If you turn back to 1 Corinthians
chapter 17, I'm going to read verses 17 through 24, and you're
going to notice in this passage of scripture the word call or
called or calling is used on nine different occasions. Now
I've entitled this message from that last verse I read, Brethren,
let every man wherein is called therein abide with God. in your
calling. Now let's read beginning in verse
17. But as God hath distributed to
every man, as the Lord hath called everyone, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all the churches. Is any man called being circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised.
Isn't he called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised. Circumcision
is nothing. And uncircumcision is nothing
but the keeping of the commandment of God. Let every man abide in
the same calling wherein he was called. Art thou called being
a servant? Many people in the New Testament
church were slaves. As a matter of fact, I would
imagine the majority were slaves. It might not be that they had
to stay on the property that they lived on. They could come
to these services, but they were slaves. They were somebody's
property. Can you imagine what a condition
that would be. Now what does he say about this?
Art thou called, being a servant, a slave? Care not for it, don't
be anxious about it, but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the
Lord, being a slave, is the Lord's free man. Likewise also that
he is called, being free, is Christ's servant. You are bought
with a price. Be not ye the servants, the slaves
of men. Brethren, let every man wherein
he is called, therein abide. with God. I love that. I love what John Newton said,
content with beholding his face, a palace, a toy would appear
and prisons would palaces prove if Jesus would dwell with me
there, abiding with God. Now before we get into an exposition
of that text that I just read, which will be the shortest part
of the message, I want us to think of the scriptural significance
of calling. Like I said, we read that nine
different times. And like we saw this morning
in John chapter 10, verse three, he calleth his own sheep by name. I want to be one of those people,
don't you? someone who he has called. Now, if I'm a sheep, not everybody is. There are sheep
and there are goats. But if we are sheep, he has called
us individually by name. Now, that doesn't mean I've heard
my name audibly called. I haven't. I've never heard the
voice of God audibly calling my name. But if I believe he
has called me by name, I think the powerful example of that
would be Lazarus. Now, if he would have called
everybody in that graveyard, everybody would have come forth,
wouldn't they? But he said, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead,
came forth and the same thing happened to you and the same
thing happened to me. I was dead. He called me by name
come forth and he that was dead came forth. There's something
that happened to us when he called us as Peter said out of darkness
into his marvelous light. Now his call is always effectual. He never calls and there's not
a response. Not when he calls savingly, not
when he calls invincibly and irresistibly. I think of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus, make haste, come down,
for today I must, don't miss this word, abide at your house. You know what that means? He's
there to stay. It's not just a temporary visit. He's telling Zacchaeus, make
haste, come down today. I must abide at thy house. Zacchaeus
made haste. He came down and he received
him joyfully. That is the effectual calling. You see, if my voice is the only
voice you hear, it will profit you none at all, no benefit. But if he calls through the preaching
of the gospel, oh, how you'll benefit. Matthew, follow me. Could Matthew have said no? No,
he couldn't have. He arose, forsook all, and followed
him. Now let me give you some scriptures
that give us some idea of the importance of this call. When
he called the 12, it says in Mark 3, verse 13, he called whom
he would. Now don't miss that. He called
whom He would. And they came to Him. And it's the same thing in the
call of salvation. He calls whom He wills to call. And everybody He calls comes. Listen to this scripture from
Romans chapter 9 verse 11 for the children. Being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil." And do you hear that? That's a powerful statement.
Talking about Jacob and Esau, they had not yet been born. They
didn't have any good works to recommend them. They didn't have
any bad works to disqualify them. For the children, being not yet
born. neither having done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand, not of works, but of him that
calleth." See the significance of this call? Revelation chapter
17 verse 14, John describes the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, He
is King of kings and Lord of lords. Every king you know, He's
their king. They only do His will. King of
kings and Lord of lords. Don't you love that name for
Him? And then the next description God the Holy Spirit gives is
those that are with Him. He's King of kings and Lord of
lords, and they that are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful. That's true of all of His people. They're called, called with irresistible,
invincible grace. They respond to that call. And
the reason they're called is because they were chosen to be
called in eternal election. And the evidence that they have
been called is they are faithful. They believe the gospel. They're children of faith. You
can believe them. They're honest. They're faithful.
every single one of them, made so by the Spirit of God in the
new birth. Romans chapter 8 verse 28, this
is a very familiar verse of scripture, I hope, with all of us. And we
know. I love the way Paul says that.
Somebody says, well, I don't know that. I do. And we know
this is not something up for debate. This is not something
to argue about. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are what?
The called according to his purpose. Romans 8 30. Moreover, whom he
did predestinate, them he also called." Everybody he predestinated,
he called by his grace. Hebrews 9.15 says, they which
are called, Lord call me, don't leave me to myself, call me.
They which are called might receive the promise of eternal Inheritance. Who receives that promise? They
who are called. First Corinthians 124, we preach
Christ crucified. That summarizes our message.
Everything in salvation. God's eternal purpose. We preach
Christ crucified. Don't you love the simplicity
of that summary of our preaching? We preach Christ crucified. Now
to the Jews, that's a stumbling block. I don't see how I could
be saved by someone dying on a cross. You say my works have
nothing to do with my salvation and I'm saved wholly because
of that one who died on the cross. Well, I stumble at that. That'll
lead to apathy and indifference. That's not going to promote holiness
and good works. They stumble to the Greeks. foolishness. How's that going to make this
world a better place? How's that going to improve society? How's
that going to improve education and economics and health care? Why that's foolishness. But unto
them which are thee called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ
The power of God. Do you find Christ to be the
power of God and salvation? You know, the only way you can
be saved is by Him being the very power of God to save you
and put away your sin. And Christ is the wisdom of God. Oh, God is so wise that He's
made a way to justify sinners because of His Son. You see that.
Now, who sees that? The called. the called, to them
which are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power
of God, and the wisdom of God. I love this verse of scripture,
2nd Timothy 1.9, it says, He saved us and He called us. Now, the saving came before the
calling. You see, my salvation was accomplished
outside of my personal subjective experience. And I love it that
way. He saved us and he called us. That came next with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. He saved us and He called us. Galatians 1 15, Paul makes this
statement, when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's
womb and called me by His grace. to reveal His Son in me, not to me. If all He did is reveal His Son
to me, that's not enough. I'll forget. But He revealed
His Son in me. Christ in you. The hope of glory. When it pleased
God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace to reveal His Son in me, immediately I convert not
with flesh and blood. When Peter's preaching that first
gospel message after the resurrection of Christ on the day of Pentecost,
I love the way he closes the message. What a message. And
he says, the promise is to you and your children and to all
that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. I love that. Peter said, give diligence to
make your calling and election. Sure. You can't make your election. Sure. If you have not made your
calling, sure. Well, how in the world am I supposed
to make my calling? Sure. I can answer that question. Turn the first Corinthians one. Paul called to be an apostle
of Jesus Christ through the will of God and Sosthenes, our brother,
and to the church of God, which is at Corinth to them that are
sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be saints with all that in
every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both
theirs and ours. Now, here's the point. The called
call. It's that simple. The called
call. Are you calling upon the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ to save you? You know why you're doing
that? Because he called you. That's how you can make your
calling sure. And if you make your calling
sure, guess what? Your election is sure. You've been chosen of
God to do that. I love what Paul said to the
Thessalonians. He called you by our gospel to
the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what
does he call by? He calls by the gospel. That's when you hear
your name, when you believe the gospel, when you believe, when
you hear the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit and believe,
I believe this, this is my hope. He's called you by the gospel. to the obtaining of the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Lord raised Lazarus from
the dead, at one time we read where Martha
came to her sister Mary secretly. I like that word secretly. Nobody
else knew about this. Nobody else knew what was going
on. And you know when the Lord speaks to you, he speaks secretly. Nobody else may know about it,
but he does. The masters come and calleth
thee. That's what she said to her secretly.
And you know what Mary did? As soon as she heard, she arose
quickly and came to him. This is the effectual, invincible,
irresistible call of God the Holy Spirit given through the
preaching of the gospel wherein He calls His own sheep by name. Now, if you really believe it's
because He's called you by name. Now, I'd like you to turn to
the book of Esther right before Job. Psalms Before that is Job,
and then there is the book of Esther. And we can learn something about
the call of God here. I hope you understand, if he
doesn't call you, you can't come. You're unable to come. Do you
understand that? It's got to begin with His call.
And this passage of Scripture sets this forth so powerfully. And here's what was taking place,
verse 3, chapter 3. After these things did King Ahasuerus
promote Haman, the son of Hamadathah, the Agagite, and advanced him
and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. Now,
this is when the children of Israel were in captivity. And
Ahasuerus was the king at this time. And there's this fella
named Haman that he promoted, he gave him a very high position. And the king's servants that
were in the king's gate bowed and reverenced Haman for the
king had so commanded concerning him. But there was a fella who wouldn't
do it. Mordecai the Jew. He refused
to bow. He only bowed to the Lord God
of Israel. He wasn't gonna bow to some man,
he refused. Then the king's servants, which
were in the king's gate, said unto Mordecai, why transgressest
thou the king's commandment? And it came to pass when they
spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that
they told Haman to see whether Mordecai's manners would stand,
for he had told them that he was a Jew, And when Haman saw
that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman
full of wrath. And he thought scorned to lay
hands on Mordecai alone, for they had showed him the people
of Mordecai. Wherefore, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews
that were throughout the whole kingdom of Hesoaeris, even the
people of Mordecai." Haman thinks, if he's gonna bow to me, I'm
gonna wipe them all out. In the first month, that in the
month of Nisan, in the 12th year of King Ahasuerus, they cast
purr, that is the lot before Haman from day to day and from
month to month and to the 12th month, that is the month Adar.
And Haman said unto King Ahasuerus, there is a certain people scattered
abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of
thy kingdom. their laws are diverse from all people. Their laws are
not like our laws, neither keep they the king's laws. Therefore,
it's not for the king's profit to suffer them. If it please
the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed. And I'll
pay 10,000 towns of silver to the hands of those that have
the charge of this business to bring it into the king's treasuries.
And the king took his ring from his hand and gave it unto Haman,
the son of Hamadetha, the Agagite, the Jew's enemy. And the king
said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, and the people
also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee. Now, hold on for
a second. If you look in the first of this book, there's a
woman by the name of Esther who is a Jew that becomes the wife
of King Ahasuerus. He loves her. He picks her out
over all the women in the land after he got rid of his own wife.
And this is her. And he loved her and he didn't
know she was a Jew. So he makes a commandment concerning
the extermination of the entire Jewish race. Kill them all. Then where the king's tribes
called on the 13th day of the first month, and there was written
according to all that Haman had commanded the king's lieutenants
and the governors and over every province and to the rulers of
every people of every province, according to the writing thereof,
and to every people after their language in the name of the king
of Hasuerus was it written and sealed with the king's ring. Now this commandment was given
to eradicate all Jews. Chapter four, verse one, when
Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes
and put on sackcloth with ashes and went out into the midst of
the city and cried with a loud and bitter cry and came even
before the king's gate. For none might enter into the
king's gate clothed with sackcloth, but he did. And in every province,
whether so ever the king's commandment, his decree came, there was a
great mourning among the Jews and fasting and weeping and wailing.
Many lay in sackcloth and ashes. So Esther's maids and her chamberlain,
Mordecai was Esther's uncle. So Esther's maids and her chamberlains
came and told it to her. Then was the queen exceedingly
grieved. And she sent Raymond to clothe Mordecai to take away
a sackcloth from him, but he received it not. Then called
Esther for Haman. Hathak, one of the king's chamberlains
whom he had appointed to attend to her, and gave him a commandment
to Mordecai to know what it was and why it was. So Hathak went
forth to Mordecai under the street of the city, which was before
the king's gate. And Mordecai told him of all
that had happened unto him and of the sum of money that Haman
had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy
them. And he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree
that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to show it unto
Esther and to declare it unto her and to charge her that she
should go into the king to make supplication unto him and to
make requests before her people. You go to the king about this
matter, you're a Jew. And Hathaz came and told Esther the words
of Mordecai and Esther spake unto Hathaz and gave unto him
commandment unto Mordecai and all the king's servants and all
the people of the king's providence do know that whosoever whether
man or woman, shall come unto the king, into the inner court,
who is not called." Did you hear that? Who is not called. There is one law of his to put
him to death. Except such to whom the king
shall hold out the golden scepter. I've not been called to come
into the king these 30 days. It could be that if I come waltzing
in there, having not been called, he might put me to death. I don't
know what'll happen. That's the law. Do you understand the holiness
of God to where you can't come waltzing into his presence unless
he calls you? Do you understand that? Well, you do if you know you're
a sinner. You understand that. You can't come into his presence
unless he first calls you. Verse 12, and they told Mordecai
Esther's words, then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, think
not with thyself that thou shalt escape the king's house more
than all the Jews. If they kill me, they're gonna
kill you too. That law can't be altered. For if thou altogether
holdest thy peace at this time, then shall their enlargement
and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place. But
thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed. And who knoweth
whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
It could be the Lord has put you there just for this, which
he had. Then Esther bade them return
to Mordecai this answer. go and gather together all the
Jews that are present into Shushan. And fast she for me, and neither
eat nor drink three days nor nights. I also and my maidens
will fast likewise, and so will I go unto the king, which is
not according to the law. And if I perish, I perish. So
Mordecai went his way and did according to that Esther had
commanded him." Now here's one of the most glorious types of
Christ in the scripture, Esther. Now it came to pass on the third
day that Esther put on her royal apparel and stood in the inner
court of the king's house over against the king's house and
the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house over against
the gate of the house and it was so when the king saw Esther
the queen standing in that court that she obtained favor in his
sight. And the king held out to Esther
the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther drew near
and touched the top of his scepter. And remember, she's coming for
the Jews. She's coming for his people. Then said the king unto
her, what wilt thou, Queen Esther? And what is thy request? It shall
be given, even to thee, to the half of the kingdom. Whatever
you ask for, you get. And if you go on reading in this
book, she asked for the salvation of the Jews in a way where the
law would not be changed. It's a beautiful story, but understand
this thing of call. I must be called. Salvation's
got to begin with Him. Not with me, but with him. And when the Lord Jesus represents
me before the Father, the Father holds out the golden scepter
to him and is altogether pleased with him. Now go back to our
text and I'll be brief. First Corinthians chapter seven. Verse 17, But as God hath distributed
to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him
walk. And so ordain I in all the churches. This is the instruction, not
just for the church at Corinth, but for the church at Todd's
Road Grace Church and every other church. Verse 18, Is any man
called being circumcised? You're called as a circumcised
Jew. Let him not become uncircumcised.
Can't do that anyway. Isn't he called an uncircumcision?
You're called as a Gentile. Well, don't worry about becoming
circumcised. It's not important. Circumcision,
verse 19, is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of
the commandments of God. Now, does he say keeping the
commandments of God is nothing? Of course he's not saying that,
but he's saying this. Paul said in Galatians chapter 5, verse
5, in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision. You're not better off being circumcised. You're not worse off not being
circumcised. But faith, which worketh by love. Verse 20, let every man abide
in the same calling wherewith he was called. The state you're in when God
called you, stay in it and walk with Christ there for the glory
of God and be content and be satisfied. You're in the place
God has put you. Is that a perfect place to be?
In everything give thanks, Paul said, for this is the will of
God in Christ Jesus concerning you in whatever state you've
been called in. Be content because you have Christ. You're walking
with God. You say, I don't like my job. Well, OK, I understand that. But you have Christ. Is that
enough to make you content? Is that enough to make you satisfied?
Well, I'm struggling in my marriage. Do you have Christ? That's enough
to make you content. That's enough to make you satisfied. That's enough to make you stay
in that marriage if you really believe Christ is all. Now look what he says in verse
21, aren't thou called being a slave? Now can you imagine
being a slave? Somebody's property. Somebody
who had absolute right to make you do whatever they wanted to
do and there's not a thing you could do about it. Oh, that would
be Well, that'd be difficult to deal with. Particularly for
one of these people that have problems with authority. All
you do is have authority over you. And there's not a thing
you can do about it. Whatever he says to do, you have to do. Are
you called being a slave? Don't be anxious about it. If you're called as a slave,
you're the Lord's free man. If you're a slave, be the best
slave you could be. Be obedient to your master. Be
the best slave you can be. Are you called being a slave?
Now don't be anxious about that. But if you, mayest be made free,
use it rather. If you have the opportunity and
the option of being free and not being a slave anymore, take
advantage of it. Now, some people have used this
to justify slavery. You can't use that to justify
slavery, but if you have the opportunity to be free, use that
opportunity. Look what he says in verse 22,
for he that is called in the Lord, that's our calling, isn't
it? In the Lord. He that's called in the Lord
being a slave is the Lord's free man. Now, your owner barks at
you orders, Remember this, he's my master's slave, and I'm my
master's free man. Everything he does. If we're
believing that, rejoicing that, we can deal with things a lot
better, can't we? I may be a slave, but my master who may mistreat
me, he's my master's slave, and I'm his free man. Isn't that
a glorious thing to be his free man? If the Son shall make you
free, you shall be free indeed. Likewise also, he that's called
being free, let's say you're called and you're in a free state
and you're not a slave. Let's say you're in a good position
and humanly speaking, have some authority and some position. Remember this, free man, you're
the Lord's slave. And you like being that way.
You wouldn't want it to be any other way. You see, thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power to be with the Lord. Only someone who knows the Lord
can understand that. Verse 23, and we considered this
from the last chapter too, you're bought with a price. The precious
blood of Christ, you're not your own. You're bought with a price. Be ye not the servants of men. Now, what that's talking about is not being controlled by the
fear of man. You might still be a slave. It
could be that somebody owns you. But you're still bought with
this price, the precious blood of Christ. And we're called upon
to not be the servants of men. Now remember who you are in Christ
Jesus. Don't forget that. You're holy. That's what God says. You're holy, Colossians 1, 22. You're unblameable. You're unprovable,
unapprovable, what a position to be in. And that's the truth
with regard to every believer, the Lord's free man. Don't be
controlled by what men think. You know that scripture, the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes. What is the lust of
the eyes? It's being concerned about what other people see.
It's being concerned about what other people think. What is man? Utter vanity. Why would you be
concerned about what any man thinks? All we're concerned about
is what the Lord thinks. Don't be the servant of men in
matters of faith. Don't cave into peer pressure.
Don't be servants to what men consider important or as status
before the sons of Adam. Do not be the servants of men
in anything where your convictions or your relationship with Christ
is compromised. Be ye not the servants of men. Don't be enslaved by the fear
of man, but the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom. What is it that delivers somebody
from the fear of man? The fear of God. Verse 24, brethren, Let every man wherein he is called,
therein abide with Christ. In whatever place the Lord has
called you, abide in it and be satisfied. Be content. Now if we really believe that
Christ is all, we really believe that. And if we really believe
that if we have Him, we have all. We have all that God is. We have all that God has. We
have all that God requires. We have all that we need. We
have all that we want. We have all that we desire. I
love Jack the Huckster, the person Spurgeon spoke of. I'm a poor
sinner and nothing at all. But Jesus Christ is my all in
all. Now I can be happy in any circumstance
if I'm happy in Christ. Content. The fact that he called me by
his grace through the gospel to the obtaining of the glory
of Jesus Christ, I'm content being a slave. I was reading of John Bunyan
speaking, and he said he went to visit a poor widow that was
a member of his church. And he went to visit her, And
they sat down to eat and all they had was bread and water. Now you ladies think of somebody
coming over to your house and all you set before them is a
slice of bread and a glass of water. And Bunyan was feeling
bad for her. And she said, Christ and all
this too. May the Lord make me and you
that. Christ and all this too. Let every man wherein he's called
therein abide with God. Let's pray. Lord, deliver us from any kind of discontentment. Lord, enable us to simply rest in your gospel and
in the place you've put us. Let us abide there, contented
with thy Son, contented with your gospel. contented with your
presence, being with you. Lord, enable us to walk by faith
in this life with you. Bless us, bless this message
for Christ's sake. In his name we pray, amen.