(Matthew 22:14) “For many are called, but few are chosen."
This morning I would like to draw our attention to the Apostle Paul who God used mostly through written doctrine to teach the church how to conduct itself. He corrected Peter and although he was not married, yet he taught on marriage. But where did it all begin for him? He was chosen by God to be the Apostle to the gentiles (you and me, those born outside of the house of Israel). I trust that we will be able to see and understand the difference between the one who is called and the one who is chosen!
Firstly let us consider who would be the called? If we consider the parable that precedes this clear statement, it is obvious that the invitation to the wedding feast goes out to all in the nearby vicinity. No one is left out, rich and poor, old and young alike; the appeal goes out to all. (Matthew 22:9) “Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.” But the greatest call of all is not a parable but rather an open public call! (John 3:16) "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Just like the wedding call the Lord Jesus as recorded in the gospel of John makes an appeal by inviting the whosoever to seek repentance and find forgiveness though His act on Calvary. The call has then gone out to everyone, and it is our responsibility as believers to preach the gospel to every creature hoping that God may save some. God must give them life before they can respond in repentance. A dead man cannot respond until He has life. Once he has received life, then he will with his mouth make confession unto salvation. (Romans 10:10) “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” So we choose and make decisions once we are able see, once we have been born again (make alive in the spirit), we can make no choice prior to God’s intervention, because we are dead, He must firstly give us life. This depicts the fullness of the grace of God and Paul teachers that while we were yet sinners and enemies that He sent His son to die in our stead. This is an amazing privilege for all of us who believe and have received the spirit of God. To ever even think that we had the power as dead sinner to believe prior to God’s intervention is beyond me. I am rather simple and I do not have any doctorate, but even if when reasoning this point through with simple common sense, how can a dead person do anything? I remember seeing my late father in an open coffer and when we were alone I reach over to hug him, he was cold and unresponsive, as much as I wanted him to somehow acknowledge my attendance it was never going to happen as he was dead!
The called then is to the world and all that live in it, regardless of colour religion or creed. “Many are called”, yet what keeps the many from responding to this glorious message? The text in John 3 tells us; (John 3:19) “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” Would God reject any that call upon Him? No! (Romans 10:13) “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Therefore the called we have dealt with, but what of the chosen, and when are they chosen. The chosen have all clearly be chosen before creation. Let us now consider the Apostle Paul and his ministry and hopefully draw some truth from it to help us understand this apparent difficult text.
(Galatians 1:1) “Paul, an apostle--not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—“This verse confirms that man had nothing to do with Pauls call to the ministry.
(Colossians 1:1) “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,” this verse then confirms that Paul was an apostle by the will of God and it was not his own choice.
(Ephesians 1:4) “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” It is clear that God chose him before the foundation of the world. I think were we get caught up with not understanding the truth of this doctrine, which is not the originally the doctrine of Calvin but the doctrine of Paul’s teachings. We are blinded by a superstition!
Now let us look at his life; as a man he went about persecuting the Christians, in fact to such an extent that those that he caught were put to death, we know that he was present at Stephen stoning. (Acts 7:58) “Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.” (Acts 8:1) “And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” It didn’t stop there with Saul (who later became Paul) he was so fixated on the Jewish plight in his blindness that he continued with a vengeance; (Act 8:3) “But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” He must have heard that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, but because he was dead in his trespass and sin he could not see it, so he did what he did and killed and imprisoned Christians. I want us to remember that God had chosen him before birth and yet as a man he persecuted God’s elect. God knew that in His foreknowledge and yet He still chose Paul to be used greatly as an Apostle. I trust that is clear for all to see! Saul was on a road to Damascus when God made a guest appearance unto him, and “suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.” He couldn’t see heaven or the Lord prior to this encounter, but now he could, it is exactly the same for us until God flashes His light into our lives we will remain blind!
It is interesting the words the Lord chose to use when calling from heaven, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Saul then response and asks, “Who are you Lord?” and the Lord answers, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” Bingo the lights go on, Saul become Paul and He then is persecuted for the Gospels sake, and he was to suffer like no other! Look at the turn around; (2Co 11:23-28) “Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one--I am talking like a madman--with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.”Paul was not only called but he was chosen, all the chosen will make it to heaven I am persuaded of this. (John 10:27-29) “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.”
May we hold tightly onto our hope whatever difficulty we may face, if you doubt you calling, then fall to your knees call upon the name of the Lord and you shall be saved!
In His service
Signing off
Tyrone
No comments:
Post a Comment