CALLED CHOSEN AND FAITHFUL, THESE WORDS ARE STATED A NUMBER OF TIMES IN THE SCRIPTURES AND EACH TIME THEY HAVE A WARNING FOR GOD’S PEOPLE. TAKE HEED LEST WE ARE NOT CHOSEN. MANY ARE CALLED BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN.

WHEN ARE WE CALLED?

WHO ACTUALLY CALLS US?

WHEN ARE WE CHOSEN?

HOW DO WE BECOME COUNTED AS FAITHFUL?

The amazing answers are contained in the following pages, it is vitally important that we know the above answers if we are to be in God’s kingdom. If we are God’s people we must take our calling very seriously.

CALLED

When God calls us we come out of the world and become separate, we must still live in the world but we can distance ourselves from the ways of the world. We are not of the world, our thoughts and actions and the way we live our life should mirror God’s ways, we should not go along with the world and all its wrong ways, actions and thinking. Our calling is a type of the Israelites leaving Egypt. They left the ways of the Egyptians behind them and said they would obey God, and His laws and His ways. Unfortunately they did not do this.

When God calls us we are able to understand a certain amount and obey to a small degree but we desire more. We need the Holy Spirit of promise. We are able to comply to God and His laws in a limited way, but once God opens our minds and calls us, we desire to have God’s Spirit in us.

Before pressing on we need a period of time to delve into the Bible and see if what we have been taught is correct. We must be like the Bereans.

Act 17:10  Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.

Act 17:11  These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

This calling must be treated seriously, we need to be thorough in our study and investigations, we must prove things to ourselves conclusively that what we know is the truth and that we are prepared to believe it. We must have this solid foundation before we can build any character at all that is worth having.

We must have fear of God, we must believe God and what the Bible says, we must have faith in what we believe is true, and we must believe that this calling to be a firstfruit is the most precious, honourable and valuable possession anyone could ever be offered in the entire universe.

We must also count the cost, we must know what this precious calling entails. It is not the popular route to travel, amongst family and friends, it is not the easy road. It will be hard, it entails study, prayer, fasting, meditation, and a great deal of effort to change, and grow, to overcome, to grow in knowledge, love, understanding, wisdom, faith. All of this requires a great deal of effort, there is much more to overcome than I have mentioned here, many things to change, we must continue to examine ourselves and try to grow spiritually until the day we die, this is not a part time exercise. God’s calling is a full time love that requires daily attention with great zeal.

Luk 14:28  For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it

Once we have truly counted the cost, and we are sure we can finish the race, once we fully understand what is required of us then we come to the point where we need to be baptised.

So it was with the Israelites, they left Egypt, but they needed to cross the Red Sea to truly leave the old ways of Egypt behind. So in baptism the old man must die, and a new man comes up out of the baptismal waters.

Rom 6:3  Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

Rom 6:4  Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Rom 6:5  For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,

When we are first called, we have that first love, that excitement, we can suddenly understand the Bible, but unfortunately for some the parable of the sower must be applied.

Mat 13:3  Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow.

Mat 13:4  And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.

Mat 13:5  Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.

Mat 13:6  But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.

Mat 13:7  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.

Mat 13:8  But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Mat 13:9  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

We see that the calling of God is treated by people in different ways, the 1^st group has very little interest, the next group had an interest, but if that belief led to changes and becoming uncomfortable, they just gave up. The 3^rd group was too busy with the cares of this world, and had other gods before the one true God. The final group actually loved God’s calling and they tried hard to prove faithful to God, but as we see some tried harder than others.

However, God calls many, and then He watches carefully to see what those people will do with this precious gift. Many are called, few are chosen.

Mat 22:14  “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Once we are baptised we receive the Spirit of promise, or the earnest of the Spirit.

Eph 1:13  In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

Eph 1:14  who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

This Spirit of Promise, or Earnest of the Spirit is a down payment, of God’s Spirit, this enables us to obey His laws, overcome, grow and produce fruit in our lives it enables us to become whatever God wants of us, we will be able to achieve a great deal of what God requires of us with this small down payment. We will have love, faith, mercy, knowledge, understanding, and the ability to obey God, just how much will depend on how much we use the Holy Spirit and grow, how much we pray, how much we study the Bible and believe what we see, and how much effort we put into our spiritual calling. Be aware that we do have what it takes to please God if we do our part. If we put little effort into our calling we will not receive much back in return. If we are zealous, believe God, obey Him and Fear Him, expect much growth in our spiritual lives.

What a shame some people just are indifferent about the precious calling of the Creator of the whole Universe. A great invitation from the Almighty to join His family and together with Him and His Son, rule the entire Universe, is considered by some as nothing.

How can such an important invitation be cast off and counted as nothing, when this calling should be the most valued and the most prized possession on the face of the earth.

Do we understand exactly what our calling is? If we do, if we truly understand what the extent of the invitation from the Creator is, then how can we be indifferent about it? How can that attitude exist in us today?

Understand this point, that once we begin to understand the Bible, and believe what it says, God is calling us from that point. If we desire to go on and be baptised, after we have counted the cost, as is explained previously, we are headed towards a closer relationship with God through the receiving of the Holy Spirit of Promise.

God the Father is the one who calls us there is no other way.

Joh 6:44  No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Once we start to understand the Bible, and believe and obey God, we are baptised and receive the Spirit of Promise, we are called.

CHOSEN

When we are baptised {a type of Crossing the Red Sea} we receive the Spirit of Promise.

Eph 1:13  In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

Eph 1:14  who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

2Co 5:5  Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

Once we receive the Earnest of the Spirit we are tested to see if we obey, believe and trust God. {This is a type of wandering in the wilderness.} This process could take many years. We need to be tested. We have to face many trials and tribulations to see if we obey. Some of the main things God is looking for are: do we fear Him and do we believe Him.

Once God is satisfied with us, once He feels our heart is right before Him, and our thoughts and motives are pure, He then reveals to us the knowledge of eternal life.

When we accept this knowledge, we are showing Him that we want eternal life, it is a type of the Promised Land. Like Joshua and Caleb, who brought back a good report of the Promised Land. The spies who brought back a bad report are a type of people today who will not accept the truth about eternal life, they lack the belief to enter into the Promised Land.

Heb 3:16  For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses?

Heb 3:17  Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?

Heb 3:18  And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?

Heb 3:19  So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Don’t say, oh that only applies to the Israelites, not us today. Nothing could be further from the truth, All of those things happened for examples for us today. So we won’t fall into the same trap.

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

Heb 4:11  Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Unbelief is a dreadful sin.

Once we show God we want to enter the Promised Land, we want to cross the Jordan River, we are given the Holy Spirit of power. God will decide when this fantastic event will occur. Once we have God’s Holy Spirit, we are chosen.

What has happened to our loved ones who were baptised and have since turned back to Egypt?

This has probably caused many of us to suffer in anguish as we contemplate their fate. If they failed to repent and turn back to God, we have always believed that the Lake of Fire awaited them.

Read on and rejoice in the wonderful mercy of our God.

The truth is that these people would not have received the Holy Spirit of power they only get this once they believe and accept the knowledge of eternal life. This knowledge is only being revealed to the end time church now, it has been lost until now, it is now being restored.

So we see in God’s great mercy, that He has tested them, found them wanting, and although they had the Holy Spirit of promise, they will not be in the Lake of Fire.

What a wonderful, loving, merciful God, we have who knows what is ultimately the best for us, whatever our state. He looks to our ultimate salvation and eternal life.

Heb 10:26  For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

Heb 10:27  but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

Heb 10:28  Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Heb 10:29  Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

Heb 10:30  For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.”

Heb 10:31  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Even though these people will not be thrown in the Lake of Fire, God is not pleased with them because He had called them and they decided that they were not interested in the calling. These people have chosen the hard way to see the truth of God. These people will need to be put through the time of Jacob’s Trouble and or the Day of the Lord. God does not want that to happen, but the people themselves have chosen not to listen to God now. For their own good and long term salvation, God has this process of learning for the hard headed, stubborn, self-righteous, individuals who simply feel they know best by rejecting God’s calling at this present time.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end is the ways of death.

Scripture states that a person must have had the Holy Spirit of power and wilfully sin and trample underfoot the Son of God or blasphemed the Holy Spirit, before that individual is sentenced to the Lake of Fire. So we see most clearly that our loved ones, who were once baptised will not be in the Lake of Fire, because of God’s great mercy, loving kindness and plan of salvation for all mankind. God is very merciful and wise, He knows many of us lack the desire to push ourselves, truly examine ourselves, change when we see error, spend time with God and grow, humbling ourselves daily. But unfortunately these people will have to go through Jacob’s Trouble and possibly the Day of the Lord. These are not easy sayings, but they are nonetheless the plain and simple truth.

All the people God calls have the ability to succeed in their calling.

2Pe 1:5  But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,

2Pe 1:6  to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,

2Pe 1:7  to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

2Pe 1:8  For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2Pe 1:9  For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

2Pe 1:10  Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;

We see that if we put forward the effort we will not fail. Some people do not put God first, they put little value on this most precious of all gifts.

Mat 6:33  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Also some people did not think it was all that important to be a doer of the word instead of a hearer.

Jas 1:23  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;

Jas 1:24  for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

Jas 1:25  But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

If we are to succeed we must take our calling seriously and put forward a great deal of effort. I repeat again all the people God calls have the ability to make it into the kingdom. What are we doing to make our calling and election sure?

Php 1:6  being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

Mat 19:26  But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

2Pe 1:10  Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;

Did you notice that, read it again, firstly we are to make our calling sure and then our election, this is two different phases of our spiritual path, our election is the same as being chosen, it is what has been discussed above. Called, chosen, and faithful. How clear, our election is to be chosen. There is simplicity in Christ.

God simply will not give His precious Holy Spirit of power to anyone who is half hearted, or lukewarm.

Rev 3:15  “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.

That is why the Spirit of promise is given first, to see if the called ones are genuine. After a great deal of testing, God decides to give His Holy Spirit, of power to those that obey Him.

God must be careful, He is so very merciful and wise, He is thinking about us all the time. Remember God does not want any to perish.

2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

God gives us all we need to be successful in our calling.

Mat 25:14  “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.

Mat 25:15  And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.

Mat 25:16  Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.

Mat 25:17  And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.

Mat 25:18  But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money.

Mat 25:19  After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

Mat 25:20  “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’

Mat 25:21  His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

Mat 25:22  He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’

Mat 25:23  His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

Mat 25:24  “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.

Mat 25:25  And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’

Mat 25:26  “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.

Mat 25:27  So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.

Mat 25:28  So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.

Mat 25:29  ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

Mat 25:30  And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

These scriptures show some people value the precious calling of God above all else, they work hard to be profitable stewards, sadly though, some are barely interested and do nothing with what God gives them, God calls them wicked and lazy and what God had originally given to them was taken from them.

To examine ourselves is hard, to change is hard. We must never forget that our inner feelings, our hearts and motives, are all open to God. We can’t hide these things from God. He is all knowing.

The stakes are just too high, eternal death is the penalty for those who turn back to Egypt, once the Holy Spirit of power is given. God does not want any to perish, but ultimately this decision is up to us. Despite all the love, patience and mercy God extends to His called ones, once we have the Holy Spirit of power, and Eternal Life inherent, we will still face the Lake of Fire, if we turn away from God.

So we see how vitally important it is for God to be sure about us when He gives us the Holy Spirit. This is something that God takes very seriously and so does the one who receives the Holy Spirit. The penalties are far too great for the individual if they are not really 100% ready willing and able to receive God’s Spirit. God is all knowing, He knows who to give His Spirit to and when to do this.

Once God has tested us to see if we are ready for the knowledge of eternal life, once we accept this knowledge, and receive the Holy Spirit of power, we are chosen.

Now we are beginning to see the new knowledge of the huge difference between being called and chosen.

1Pe 2:9  But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

FAITHFUL

Once we are chosen, the Holy Spirit can work mightily in us if we are led by it.

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

But along with this added power comes a much greater testing period and persecution. To whom much is given, much is expected.

Luk 12:48  But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

We can’t do anything on our own we need God to help us, every day we must ask God to help us overcome, grow, to have faith, love, wisdom, knowledge, understanding and to be led by the spirit and to indeed give us His Spirit.

Once we have the Holy Spirit of power, which is eternal life inherent, we must be put through a final severe testing period. This could take the form of persecution, mockery, jail, loss of family and friends, put out of the church, hated by the world, perhaps put to death. This is the period of making the bride ready, and being without spot and blemish {this is a type of the lambs which were sacrificed for the Passover, they had no spot or blemish} and becoming Holy as our Father is Holy.

1Pe 1:16  because it is written, “BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

We must endure to the end. After we have been successful in this final testing we are then faithful.

Rev 17:14  These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”

1Co 4:1  Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

1Co 4:2  Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.

We see here that it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. We have a tremendous responsibility for all eternity, once we are faithful, we will be Kings and Priests forever, we will be responsible for millions of people and showing them God’s way. How could God give this fabulous honour to someone who was indifferent about His calling?

Once we are called and chosen, we then must endure to the end, then we are faithful.

Rev 17:14  These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”

Mat 7:13  “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.

Mat 7:14  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

This scripture also indicates that the number of saints will be very few indeed, plus there will not be much faith at the end either.

Luk 18:8  I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

Very few since the creation of man have had the desire to believe and obey God, whatever the consequences to them. Very few will put God before the pursuit of what this world has to offer. Very few will put in the time to study and change into someone who God can use in His kingdom. Are you one of the very few, or are you one of the 5 virgins who slept and neglected to fill their lamps with oil?

Mat 25:1  “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

Mat 25:2  Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

Mat 25:3  Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,

Mat 25:4  but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

Mat 25:5  But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

Mat 25:6  “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’

Mat 25:7  Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.

Mat 25:8  And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’

Mat 25:9  But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’

Mat 25:10  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.

Mat 25:11  “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’

Mat 25:12  But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

Mat 25:13  “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

Remember the parable of the virgins, they all slept, we have all been sound asleep for a good while. Now we must wake up and be ready to go forth and meet the bridegroom.

BEHOLD THE BRIDEGROOM!