What God Calls You- Part One

 

What Does God Call You?

 

Over the past two weeks I brought a message centered around the names and titles of the Lord Jesus – names and titles such as Savior, Shepherd, Lover, and Lord. There are numerous other names and titles on which we could have reflected, but those are the several we looked at.

 

Today and next week I want to change our focus from what Christians call Him to what God calls you. And me; What He calls every man and woman who look to Jesus as our Lord, Savior, Shepherd, and Lover. It is what He calls every man and woman who’ve repented of their sins and been cleansed by the sacrificial blood of Jesus the Messiah. It is those alone who are called sons and daughters of Almighty God.

 

So, what are some names God calls you? First, He calls you Forgiven. It is because of this name that He counts us worthy of every other name He has given us.

 

Forgiven. Of every sin. For example, here is Ephesians 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace ⁸ which He lavished on us. And now 1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And now Colossians 2:13 “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses.”

 

You cannot read the New Testament – even superficially – without realizing God is not mad at us. God is not itching to find a reason to whip us into submission or cast us into the Lake of Fire.  On the contrary, from one end of Scripture to the other, the Bible is replete with promises of God’s mercy toward the sinner who repents.

 

Many of you know the name of Sandi Patty. She’s a Christian singer and song writer with a long string of albums to her credit. She’s been singing about Jesus for decades.  But what some of you might not know, a few years after marrying her first husband, Sandi got caught up in adultery which led to their subsequent divorce.

 

Eventually, and through confession of her sin to God, Sandi found forgiveness at the foot of the cross, forgiveness at the same foot of the cross at which every soul on earth must find forgiveness if they hope to receive eternal life, and with it, a new start.

 

Sandi’s history of adultery makes the lyrics of this song she performed years later even more wonderful because of the reminder of God’s mercy and forgiveness. Listen to these words of comfort:

I hear You calling out my name as only You can do
Your voice it covers all my shame, the old You turned to new
No matter how things look to me
You see a destiny, a perfect promise

 

You call me beautiful, You call me righteous
You call me worthy of Your Son's own precious blood
You call me holy, You call me strong at my weakest
Forgive an impure, You call me Yours

 

Is what she says here an unyielding biblical truth, or just wishful thinking?  Ask St. Peter who denied his Lord with a curse.  Ask St. Paul, who viciously murdered Christians, even travelling to distant cities to carry out his horrific persecutions against the faithful. Ask the formerly demon-possessed, Mary Magdalene, now known as St. Mary Magdalene. Or the unnamed harlot at the well in Samaria.  Or the millions of Christians throughout the last two thousand years who brought their sins to the foot of Calvary. And ask me, as I stand here before you. And ask the person sitting next to you.

 

You and I really must stop for a moment and ask ourselves: What do WE think about God’s willingness to forgive us of whatever it is we think He will not forgive? This is not a rhetorical question. How we answer that question holds deep and very tangible consequences for our life.

 

Is your sin worse than that of Peter’s denial? Is it worse than that of Paul’s murders? Is it worse than the unnamed harlot at the well in Samaria? Is it worse than the man we call St. Augustine who lived a profligate life before his conversion to Christ? Or of any of the millions of men and women – sinners of one degree or another – who found complete and total forgiveness and cleansing at the foot of the cross?

 

You and I really DO need to think about this, for our answer holds very significant consequences for our life. Perhaps what CS Lewis said about f forgiveness might help some of you:  I think that if God forgives us, we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise, it is almost like setting up ourselves as higher tribunal than Him.

 

So, that is one thing God calls every person who brings his or her sin to the foot of Calvary’s cross in confession and repentance – meaning a ‘turning from their sin.’

 

Next – and from this point, the names are not necessarily in order of priority – God calls us by our name.

 

Think about that for a moment. Among the most important words in any language is a person’s name. And God knows YOURS. And mine. And while it is certainly true that God so loved the WORLD – we must not neglect the SPECIFICS of that verse. And YOU are the ‘specific’ in that text. God so loved YOU, that He gave . . . .

 

The devil will whisper in your ear from time to time – or maybe all the time – God doesn’t know you. Or if He HAD known you, He’s has forgotten you because of your sins. But the devil is only doing what he loves to do. He lies.

 

There is in the Old Testament an obscure detail regarding the High Priest’s clothing. Whenever he entered the Tabernacle to minister on behalf of the nation, the High Priest wore a chest covering on which were the names of the 12 Tribes of Israel as a memorial before God. You’ll find that reference in Exodus 28:29.

 

But how much GREATER a memorial of our names is the picture we find now in Isaiah (49:15-16): Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, And the Lord has forgotten me.” Can a woman forget her nursing child, and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. “Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands . . .

 

Think a moment about that. Jesus has YOUR NAME inscribed – not tattooed – but engraved by those Roman spikes, engraved into His hands to forever serve as a reminder of your name each time He looks at His hands and each time He appears as our High Priest before the Father.  (You will find reference to Jesus as our High Priest in the New Testament book of Hebrews). 

 

Listen! Your High Priest Knows your name! Here is what the Lord Jesus tells us in John 10. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. ² But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. ³ To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out . . . .” 

 

Do you ever hear Him speak to you your name, especially while in prayer? If you haven’t heard it then you are not listening quietly enough. If you belong to God through faith in His Son, God talks to you by His Holy Spirit all the time. And He calls you by your name!

 

You might remember the incident of Elijah in the cave, hiding from Jezebel. This occurs immediately after God's power worked through the prophet on Mount Carmel. You can find the story in 1 Kings 18-19. This is what happened to that great prophet – which has direct relevance to the likely reason we so often do not hear God speak to us, even when He speaks our name: 1 Kings 19:11-13 à

 

So [God] said [to Elijah], “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

 

What are you doing, Elijah? Did you get that? It was in the quietness of the gentle wind that Elijah heard God call his name!

 

It is very difficult – I wonder if it is even possible – to hear God speak when we are so busy with noise all around us.  That’s why it is so important that we get alone and quiet with God. 

 

From time to time, I ask people to take what I call the 15-minute challenge. For 15 minutes every day, get alone and quiet with God. No phone. No internet. No one in the room with you. Find a place where you will not be distracted. Bring your bible with you, read a little from perhaps the gospels, or the epistles, or the psalms – and listen for God to speak to you and with you.

 

It may take some practice at first. But once you get used to the quiet, you will find it the sweetest 15 minutes of your day. And I guarantee you who are children of God – I guarantee you on the promise of Scripture, you WILL hear God speaking your name.

 

So, God calls you ‘forgiven’ and He calls you by your name. What else?

 

God calls you Beautiful.  The Song of Solomon has for millennia been understood by theologians as a picture of Christ and His Bride, the Church: Solomon wrote these words: “My beloved responded and said to me, ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along. ¹¹ ‘For behold, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone. ¹² ‘The flowers have already appeared in the land; The time has arrived for pruning the vines, And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land. ³ ‘The fig tree has ripened its figs, And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance. Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along! (Song of Solomon 2:10-13)

 

Oh, why do we delay to come alongside Him when He invites us so lovingly to do so? How, some might ask, does a person come alongside? By faith. Trust that Jesus is longingly waiting for you to bring yourself and all your needs, all your doubts, all your remorse, all your sorrow for your sins, bring them all to Him. Just do it by faith. Just close your eyes to block out all distractions and simply tell Him, “Jesus, I Come to Thee.”

 

One of my favorite old hymns is by William T. Sleeper:  Jesus I Come

 

Out of my bondage, sorrow, and night, Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into Thy freedom, gladness, and light, Jesus, I come to Thee;
Out of my sickness, into Thy health, Out of my want and into Thy wealth, Out of my sin and into Thyself, Jesus, I come to Thee.

 

Out of my shameful failure and loss, Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into the glorious gain of Thy cross, Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of earth’s sorrows into Thy balm, Out of life’s storms and into Thy calm, Out of distress to jubilant psalm, Jesus, I come to Thee.

 

Out of the fear and dread of the tomb, Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into the joy and light of Thy throne, Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of the depths of ruin untold, Into the peace of Thy sheltering fold,

Ever Thy glorious face to behold, Jesus, I come to Thee.

 

Oh come. If you’ve come before, come again.  Come often. And if you’ve never come, come now. Just come!

 

He calls you by you ‘forgiven.’ He calls you by your name. He calls you beautiful. What else does God call you? He calls you a precious son or daughter. Here is Galatians 4:4-7 “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

 

When the Lord Jesus taught us to pray the “Our Father’ prayer, the words He used at the beginning of the prayer, “Our Father who art in heaven” – the word ‘Father’ was not just a fill-in word, something to make the prayer sound homey and encouraging.

 

No, Jesus taught us to pray to our Father because He gave birth to us through the blood of His only begotten Son. We have been born again, or as St. John tells us in the third chapter of His gospel, we have been born ‘from above.”  You and I have a new heritage. We have a new spiritual DNA. Here is what St Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

 

As far as God is concerned, you are not the same person you used to be. The slate is bleached clean. You are now a child of God. Before this, you were NOT a child of God. Here is John 1:12-13 [Jesus] came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

 

Well, it’s time to bring today’s message to a close. But to recap: God calls you forgiven. He calls you by your name. He calls you beautiful. And He calls you His own son and daughter.

 

Next week we will look at a few more names God calls all who belong to Him through His only begotten Son.