The Subjective Nature of a
Call of God
The question we now need to
address is, How does a man know that he is called of God? This is not a very
easy question, in the case of any particular individual. As we have seen in the
Scriptures, each one’s experience is unique. There is no special formula we can
apply. But what we are looking for is whether a man has that special sense of
the call of God—a consciousness that God has taken hold of his life, and laid
the burden of the ministry of the word and of pastoral service on his heart.
Take care, however, that the desire to be a pastor is not merely a natural
inclination. It must be supernatural—else the appointing of such a man is not
going to be for the good of the church, or the cause of Christ generally.
These are principles that we glean from the Scriptures, and which we have
covered in our study of the call of God. They are important principles.
Therefore, what we are looking for in calling a pastor is whether the man is
truly saved, truly called, and is truly conscious of the burden of God’s work in
His life.
So we need to hear his testimony. We need to hear his witness to the grace of
God concerning His personal call into the glorious state of salvation. One may
think this does not need to be said—that, of course, we would consider this; it
is very fundamental. Well, maybe. But experience shows that this matter can be
so very easily overlooked. Does the man really give credible testimony of the
saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ and his personal cleansing in the blood of
the Lamb? How real is the working of the grace of God in his personal life?
Then, on top of that, we need to hear his testimony regarding a sense of God’s
calling—and I believe that this should be evidenced from the way God has spoken
to Him through the
Scriptures. A pragmatic approach is simply not good enough. We need to hear how
the Holy Spirit has taken hold of his life and how He has directed him into this
avenue of service.
When I was first conscious of such a call, I felt that the prayer of Paul in
Ephesians 3:14-21 was being made very personal to me. It was as if I was being
the focus of the prayer in a some special way—that the Lord would “grant [me],
according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His
Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in [my heart] through faith; that
I, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the
saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of
Christ which passes knowledge; that I may be filled with all the fullness of
God.” Then shortly afterwards I became aware of the Lord’s words to Jeremiah,
“You shall go to whom I send you, and whatever I command you shall speak…
Behold, I have put my words into your mouth” (Jeremiah 1:7,9). An outward sign
of this inner calling was a new ability I was given. I never used to read, not
even secular novels. But from the time of my being conscious of a call of God, I
was given the gift of reading—that was evidenced in a desire to read theological
books—the first book I read being John Owen’s “The death of death in the death
of Christ”, which is one of the most difficult and closely argued books
imaginable! Then later, my wife and I had another call of God to mission work,
and one of the most important guarantees that the Lord gave us of His hand on
our lives was Psalm 32:8: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you
should go; I will guide you with My eye”.
I give my personal testimony merely as an example. But a prospective pastor must
surely have a true and real sense of God’s taking hold of his life to do the
work of ministry, as an under-shepherd. Far from being something to boast about,
this gift is extremely humbling. A man’s testimony to such a call of God needs
to be under-girded by that sense of deep humility, recognising that a man who is
called of God can do nothing, unless the Lord takes hold of his life, and gives
His blessing. This is not a mere job that can be done in man’s own strength and
ability.
Consider Paul’s letters. He writes in them that these were things he was
personally very conscious of—and this truth shines through most clearly. To the
Corinthian believers, those who were so much trouble to him, and who questioned
his apostleship and integrity, he spoke eloquently of his calling. “Therefore,
since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.
But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor
handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth
commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God”
(2 Corinthians 4:1-2). I think it is very difficult to detect any element of
personal pride in that statement, or even of a sense of a personal ability and
strength to do such work for God. And a few verses later he adds, “But we have
this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God
and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Paul does not exalt in the ministry. The
context shows the very opposite. He would not do it if he was not conscious of
God’s calling, because of all the trauma and pain that the cause of the Gospel
has rewarded him, which he openly shares with us. But Paul is looking beyond the
severe problems to the end result—that it will all end in the glory of God
through the saving of souls. “For all things are for your sakes, that grace,
having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of
God” (2 Corinthians 4:15).
It is a common practice, when looking for a pastor, to book up a man who makes
himself available to preach—one trusts, with the sanction of his own church.
That is good—but it is not the most essential thing to do. A man may preach
well, but he may have no real sense of God’s calling—nor is that even a
guarantee that he is a saved man—and nor does preaching give any real sense of
the man’s character and spiritual, or personal, integrity.
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