El llamado

The Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. Therefore, go around the world teaching and preaching the gospel to all creatures, to the end of the earth. En Contacto, the ministry of biblical teaching of Dr. Charles Stanley. Today on En Contacto, El Llamado. In the New Testament, believers are called in many ways, that is, they receive all kinds of titles. For example, one is ambassadors, another is believers, another brothers, church, chosen, also chosen, another disciples, other followers, citizens, children, soldiers, another servants, there are many names for the believer in the New Testament. But it is in one of those names that we will focus on this message, and it is the word servant. Because look, that is one of the things in which God wants each believer to become, or be, a servant of his. And when thinking about these titles, some have to do with the position. We are the chosen, the chosen of God. Others are about our mission, we are ambassadors of the Lord, and we must follow it. I would like you to accompany me to Galatians chapter 5, and in this chapter there is a verse that we will examine, although we will see many others. Accompany me to Galatians chapter 5 and let me give you an idea of ​​what happens. Paul speaks of the freedom that believers have, and then exhorts those Christians in the region of Galatia not to return to their old ways now that they are saved by the grace of God, and now that they are free by his grace. There is no need to go back to live according to the law to continue being saved. This is only said in verse 1, chapter 5, and in verse 13 it says, For you, brethren, were called to freedom, only that you did not use freedom as an occasion for the flesh,

but served one another out of love. And what he is saying is just this. Now that they are free, what they should not do is go back and say, Well, I am forever safe by the grace of God, and therefore it will not harm me to sin a little, since I am safe. Yes, he says that we were not called for that. We were called, he says, to serve one another out of love. We were called to walk in obedience before him, and part of that call is to serve, right? When we think about what it means to serve and to be a servant, we have seen that Jesus Christ is a model for our servitude. But servitude is, listen well, servitude is a call to the purpose of God for our life. It is a call to the purpose of God in us because it is very clear in the whole Bible that this is what the Lord Jesus said. Many times when I talk about our relationship with him, come with me to John chapter 12. In chapter 12 of John, I would like you to look at what it says in verse 26 of this chapter. It says, If anyone serves me, follow me, and where I am, there will also be my servant. If anyone serves me, my Father will honor him. That is, Christ considered us to be servants. Look at this. It says, If anyone serves me, follow me, and where I am, there will also be my servant. If anyone serves me, my Father will honor him. And if you remember chapter 22 of Revelation, in verse 3, perhaps you should read it for a moment, but here it says, in verse 3, And there will be no more, speaking of heaven, there will be no more curse, and the throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will serve him. It does not speak of angels. It speaks of us.

We are his sons, his daughters, co-heirs of the kingdom of God, and it says that in heaven we will serve him. Okay? This is not just a call to serve him, and that is his purpose for life. Just look, a call to serve God is a call to grow in his personal life. This is an area that is often overlooked. We say, you know, I am willing to serve him, and we only see it as giving, giving, giving, giving. But that is not true, because it goes in two directions. And often we have the idea that serving the Lord is what we have to give and what we must do. Look, if it says, if it says these two elements, to grow in the Lord or to serve him, growing in the Lord will be a priority. But God does not see it that way, but he sees it that way. God sees that serving him is part of the process of growth. If we serve the Lord, we will grow, we will face difficulties, we will face challenges, also situations that will test us, will challenge us. And one of the best ways to learn the truth of the word of God, and also to learn what one truly believes, is that someone questions what one believes. Sometimes someone, a person, says, you know, I could not allow someone to question my beliefs. Why not? Because, you see, if he believes it and knows why he believes it, he can defend himself. It is in our, in our service that we grow in our relationship with him. It is not something unilateral. Growing is part of being, of being a Christian. Serving God is part of being a Christian. And serving Him is part of the process of growth. And if you think about it, the truth is that our fertility will be determined by the degree in which we are growing. While we grow in what we believe, in what we understand of the ways of God, what happens is that we become more useful and more effective in our service to God. There are many people who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior,

who remain seated without doing anything, and no one challenges them. For some reason, they do not feel that they should serve the Lord. They just try to live well, do good, and be good. But that is not what God said. He says, I am among you as the one who serves. And he says, the servant is greater than his Lord. No. So if Jesus Christ served, so did we. And one of the aspects that is very important is the fact that we all grow spiritually here. And listen, we must all know that we do not grow spiritually immediately. We do not grow spiritually immediately. We have to persist in the word, pray, listen, apply, challenge, fail. Listen, failure is part of growth in Christian life. How do we learn to walk and learn to run? We learn by falling. Many times we got up and said, again, my love. At the end, he walked, and the first time he crossed the room to his father, he jumped and shouted, saying that the child had crossed the room. He was excited. I don't know how excited God is, but I think that if we get excited, let's put it this way, he must be excited when he sees you and me grow and advance on our spiritual path. Service is part of growth. It's a motivation. It's a stimulus. It's a cause to grow. So when I see the Bible and I think about how the Lord works in everyone's lives, and I think about the fact that if we grow, we must be evaluated. That is to say, how do we know if someone grows? It is not for us to look around and say, let's see, they have gone up three points, five points, ten points. No, but if we see ourselves grow, in fact, I tell them,

and people write to us from time to time and tell us, pray better or something must be happening to you. Or the messages are this or that, or it's softer or something like that. Well, that doesn't bother me. Praise the Lord. I'm glad they don't say, it's getting worse and worse. And so we all grow here. And I would like to think that one day I could get to a point in my life where I don't grow. Challenges, difficulties, sorrows, studying, praying, facing the circumstances in life, that's what makes us grow. It won't be something that happens immediately, but that will tell us. So you will say, what do you mean by that? God always measures us. Not with a physical bar, but with a spiritual one. That is, he knows where he wants us to be, where he wants us to be. See what he said. He said he predestined us all to be conformed to the image of his Son. Naturally, he is always interested in how we grow. He is interested in the degree of our current faith versus that of before. And how we feel in terms of generosity, giving, serving, sharing, value, audacity and faith in every aspect. God, of course, knows what's going on. In the same way, we should see ourselves in this way. If I do a good job in this position, then, of course, God may want to take me somewhere else. And so, what happens is that we must see every opportunity for service, whether in business, whether in the church or wherever. Every opportunity for service as a point of measurement. That is, someone observes. Would you promote someone in your company who did a bad job? No.

Someone who never arrived on time and does a bad job? No. But someone who is a leader, arrives on time, does more than expected? What happens? When he looks for someone for promotion, that is the person he will take into account. And so, God measures us all. And we must serve him in such a way that we understand that not only he measures us, but others can also measure us. And if we want to progress and a better place of service, whatever it is, we must do our best there where we are. I remember my first church. If it had 150 people gathered, it was a lot of people. And I remember that I often studied all week, and I studied a lot. As if they were 10,000 people. And I remember that sometimes Satan used to bother me. I preached on a cold winter day, and there were about 40 or 50 people sitting. And the devil said, you see, so much studying and so much praying, and those few arrived. It's a waste of time. And the Lord told me, He said, it's not the end yet. He's still giving the best. It's not the end yet. And one of Satan's traps is this. God often puts someone in a place and maybe there's not a lot of people, maybe a few people or a small ministry, whatever. And the devil says, why should you give the best? You only have a few people. Why study? Why pray?

Why work so hard? Why work so hard on that Sunday school lesson when you'll only have four or five people and some don't even care? So Satan says that and what does the person do? He wakes up watching TV until Sunday. He gets to Sunday school sleepy and asks himself, why are there only five people? I'll tell you why. Because when we give the best, even if it's not the best possible, when we give the best, God always honors the best because he measures us. Look, he measures us all for a future service. Don't forget that. He always measures us all for a future service. This applies to your business, it applies to your work, it applies to the work of the Lord. It doesn't matter where it is. It's very important that we all understand that growth is part of our service and that service is part of what God does for us to grow, okay? Someone will say, I'm unhappy where I am, so I'll leave. Well, you know, I shouldn't always leave. I've been unhappy many times and I've wanted to run away or get away, but you know what?

This is what happens. If you get away from God's will, you're in trouble. You can write it down. You'll get into trouble when you leave God's will. And then maybe God makes him feel unhappy because he wants to do something. And we usually look for someone to blame for being unhappy and we say, this and that change and the other change and everything will be different. Sometimes God gives us a good dose of misfortune so that we look at him, we look at each other and say, Lord, what do you want to change in my life? What do you want to do in my life? How do you want to correct something in my life? I've seen people who've been in that situation who prostrated and cried out to God and the Lord showed them what was going on in their lives and what happened. And then they just progress, whether it's in their business or whatever. God knows what he does when he calls us to a service area. Which brings me to the third point, and that is that serving is a call to exercise our spiritual gifts. I'd like you to come with me to two other passages. Now look at 1 Peter 4. 1 Peter 4. Look at this verse.

It's very important. 1 Peter chapter 4. And look at what verse 10 says. 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 10. Listen carefully to what it says. It says, each one of those, no, not some, not the majority. It says, each one, well, who does it include? Each one? Everyone. Each one, according to the gift that they have received, according to their measure. Minister it, make it work, to others as good administrators of the multiform grace of God. The multiform grace of God are the ways in which God expresses, listen to this, the multiform grace of God are the various ways in which he expresses his goodness and favor to us, regardless of our merit and value and in spite of what we deserve. He says that each one has received,

what? A special gift. Well, what is that special gift? Just this, that when he was saved, he, listen, the spirit of God gifted him and equipped him to do what God wants him to do as a believer. We all come to this world with certain talents, skills, faculties and skills that God has given us and a certain type of personality. And when someone stands out in that and strives to perfect their talents and skills and works in their skills, improves in it. But a spiritual gift is a special gift that God gives. God says that each one has gifts and for whatever God has called us, he has already given us gifts. It does not mean that you are as skilled as you could be. Nor does it mean that you do not need training or that you do not need any help nor does it mean that you do not need to practice, perhaps in some areas. But you received a gift in that area. We will see another verse because I think this one is also just as important.

I would like Romans chapter 12 to accompany me. Let's go to chapter 12 for a moment and look at this verse. Again, it talks about spiritual gifts. And it talks about the church here, the body of Christ, and it says, thus we, being many, are a body in Christ and all members are one of the others. I would like you to note verse 6 of this chapter 12. It says, so that having different gifts according to the grace that is given to us, that is, it says that we have different gifts. Why different? Because it is an expression of the grace of God. He did not want to make us equal. Suppose everyone wants to preach, it would be a disaster. Or that everyone would like to teach, suppose that no one would like to sing, or no one would like to play in the orchestra, that everyone would like something else. He gave us different gifts according to what? According to his purpose and plan for our life. There is no person who does not have gifts. We all have a gift. All right? See what it says. So having different gifts, according to the grace that is given to us, use it according to the measure of faith. That is, we must exercise the gift according to what? According to that gift. And it mentions some.

Prophecy, service, teaching, and so on. All right? I will tell you this, and I think it is a very important part. Very important. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, and then I will address the next point. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. It is very, very important to exercise our gifts that we remember this. Let's see, please, chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians. And notice what Paul says about gifts and about service. He says in verse 4. Then notice what he says in verse 6. But each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for profit. That is, he says that God does not grant us these gifts just to say, I have the gift of prophecy. I have the gift of teaching. I have the gift of distribution. That is, we cannot boast of our gifts. And he says that God gives us these gifts just for what? For us to serve. He says it clearly in two words. For profit. For profit. What does he mean? He says that each person with gifts must exercise their gift for the good of the whole body. It means that it can happen at any time and place. We are not talking about limiting it to the church. We are talking about serving the Lord. We are talking about serving Him wherever we are, wherever we serve Him. We have the privilege of doing so. Well, sometimes we want to limit it to the church, and that leads me to say that ... ... that talking about servitude and describing it as it is, is a call to involve ourselves personally in the lives of others.

Servitude is a call to involve yourself personally in the lives of others. Well, if it serves in a church, we relate together. Relations. If it serves, for example, to serve the Lord in his business, let's take it out of the church for a moment. And let's say, for example, that he works in some industry or some business, whatever, perhaps his own business. But wherever he is, he is still the son of God. And how can we separate being Christian in the church from being Christian in business? That is not in the mind of God. Wherever he serves, wherever he works, wherever he lives, he must serve God. All the time, wherever. Perhaps my service today is simply to encourage someone around here who I see at work with me and is very, very discouraged. Perhaps the next day I see someone who has a real material need and the Lord tells me, I want you to give them $20 or whatever. Or it may be that someone here has another need in their life and needs to open their heart and share what is happening. Or perhaps in your business you see someone make certain mistakes and you know you can help them, correct them, to save their job. There are many ways to serve God. Each of these is an act of service that you do. Divine resources, your intelligence, what does it do? It fills a need for someone to make a mistake at work. And you are a channel of love. What does it do? It approaches and helps you. Perhaps it is as much an act of pious service to the Lord Jesus Christ as being behind the pulpit and preaching a message. Because what happens? We become instruments for God, who with his divine resources in us fills a need for others. Each and every person is a servant. Everyone has their own field of activity. And I only ask you to ask, what does God want me to do? Lord, make me so sensitive that I live every day looking for ways to serve others. Because remember this, what does the Bible say?

We forget it. Listen to this. It says, Give and you will be given. Give what? If I kneel and pick up something so that you don't do it, I give you my energy. If I show you how to do something that I think will help you save your job, I give you my understanding and my knowledge. If I see someone fall and I help them get up, I have given them my love, my help, my energy, and the capacity I have to help them. There are thousands of ways to serve God. What he is looking for are servants. People who see themselves with a purpose. not just to go to a scheduled event or just to do it, scheduled, but to find a way to give my life to someone who urgently needs the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, in the church, outside of it, it is the same. Then, look, it is also a call to prepare for the service. That is, if God calls us to serve Him, He wants us prepared. Join me in Ephesians chapter 4 for a moment. Ephesians chapter 4 and listen to what Paul said. He says, this is what God did in the church. And He constituted, verse 11, and He Himself constituted some apostles, other prophets, other evangelists, other pastors and teachers. That is, God sees the pastor as a pastor and a teacher. Look at this. Why did He give them pastors and teachers? Why pastors and teachers to the church? To perfect those who? Saints. With what purpose? For the work of the ministry. For the building of the body of Christ. Look at this. He says that the reason God gave the church pastors and teachers is so that these men equip others to do the work that God assigned them to do, to serve God properly, with confidence and success,

bearing fruit because they were trained and instructed properly. My goal every week is to share the truth. So that they continually learn, grow in their faith, grow in their confidence, grow in their ability to share their faith, grow in their confidence to serve the Lord. What happens is that I am equipping them week after week after week. And see what it says. That my part is to equip, it says, for the work of the ministry, to build the body of Christ. I study all week and I ask God to show me what to say. You sit down every week and take notes and I ask the Lord to teach you. And what does He do? He equips you for the service. He does not equip you to sit down or go to another biblical study and learn more. He equips you for the service. And if you listen, and if you take notes, and if you apply it to your heart, you are continually equipped to be a servant of God. It is the responsibility of the church to equip its members for the work of the ministry. So that person has a spiritual gift. The Holy Spirit, the faculty, instruction sometimes, training, or sometimes a period of study. But a call to service is a call to prepare. And I remember when the Lord called me to preach, I knew I needed a lot of preparation. I did not know anything at all. And if I had said, I will not train, I will only do the best I can. Most likely, it would have been a disaster. And you see, someone starts a job. He must go to a seminary, and they make him study, study, study, work, work, and work. And twice a year, he goes to more seminars and more preparation. I will ask you something. What profession in the world exceeds sharing the gospel, or teaching the word of God to a person, one-on-one, whatever, with someone whose eternal destiny hangs by a thread?

There is no other profession. Every profession is important. But none exceeds that. Why would someone study so much in a profession that has money as a priority, and does not spend time studying the word of God, and working on the gift he has to change the eternal destiny of someone else? You see, there is a difference. Preparation differentiates it. I encourage you to do whatever God has called you to do. Do not stop there. Do not leave it there. I would like you to notice something else in this idea of ​​servitude, and that is that sometimes a call, a call to service, undoubtedly implies a conflict. That is, you will not always agree with the people you work with. You will not always see that everyone thinks you are a fanatic and that you do a great job. And if the person is not careful, they will say, I think they do not appreciate me. I would like you to notice this. You should not give up and stop serving God because there is some disagreement. Understand, recognize that there is a disagreement and continue serving God, as and wherever he says. Well, what I would like you to notice is that sometimes a call to service is a call that implies conflict. And this morning I was thinking of the apostle Paul. In fact, if you read the book of Acts, you will see in the whole ministry of Paul, conflict. Because wherever he went, the Jews waited for him to annoy him, to accuse him, or if he arrived first at the end, they came and sought to annoy him. Always in conflict, he said, beaten, shipwrecked, what else? Stoned, abandoned, and sentenced to death, in prison. All that happened to him.

Did he give up? He said, Lord, I am willing to serve you, but I did not have this in mind. Look, God does not act that way. We are called to serve him, and if there is conflict, many times the worst conflict is not between people. I did not do a good job, may God forgive me, Lord, what will they think, Father, I think I failed, someone else has to do this, someone else can do it better, you know what, we can convince ourselves and it is pure flesh, that is, we can easily get out of God's will due to an internal conflict. Remember this, we will always give our best, there will always be someone who, apparently, in his opinion, will do it better, but you know what, that is not the problem, the problem is this, Christ said, I am among you as the one who serves, the servant is greater than the Lord, he says that we must serve him by loving each other, serving, what he seeks is that we give ourselves to God through our surrender to others, and if you forget everything, remember this, there are many ways to serve God, some in the church, others outside of it, what the Lord wants is a mentality of servitude, either in the supermarket or behind the pulpit, either driving on the highway or sitting at home, servitude is a mentality, it is an attitude that God wants for all his children, because it is the model of the Lord Jesus Christ.