Let the elders who take the lead well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in word and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox that is treading out the grain,” and, “The workman is worthy of his pay.” 1 Tim. 5:17-18
Dear saints, let us pray that some who have been called to be saints would receive the Lord’s call to serve the Lord full time (Eph. 4:1; Rom. 1:1,7; 1 Tim. 5:17-18).
Romans 1:7 refers to the believers in Rome as “the called saints,” but verse 1 refers to Paul as “a called apostle.” This shows that there are two kinds of calling: one is the calling of the saints, and the other is the calling of the apostles. The calling of the saints is to make people saints of God; the calling of the apostles is to make people apostles of God. We all were originally worldly people, we mixed with millions of other worldly people, and we were indistinguishable from them. One day, however, God came to call us with His gospel through the Holy Spirit. After hearing the gospel of God, we were touched by the Holy Spirit to repent, believe, and receive the Lord, and we were saved. In this way we received God’s calling. We were called out by God from millions of worldly people and set apart to be His saints. This is the calling of the saints, which every believer has received. Every believer is a called saint.
Some of the called saints have received a calling that makes them not only saints of God, who are separated from other worldly people, but also apostles of God, who are set apart from other saints. Not only have they received God’s saving grace, which makes them children of God, but they have also received God’s laboring grace, which makes them workers of God. These believers are children of God, saints of God, who have received the commission of God’s ministry and an equipping through gifts to be God’s workers, His apostles. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1952, vol. 1, “The Ministry of the Word, Miscellaneous Messages, 1952,” ch. 2)
More details via Beseeching.org, day 427.
