Called to Glorify God
1 Cor. 1:25-28
Introduction
Last week I mentioned that the Lord Jesus Christ calls us all through the gospel. That is why the
gospel is preached to all men. God wants all man to be saved. Verse 25 is a bit difficult to explain
because God has no weakness and foolishness. Its man who is foolish and have many weaknesses.
The Corinthians I would say are proud (1 Cor. 4:6,18-19; 5:2). The Gospel of God’s grace has no
place for us to be proud. God is not impressed by our social standing, our riches and properties, our
physical appearance, influence or friends, our education. In the New Testament, we do meet some
believers with “high social standing,” but there are not many of them. The description Paul gave of
the converts in the Corinthian church given in 1 Cor. 6:9-11 were list of detestable sins committed
by them formerly.
I. The callings
A. There were so many verses in the Bible telling us Christians of our callings. We are
called from and called to:
1. Called from labor to rest (Matt. 11:28)
2. Called from death to life (1 John 3:14)
3. Called from bondage to liberty (Gal 5:13)
4. Called out of darkness into light (1 Pet. 2:9)
5. Called from bondage to peace (1 Cor. 7:15
6. Called to the fellowship of His Son (1 Cor. 1:9)
B. However, for me there were 3 major and most important calling. They are:
1. Call for salvation (Jn. 6:37)
2. Call to serve God (Gal. 5:13)
3. Call to die. (Heb. 9:27 an appointed time we cannot delay)
Illustration 1: Obedience
In the eleventh century, King Henry III of Bavaria grew tired of court life and the pressures of being a
monarch. He made application to Prior Richard at a local monastery, asking to be accepted as a
contemplative and spend the rest of his life in the monastery.
“Your Majesty,” said Prior Richard, “do you understand that the pledge here is one of obedience?
That will be hard because you have been a king.”
“I understand,” said Henry. “The rest of my life I will be obedient to you, as Christ leads you.”
“Then I will tell you what to do,” said Prior Richard. “Go back to your throne and serve faithfully in
the place where God has put you.”
When King Henry died, a statement was written: “The King learned to rule by being obedient.”
When we tire of our roles and responsibilities, it helps to remember God has planted us in a certain
place and told us to be a good accountant or teacher or mother or father. Christ expects us to be
faithful where he puts us, and when he returns, we’ll rule together with him.
Steve Brown, Key Biscayne, Florida
II. Responses:
A. For the call for salvation:
1. The Word of God is very clear. All people are called to repent and to put their
faith in Christ (2 Pet. 3:9). The sad fact is, poor people, lowly, despised, the
nobodies are the ones that responds positively and got saved. The people from
the slum readily receives Christ as their personal Saviour, while people who lives
in mansions and exclusive villages will never listen to the gospel.
2. With the exceptions of some, not many rich, not many smart, not many
somebodies, not many royalties come to Christ for salvation.
3. What did Jesus mean when He said that “many are called but few are chosen”
(Mat. 22:14)? It means that though “all people are called for salvation”, only
those that respond in repentance and faith are chosen.
B. For the call to serve God
1. We are all given a choice to serve God after we are saved. However, the Word of
God is very clear. He calls “not many” to serve Him.
2. When God calls servants from among saints, He calls:
a. “not many wise.”
b. “not many noble”,
c. “not many mighty” (1 Cor. 1:26).
d. God does not take someone that is high and mighty and place them in
chosen position. Paul does not say he never calls these types of persons, but
he does say that there aren’t many chosen. God does not need the upper
class of society to preach His Word and present His message to the world.
e. God instead called someone that is a nobody to put to shame those people
who seems to be smarter and wiser. The Lord Jesus Christ prefers to use the
inferior, the weak instrumentalities to achieve great results.
3. God chose the “base things, people of unknown descent, no kin or family, the
despised, contemptible, least esteemed, nobodies, to carry forth his mighty plan
and purpose. D.L. Moody was not an educated man but he was used by Christ
mightily to bring souls to Him.
4. Why the Lord did this? That no flesh should glory in His presence (1 Cor. 1:29).
The Lord prefers to enable and to empower the base and the despised to carry
the gospel to the regions beyond. No one can boast before Him.
5. God has not done this because the weak and foolish are better than the
powerful and the proud. He has set aside the highly regarded and used those
things which are lowly so that all of us will glorify Him. To God be the glory,
great things He has done!
6. Be aware that not all of us are called to preach the gospel. If you are called to be
a lawyer, doctor, engineer, accountant, mother, carpenter, nurse, or any other
profession, do your job well and be useful and faithful to where God has put
you. Serve the Lord in the church humbly and sincerely always ready to lend a
helping hand to people who are in need that Christ will always be glorified in
your life.
Illustration 2: William Carey
William Carey is considered the father of modern missions. The man who spent his early years as a
cobbler became one of the greatest linguists the church has ever known. It’s reported that Carey
translated parts of the Bible into as many as 24 Indian languages. When he first went to India, some
regarded him with dislike and contempt. At a dinner party a distinguished guest, hoping to humiliate
Carey, said in a loud voice, “I suppose, Mr. Carey, you once worked as a shoemaker.” Carey
responded humbly, “No, your lordship, not as a shoemaker, only a cobbler.” Carey didn’t claim to
make shoes, only to mend them. Today in the Word, September 21, 1995, p. 28.
Illustration 3: Saved by an ‘M’
A noblewoman once told the great Methodist preacher John Wesley that she was saved by an “m.”
When Wesley asked for an explanation, she pointed him to 1 Corinthians 1:26, which in the King
James Version reads, “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble, are called.” “God did not say ‘Not any noble are called,” she
explained, “but ‘Not many noble.’ Were it not for that letter, I might be lost.”
Today in the Word, April 19, 1993
III. Conclusion:
People have different responses to the call of salvation and to the call to serve. The
lowly and the despised, the nobodies were chosen by God to serve Him more than the
rich, famous, and the prudent with some exemption of course. The question is will you
come to Christ for salvation and then serve Him for His glory?
