Sent by Whom? Four Hidden Origins of a Calling

Introduction

"Sent by whom?" The question is direct, and Pastor Maréchal asks it without hesitation, on a Friday evening in May 2020, from the Assemblées de Dieu church in Nantes. He opens the epistle of Jude 11 and puts his finger on an uncomfortable reality: not everyone is sent by the same source. There are those who send themselves, those whom people establish, those Satan pushes forward, and those whom God shapes and calls. This message aims to give you the biblical markers to discern where a calling comes from, other people's calling, and above all your own.

Outline of the message

1. Sent and established by himself: Korah

• Jude 11 recalls "the rebellion of Korah." We then read Numbers 16 to understand it.
• Korah was one of Moses's right-hand men. He established himself, seizing the authority of a spiritual position to which God had not called him.
• He doesn't drag along just anyone: 250 people, men of renown. He rebels against Moses, who had nonetheless brought Israel out of Egypt and led it to the borders of Canaan.
• Korah accuses Moses of the very thing he himself is guilty of: "Do you think God speaks only through you? Enough is enough." In short, he wants to supplant Moses and take his place, along with Aaron's.
• The result is a catastrophe: the earth swallows them up. And yet, the people keep grumbling against Moses.
• Application: "Don't seek someone else's place. Stay where God has put you, and God will bless you abundantly."

2. Sent and established by men: Saul

• In 1 Samuel 8, the people demand a king "like all the other nations" because Samuel's sons weren't measuring up to their father.
• Samuel prays. God's answer is startling: "It is not you they have rejected, it is me they have rejected."
• Listening to the voice of the people rather than the voice of God is extremely dangerous. Pastor Maréchal uses the image of a head of state who would say: "From tonight on, I will only listen to your voice." What a catastrophe that would be.
• So God grants a king: Saul, a tall, handsome, strong man, someone pleasing to the eye who feeds a personality cult.
• In 1 Samuel 8:11-17, God reveals to Samuel "the ways of the king who will reign over you." One single verb is conjugated and repeated: take. He will take, he will take, he will take. He is an exploiter.
• A man established by men doesn't care for the sheep: he lives off the sheep. He is the hired hand, as opposed to the true shepherd, who gives his life for them.
• When the people come back to Samuel saying "we have sinned," it's too late: they will have Saul for about 42 years. What a disaster.

3. Sent and established by God: Moses and David

• Moses answers God: "Send someone else, I speak very poorly." He stammered. But God sent no one else. Moses did not have human charisma, he had God's charisma.
• When Samuel anoints Saul, he does it with a flask of oil, a container made by human hands.
• When Samuel anoints David, he does it with a horn of oil, a horn taken from an animal that gave its life. At the root of a true ministry, there is always a sacrifice: blood that has flowed.
• A ministry manufactured by men, or a ministry consecrated to God, born of a sacrifice? The difference is fundamental.
• It is God who chooses, God who calls, God who shapes his servants, God who sends them and establishes them in their service.

4. Sent and established by Satan: the false apostles

• In 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, Paul writes: "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ."
• Verse 14 reminds us: Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light. His servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.
• They preach to the Christians of the church "a different Jesus, a different spirit, a different gospel" (v. 4).
• These are Satan's messengers, sent by him, serving his kingdom. Such servants will bring far more of a curse than a blessing upon the church of Jesus Christ.

Key takeaways

• There are four possible sources of a sending: yourself, people, Satan, or God. Discern where your calling comes from, and where the calling of the authorities you follow comes from.
• Korah was no ordinary man: spiritual rebellion often comes from people who are close, gifted, capable of drawing 250 men of renown along with them.
• The king established by men has only one verb on his lips: take. The true shepherd, by contrast, gives his life for the sheep.
• The flask (made by human hands) and the horn (an animal's sacrifice) tell the story of two opposite ministries: the manufactured, or the consecrated.
• Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Don't judge a ministry by its appearance, examine its gospel.
• Stay where God has put you. Don't seek another person's place. It is God who calls, shapes, sends, and establishes.

Personal application

1. Where does the calling you carry today come from: from yourself, from people who pushed you toward it, or from God who seized you?
2. Is there a position you covet because someone else holds it, the way Korah coveted Moses's place?
3. Do the spiritual authorities you follow speak more of "taking" (time, money, people) or of giving their life for the sheep?
4. Is your calling a "flask" ministry (manufactured by men), or a "horn" ministry, born of a sacrifice?
5. What markers do you look for to recognize that a preacher isn't proclaiming "a different Jesus, a different spirit, a different gospel"?

Verses cited

• Jude 11
• Numbers 16
• 1 Samuel 8
• 1 Samuel 8:11-17
• 2 Corinthians 11:4
• 2 Corinthians 11:13-15
• John 10:11-13 (the shepherd and the hired hand)
• Acts 2 (Pentecost)

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if my calling really comes from God?

Pastor Maréchal distinguishes four sources: yourself, people, Satan, or God. God's calling is not seized, it is received. Like Moses who stammered, or David anointed with the horn of oil that came from a sacrifice, the one God sends does not go looking for a position, it is God who shapes him, chooses him, and establishes him.

Why are Saul's flask of oil and David's horn of oil different?

The flask is a container made by human hands. The horn comes from an animal that gave its life. Saul is anointed with a flask: a ministry manufactured by men. David is anointed with a horn: at its root, there is a sacrifice, blood that flowed. A true ministry is born of a sacrifice, not a human manufacture.

How do you recognize a false apostle according to 2 Corinthians 11?

Paul describes them as deceitful workmen, disguised as apostles of Christ. Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light, and his servants disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. They preach "a different Jesus, a different spirit, a different gospel." Their ministries become a curse for the church rather than a blessing.