But as God hath distributed to
every man, as the Lord hath called everyone, so let him walk, and
so ordain I in all churches. Now look at verse 20. It shed
more light even on that verse. Let every man abide in the same
calling wherein he was called. When God called you to himself,
and he's speaking to believers, here when he called you to himself
in grace and saving grace and saved you in your experience,
you were saved by the grace of God when he revealed to you who
he is and what he did and why he did it. When you were given
faith in Christ, he called you out of your darkness into his
marvelous light. Paul is saying here, he didn't
call you to some new position or place in this world. Whatever
you were when he called you, be that. That's not complicated,
is it? He called you by the gospel to
know him and believe on him. Do what you were doing before,
believing on him. That's the change, that's the
difference made. Now, there are a few exceptions
to this. When God revealed himself to Paul himself, God gave Paul
a new occupation altogether, I would say, to say the least. But that's not common to all
believers. That's not the rule. That's not what God does. He's saying here that if you
were a welder when God called you, be a welder. If you were
a farmer, be a farmer. And this sounds simple and obvious,
but this is important doctrine. As we'll see. Religion wants
to make everybody a Christian something. What does that mean? They want to Christian as the
whole world they want. You know Christians in high positions
in this world. Do you really want people running
things in this world that can't read a simple? Text and. without believing the exact opposite
of what it says? I'd rather have somebody that
wouldn't know the Lord if he walked in this room, but the
Lord uses him with the knowledge and ability that he gives him
to lead in a competent way. That'd be nice, wouldn't it,
for a change? Religion, the religion of this
world, they want to Christianize everybody. The only problem that
is that a Christian by their definition is somebody that did
something for Jesus and wants to do more for Jesus. Don't be a Christian welder.
Don't do that. Just be a welder. That's this
message here. And there's a reason for that.
It's important now. Why is it important? Simply because
of what the Lord said in John 18. Look over there with me,
please. In John 18, 33. John chapter 18 and verse 33. Pilate entered into the judgment
hall again and called Jesus and said unto him, art thou the king
of the Jews? Now think about why he's asking
him this. We know from scripture why he's asking him this, the
king of the Jews, that's what he was called by many of his
enemies, and that's why the Lord answered the way he did in verse
34. Jesus answered him, sayest thou this thing of thyself, or
did others tell it thee of me? That was the, what they were
saying. He's the king, he's trying to
raise up some army of people that are gonna follow him, because
so many had done that before. But look at what he says. Pilate
answered him, I, Jew, thy own nation and the chief priests
have delivered thee unto me. Your own people have accused
you of this, of insurrection, of trying to raise up some kind
of an earthly army to rival Rome or whatever, to avenge Israel. Jesus answered, my kingdom is
not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world,
then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered
to the Jews. This wouldn't be happening. But now is my kingdom not from
hence. Pilate therefore said unto him,
are you a king then? Are you a king at all? And Jesus
answered, thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born. And for this cause came I into
the world that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone
that is of the truth heareth my voice. He that woreth entangleth
not himself in the affairs of this life, that he may please
him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. We're not that kind
of soldier. We're not some kind of, it's
not onward Christian soldiers. We're not some kind of militant
Christian society trying to change everybody into our way of thinking
or to join our cause. Being a believer in Christ doesn't
make you a member of a political coalition. If it does, then you're
anti-Christ. That's not why Christ came. That's
not what he's doing. Everybody's talking about, well,
we just want to do something for God, then you better find
out what he's doing. God is not trying to save the
world. God is not trying to put a Christian
in the office of president. In fact, God's not trying to
do anything. What he is doing is saving his
people from their sins. That's what he's doing. He's
making a marriage for his son. He's honoring and glorifying
his son in the salvation of his elect. That's what he's doing. That's what use God has. He said, when I call the last
one, this thing's gonna burn up. The only reason he hasn't burned
it yet is he's not willing that one of his sheep should perish. He's saving his sheep and he's
calling them out. And if it was necessary for the
president to be a believer in order for that to happen, then
God had raised him up. I'm not saying that we don't
do anything in this world as believers. I'm saying do what
God said to do. You know what God said to do?
He said, if I called you when you were a pipe fitter, then
be a pipe fitter. That's what he said today. Look at verse 21. He's not saying
that's what you always have to be. He's not saying whatever
state I called you in, just stay right there forever. Look at
verse 21. Aren't thou called being a servant?
Care not, don't worry about it. And he's talking about a slave
there. A servant then is not what we call a servant now. If you're called being a slave,
don't worry about that. That's this world. You're a child of the king and
his kingdom is not of this world. Look at Caernapha, don't worry
about that. But if thou mayest be made free,
use it rather, who wouldn't want to be free? He's not saying don't
necessarily better yourself in this world, that's not the point. You may be a welder now, someday
you may have an opportunity to be a foreman over the welder.
Take it if that's what you wanna do. But don't be confused about
the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of God. Don't confuse
them. Look at verse 22. For he that is called in the
Lord being a servant is the Lord's free man. How does that make sense? It's
the two kingdoms. You may be a slave in this world,
but you're not a slave in the eyes of God. You're his free
man. Likewise, also that he that is
called being free, he's Christ's servant. You see the difference? Clear line drawn in there. Clear
line drawn between the kingdom of this world, the kingdom of
men, but being a servant in the kingdom of this world doesn't
change the fact that you are free from the law in God's kingdom. Oh, happy condition. And being a big shot in the kingdom
of this world doesn't change the fact that you're a servant
of Jesus Christ, a bond slave of the Son of God and happy to
be so. The kingdoms are not of each
other. Does being in the kingdom of God by grace then through
faith in Christ have any effect on what you are in the kingdom
of this world? Does it change things in this
world for you? It doesn't need to have any effect
on what you are, but it's a question now of who you are. You're not who you were. All
things are made new. Don't change what you are, not
because of that. Unless God specifically calls
you to serve him in the ministry, but you're not who you were.
Your flesh is the same, but you're a new creation. You're God's
workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that you should walk in them. That's
a lot different. That changes everything. You're still a pipe fitter or
a welder or a farmer, but you're not the same person. Be a welder, be a salesman. The
difference now is you're gonna be a good one. Can
I say that? And here's why I say that and
you tell me whether I can say that or not. Turn with me please
to Colossians chapter three. You're gonna be a different kind
of a welder. or a salesman, or whatever it
is you are in this world. Married or unmarried, bond or
free, look at Colossians 3.22. Servants, obey in all things
your masters according to the flesh. Not with our service as
men pleasers, we all know what that is, we've all been that,
we've all known that. We've all hated that in others
and then done exactly the same thing. But in singleness of heart, obey in all things your masters
according to the flesh. Now you have a master, again,
whose kingdom is not of this world, but in this world, serve
those that the Lord has put over you with singleness of heart,
fearing God. fearing God. The Lord has made
us such a person when he called us by his grace and gave us faith
in his son. This is who we are now. We're
still what we are, but we're not who we were. And whatsoever you do, do it
heartily. Can we remember that every day?
Can we live that? Do it heartily. as to the Lord
and not unto men. And he's not asking you to enter
into some fantasy world here. That's the reality of it. You're
doing it unto the Lord now. knowing that of the Lord you
shall receive the reward of the inheritance, not reward for your
work, the reward of the inheritance of being co-heirs with Jesus
Christ. What does it matter if you get
a demotion in this world, a promotion, you get cheated somehow or another,
or you get a windfall out of nowhere? What does any of it,
what difference does any of it make? You shall receive the reward
of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ. God help us
to live that. And Paul said in verse 17, this
goes for everybody. Is that what he said? This goes
for everybody. This is not a suggestion. When you go to work, your business
there is not witnessing to everybody. That's not your job. Read your
Bible on your own time. Is that too harsh to say? If
you're an office manager, your business at work is to manage
the office. Do it heartily. Do it as unto
the Lord. Don't win everybody to the Lord.
Do what you're there to do, the job that you're given to do.
If you're there to play football, don't get down on the knee and
raise an arm up in the air like, look at me. Play football. We're always ready to be ready,
and we are, I pray, to give a reason for the hope that lies within
us to anyone that asks it. But we are not to be obnoxious,
virtue signaling. Did I just say that? I hate that
word. I can't stand that, virtue. How else do you say that? You
know what I'm talking about. Look at me. And everything they
say and everything they do is they're signaling their virtue
to everybody. You gotta think of another way
to say that, because I hate that. Uptight judges of everyone else,
casting pearls before swine everywhere we go. Nonsense. Do your job. But understand you're abiding
with God now. You're serving the Lord Christ.
Isn't that wonderful? No wonder Paul was so proud to
say, I'm a servant. I'm a servant. Not proud of himself,
proud to be exalted to such a high place as to be a servant of Jesus
Christ. Do you know what'll make you
stick out in this world more than anything else? Not that
we wanna stick out, but you know, it's inevitable. It's inevitable
for a believer. You're just gonna stick out.
And you know why? What our text says, just do what
you're supposed to do. You'll stick out like a sore
thumb. Just do what you're supposed to do. I've told my kids that
since they were six years old. Just do what you're supposed
to do and you will excel beyond everybody around you. Nobody else is gonna do that.
Nobody is but the Lord's people. And we're not gonna do it because
we're better than them We're going to do that because we have
a better master. And he works in us both to want
to and to do it. You want an opportunity in this
world to actually glorify God instead of being an obnoxious
idiot? Just do what you're supposed to do. As unto the Lord, because that's
who you're doing it for. And notice something very important
here in our text. Whatever you were doing, whatever
status you had in life, whatever occupation, verse 17, that was
distributed to you by the Lord. Isn't that beautiful? Whatever
you are right now, when I was a forklift salesman, the Lord
doled that out to me. He gave me that opportunity,
that position, that title. Whatever it is you do, you see
that? Whatever the Lord has distributed
unto you, whatever He's given you to do today, do that today
and do it faithfully as unto Him. Be aware of that. Every nail
you drive or every order you get, every yes you get as a salesperson,
remember that. And more importantly, when you're
not getting any yeses, and when you hit your thumb instead
of the nail, when whatever you do, and I tell you this right
now, everybody, this is the thing these days, do what you love.
Well, a man does what he's got to do
for his family. You don't always, it ain't necessarily
his dream to do that. but it is his dream to take care
of his family. That's my hero, the man that'll
do what nobody else wants to do with all of his heart because
he loves his family. But even if you're doing what
you love, you're not gonna love all of it. And if you do that
for a living, I love to go fishing. If I had to do that for a living,
you know how much I would love fishing after about six months
maybe of taking people out that don't know the Lord. And there's gonna be times when you
don't love it. That's when it's important to
thank God for it. Thank God for giving it to you
anyway. What a blessing it is to be productive
in anything, to be capable, to be valuable. You know why you
get money when you work? Because you're valuable to those
people. God did that. He took a worthless worm and
made him worth something. Work like that. Thank God for
it. And look at verse 20 again. Whatever
you do as an occupation, that's also a calling. It's a gift from
God. God distributed it to you. And
it's a calling. Verse 20 again. Let every man
abide in the same calling wherein he was called. There's two callings
in that. The calling that He gave you
before He called you into His kingdom, and the call that we
all are recipients of by his grace. Listen to it in Romans 8, 28.
We know that all things work together. Think about what it
is to be called of God. Everything works together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called. You can't mess it up. If you're
called of God, you can't mess it up. glorify him in whatever occupation,
whatever situation you're in, glorify the one that put you
there. Glorify him in the storm, because
he calms every storm. Even if he doesn't calm it in
this world, he calms every storm he brings for his sheep. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. What
are you doing, what's your status in this world now? What difference
does it make? Your destiny is to be exactly
like the Son of God. That's what you're working up
towards. Well, if I could just be, you know, lead man one day,
and then if I could just be the manager one day, if I could just
own my own company one day, that's all fine and well. Do that if
you can. But that's not what we're working
toward. We don't even know what that
means, do we, to be like, to be like you. whom he did predestinate, them
he also called. And whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? If God has called you, That passage of scripture we
just read says, if he's called you, then he loved you with an
everlasting love and drew you to himself. And it also says,
if God has called you, he will glorify you. That is, he's gonna
make you just like his son. Will that help to think about
that during the day? During the daily grind of whatever
work the Lord has given you to do in this world, will that help
at all? And that God has promised us that we will see his glory. We'll
be with him and like him. Look at verse 19. Circumcision is nothing, and
uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments
of God. That's something. That's what
that's saying. It's not saying that circumcision
and uncircumcision are the keeping of the commandments of God. It's
saying circumcision doesn't mean anything. Uncircumcision doesn't
mean anything in the kingdom of God. Doesn't make any difference
at all. What matters is keeping his commandments.
And of course, there's two lessons in that. The first one being, well, it's
a parallel verse to Galatians 6.15. Look at that with me if
you would, Galatians 6.15. Galatians 6 15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything nor uncircumcision But a new creature a new creation
Something God does not say whatever you do Doesn't mean a hill of
beans in the kingdom of God something God does is what counts That's
what means something Him making you over again. Him giving you
a new heart, a new spirit, a new nature. A nature of holiness,
the scripture says. Of true holiness. And as many as walk according
to this rule. So there's what God did for you
and this is what you're gonna do because God did that for you.
You're gonna walk according to that. My salvation is what he
did. That's how we're gonna walk.
Peace on you, peace. And mercy, mercy. And upon all of God's elect,
mercy and peace. None of the outward religious
nonsense of this world's religion avails anything. It's not what
you do, It's who you are if you are by the grace of God. I'll tell you this, if you are,
if you're a new creation in Christ Jesus, then you are what you
are by God's grace. A new creation with a new heart
and a new nature will serve Christ, follow Christ, obey Christ, honor
Christ. God hath before ordained it.
You're not getting any glory out of that either. We're not
getting any from any of it. All the glory goes to him. He
hath before ordained it. And that's gonna be what we are
generally before God as believers because of who we are in him
and what he's done for us and in us. Look at verses 23 and
24 in closing. What beautiful language. You,
are bought with a price. What does that have to do with
what we've been talking about? You are bought with a price.
Don't be the servants of men. He's not saying don't work for
people. That's not what you know better
than that. We just read. If you're a servant, be a servant. And be happy, be content. He's
saying ultimately. You're not the servant of men. Brethren, let every man wherein
he is called there abide, two most beautiful words in the world,
I guess, with God. That's the difference. That's
the difference between being a welder then and a welder now. With God, with God. God with us and us with him.
What does all of this, what you do in this world and how you
do it. What does that have to do with the precious blood of
God's son? Everything, simply everything.
Simply everything. You're born. Don't ever think that being a
simple, hardworking man or woman in this world is a waste of time.
Don't ever think that, well, I need to be doing something,
you know, for God. That's how God has chosen for
you to serve him. Whatever you're doing right now,
tomorrow when you wake up, whatever you go do, that's what God has
picked for you. He distributed it to you. He
gifted you with it. And he says, do it knowing that
the name on your check, that's not who you're working for. No, no. Verse 23 is not contradicting
what we read in Colossians 3.22 while ago about serving honorably
in this world. What it does say is this, whatever
it is you do, do all to the glory of God. Why? You're bought. You're redeemed. with the precious
blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish over that spot.
That's the simple, undeniable summation of how we are to behave
in this world. Behave like you're his and he
is all. God give us grace.