Looking for a God-Called Preacher

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and the kingdom; preach the word, be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” II Timothy 4:1-5

When Paul said, “Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel” (I Cor. 9:16), he was manifesting the reality of his own call. The God-called preacher must proclaim the God-given message. He must preach the Word of God as it is to men as they are.

Not all preachers are God-called; only those who have been selected and enlightened by the Holy Spirit are those who are genuinely called. Perhaps we have too many “mama-called, daddy-sent” preachers filling the pulpits across our land today. God grant we indeed have preachers that are genuinely called of God to deliver, “Thus saith the Lord!”

Dr. Adam Clarke, in a letter to a preacher, stated: “No man should engage in the work in which you are engaged, unless he verily feels that he is inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon him that office. He must not presume that he is thus moved because he has been educated for the ministry; in cases of this kind, man may purpose but God must dispose.”

Everything that emanates from God comes with design. This is especially true when God calls a man to preach the gospel. The design of the preacher’s call is for him to reveal the gospel of grace to fallen man (Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 10:9-15). Though God could have easily employed another method for spreading the gospel, He chose that men be saved through the “foolishness of preaching” (I Cor. 1:21).

For each generation, God has raised up men to stand boldly, yet compassionately, to preach faithfully the gospel of grace. Whether it be a man such as R. G. Lee with his superb oratorical ability or one like D. L. Moody with his consistent misuse of the “King’s English,” God uses men as instruments for the very same purpose: to “preach the Word of God.” Just as God called these men in days past, He continues to call out men to extend the gospel through this ordained method.

Some men look at the future of preaching with a skeptical eye, and many have already signed the death certificate regarding the future of preaching. Despite these, God has decreed that as long as the church dispensation lasts, preaching will survive. This is true because it fits within God’s design. The design or the purpose of the preacher’s call is to perpetuate the gospel of grace. To compliment this, let us now focus our attention on the description of the preacher’s call.

The God-called preacher can enter the pulpit with the calm assurance that he has a heavenly call— a call from on high. Even as God calls men to salvation, He also calls men to service. Moses is a tremendous example of this as God raised him up to lead the nation of Israel. Moses was usable because he recognized his own heavenly call. As Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, on the backside of the desert, a strange phenomenon took place. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush, yet the bush was not consumed (Exodus 3:1-3). God said unto him, “Moses, Moses.”

Certainly this personal, powerful, heavenly call penetrated the silence of Moses’ heart like a cold steel dagger. Moses was overwhelmed by God’s Holy presence. At first he felt himself too insignificant to go before the Pharaoh (Exodus 3:11). Yet later, after God had assured him of His presence, Moses submitted to the call. The humble spirit that Moses now possessed was acquired only after God had ministered to him in the desert. The lesson that Moses learned from this experience caused him to recognize that his call was heavenly.

Moses’ call was also a high calling. The preacher who is ashamed of his calling or does not recognize it as a high calling is not fit for the office. He should certainly deem his call to be of the paramount importance. With a call of such magnitude, he should forge ahead with no ambition greater than the proclaiming of the Word.

J. H. Jowett understood the essence and value of the call when he said: “Now I hold with profound conviction that before a man selects the Christian ministry as his vocation, he must have the assurance that the selection has been imperatively constrained by the eternal God. The call of the eternal must ring through the rooms of his soul as clearly as the sound of the morning bell rings through the valley of Switzerland, calling the peasants to early prayer and praise. The candidate for the ministry must move like a man in secret bonds. “Necessity is laid” upon him. His choice is not a preference among alternatives. Ultimately he has no alternative; all other possibilities become dumb; there is only one clear call sounding forth as the imperative summons of the eternal God.”

Another way of describing the call of the preacher is by addressing it as a holy call. The absolute holiness of God assures this aspect of the call to be true. Holy dignity should envelop the preacher in every aspect of his life. The preacher should radiate the joy of a holy life even in his quiet dignity. He should wisely balance his life to communicate to the world that he has a holy call, yet without communicating an attitude that has been coined as “holier than-thou!”

Just as the call of God has a design and can be described, it also has a duty. No true call is without duty. When Uncle Sam sends out the call, “I want you,” he has a duty in mind. There is a job to be performed. Likewise, when the Lord commissions the preacher, He has in mind a duty for him to perform. Paul reminded Timothy of his grave duty when he said, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (II Timothy 4:2).

The duty calls for evangelistic preaching, that men might be saved from the clutches of sin. A preacher who does not covet the salvation of precious souls is negligent in his ministry. The highest imperative of life for the man of God is to preach the unsearchable riches of the Lord Jesus Christ that men might be gloriously converted. While performing his duty of spreading the gospel, the minister should also preach practical truths designed to lead his congregation into the blessed path of service.

The preacher who inspires his congregation to serve is the preacher who recognizes the art of serving. Of all the attributes registered to Moses’ credit, the most outstanding is that he was called a “servant of the Lord.” Moses could have been known primarily as a great military genius, a great organizer, a great lawgiver. Yet, he was especially honored in being called a servant of God. It was his “leadership through servitude” that made him successful in training Joshua as his successor. Training workers plays a vital role in the preaching ministry. Only thus can the preacher multiply his efforts and exponentially increase the harvest. D.L. Moody said, “It is better to get ten men to work than to do the work of ten men.” Certainly that is true in any effort—especially the Lord’s work.

As the preacher exhorts men to enlist as servants (workers), he should also exhort men to sanctified living: being set apart. The degree to which a congregation is set apart to holy living is in proportion to the example set by the preacher before the people. For this reason the Pastoral Epistles give emphatic attention to the character and the faithfulness of the minister. The preacher must earnestly strive to actively practice the message that he preaches on Sunday. May we never take the call to preach lightly!

The preacher who has been called should realize that his call is a definite and personal one. Charles U. Wagner, in his book THE PASTOR: HIS LIFE AND WORK, quotes Theodore Cuyler: “When God calls a man to the ministry, He is apt to let the man know it. I believe in answers to honest prayer, and I believe in the leading of Holy Spirit; and if you believe in them also, and will keep your eyes open and heart humble and docile, you will be likely to get some clear indications as to your duty. During the first eighteen months after I graduated from college—months mostly spent in teaching—I was balancing between the law and the ministry. Many of my relatives urged me to become a lawyer, as my father and grandfather had been; but my godly mother had dedicated me to the ministry from infancy, and her counsels all leaned toward the pulpit. One winter afternoon I rode off five miles to a prayer meeting in a neighboring village. It was held in the parlor of a private house. I arose and spoke for ten minutes; and, when the meeting was over a person said to me, “Your talk did me good.” If ten minutes’ talk today helped one soul, why not preach all the time? That one thought decided me on the spot. Our lives turn on small pivots; and if you will let God lead you, the path will open before your footsteps.”

If God calls a man to the ministry, he will certainly know it! There will be a personal witness in his heart confirming the reality of the call. In my own ministry, the call was so real that even though I have sometimes doubted my salvation, I have never doubted my call. The Lord, by giving personal assurance of the call, has provided a powerful awareness of His presence.

When the Lord calls an individual to preach, He equips that person with those things needful for the task before him. As I look in retrospect at my own call, it is apparent that the Lord was preparing me even as a small child. My father, who was a carpenter, built me a “preaching stand.” As a six-year-old boy I would preach my sermon after my brother would lead the singing. For a number of years pastoring, my brother would lead the singing just before I preached.

I recently saw my first-grade teacher. Over thirty years ago she asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. My answer was, “I want to be a preacher.” As we began to renew acquaintances, she chanced to ask about my present occupation. With great joy I was able to answer, “I am a preacher.” Though I had forgotten my remarks as a little first-grader, she remembered and reminded me of them. The little “preaching stand” and the scores of times when I stood behind it playing church had helped to prepare me for the call. Even the courses that I took in school and the experiences of growing up played a vital role in preparing me for the call

The personal anointing that comes with God calling a preacher into the ministry is both to be cherished and to be coveted. It is the “badge of courage” that the God called preacher will wear as long as he breathes. It is as much a part of his living as is the calm assurance that he has been born again into the family of God. May the God called preacher preach with the dignity of being a royal ambassador who represents the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!