It is an opportunity we have to share the word of God together in this edition of Forms and Patterns, a special edition that is dedicated to our Missions to Australia this week. My prayer is that even as you listen to this word from the Lord, you will become better, an effective minister, you will become more useful in the hand of the Lord and the Lord will be glorified on the earth in Jesus' name. Let us go straight to what the Lord has prepared for us.
There is a focus before us and we are considering "The Australian-Macedonian Call." Don't forget we said it is a special edition to the people and land of Australia. The Australian-Macedonian Call: How to Discern Your Ministry in Complex Moments. The biggest challenge of most people across the world is not just the fact that they have been called. Sometimes you could have been called, but the point is; have you been deployed by God? And until you are deployed by God towards fulfilling a responsibility among a specific people, in a specific place, you cannot say that you are in ministry. Of course you could have been called, but you are not yet fulfilling your ministry. Perhaps you are just doing something else. Today we are looking at how to discern your ministry, meaning, how to really find your ministry and fulfill it.
We are combining the two words together in the word "discern", because until you discern, until you recognize your ministry, people won't recognize you fulfilling it and so, we want to consider the possible dichotomy that appears in the form of manifestation of grace among men in the ministry. Sometimes many people want to do certain things yet, God has not called them. Yet, many people have been called by God to do certain things, yet, they have not responded to God. We want to consider those dichotomies and see what you and I must do towards having a fulfilled ministry and having great impact upon the earth. I want us to consider the book of Acts of the apostles chapter 16 and I will from verse 6 downward.
"Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them."
Of course, you must understand that apostle Paul and his company were called by God to preach. However, they were not in about two or three instances permitted or sent by God to preach. You could be called to preach, but you may not be sent to preach. Now, when you are being sent to preach, you may not be sent to preach everywhere at every time. There is always a place that God exclusively sends His people. It is like the administrator, and there is a place I want us to even find that before we continue our discussion. In the book of 1 Corinthians 12:3-4:
"Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all."
So, we saw there; diversities of gifts, diversities or differences of ministry, and we saw there, diversities of activities. Now, it is the same God, the same Lord, the same Spirit. Of course there could be differences in our ministries, the places we go to, the things we do in those places, the kind of impacts we have, but it is the same Lord that coordinates us. There are different spiritual activities but it is the same Lord that works all in all. There are diversities of gifts in people but it is the same Spirit that produces it. Now considering this, it is important you understand that it is the Lord that ultimately calls, who primarily calls and it God who sends. Until a man is called and sent by God; he cannot be in ministry. Because what that man requires, the gifts that such a man requires, the activities of God that he requires, the administration of the Lord Jesus Christ that he requires, he will not have it. And so, he will struggle on his own.
A man who is in ministry who does not want to struggle must learn to wait on the calling and the sending of God. God must call you, God must send you. Now, apostle Paul even though he had done so much work under God in the past, wanted to go to a place. And then the Bible says the Holy Spirit forbade him to preach, not just in a village, but in the whole continent of Asia. And so, he went to Mysia, the Holy Spirit did not allow him to preach, until he saw a vision where a man from Macedonia, which we combine today in Australia-Macedonia call. A man from Macedonia pleaded with him saying "come over to our nation and help us." And so immediately, they sought to go to Macedonia concluding that the Lord has called them to preach the gospel to them.
It is important you understand that until you have been fully persuaded in your Spirit, that this assignment or vision you want to go ahead to pursue, this responsibility you want to carry out; is being coordinated by the Lord and His Spirit; you must not go about doing it. And we will see instances of good moments when people are called by God and they fulfill their calling, and bad moments when people have not been called by God, and they try to fulfill their calling. I want to quickly go to the book of Romans chapter 10 read a few verse for us there. Romans 10 from verse 8, the Bible says:
"But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
That being defined that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, whether you are a Macedonia or an Australian; a Nigerian or a South African, wherever you are from, as long as you call on the name of the Lord, you shall be saved. Now let us see verse 14:
"How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!"
So, the ultimate goal is that a people be raised up unto God, a people who called unto God. And he said no one that calls unto Him that will not be saved. So, when you call unto God, He will save you. But the question is: How can they call on Him when they have not even believed Him? You cannot call on someone that you don't know, you don't believe. And how can they believe in Him if nobody have spoken to them about Him? How can they be spoken to when nobody is a preacher? So, until there are preachers, the word will not be heard by the people. Now, there can't even be preachers until certain individuals have been sent. So it means the prerequisite for preaching is that you have been sent. No man who has been called must jump into preaching or teaching or whatever that you think about that ministry. You must never jump it.
There is a necessity that you must be sent. It is a requirement. For you to fulfill your ministry, you must first be sent by God. And that is very important for us to note because it is not enough for you to perceive a call, you must discern that the call is a ministry for you to fulfill. Now, let us see a contrast from the book of Jeremiah 23 and I will read verse 21 very quickly.
“I have not sent these prophets.." note that they are prophets and so, they have been called. And this is important for us to note. They are prophets, but they have not been sent. “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran." And what do you call that running? That is ministry actually. "I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied." You remember where we read in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 3 and 4, where apostle Paul mentioned that there are diversities of activities; but it is the same God who works all in all. Now, to prophesy is an activity and it is also a gift. Yet, no man should prophesy until the Spirit is manifesting in him. No man should prophesy until God is the one working the prophecy within him. Now, it is not enough for you to be called, you must be sent before you start running. You must be spoken to by God before you start prophesying to the people. And this is very important.
Now, if you notice what happened to apostle Paul in the book of Acts of the apostles chapter 16:6-10, he had a prompting. There was an urge in him to preach in Asia but God did not permit him. He wanted to speak, God said I have not spoken, don't speak. I have not sent you don't run. Now, he wanted to preach again in Mysia but God didn't permit him. Until he concluded that God has permitted him, he did not go to preach. Is that how we have it today in our society? Of course, there is a great need for the message of the gospel to go to the nations, to go to the cities. But the question is: Have you been so sent by God for the assignment? You must discern your ministry. You must listen on God to be full persuaded that God is speaking before you start speaking. You must be requested by God to speak, to go before you start going. This is very important. I want to read another portion of the Scripture to us in Isaiah 6, so that we will see an instance of a man being called which is different from a man being sent. And until the called is sent, they must never fulfill that ministry.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am [a]undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.”6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin [b]purged.”8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
9 And He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’10 “Make the heart of this people dull,
And their ears heavy,
And shut their eyes;
Lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart,
And return and be healed.”Isaiah 6:1-10
Did you notice what happened in verse 8? It says:
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”
And until he heard that word, he was not able to request for permission to be sent. And he said:
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
He did not say because he heard the word that the Lord was saying and then began to go himself, No! You must be sent. There must be a distinct and a clear approval to you for you to go to a place and do certain things. Until you receive that, you must remain at the realm of being called. And what do you do at that phase? Working on yourself, allowing God to prepare you for where He will send you to. Now, in the book of Mark, the Bible says Jesus called unto Himself a people that they might be with Him and that He might send them out. Mark 3:13, it says: "And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach," So, the first condition to being sent out is that you are first called to be with Him.
So, your calling is in layers. There is a calling to be with Him and there is calling to being sent out. Now, until you are sent out by God, you must remain with Him. You must stay learning at His feet. In the book of Acts 10:9-20, you will see the story of Cornelius and Peter. Now, at a point; Peter went to a place to pray, an upper part of his house and so, he saw a vision. And so, by the help of the Holy Spirit, he knew that he was being sent by God to follow a group of men to wherever they came from. Now, he saw a vision and then the Spirit confirming the vision with a nudge and knowing in his heart and so, he responded to it. And so, what happened was, he fulfilled his ministry because we know that Cornelius eventually became saved, him and his household and they were delivered from the hands of the devil.
Now, the point is when God calls you, you must never resist, and until God calls you, you must never go. So, you must wait for that perfect time, the perfect moment, in a complex moment, or in the midst of complex moments, you must maintain your calmness. Remain at the place of being with Him and wait for His sending. Until He sends you out, you must remain with Him. In the book of Acts of the Apostles 19, from verse 11-20; the Bible shows us the story of certain exorcists who took it upon themselves to exorcise a demonic possessed person in the name of Jesus whom Paul preached. Now, these were exorcists, their job was to exorcise any demon possessed person, to cast out demons from any demonic people. Now, since they did not have any authorization or relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, they were not sent by Him to do it.
Of course, they could have been sent by other things, or other spirits or demons; but Jesus did not send them. But they took it upon themselves to do it. So, the demon possessed man said "Jesus I know, Paul I know, who are you?" Who authorized you? And Bible says the demon possessed man jumped on all the seven sons of Sceva; torn their clothes, stripped them naked and step out of the house. So, they ran out naked being beaten by one man, a demon-possessed man. That is to show you how a people or a man could be so weak in front of opposition when such a man is not sent by God. And a man could be so bold in front of opposition when sent by God. Let me say that again. If you have not been sent by God, you will be weak in front of any opposition. If God has sent you, even though there are many oppositions; you will be bold, courageous and the Lord will give you great results.
So, while you may be called as you are, one thing that I have observed is that you must be made ready, you must be made fit to be sent by God, and this is very clear in the book of 2Timothy 3:16-17, Bible says: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God (or the woman of God) may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." So, before you are being sent out, what are you going through? You are going through a process that will perfect you, a process that will make you to be thoroughly equipped so that you will be fit, you will be good for every good work.
You see, there are responsibilities ahead of you and I don't want you to jump into them. God will call you in His own time and God will raise you up for that call and then when you are ready, God will send you out. Don't go out hastily before your time; and when God is calling you and sending you, don't hesitate because your fulfillment is tied to your ministry. Now, one thing that I also noted and I want to read out to us is that your calling is what you have. People will say "I have a call", that is true. You have a call. Your ministry is what God enables you to give to others. And so, it is not enough for you to have something; you must give what you have. And you cannot give what you do not have. So, you must first be called by God, you must be thoroughly equipped under the mighty hand of God, learning at His feet and then made ready to be sent to places and to people by God so that your ministry will be fulfilled.
Thank you for the gift of your time. We have considered today The Australian-Macedonian Call: How to Discern Your Ministry in Complex Moments. I am sure you notice that there are different desire, different pools. There is a pool to do ministry, and there is a pool discouraging you from doing ministry. Whichever pool you are finding yourself confronting, you must never forget that you require the calling of God and then you must be prepared by God before you are being sent out by God. And until God sends you out, you must remain being prepared. You can never be over prepared by God. Isaiah said "for I am undone." You see, one thing has been said by great men of God, that when a man is undone, then the work of God in his hand will never be done. It will remain undone. If you are not done, as it were, you cannot do the work of God. If you do the work of God, it will be undone in your hand. It will be incomplete, unfinished and I am sure that is not your desire.
You don't want to leave a legacy of abandon projects; you don't want your life, your ministry to be an abandon project. You want to accomplish your task; you want to fulfill your ministry. Jesus said I have glorified you on earth in John 17, I have glorified you on earth, I have finished the work you have given unto me to do. If you want to also glorify God on the earth, you must finish the work that God has given you to do. And if you must finish the work, you must be called by God, you must be raised up by Him and you must be sent by God. You remember a place in Romans 10:17 that says "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God." So, if you must discern your ministry, you require hearing from the Lord. Build your capacity to hear from God so that you will be able to discern when you are being called by God and sent by God. Until you are able to discern the voice of God, you may not know when God is asking you to move to the next phase, to the next place in the assignment of God on your life.
Thank you for the gift of your time my name is Gboyega Adedeji and you have been listening to Forms & Patterns™, this special edition dedicated to the missions to Australia. If God has called you for the people of Australia then it is important that you must be prepared for you to be sent to them. Until God sends you to them, don't go there. Until God sends you to them, don't go there. While you are being called by God, you must allow God to prepare you for the assignment.
I hope to connect with you again next week Friday, stay blessed, stay fulfilling your ministry by discerning in the midst of complex circumstances. God bless you.
