“So the last shall
be first and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.”
(Matthew 20:16).
“For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14).
“And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them
derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be
Christ, the chosen of God.” (Luke 23:25).
We read twice basically the same words, “Many are called, but few are
chosen”. Then we read the statement, “Jesus Christ chosen of God”.
The Bible says in Matthew 20:16, “…for many be called, but few
chosen”. It says the same thing in similar words in Matthew 22:14.
These verses have been so misunderstood and misinterpreted.
Our hyper-Calvinist friends say that this means many are called to
salvation, but everybody who is saved is chosen by God; thus God chooses
some to enter Heaven and some to end up in a devil’s Hell. These people
are full of prunes!
God said that He was not willing that any should perish. God leaves the
decision of eternity up to, “Whosoever will…” God offers man
salvation, but man must partake himself of what God has provided. God’s
buffet table is set and He is waiting for man to partake.
WHAT DO THESE VERSES MEAN?
It means that everybody can be saved from having to
end up in a devil’s Hell. Out of those who accept salvation there are a
few people of that group that are chosen by God to full-time service.
Any one can be saved from going to Hell, because God calls all to
salvation. Jesus died for the whole world not just part of the world!
There is another call; a call by God Himself to full-time service.
As we search the Scriptures we find the words chosen of God appears
several times. It is a wonderful thing how that the Scriptures are the
best commentary on the Scriptures. God explains Himself quite well!
THE NATION ISRAEL IS CHOSEN BY GOD
“Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel,
whom I have chosen.” (Isaiah 44:1).
There are many nations in the world and people from any nation on earth
can be redeemed, but God has chosen one nation to be honored and that
nation according to God Himself is Israel.
This choosing is by grace and not merit. There is no reason for the
choosing. God chose this one little nation called Israel, not mighty
Italy, not intellectual Greece, not powerful Babylon, not famous Egypt,
but little Israel out of all the nations of the world.
God calls everybody to salvation through Jesus Christ under every flag
of every nation in the world, but one little nation was chosen by God
Himself. By the way it was not because it was a better people or a
better nation. It was not because it was a famous nation, but because
God so chose to do so!
Please do not misunderstand for everybody in every city of the world can
be saved. God calls all men to salvation, but He chose one nation and
one little city for service.
God did not choose Rome, Athens, Cairo, Corinth, Alexandria, Luxor,
Carnac, Nineveh, but Jerusalem! WOW! What an honor to be chosen by God
to be the ONE city from across the world to be chosen for His own!
GOD CHOSE A HIGH PRIEST
“He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he
had chosen.” (Psalm 105:26). Aaron the High Priest was chosen! There
was only one High Priest in the entire world and that priest was Aaron
chosen by God Himself! Can you begin to imagine what an honor it must
have been for Aaron to be chosen as THE High Priest!
The truth is Aaron was not one of the better men of the Scriptures. In
fact Aaron in some cases was a very weak man, but some reason God chose
Aaron to be the only High Priest at that time in the entire world.
What an honor to be chosen by God as the nation of the world! What an
honor to be chosen by God as the city, Jerusalem, the city of the world!
What an honor to be chosen by God to be the High Priest of the world!
GOD CHOSE A MAN AFTER WHOM HE WOULD NAME ISRAEL
“For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself,
and Israel for his peculiar treasure.” (Psalm 135:4).
Personally I would have never chosen Jacob. A man who stayed home to
make chili while his brother goes hunting is just not my kind of a man.
However, God chose Jacob and his name was changed to Israel later on in
His life!
The name Israel means “prince” and God chose Jacob. Please do not
misunderstand everybody is called to salvation, but here is one man in
the entire world to be selected by God Himself.
Think about it, God by-passed Moses and chose Jacob, by-passed Abraham
and chose Jacob, by-passed Joseph and chose Jacob, and by-passed Isaac
to chose Jacob. When God chooses it is by grace. He does have the power
you know?
God did not choose Israel as THE nation except but by grace. God did not
choose Israel, Jerusalem, Aaron, or Jacob by their merit, but by His
grace. The truth is we do not know why God chose these by His grace!
That is the reason He is God and I am Bob!
GOD CHOSE MARY
In Luke 1:26-36 God chose a woman named Mary. What
an honor to be chosen by God to bear in her body the Christ child. What
an honor to be chosen by God not because she was better than anybody
else. The truth is we do not know why she was chosen.
Anybody can be redeemed, but God chose this little lady to give birth to
the Christ child. What an honor! This is done not by merit, but by
grace!
GOD CHOSE THE TWELVE APOSTLES FOR THE MINISTRY
In John 6:70 God chose twelve! He chose out of all
His followers twelve to be His Apostles. I do not know why he chose
these twelve Apostles and neither do you!
The truth is, between you and me; I do not think Peter was such a
red-hot Christian much of the time, which proves it is by grace. The
truth is all people can come to Christ, but God according to His own
sovereignty choose a few. Many are called but few are chosen and God
chose twelve! What an honor to be chosen of God!
When I was licensed and ordained in 1972 into the gospel ministry I was
thrilled. I was not worthy, but God chose this for my life. I still
cannot believe that God chose me.
When God made me the pastor of the Faith Baptist Church of Bourbonnais,
Illinois, with 150 people and 90 of those on buses I felt like the most
honored man in the entire world! When God made me pastor of a New
Testament Baptist church I was thrilled and overcome to think I was
chosen by God to pastor one of one of His New Testament churches.
I couldn’t sleep at night! I would rise at 4:30AM and go to the church
house and just walk around. I would sit at my desk and weep! I would
then go to the altar and shout a while!
My friend, if God has chosen you then throw back your shoulders and
realize that you are a nobody, but God has chosen you for Him and you
are somebody special to Him!
Kings, Presidents, Senators, corporate CEO’s, and educators have not
been honored like you have been honored! God has chosen you and before
you become proud it is not because of anything you have done. It is not
according to your merit, but God’s grace!
I am nothing and I know it but God for some reason only known to Him has
chosen and placed me in the ministry. WOW! What a thought!
GOD CHOSE A MISSIONARY
“But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he
is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and
kings, and the children of Israel.” (Acts 9:15).
You who are missionaries are chosen by God; so enjoy being a part of
these who have preceded you such as the Apostle Paul, Adoniram Judson,
David Livingston, Rick Martin, and a Kevin Wynn and many others!
Wait a minute you were not chosen because of anything you did to attract
God’s attention, for you were chosen by grace not merit. If you refuse
then you must realize God’s callings are without repentance!
You may change your mind, but God does not change His mind. You may
disqualify yourself, but you can still go soul winning in your city and
keep people out of Hell; for in the final analysis that is what the
ministry is all about!
GOD CHOSE A KING
In II Chronicles 28:5 God chose a king named
Solomon. WOW! What an honor to be chosen by God Himself! Hold it! God
for sure did not choose Solomon because he was a red hot Christian.
Solomon had 700 wives and 300 substitutes in case one of his wives was
sick. A bus kid one time called them 300 combines! Ha! For some unknown
reason God chose Solomon.
I am attempting to emphasize the underserved honor and yet the honor to
be picked or chosen out of a great group as a small group of the chosen
by God Almighty! AMEN!
GOD CHOSE A MOUNTAIN CALLED ZION
In Psalm 132:13 God chose a mountain called Mount
Zion. That mountain was chosen to become the Pentagon, the Congress, the
White House, and the Supreme Court of the Millennium when Christ rules
and reigns on the earth.
What an honor! God by-passed the great Alps, the beautiful Adirondacks,
the Smokies, and the Rocky Mountains to choose one little mount Zion on
which Jesus Christ Himself would sit on a throne to rule and reign.
If you are a member of an aggressive soul winning New Testament Baptist
church you ought to thank God every day for you are a part of the only
institution on the face of the earth started by Jesus Christ to spread
the Gospel to the world.
Yours is a chosen place and a chosen church! By His grace God has
allowed us to be a part of this great miracle of grace.
THE FORGOTTEN CHOSEN ARE THE ONES IN THE FURNACE OF
AFFLICTION
“Behold, I have refined thee, but not with
silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” (Isaiah
48:10).
There is another group that is never mentioned much as being chosen for
full-time service. I find in Isaiah 48:10 those chosen in the furnace of
affliction.
Would someone please tell me what Job ever did? Would someone please
tell me of a great revival that Job ever preached? Please tell me of a
great church Job every built? Please tell me of a great Ark that Job
ever built?
Please show me anything that Job did and yet Job was as much chosen by
God for full-time Christian service as the Apostle Peter, or John, or
Jonah with his great revival at Nineveh.
Chosen for what, he was chosen to suffer to show the rest of us how we
are to suffer when our burdens come! I am saying to you that Job was
chosen for full-time Christian service! Everyone is called to salvation,
but a few are chosen of God and such was the case with Job.
I am chosen to preach all the time while many of you reading this
chapter are just as called to suffer all the time by God!
That wheel chair is not a wheel chair it is a calling of Almighty God.
That physical pain is not a physical pain it is a calling of Almighty
God. Many of you reading this are in full-time service and for the first
time in your life you can realize this is a calling of God!
These are just as chosen as the nation Israel, city of Jerusalem, Aaron,
Jacob, Peter, Paul, (and Mary! Sorry I could not resist it!), and the
twelve Apostles.
In every church there are those who are so honored by God. They have
been called into full-time service to teach the rest of us! They are
chosen by God to teach the rest of us how to suffer and how not to
suffer! They are truly full-time servants of God!
By the way, God carefully chooses them and if you are one of them you
are not the unfortunate ones. I could name dozens of dear precious souls
whom I have been privileged to pastor in my thirty-three years of
pastoring who preached much better sermons through their lives than I
did from behind the pulpit. It is the rest of us that are the
unfortunate ones!
Just as Aaron was chosen by God to be the High-Priest, Paul was chosen
by God to be the missionary to the Gentiles, Jerusalem was chosen by God
to be THE city of God, Israel was chosen by God to be THE nation, and
Aaron was chosen by God to be THE High-Priest you have been personally
chosen by God to full-time service to teach the rest of us something we
do not know!
Please tell me what great church John Bunyan built? Tell me the great
mission field in which John Bunyan served? Tell me what great college
John Bunyan built?
Wait a minute, I do not believe John Bunyan is any less chosen and less
great than Charles Spurgeon. C. H. Spurgeon was chosen by God to pastor
the great Metropolitan Baptist Tabernacle in London, England, while John
Bunyan was chosen of God to show all of us how we are to take our stand
for right and how to suffer for right!
John Bunyan sat in prison for twelve long years and that was his
full-time service. He was imprisoned because he refused to quit
preaching on the streets! This was his full-time service. God chose the
deacon Stephen to show us how to die.
For sixty years, God chose Longview Baptist Temple of Longview, Texas,
to show the rest of a nation how to keep on going. She kept on going
through the church splits, fire of slander, media persecution,
law-suits, internet gossip forums, and ex-worldly church members.
The Scripture says, “They departed from the presence of the counsel
rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame.”
That is not a sickness you have that is a call of God that you have on
your life; for God Himself has chosen you. That is not a paralysis you
have that is a calling of God that you have. That is not cancer that you
have that is the call of God that you have. That is not a son with 14
major maladies that you have that is the call of God that you have.
You have an opportunity to tell the entire world that you can take it,
keep on going, and they too can make it! You can praise God while at
baby land cemetery at the graveside, at the funeral home and during the
persecution!
That is why the Apostle Paul could say, “I rejoice in tribulation; I
glory in persecution”.
That is not a car wreck when your son was taken it is the call of God!
That is not a disease they diagnosed it to be MS that is the call of
God.
Please hold your head up high for God has chosen you to serve Him
full-time. That is not loneliness when Christmas finds you alone, that
is the call of God.
My wife Lee Ann is as much chosen of God as I am! Our grandson R. G.
Gray III is as much chosen and called of God as his granddad! There is a
forgotten chosen who are just as chosen as others.
I thank God the Gospel came to a little town of 1,000 people in
Southwestern Michigan to an eleven-year-old boy in 1957. You see
everybody can be saved from a devil’s Hell if they so choose to trust
Christ, but thank God for the time that God chose for you to do
something for Him in the furnace of affliction.
