Introduction

Last week we discussed the marvelous doctrine of irresistible calling. Contrary to how many people respond to the term "irresistible," this marvelous doctrine has warmth in its efficacy and out workings. It is exactly what we desperately need as fallen sinners who are dead like those pictured in Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones (Ezek. 37:1-7). But marvelously the Son of man speaks to the dry bones and says, "Hear the word of the Lord…and live." We have a picture here of the great work of effectual calling whereby those who are dead are made alive, those who are deaf are made to hear, and those who are blind are made to see. Paul summaries effectual calling in all its warmth, efficacy, and dynamics in two significant passages:

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Cor. 1:9).

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. ⁴ In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. ⁶ For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:3-6).

By His call God brings us into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. The former state of alienation and broken communication is remedied by the Lord when He brings us into His family, renames us calling us His children, and establishes a life long fellowship. He knew us by name on the cross and He called us by name from darkness to light. His call is a creative act whereby our inability to see the gospel of the glory of Christ is removed. We were living in darkness that is compared to the darkness of original creation before light existed. Back on day one of creation week, God gave His creative word of command: "Let light shine out of darkness." This was a matchless creative call that called light into existence. Similarly, we lived in darkness not seeing the light of the gospel. But God gave His creative call and caused the light of the knowledge of the glory of God to shine in our hearts. By this call we see and know the glory of God that radiates from the face of Christ. What a marvelous doctrine! What a marvelous truth! What Jesus secured for us on the cross is applied to us by a saving word that is so powerful that it is compared with the creation of light at the beginning of the world. Seeing the beauty of the glory and excellence of Christ we can do nothing else than flee to Him in loving adoration. These things reveal the warmth, efficacy, and dynamics of irresistible calling as a wonder and marvel, as wonderful and marvelous.

In this context, it is proper for us to inquire about our mission as a church. So I would like to speak today about "God’s Call and our Mission." We will get some direction in this by considering Paul’s ministry. As we have stated before, the apostles labored and we enter into their labors. Today we want to see how apostolic labors apply to the mission of the post-apostolic church and thus to our mission as a local expression of the church. To do that we will cover two things: the apostolic Witness applies to our mission (the fact that) and the application of the apostolic Witness in our mission (the explanation how).

1A. First, the apostolic witness applies to our mission

The point here is to ascertain how the ministry of the apostles applies to the church despite the fact that the apostolic witness is unique in the history of redemption.

1) We can set the stage for this discussion by reminding ourselves of the distinct commission that was given to the apostles by the Lord Jesus. They were promised the empowering of the Holy Spirit that would make them witnesses in Jerusalem, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:4). This was not something that they might become. All the apostles, and Peter their representative, were told that they will become fishers of men: "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses" (cf. Lk. 5:10, Peter, "from now on you will catch men").

By their testifying, the apostles became the foundation of the church as Paul says, "the saints and members of the household of God" are "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Eph. 2:19-20). There is one ultimate foundation, Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:11) but Paul "laid a foundation and someone else is building on it" (1 Cor. 3:10). By the appointment of Christ, the apostles became the foundation of the church as organs of revelation that centered on the person and work of Christ. But others build on that foundation.

2) Who are these "others"? At the least, they are ministers of the gospel like Apollos. That is the context in 1 Corinthians 3:

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. ⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. ⁷ So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ⁸ He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. ⁹ For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building (5-9).

One important observation to make from this text is that apostolic ministry with all its uniqueness has a common ground with non-apostolic ministry so much so that "neither…is anything" (v. 7). The distinctiveness of apostolic labors is quite out of view in this context. It seems fair to say that all gospel ministries follow in the footsteps of the apostles except for the special infallible quality of their eye-witness testifying of the risen Christ. There is a sense in which they and they alone bear witness to Christ. Since the days of the apostles, gospel ministry proclaims their witness. We do not receive new revelation from the Lord. We minister the word that the apostles received. So it is in a derivative sense that we can speak of Christian witness bearing today. We seek to confess a good confession by accurately proclaiming the apostolic witness; we point people to their witness and that is the sense in which we bear witness to the gospel. We cannot give infallible eye-witness testimony; but we can proclaim the infallible eye-witness testimony preserved for the church in the New Testament (along with and rooted in the Old Testament).

3) Now how do we know that the ministry of Paul and the apostles applies beyond ministers to the members of the church? There are a number of ways to approach this point but the easiest way seems to be to give due consideration to the partnership that existed between Paul and the churches.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, ⁴ always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. ⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel (Phil. 1:3-7).

In this text Paul speaks of a partnership in the gospel between the apostle and the church at Philippi. There is thus an overlap between how he proclaimed the gospel and how the church (at Philippi) is to proclaim the gospel. Here he speaks precisely of "defense and confirmation of the gospel" (v. 7). Therefore, we can affirm the uniqueness of the apostolic witness to Christ and at the same time look to that witness for guidance on how the church is to witness to that Witness regarding Christ and His resurrection.

4) Finally, how do we know that the ministry of the apostles applies to the members of the church down through the ages to us today? The most straightforward answer to this question is that when Paul addressed the Philippian church he spoke to the church in the time between. That is, He exhorted the church in the time between the comings of Christ. Therefore, we are in the same place in the history of redemptive: we are the church in between; what was said to the early churches applies to the end of the age.

This is how we read the Great Resurrection Commission of Matthew 28. Though spoken to the eleven disciples (v. 16) we intuitively hear the command as directed to us because it was given to the apostles to the end of the age:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (vs. 19-20).

Thus, the church’s mission is to proclaim the apostolic message, to confess a good confession, to spread that word about Christ and what happened on the cross and on the unique first day of the week. This applies to the apostles, ministers, partners then, and partners now.

2A. The application of the apostolic witness to our mission.

1) The focal point must be the gospel

In a word, apostolic mission applies to our mission because the focus is on the gospel. Through the message reported by the apostles and recorded in the NT, God extends His effectual call in bringing His eternal purpose to realization:

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 2:13-14).

What were the Thessalonians called to (to this, v. 14)? They were called to the separating work of the Holy Spirit and to faith with both of these things presented as the way that God’s choice of them "to be saved" is brought to realization. This is the call that is always obeyed (Rom. 8:30; 2 Cor. 4:6, 1 Thess. 1:5), so this passage tells us that faith is the gift of God’s call and it tells us that the Holy Spirit’s work is the gift of God’s call. God calls His elect to Himself by giving them the gift of faith through the separating (cf. definitive sanctification) work of the Spirit.

By what means was this divine work applied, by what human means? Paul is explicit: "he called you through our gospel." In light of what we noted earlier about Paul’s gospel and ours, we have to conclude that we have that same gospel and to the end of the age the Lord is using it to call His elect to Himself.

The efficacy of God’s call operating through the proclamation of the gospel should be kept in mind when we read Romans 1:16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. We cannot conditionalize the power of God making it dependent on man’s believing to unleash its potential. The idea in this famous passage is similar in thought to some statements in 1 Thessalonians: "the word of God, which you heard from us …is at work in you believers" (1 Thess. 2:13). They accepted this word because it came to them "in power and in the Holy Spirit" (1 Thess. 1:5).

2) In focusing on the gospel we call to faith.

There are two things in Romans 1:16. a) The power of God is working salvation by calling sinners to faith. This is in the phrase: "it is the power of God unto salvation." b) Paul emphasizes that the power of the gospel brings about salvation through faith, that is, faith is necessary. The illustration of the house of salvation can be helpful for clarification. Salvation is the gift of God and faith is included in that gift. The house of salvation has a door that is given in the giving of the house. But we can also say that the way of entry into the house of salvation is by the door of faith. No one is saved unless they enter through that door.

The important implication here is that when we focus on the gospel we must tell of its power and tell of the necessary requirement of faith. We are not to be led away from calling to faith by the fact that no one can believe unless they are drawn (Jn. 6:44). That truth is part of the proclamation and it humbles us in our mission because we are throwing out a life line to people who are drowned, not drowning. They are so dead that they are reduced to bones floating in the water. Yet we throw out a life line to them and we say to them, "hear the word of the Lord" and "believe, you must believe to be saved, and by faith you will be saved." In all this, we try to persuade them to come to Christ knowing the fear of the Lord (2 Cor. 5:11).

3) In calling the dead to faith by the gospel we must pray

It is an unquestionable fact that we are utterly dependent on the Lord for our salvation and for our mission. So we must pray. Below I begin a list of things to pray for as we seek to emulate the gospel ministry of the apostles. We are to pray:

For ability to answer questions (Phil. 1:7; 1 Pet. 3:15; Col. 4:6b)

For clarity, honesty, and openness (Col. 4:4; 2 Cor. 4:1-3)

For a sense of timing (Eph. 4:29; Matt. 7:6; 1 Thess. 5:12-24)

For an open door (Col. 4:3; Acts 14:27)

For boldness (Eph. 6:19-20)

For graciousness (Col. 4:6a)

For skill and patience (2 Tim. 2:24-25)

Conclusion

The life to which we are called is not solely evangelistic; that is too reductionistic of a view. It is part of a larger responsibility to do good to all with special attention on the household of faith (So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith, Gal. 6:10). Finally, notice should be given to how the following text begins with giving priority to the ministry of the word and ends with the consolation of God’s faithfulness to those He has called:

We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, ¹³ and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. ¹⁴ And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. ¹⁵ See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not despise prophecies, ²¹ but test everything; hold fast what is good. ²² Abstain from every form of evil. ²³ Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it (1 Thess. 5:12-24).