In Touch Ministries

Charles Stanley: Every single call of God is accompanied by the power and the resources necessary in order to fulfill God's purpose in that call. That's why he gave us the Holy Spirit to enable us to live a righteous, godly life. None of us can do it in the flesh. None of us can live a Christian life in our own strength. It is only as God enables us through the power of the Holy Spirit to live that life. It is the call of God.

Guest (Male): There are four basic calls that God issues to each of us. They are very specific, direct, and clear, but sometimes we're not in a position to receive his instruction. Stay with us for In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, to hear more in our continuing study of First and Second Samuel. This lesson helps you know how to sharpen your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Let's listen in to Dr. Stanley's message.

Charles Stanley: Have you ever felt like God has spoken to you very clearly, very personally? Oftentimes we think that God only limits what he says to certain types of people. God is interested in every single one of us. No matter who you are, God has a personal interest in your life.

What I want to talk about in this message is the call of God—not limited to some particular staff member of a church, but God's call to every single one of us. I wonder if you will turn to First Samuel in the third chapter. This is the event of God's call to a young man. In the process, God has chosen to call young Samuel to be a prophet in Israel.

I want you to notice beginning in verse two: "And it happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place—now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he couldn't see well. And the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was. It was then that the Lord called Samuel, and he said, 'Here I am.' Then he ran to Eli and said, 'Here I am, for you called me.' But he said, 'I didn't call. Lie down again.' So he went and lay down.

"And the Lord called yet again, 'Samuel.' So Samuel arose, went to Eli and said, 'Here I am, for you called me.' But he answered, 'I did not call. Lie down again.' So he went and lay down. And the Lord called yet again, 'Samuel.' So Samuel arose, went to Eli and said, 'Here I am, for you called me.' But he answered, 'I did not call, my son. Lie down again.' Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him.

"So the Lord called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and he said, 'Here I am, for you called me.' Then Eli discerned that the Lord was calling the boy. And Eli said to Samuel, 'Go lie down, and it shall be if he calls you that you shall say, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant is listening."' So Samuel went, lay down in his place.

"Then the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, 'Samuel, Samuel.' And Samuel said, 'Speak, for thy servant is listening.' And the Lord said to Samuel, 'Behold, I'm about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.'"

Now when we think in terms of God's call, let me say again, God does not limit his calls to missionaries and pastors and church staff members and so forth. God calls all of us. So I want us to talk about these four calls of God.

The first call of God is the call to salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ came to call sinners to repentance. In fact, he said on one occasion, "Come unto me all you that labor, heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I'm meek and lowly in heart. You'll find rest to your soul." Rest from the burden of sin and guilt and condemnation, forgiveness and cleansing and joy and peace and happiness and a whole new life.

I want you to listen to what Jesus said, and I want you to turn if you will to John chapter six. In the sixth chapter, beginning in verse 37, listen to what Jesus said. He said, "All that the Father gives me shall come to me, and the one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast out." He said, "Listen, the Father must work in our life." And notice what he said: "All that the Father gives me shall come to me."

Then if you'll turn to the 44th verse of the same chapter: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day." Somebody says, "Well, I'll get saved when I please." No, you won't. People say, "Well, I'm going to get saved later on in life, before I die. I'm sure I will." No, you're not. Listen to what this says: "No one comes to me unless the Father who sent me draws him."

That's the work of the Holy Spirit. The call of God begins with the working of the Holy Spirit drawing us to the Savior. Then if you'll turn to the 65th verse, same chapter: "And he was saying, 'For this reason I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the Father.'" Three times Jesus says, "Listen, no one can be saved unless the Spirit of God draws them."

Then John chapter 14, verse 6. Jesus made it very, very clear: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." Why did Jesus keep saying, "Unless the Father draws you to me, unless the Father brings you to me, unless you answer the call, unless you answer the witness of the Spirit to come to me"? Jesus says no man comes to the Father but by me.

If God would accept you apart from his Son, it would be a blasphemous act on the part of Almighty God to ignore his own Son, bypass him when he sent him to the cross to be crucified in order that you and I may be forgiven of our sins and establish a relationship with him. God's first call is the call of salvation.

"I did not come to call the righteous," he said, "but sinners to repentance." Why did he give the Great Commission? Why does he send pastors and missionaries all over the world? Why does he send Bible teachers all over? To issue the call of Almighty God. We are simply God's spokesman. We are simply the voice of God saying God loves you, God cares for you, God will forgive you. He desires for you to have a relationship with him. He's willing to forgive you of your sin.

God is calling you, my friend. If you've never trusted him as your Savior, I'm telling you the reason you're listening right now and the reason you're sitting here is that God is issuing a call. God is saying something to you about your life, that he created you. God has a purpose and a plan for your life. God issues his call. His first call is the call to salvation.

Second call: the call to sanctification. You say, "What in the world does that mean?" It is a call to holy living. It is a call to a life of obedience. And I want you to turn if you will to Second Timothy, chapter two. "Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels but also vessels of wood and earthenware, some to honor and some to dishonor." He says, for example, there are things in our lives that are good. There are things in our lives that are not good.

Listen to what he says in verse 21: "Therefore if a man or a woman cleanses themselves—confesses and repents of—from these things, he or she will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the master, prepared for every good work."

If you'll go back to First Peter for a moment, notice how he says it here in this first chapter: "Therefore gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance." That is, don't get out there living in the world and doing what the world did, which is what you used to do. He says, "As obedient children, don't be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance. But like the holy one who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior, because it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'"

What is the call to sanctification? The call to sanctification is the call to obedience. It is the call to holy living. The call to sanctification is not a one-time or a call that ever ceases. It is a continuous call of the Spirit of God within us because every single day of our life we are making decisions. We are facing decisions in finances and in your job and with your children and your home and relationships and all the rest. And each time we make a decision, we either make a decision to be obedient to God or not to be obedient to God.

The Spirit of God who lives on the inside of us is there, cautioning us, warning us, encouraging us, enabling us. Every single call of God is accompanied by the power and the resources necessary in order to fulfill God's purpose in that call. That's why he gave us the Holy Spirit to enable us to live a righteous, godly life. None of us can do it in the flesh. None of us can live a Christian life in our own strength. It is only as God enables us through the power of the Holy Spirit to live that life. It is the call of God.

When the Spirit of God comes into your life, whether you are 16 or whether you're 60, it doesn't make any difference. The Spirit of God—one of the first things he begins to do is to enable us to begin to discern between what the world has to offer and God has to offer and begin to see that God wants our heart bent toward him so that our immediate, natural, normal response in every circumstance is, "What's the will of the Father? What does God want me to do?"

Does that mean that you and I will always do that? No, it does not because we are still in this flesh. We still are in these human bodies, we still have our naturalness. And because we do, even though our heart is bent to him, there will be those times we'll think, "Yes, Lord, I do know that's true." And that's why we get torn in two directions. It is the pull of the world. It is the pull of Satan.

Satan always offers a very appealing alternative to the will and purpose of God. Sanctification isn't a one-time thing. Sanctification goes on in your life and mine every day. That's why he says we're to cleanse ourselves. That's why he says we're to confess our sins. If we do, he's faithful and just to forgive us. Why? Because he knows that even though our heart is bent toward him, we still have the flesh, still live in our naturalness, still have temptations, still have difficulties, still have trials, still times we doubt. "Well, God, here's what you say, but Lord, I'm not sure this'll work out." All of those things are part of the process of God cleansing us.

What is he doing? He predestined us to be conformed to the likeness of his Son. So, listen, God knew that you and I couldn't handle it. So he gave us the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us to enable us, strengthen us, to be able to have spiritual discernment. It is the work of the Spirit, the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to cleanse my heart, cleanse my motives, cleanse my desires so I can say, "Yes, that is the will of God."

You remember what Eli said when Samuel told him what God had said? He said, "That is the word of the Lord." He was able to discern that what he heard was from God. The first call of God is a call to salvation. The second call of God is the call to sanctification. What's the third call? The third call is the call to service.

Now I want to repeat again that God does not just call people to serve in a church as a pastor or musician or a missionary on the field somewhere. God's call takes on all kinds of things. Look if you will in Ephesians chapter two. And what I want you to see is this. It doesn't make any difference—listen, if you've trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you answered the first call positively. It doesn't make any difference where you are in the second call. This third call, God issues to every one of his children.

Listen to what he says in verse 10, having talked about our salvation: "For we are his workmanship," that is, he's the one who's created us in Christ Jesus, that is, he's the one who's saved us. For what purpose? "For good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

How does God carry on his work on earth? God, in his awesome, infinite wisdom, chose something that most of us would never have chosen. He chose to do his work through people like us. We are sinful, we have our naturalness, we are far from being perfect, we fail, we falter. But God is using them. God has chosen to accomplish his work on this earth through people like you and me.

Now here's what I want to ask you. Are you serving the Lord in some fashion? Do you have a place of service? Is there some way you are serving God? You say, "I'm going to one of these days." That's not what he said one of these days you do that. He says he's called all of us as his servants.

Now our place of service may change. The activity that God has called us to at this moment may change. But God calls us as his servants. You say, "Oh, I'm just this and I'm just that." No, God prepared beforehand a place for you to serve him and a way to serve him. Service helps us grow. Service enables us to understand the ways of God and how he works. It's in those times in our service to him when we feel so inadequate, so absolutely incapable of doing what God has called us to do, that we just have to cry out in desperation, "God, if you don't help me, if you don't do this, God, it's not going to get done." You know what happens? That grows our faith. God has the privilege of demonstrating his awesome power and his presence and his care and his love and his concern for us.

Your abilities, your talents, your skills, your time—all that's a gift of God. Why did he give it to you? To be invested. To be invested in the work of ministry in some fashion. There are many, many ways to serve God. The issue is this: Have you heard the call to service?

The fourth call is unavoidable, inescapable, and inevitable. Every single person will hear this call. And when they hear it, they will know where it's coming from and what it is. It is the call to accountability. There are many passages of scripture in the Bible about accountability. The whole parable about the talents is all about accountability. Man has one talent, two talents, five. The steward calls them back to give an account.

And then in Romans, for example, he says in the 14th chapter, "Every one of us shall give an account of himself to God." You know what? We're going to hear the call of accountability. That means that God's going to call us before him to give an account for the gift of life, all of our time which is life, our possessions, our gifts, our talents, everything that he placed at our disposal, we're going to give an account for it. Based on three things: the truth that we've heard and known, the opportunity he gave us, and then what we did with that opportunity. So that God's judgments and accountability are absolutely fair with God.

Therefore the question is, how did you answer the call to salvation? Did you say yes or have you said no? How are you answering the call to sanctification? Are you saying yes, God, the will of God, or no? How have you answered the call to service? Yes, God, I'll serve anywhere you want, do whatever you choose, or Lord, I don't have time, I can't do that now. Those three you have some sense of freedom. The fourth one you have no freedom. Every single one of us will give an account.

Every single one of you, you'll give an account for how you've served on your job. Did you give them a full eight hours? You'll give an account for what you've done with your money. Did you give God the first ten? And what did you do with the other 90 percent? What did you do about your gifts and your talents and your abilities and how you've related and how you grew up your children? All these things, we're going to give an account.

You know what God desires to say to you when you stand before him? Here's what he wants to say: "Well done, good and faithful servant. Well done, good and faithful servant." That's what he wants to say. All of us, because we know we're sinful and so far removed from everything we could be before God, all of us are going to say, "Oh, dear Lord, how could you ever say that?" I'll tell you why. Because he washed you in his precious blood and he made you holy and he sanctified you. It won't be a question of whether you're holy or not standing in his presence. It is a matter of accountability for time, talents, testimony, treasure, truth, trials—all these things we're going to give an account for.

You say, "Well, I'm not a Christian. I've never trusted Jesus. What's he going to say to me? You don't know what he's going to say to me." Yes, I do. I know exactly what he's going to say because here's what he said in the Bible he was going to say. He tells us in the scriptures exactly what he's going to say. When you stand before him, my friend, having rejected the call of salvation, here's what he said I'm going to say. He says, "I will say in that day, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.'"

My friend, I know you can't possibly understand the awesome tragedy, horrible, indescribable, overwhelming terror that will pierce your heart when the Son of God whom you rejected, who loved you enough to die on the cross for you, says to you, "Because you rebelled against me, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Depart where? Into everlasting torment and separation from God because you made a choice. You refused the call of God, you spurned the conviction of God, and you had it your way.

My friend, with all of my heart I plead with you to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. He's calling you right now. If you're not saved, I know he's calling you because when the gospel message reaches an unbeliever's heart, it is a call of God. I want to encourage you to tell the Lord Jesus Christ you're trusting him as your personal Savior. You need him. And the moment you're asking him to forgive you of your sins and place your life in his hands, he'll save you this very moment, change your life, and you know what he'll do? He'll start doing what? Bending your life in the direction of holiness and righteousness and peace and joy and all the things you want, cannot find, and have found no substitute for.

It is my prayer to Almighty God you will not reject this specific, clear call of God to you to be saved. Father, how grateful we are that your message is simple. You said if we confess our sins to you, you'll faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, trusting Jesus Christ's death on the cross at Calvary as full payment and therefore to receive him by faith means our salvation. Grant it to multitudes of people who hear this message is my prayer in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us today for In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. In the coming day of God's judgment, those who have not received his gift of forgiveness will hear him say, "Depart from me, I never knew you." If you haven't personally trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior, please do so today.

To learn more about what it means to be a Christian, stop by intouch.org. Or to review what you heard today, look for the "Today on Radio" link on our homepage and order a copy of Dr. Stanley's complete message, "Understanding the Call of God." Open our online bookstore and order the entire teaching set if you like, "Pursuing God's Heart." Our web address again is intouch.org. Or call or text us, 1-800-IN-TOUCH. You can also write to us at In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia 30357.

This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on the station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts. Still to come, we'll hear more about how God communicates with his followers in today's moment with Charles Stanley.

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Guest (Male): You're listening to In Touch. God communicates very clearly. The question is, how well do we listen? With insight for believers, here's a moment with Charles Stanley.

Charles Stanley: When God calls, that is, when he speaks to our heart about some particular area of our life, usually, most of the time, he speaks very quietly. It's interesting God doesn't holler and shout. Never heard God say, "Charles!" He never shouts, he never hollers, he never screams. God speaks very quietly.

In fact, when he spoke to Samuel, Samuel did not understand what it was that he heard. He just knew that he heard a voice. Three times God spoke to him. Not knowing the Lord, as he did not know him in those days, it was that fourth time when Eli said to him, "Now this time, Samuel, if you hear this voice again, you say, 'Speak, Lord, thy servant is listening,'" which is his way of saying to him, "God is speaking to you and you tell the Lord when he speaks to you that you're listening to him."

God speaks very quietly. God speaks always to draw us to himself. God is always in the process of drawing us to himself. God is always in the process of establishing a stronger relationship with him. When God speaks, he speaks very clearly. God does not speak in garbled language. When God speaks and God calls us to a particular task or some aspect of our life, God makes it very clear. That doesn't mean that I always hear it the first time clearly. It doesn't mean that I always understand it clearly, but he always speaks clearly.

Guest (Male): You can learn more about studying and obeying scripture at intouch.org. Were you challenged to live for God by what you heard today? We'd love to hear your story. Next week on In Touch, we'll examine King Saul's promising beginning. I hope you'll join our continuing study of First and Second Samuel on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on this station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.