary and Secondary Callings, our trials and suffering become the necessary conditions for greater blessings
Exodus 3:12-14 (NIV)
And
God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it
is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt,
you will worship God on this mountain."
13
Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them,
'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is
his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"
14 God said to Moses, "I am who I am . [b] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "
John 8:56-58 (NIV)
Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."
57"You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!"
58"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"
3. Jesus is the SAME GOD speaking to Moses more fully revealed to us – and in His hands can we be courageous enough to make good decisions
Our primary calling is answering the call to Follow Jesus – by God’s Grace
Our secondary calling does not replace our primary calling but continues to flow out of it – by God’s Grace
Our specific calling does not replace our primary or secondary calling but continues to flow out of the them – by God’s Grace