Joseph Prince - Finding Your True Calling
This excerpt is from the sermon: Rest for Your Soul in Restless Times
Do you want to live a life of purpose? A life fulfilling that destiny for which you are called? Or do you just want to make money? "I want to make money. I don't care how my health suffers and all that. Alright, I want to make money. I don't sleep well, never mind. Money, money, money". Or "I just want to live for pleasure, pleasure, pleasure". Each one of you, you were birthed into this world with a purpose and a calling. I want to really impress that on you, because I want you to not find your purpose and calling later in life. It will be too late. Yes, God can restore the years. But you missed out on what could have been. You know, there's a saying that you climb the ladder of success. Make sure that the ladder of success that you climb to the top is on the right building. No point climbing a long, tall ladder all the way up, it's a long way up, and then finally you find yourself on top, but at the wrong building. Amen.
And the years have passed. And I feel that you need to know your calling. You need to know your purpose. And the calling is given, like the Apostle Paul says: "God separated me in my mother's womb to reveal His Son in me". And yet the Apostle Paul, you find him chasing down believers, thinking that he's doing God's service by killing Christians or bringing them, throwing them into the dungeons, into the prisons. And he's thinking that he's doing God's service. "Because this grace people, they are just advocating lawlessness". Amen? "We keep the law. And we need to stop these people". And he doesn't realize that he was coming against the Lord. And when the Lord appeared to him, the Lord says: "It's hard for you to kick against the goads".
The goads are the instruments that they use to prod a bullock from moving on the field. So he started pursuing, the Apostle Paul, who was then Saul, thinking that he's doing God's service, but you can see that all the giftings are already showing up in the wrong direction. Amen. He grew up at the feet of Gamaliel, the best Rabbi at that time, and he wanted to learn about the Word of God. Why? Because there is a teacher, there's an apostle in the making. Right, but he was, his ladder was on the wrong building. Amen. He didn't believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior of the world, and God had to deal with him. So when the Lord met him, the Lord says: "It's hard for you to kick against the goads". Try your best, something sharp, a knife, kick against it. You will only hurt yourself.
So a lot of people think that you know, they hurt the cause of Christ, they hurt Christ, they blaspheme and all that. Or they use the name of Jesus in vain. You only hurt yourself. The Lord cannot be hurt. He can touch a leper, and he doesn't catch what the leper has. The leper catches His healing. He cannot be affected or be defiled. Amen. So you use the Lord's name in vain you see your friends doing whatever, they are hurting themselves. Amen. Because angels, they revere that name. They honor that name. So just like the Apostle Paul, there are people, who are, they love like, you know, they love ministering to the kids. They might be studying psychology, for kids in school, right? Mental health and things like psychiatry, psychiatric studies, is because there's a calling to join Rock Kids. Amen. And you will find your fulfillment in life, in your calling, in that purpose for which God birthed you into this world.
And you know what, it will not be a struggle, because if God calls you into the area, God has equipped you with all the gifts, the anointings with all the charismatas that go with it. Those who say: "Actually, I don't want to serve, you know, as an usher. I don't like meeting people". Listen, that's not your calling. You don't have a joy for it. It's not easy for you. It's a burden for you. Some people don't feel it is a burden. Some people are like: "Welcome to church! It's so good to see all of you"! That one is called. We just need to restrain him. We just need to pull him back. And then we need to pull him back a bit. Are y'all with me so far?
But if you got no joy, whatever it is, there will be a joy, there will be a flow. Amen. But in the natural, it might seem the opposite. But sometimes your weakness is an indication of your calling. Like for example, I had a stammering, stuttering problem for the longest time in school, both elementary as well as high school, speaking for our friends overseas. Alright? And as a teenager, do you know how embarrassing it is in front of the all the girls and all that. But when God called me, and I gave Him my tongue, my voice, my vocal cords, and I told Him to use it. I was, I was appalled. I was amazed, it shocked me that when I stood up, there wasn't that stuttering anymore. So some of it will come, some of it is an indication that you are called for that. So don't just shun it. As you go along. But there must be—if you say: "I got a voice to sing".
How many of you believe they have a voice to sing. Right? And they insist on singing in the pulpit, but the thing is when they sing, they have a ministry of clearing the church. And they really think people have gone to their corners to pray, no, they have gone home. So if God calls you to be—Amen. He'll give you the voice. Take my advice. There's a book called Ecclesiastes. And it starts off by saying, the son of David, King of Jerusalem, who is that? Solomon? So why is that book there? That book, when you read the book, you can get depressed. If you don't know the purpose for that book, you will get depressed because it starts off by saying, I remember when you study the Bible, the key to the book of the Bible, what the Bible that book is all about whether it's Ephesians, whether it's Genesis, the key is always at the door. The first few lines, the first chapter, the key is there. Like Genesis, what is it all about? "In the beginning, God created".
So it's all about the book of Genesis—beginnings, the beginnings, amen. So, likewise for Ecclesiastes, in Hebrew, Kohelet, which is preacher, a preacher. But then it starts off by saying, the key is "vanity of vanities, all is vanity". What an opening. That means in Hebrew "hevel" is vanity. Empty, empty. Take it from someone, this book is there for a purpose. It is showing you if ever there was a man who has achieved everything, whose cup of the world, pleasures, worldly pleasures, and anything that you can enjoy in this earth, this side of heaven. And he has the ability because of his position and he was the most powerful king at that time. And his domain was such that he extended the furthest ever for Israel, all the way to River Euphrates in Babylon, and all the way to Israel. And his domain, his power was so vast and his wisdom was so admired.
People came from the Far East to come all the way there. And then the Bible says that even the kings of the East look up to him. His wisdom was far exceeding the kings of the East and the wise men of the East. Think about all the wise men of China at that time, of names that y'all can just quote, you know, we still read some of their books and all that. And even in history, we know about them. The wisdom of Solomon exceeds all that because he asked God for wisdom. So think about it. A man who has wisdom, who musters all the languages and in Ecclesiastes, he says that I tried singing, I tried music to find fulfillment, there. Right. He said that it gave me nothing. Vanity. It is empty. I tried—now in terms of fulfillment, right? God gives all music and things like this for us in our lives to enjoy. Amen, but not to find fulfillment in.
So it starts by saying: "Vanity of vanities". Another phrase that appears often besides vanity of vanities is "under the sun". "Under the sun". So remember this, the next book is Song of Songs, is about the One who is above the sun. Once your eyes and focus, and priorities in life is on the One, the Son of God who is above the sun, amen, you will be fulfilled. He tried everything. He is a man. You know, he wants something he says, he says that in Ecclesiastes, he wants something he get it. Amen. He has 700 wives and 300 concubines that's 1000 women. One year, work out the math. Imagine the number of mother-in-laws he has. That power isn't the wisdom of God operating. So he has the wisdom, you will see that at the same time. There's a there's a natural wisdom. And then he says that as a man. There's never been a man who can try anything and everything. He was the most powerful. He made his own law. Even the richest man today is bound by the laws of the land. He can't just go and you know, but he had everything and anything. He tried everything. He said he tried horticulture. He tried buildings. Everything came to emptiness, he said.
So the book is there for all of us to learn. Because sometimes, as you know, as a guy, we start thinking, you know, I want to achieve this, then I'll be fulfilled. If I make X amount of dollars in my life, this is my financial statement, then I'll rest, I'll be happy. And the Bible says Jesus shared a parable about such a person who built—and then Jesus says. But that night, He said: "I will build greater barns". He is planning without God in his mind. And the Lord says that God appeared to him and says: "Thou fool, this night your soul shall be required of you". Ecclesiastes is basically telling us: "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but he loses his soul"? Amen.
But when he looks at the One, he says everything is a vexation of spirit. But then he's looking within himself, he's looking at all the earthly pleasures, and don't misunderstand many of these earthly pleasures like food and all that, all that's given by God. Amen. But he had access to all of them. He looks for fulfillment in them, and he came up by saying, it's all empty. But in the next book, is the Song of Songs. Why is it a Song of Songs? Song of Songs means a song beyond any other song. All your love songs that you sing, boy girl songs. romantic songs, is not at that level. This song is sung above all songs. Amen. Why? Because this song about the Son of God, a man and his love for you. It is a romantic and lovely song. Amen. It starts with: "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth". Amen.
So it is like let me experience His love, His personal love. That's when you find fulfillment in life. So don't make the same mistake. You know, by the time you arrive to 60 years old, 60 plus, you say: "Well, I got my financial statement there already". Amen. "I can rest". And then you find that your got other battles, maybe health wise, and now you're trying to use all the money you made to get back the health you lost. Vanity of vanities. Amen. Enjoy the Lord. Now! Amen. Find out more about Him. Now. He's the only one who comes to us saying that: "I am the water of life". He told the woman at the well: "If you drink this water, you'll thirst again". And by that, she knew what he meant because she was looking for love in all the wrong places. Amen. But the God gave us relationships. Yes, in the beginning, the Bible says God made male and female. Amen. And a man shall leave his father and mother and the two shall become one flesh. God ordained marriage.
So marriage is of God, right. But God is telling us even in your marriage, and it's the key to having a successful marriage is actually not to look to your spouse, to fulfill your innermost desires. Yes, there are other desires, you have other ones and all that. But look to the Lord, for only what the Lord can give. Amen. Don't make your your spouse your God. I pity those who don't have the Lord, because they look at their spouse, and they draw from their spouse and the spouse also draws back from them.
So when they can't get it, they hammer them verbally. And then they can't get it, they hammer back, you know, because they are drawing, they're looking to each other. Why they can be so hurt by each other is because they are looking to each other, for the fulfillment and when he's thwarted that they don't receive what they want to receive, they transfer that to their spouse. It is because of her. I need a new spouse. Get a new spouse, guess what? The problem is still there. Amen. Because you are still there. Give us the preaching, start preaching, Pastor. Wait, let me mess up first. I'm standing on your foot. I just want to stand there for a while. I just want to tell you. It's for your—Church, this is what studying the Word of God is all about. Don't pursue things just to make money.
Are you sure that if you will have the extra million, okay, another 5 million, now a million is nothing. Oh, I want a billion. You sure you'd be happy? You sure? I mean, that's a guy who is more, who is worth more than a billion to date. He is probably a trillionaire. But maybe more than that based on, you know, inflation and all that. You look at Solomon. He's the richest man in history. If he's here today, he's richer than Elon Musk. Plus no restriction. He was king, absolute sovereign on the throne. By his word, a man can die. By his word, a man can be saved. In those days like Nebuchadnezzar, sovereign! You think about it, people. The purpose, the calling, the destiny that God has for you is a beautiful destiny. Flow in it. Can I have a good Amen? Amen. Praise the Lord.