RPG Adults
ORDAINED TO PREACH
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19
Mark 3:13-19
Isaiah 6:8
“…that he might send them
forth to preach.”
ORDAINED TO PREACH
Demons are forbidden to speak because they are unclean. Who then will speak and preach Christ? Mark 3:13-15 tells us who—not unclean spirits but cleansed men whom God Himself will call and ordain to preach. There is a general call to all Christians to preach the gospel of Christ (Matt 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). However, there is also a special call to some to engage in a full-time ministry of the Word. This is what we see here in the calling of the 12. How can one tell if he has received a special call to full-time ministry?
We know we are called to full-time service if we find ourselves unable to resist the divine call and conviction to do so (Mark 3:13). We don’t call ourselves to ministry, the call must come from God. When God calls, you cannot but follow—“and they came unto him.” This is the case in the call to salvation and this is also true in the call to service. “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain” (John 15:16). It can be likened to a second Born Again experience. You cannot help but answer the call. You will come under an immense conviction and you will have an intense desire to enter the ministry. You cannot help it.
The call to full-time ministry will cause one to embark on full-time biblical-theological-pastoral training—“that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach” (Mark 3:14). Availability is important, but ability is equally if not more important. When the Lord calls, He will also give to you the spiritual gifts necessary for the ministry, and during your training in a Bible college or seminary, the gifts given to you will be nurtured and cultivated.
The harvest is still plenteous, but the labourers are still few. “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (Matt 9:38).
THOUGHT: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” (Isa 6:8a)
PRAYER: “Then said I, Here am I; send me.” (Isa 6:8b)