1 Corinthians 1 26 commands us, "Consider your calling." So what is our calling? Pastor John explained in his sermon by that very title preached back on April 25th, 2010. Here's a clip of what he said in that sermon. Verse 26, "Consider your calling, brothers." That's what I'm asking you to do right now.

Do some considering right now. And the first thing I suppose you'd ask is, "What's he talking about? My job? A carpenter? Nurse? Teacher? Homemaker?" No, that's not what he's talking about. How do you know that's not what he's talking about? Well, mainly I know because of verses 22 to 24.

Read this. "Consider, consider your calling, brothers and sisters. Consider your calling as I read," verses 22 to 24. "Jews demand signs. Greeks seek wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews, and folly to Gentiles," or Greeks, same, he's using them interchangeably, "but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." So when the called look at Christ crucified, they don't see stumbling block.

They don't see folly. They see power. So there are three groups, right? Three groups in those verses. Number one, Jews. Number two, Gentiles. Number three, called. That's not quite accurate, is it? Let me say it a little more carefully. There are Jews who are not called, Gentiles who are not called, and Jews and Gentiles who are called.

Those are the three groups. Are you with me? This is -- we're considering our calling. We're obeying verse 26. There are Jews not called, Gentiles not called, Jews and Gentiles, some of whom are called. And then he describes the response of each to the cross. Jews, yeah, stumbling block, crucified Messiah, never heard of such a thing.

Gentiles, foolishness, a dying God, silly, mythological. Called power, my God. What kind of call is that? I'll tell you what kind of call it is. It's the kind of call that creates what it commands. The call gives light. The call creates sight. The call raises the dead. Lazarus, come forth.

He didn't decide to. The call raised him from the dead. Let me give you an analogy that could be misleading. It helps me. Just to get your handle on it because lots of you have never been taught about the call of God. The mighty, effectual, irresistible, powerful, saving, awakening, life-giving call of God that saved you.

You've never been taught about this. So you need a little analogy to help you. What is he talking about? I've never heard anything like this. I thought I just believed in Jesus. And suppose somebody is asleep and you want to wake them up. What do you do? Well, you bend over.

They're sound asleep. You bend over them and you say, "Wake up!" And they bolt right upright. Now what are the dynamics of that moment? They were sound asleep and bang, they were awake. Did they hear the call and say, "I'll think about that before I wake up. And then I'll decide if I want to wake up." When God issues a call to your dead heart and says, "Wake up!" You wake up.

You did not make yourself a Christian. Just face it. You didn't make yourself a Christian, which is why you should feel so incredibly loved. In fact, if you need a text to say that, just go to Ephesians chapter 2 verse 4 where Paul says just as clearly as can be, "Because of his great love." It's the only place he uses that phrase in all the New Testament.

"Because of his great love, he made you alive when you were dead." So if you have any spiritual life in you at all, you have been greatly loved. Beautiful. And a special thank you to Ask Pastor John podcast listener, Luis Sanchez from Hialeah, Florida for suggesting this clip. It comes from John Piper's sermon, "Consider Your Calling." You can download the full message and over 1,200 other sermons from John Piper free of charge from our website right now, DesiringGod.org.

I'm your host Tony Reinke. We'll see you tomorrow.