Introduction
God has been calling men into His service from time
immemorial. Every time there was a purpose to fulfill, God always sought for a
man. The scriptures are replete with people of different characteristics that
have been called by God at specific points in the fulfillment of His divine agenda
for the world at large and His people, in particular – imperfect people, those
who had made mistakes, and those who had no idea what they were getting into.1
As he did in those days, He is also calling men and women in our contemporary
world today.
Under the dispensation of grace, even though the
Lord Jesus has called all believers and given them a mandate to ‘Go into all
the world and preach the gospel….’ (Matt 28:19) 2, He is still
calling some to specific assignments and ministries, apart from the general
call.
This paper aims to critically analyse the call of
God in the olden days and contemporary days using Foursquare Gospel Church as a
case study. The analysis will include the ‘How’, that is, the method or mode of
God’s call, the occasion of His call, the ‘Why’ that is, the purpose of the
call, the ‘When’ of the call, the ‘Whence’ that is, the target, audience or
destination and the persuasion and response to the call.
The Method of God’s Call
Every time God call anyone, He employs a
distinctive method of calling the person. God has myriads of ways through which
He speaks to people. In the account t of Noah, the bible records that looked to
the earth and saw that it was corrupt, the ‘And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for
the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy
them with the earth. 14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt
thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch….’ Gen
6:13-14. God spoke directly to Noah, Joshua, and Samuel; He appeared to Abram
and Moses, though we are not told how He appeared to Abram but to Moses in a
burning bush. However, He sent angels or prophets to some of the judges of
Israel like Gideon (Judg 6:12) and Barak (Judges 4:6) when He called them. We
also see some men of God that were called right from their Mother’s womb like
Jeremiah (Jer. 1:5) and Samson (Judg. 13:3-4).
Another dimension of the ‘how’ of God’s call is
evident in the amount of detail he chooses to give at the first instance of the
call. God immediately told Noah what His intentions were and what He wanted
Noah to do for Him, as was also the case of Moses, Joshua and Gideon; He
however chose not to be so explicit in the case of Abram (Gen.12:1) and Ruth
(Ruth 1:15-18); there was an element of uncertainty that demanded faith.
In our contemporary world, God is still using the
same method He used in the bible days to call men to ministry. History has it
that one of the greatest revivalists of our time, Apostle Ayo Babalola heard an
audible voice call his name and told him to abandon his job and start preaching
the gospel.3 The founder of Foursquare Gospel Church, Aimee Semple
McPherson, also received her calling thorough a voice telling her to ‘do the
work of an evangelist’ even though at that time of her life, it was a general
norm that women were not allowed to minister. 4 The still small
voice, visions of the night, prophecies and the word of God are some other
methods of receiving God’s call that are common today. However, it is important
to note that many ‘so called’ men of God today have misconstrued the devils
voice or their own voice for the voice of God, claiming they were called into
ministry when in actual fact, God did not speak to them.
The Occasion of God’s call
Moses’ call is one of the most
dramatic of all the men called by God in bible days. The Lord appeared to him
in a burning bush that was not consumed by the fire; already presenting a
picture of what He was about to discuss with Moses –a people oppressed but not
consumed. This was the occasion of God call upon Moses; the oppression of His
people and their cry to Him for help. For Joshua, the children of Israel had
exited from Egypt, they had journeyed through the wilderness for 40 years
aspiring for the Promised Land –Canaan; then suddenly the person that was their
leader (Moses) died. The people were about to be stranded and God’s promise of
bringing then to the Promised Land was being threatened; God needed a
replacement for Moses.
We can therefore establish that
the call of God into service or ministry is always occasioned by a need. Noah’s
generation was described that ones whose hearts were continually evil and
grieved God; the children of Israel were being heavily tormented and ravaged by
the Midianites when God called Gideon; Samson was born at the time of
Philistines’ oppression of Israel and when it became apparent to God that
Saul’s heart was disobedient and impenitent, He sent Samuel to secretly anoint
David as King. Samuel himself, called as a little child, came on the scene at a
time when the ‘the word of God was scarce in the land’.
As it was in the olden days, the
call of God today is still being occasioned by specific needs. Pastor Enoch
Adeboye, an educated and erudite lecturer with PhD and a living legend in the
ministry in Nigeria today, was called to take over the leadership of the church from his
predecessor, Revd. J. O. Akindayomi; an unschooled man that knew how to read
the bible in Yoruba only by divine intervention. History has it that before he
even gave his life to Christ, God had told Revd. Akindayomi, the founder of the church, that
‘a man of books’ will join the church and will eventually take over from him.
There was a need to expand the ministry beyond the Yoruba land to the uttermost
parts of the earth including the elites, and it will require an educated man
like Adeboye. 5
The Purpose of God’s call
God is a God of purposes and plans; every call of
God is therefore certainly aimed at achieving a particular purpose. Being
omniscient and sovereign, God carefully orchestrates his plans so that His
divine purposes for man, His people and the world in general are not defeated.
The entire scriptures, from the Old Testament to the New, is a grand design to
save God’s people (Jews and adopted gentiles) through the revelation of His
only begotten Son. His calling of various men and women those days, though
specific to particular needs in their days, was therefore to feed into this
ultimate purpose of God.
The call of Abraham was to raise a people for God
through whom the rest of the nations will be blessed; Noah was to build an ark
for the rescue of the remnants that were to populate the earth after God’s
flood judgement; Joshua was to lead the people into the promised land and
divide the inheritance among them; Esther became queen so as to deliver the
people of God from extermination; Samson and other judges in Israel were raised
for the deliverance of the Israelites from oppression by their enemies and
Samuel was God’s replacement for Eli to continue His theocratic rule of Israel.
The call of God must of necessity result in
salvation, first of the called so as to have fellowship with God, and then of
his target audience. Jesus called the Apostles, first that they might be with Him
and that He might send them out to preach (Mk 3:14). The Foursquare Gospel preached
by Aimee Semple McPherson resulted in salvation, healing, baptism of the Holy
Ghost and gave people hope in the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Any man or woman who claims that God
has called him or her must examine the outcome of his ministry; are souls being
saved and evidenced by righteous living and aspiration for heaven? This is
indeed the acid test of a true call.
The Timing of God’s Call
The nature of God’s call, the fact that it is
always linked to a purpose, makes it also time-bound. God’s call are related to
his moves and these are in turn related to the dispensations of God. The
dispensation of the law witnessed the call of several men and women of God into
ministry to fulfil certain tasks within the time frame before the revelation of
Christ. Most times once the assignment
commences, the timing last throughout the existence of the called and he may
even need to hand over to others to continue the work e.g. Joshua commenced the
possession and division of the inheritance to Israel but they could not conquer
the whole land before he died.
The call of God is usually preceded by a time of
preparation. Moses was prepared for 40 years in Pharaoh’s palace; there he
learnt the culture of Egypt and that of his people having been given the
opportunity to be raised by his very own mother. He then went through another
round of 40 years preparation in the wilderness rearing sheep and learning how
to care for the flock before he was ready for the assignment. Joshua learnt
diligently under Moses and was prepared to succeed him; just as Elisha went
through a learning period before receiving the mantle of Elijah. Our Lord Jesus
Christ also prepared for ministry before he was launched into ministry.
Every call has a time of manifestation. Recognizing
this, Jesus warned His mother when she wanted to expose Him at the wedding at
Cana “Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is
not yet come” (Jn 2:4). Moses had to learn this the hard way because he had
sensed the call of God on him to deliver his people and thought he could do it
by his strength when he killed the Egyptian for the Israelite. Acts 7:25
reveals that Moses supposed that the Jews would recognize him as God's
deliverer, but they didn't; 6 little did he know that he had 40
years more to go! Hearing the call is important, but discerning the time is
also critical. There is an appointed time for every purpose of God and He is
never in a hurry. He carefully plans out His assignment; all we need to do is
follow His instructions.
The contemporary ministers have a lot to learn in
this regard. Many young people run away from their time of preparation because
the want to manifest quickly, but there is a time of preparation and a time of
manifestation. People who manifest before their time never last on the scene,
they hardly succeed in the assignment because they skipped the time of
preparation during which character, submission, discipline and strength are
developed. In Foursquare Gospel Church, we do ‘lay hands on no man suddenly’ (I
Tim. 5:22) when it comes to the ministry. Anyone professing to have received
the call of God is subjected to a time of tutelage and encouraged to study to
acquire more skills before being ordained a Pastor.
Promise
of the Call
Every call of God has a promise attached to it.
This is to motivate, encourage and assure the person being called of the
backing of heaven in the execution of the assignment. When He called Abram, He
promised to bless Him, He called Moses and promised to give him words to speak
before Pharaoh; the call of Joshua was accompanied with the promise of His
presence as He was with Moses; even Jesus promised His disciples ‘…lo, I am
with you always, even till the end of the world’ (Matt 28:20).
Response
to the Call of God
Whenever a call is made, it is in anticipation of a
response. The call of God therefore requires an answer. Servants of God called
in scriptures have displayed several kinds of initial responses to God that we
must learn from. Moses, Jeremiah, Gideon and King Saul’s initial responses were
those of fear and inadequacy and showed that they were looking at themselves
rather than the ability of the caller. Many run from the call like Jonah but
soon discovered that they could not hide from the maker of all the heavens and
the earth. However, Abraham responded in faith to the call to an uncertain
place and thereby became the father of faith.
It is unimaginable what Christianity in Nigeria and
the world at large would have been like if the likes of Apostle Ayo Babalola,
Bishop Benson Idahosa, Pastor Adejare Adeboye, Bishop David Oyedepo etc did not
respond positively to God’s call. Aimee Semple McPherson could have hidden
under the guise of ‘women are not allowed to preach’ and perhaps we would not
have heard about her today.
Conclusion
It is an established fact that
just as God called people in the olden days using different methods, He is
still calling people in our contemporary times. His call however has not
changed in characteristics –it is usually occasioned by a need; directed at a
particular purpose, which is to save ultimately; accompanied with a promise or
promises; and has a time of preparation and manifestation.
References
1.
Scripture and Bible Study. http://www.explorecalling.org/resources/scripture-bible-study/
2.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version. New Testament Copyright 1979; Thomas Nelson, Inc.
4. McPherson, Aimee Semple, This is
That, The Bridal Call Publishing House, Los Angeles, CA, 1921
5. About Enoch Adejare Adeboye. http://eaadeboye.com/about/
6. Andrew Wommack. God's Man, Plan, and Timing.
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