The Called

I'd like to start in Revelation 17, verse 14. This is a scripture that is very encouraging for all of us. We have this vision of a returning Jesus Christ, and the 10 kings that comprise those 10 kings of the beast, says here, will make war with the returning king of kings, and that he will overcome them. And in verse 14, there's somebody with him, and I'd like to read and base this and other messages off of. Revelation 17, verse 14 says, These, those kings, will make war with the Lamb, our returning Savior Jesus Christ, 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. Those that are described with Christ at his return are referred to by these three words, called, chosen, and faithful. But largely, I think largely because of the looseness of our own English language, which also is a reflection of the looseness of our culture, we tend to blend these together when we think of them.

And because called is the first word in this, in essence, what lays out as a process, we tend to throw the attributes of chosen into called and the attributes of the faithful into the called. And we need really to keep these distinct. That word, calling, begins the process, but it often picks up many of the attributes of those other two words. But again, each needs to be kept distinct to understand the process, and that calling is indeed the beginning. Now, God's calling is not salvation, but some people refer to it that way. You may find some scriptures that would look that way, but when it's always given from the perspective of those who are faithful, who have died in the faith and are anticipating being resurrected at Jesus Christ's return, certainly their calling led to their salvation, and they will see that at Christ's return.

But the process remains the same, but calling is just the beginning. It's not salvation, nor does the calling make the hearer one of the chosen. Just because an invitation is extended doesn't mean the invitation is responded to, and it doesn't make them one of the elect. Often the chosen are referred to as the elect, and there's a difference between the two. Now, all those who will be with Christ at his return will have been called chosen and faithful. We need to understand how these are distinct. Today I'd like to begin a three-part series on this description of those who will be with Christ at his return to help us to better understand the distinct nature of each of these three and the process by which they all work together.

So today we'll be talking about what does it mean to be called. If you like titles, this is entitled, Called, Chosen, and Faithful, Part 1 of the Calling. Now, the calling, as I mentioned, is an invitation.

The word calling, or called, here in Revelation 17 and verse 14, and the word most often translated, calling, in the New Testament is klesis. You remember when we talked over Pentecost, the concept of paraclesis, the advocate or the helper that John was mentioning in Christ's teachings, that night before he was killed, that was the second part of that klesis, paraclesis.

Klesis actually means to call. It's an invitation, or it could be a summons. The difference between an invitation in the English and the summons in the English is a degree of looseness. It's almost always used, this word klesis, is almost always used in the context of hearing the Gospel of the kingdom of God. Now, its root word, which I mentioned briefly before, kaleo, k-a-l-e-o, that Greek word, vines, states, is also used to describe one's vocation. So, if you are a carpenter, we would refer to that as your vocational calling, because you had some skill or ability to be a carpenter, an electrician, or whatever your vocation is.

A calling is an invitation that incites action. Though our current use of the word again does not support this, in dictionary.com the current usage of the word invite is described this way, to request the presence or participation of, in a kindly, courteous, or complimentary way, especially to request to come or to go to some place or gathering. It's really nice, isn't it? And like extremely optional.

Well, current usage is less compelling than the words etymology. The origins of the word, date back to the 15th century Latin, is taken from the word invitoshinum, invitoshinum, i-n-v-i-t-a-t-i-o-n-e-n. And that's the word the word invitation comes from, and invite is a shortened abbreviation of invitation. And it literally means an invitation, but also an incitement. It meant an incitement to be incited to do something, or a challenge, a challenge to do something. So when someone invites you, it is much more, it's a much more compelling word, at least initially. Our English usage has dumbed that down a little. So when the, when these were translated, New King James and others, words like this, we tend to miss a little bit of the strength in the invitation. The nature of the invitation, and the calling, and the one who initiates it, determines the gravity of the request. So a friend may invite you to dinner, and they're your friend, and you know that if you say no, they're not going to feel bad, and you've got something else you'd like to do, and you turn that down, it's not a big deal, right? A friend may invite you to dinner, in which case you can accept that invitation or decline it, depending on your schedule, or your friend's schedule, or even the friend, you know? I just don't want to go to their place. But if the President of the United States invites you to dinner at the White House, would you just kind of, well, I'm sorry, I'm busy that night. Can we rearrange that a little? I don't think so. The gravity of that invitation is much more, and it's much more than dinner. What does the Proverbs say? If the King invites you to sit at his table, then don't go there if you're a man given to appetites, because you're not there for dinner.

I mean, you may be there thinking you're to eat something, but you may be what's on the menu. So, you gotta be... that's a very weighty request. So you do well to take that invitation from the President a lot more seriously. So, as we look at the calling, we have to determine where is the calling from. Who originates the invite that we are speaking of here in this context of Revelation 17 verse 14? When we are called, who is initiating that invitation? Because that determines the gravity. Well, after feeding the 5,000 with just a few fish and five loaves, go to John 6 for this. John 6 verse 41. Those who were fed by that miracle, 5,000 people, and they gathered a number of baskets afterwards.

John 6 will begin reading in the first 41. But the whole example after that was pretty amazing. Verse 13 says that they gathered 12 baskets with the fragments of the barley loaves, the five barley loaves. And that was a considerable amount extra of the leftovers, the stuff that people couldn't eat because they were already filled. It's a pretty amazing miracle. Now, the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, was feeding them. And you'll see as it goes up to verse 41, they were tracking Him down. And when He got a boat and went across the sea, and they went out after Him, and they said, oh, you know, our fathers gave us manna. What will you do for us? They're looking for more food. And He's trying to give them a spiritual lesson here, but they were missing it. He fed them physically, and they responded to Him, but not in the way they should have, knowing He was the Son of God with the literally He was the bread of life. They weren't asking for that, though. They were asking for more physical food. And his portion of his response starts at verses 41 through 46 first, and then we'll go to verses 60 through 66. It says, the Jews then complained about Him, because He said, I am the bread which came down from heaven, made reference to His own body. And this started a discussion that they could not get. Wait a minute. You want us to eat your body and drink your blood? Okay, we can't go there. See you. And only those who understood in spirit responded. Now notice, both those who responded the right way and those who responded the wrong way were called to Him. They were drawn to Christ, and He addresses that. Verse 42. And they said, Is this not Jesus, the Son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, I have come down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said to them, do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws Him, and I will raise Him up at the last day. The Father is the one who draws. He does the calling.

He extends the invitation, but He extends it to those who He expects to respond to Christ. And He recognizes that not everybody will respond as they should.

Now if you've ever sent out wedding invitations, but if you send out two to three hundred wedding invitations, you may only get a hundred and fifty or so back, even if you request an RSVP. And of those you get back, you may only get a few of those who actually attend the wedding.

All right, let's keep reading there for round the first 46. It says, It is written in the prophets, And they shall be taught by God. So reference to the Father, the theos. Therefore, everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. This is God the Father. This is the preeminent one, the Lord of Christ Himself. Verse 46, Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God, He has seen the Father. Making reference to Himself. The calling is from God, the Father. But so is the ability to respond to it in a way it should be responded to. And again, you can invite hundreds and hundreds of people. Some may look at it and just toss it right into the trash without even recognizing it was an invite. That's how they would treat it. Others may look at it, want to come, but something comes up they can't be there, something of a higher priority. This invitation is from God the Father, the preeminent one, and that should have a great weight associated with it. Look at verse 60 through 66 now. After they heard this about eating His body and blood, therefore many of His disciples, verse 60, when they heard this said, this is hard saying, who could understand it? When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? How much would that blow them away and not fit within the physical parameters of their brain? Verse 63, it is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing, the words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life. This physical age that we live in is not unimportant. It's incredibly significant. But if we view life only from the perspective of breathing or the flowing of blood in our veins, we're missing everything. If we think, what do Paul say? If in this age only we have Christ, we are of all men most miserable?

Yeah, we're blessed in this age by following God. What we know, how God's blesses us, and so on. But it doesn't end there. That's only the beginning. And if we limit it to just what we can see, touch, taste, smell, if we're looking only for those physical blessings, we're missing out on something much bigger. His words are spirit, they are life. Verse 64, but there are some of you who do not believe. Ah, well there's an indicator as to what it takes to go from just being called to now being chosen. What is the response? Belief is a huge part of that. We'll talk about that in the second sermon. Right now we're focusing on the calling. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe and who would betray him. Verse 65, and he said, therefore I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my Father. From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more. They came to him, they answered the invitation, and they came to him but then they withdrew.

Because he doesn't understand the nature fully of the invitation. Those called by God must respond appropriately to become the chosen of God. And we must make a distinction between those two, called and chosen and faithful. Look at Psalm 127 here. To get a feel for the weight of the invitation, don't just put it aside. When the eternal God of the universe, when it rules over everything seen and unseen, is inviting you, that needs to be taken as heavily as anything in your life. It has great, great weight. Psalm 127 verses 1 and 2. We'll read the whole psalm, but I want to get this first part, and I want us to understand more from the last three verses. Verse 1 says, unless the Lord builds the house, the Lord there is the Hebrew word yorevavai, Yahweh, or Yahweh, Jehovah, and some people's pronunciation, but it's a reference to the Godhead, specifically, and the Father who leads the Godhead. Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain, who build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for he gives his beloved sleep. Those who trust and rely in God, who have answered that invitation, for all that it means, and understand it, can sleep at night. They know God's mercy. They're all in. They have repented fully. They're on the right path. They put their head on the pillow and they can sleep. Others stay up worrying. What do I need to do? What do I need to overcome? You know, it says here, you labor in vain if you build it. Isaiah 66 verses 1 and 2, God asks that question, what house will you build for me? In reference to this physical body that we're in, you're not building that spiritual house within. He is. And if we rely on Him and understand this, right up front, who the invitation comes from, it certainly comes through Christ. And for those, Christ assigns to preach that gospel message, but it's the Father who is inviting to his son's wedding.

And that's significant, hugely significant. And look at the context of family now, verses 3 through 5 here. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, from Yodevahvih, the Eternal. Interesting how it progresses from the Lord building the house, and if we work on it ourselves, it's all in vain, into this context and structure of family and children in that house. Children are a heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward, like arrows in the hand of a warrior saw the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. He's making reference to his house. He wants his quiver full of offspring. Malachi 2.15, he talks about the whole purpose of marriage. He wants godly offspring. And that doesn't just mean the children. Those involved in a marriage, in God's construct of marriage, grow to be more like him and become his offspring as well. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. They shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate. They'll have peace even with their enemies.

God the Father builds his house. The invitation to be part of it initiates from him.

The significance of this, though, is not always understood, even by those who are initially responding to God's calling, largely because we don't understand the way that word is used. It helps us to understand in the reference of family. And I use this quite often to understand more complicated things in the word. As long as I relate it back to God's design of family—father, mother, sibling, relationships, parent, child—then I start getting and understand what I'm supposed to hear from the Scriptures. Look at 1 Corinthians 3. Please, 1 Corinthians 3, verses 1 through 7.

Corinth here was struggling with division. And I want us to know and understand the basis of this division. Initially, when we hear the invitation, we can get all excited. I oftentimes don't read it all. Like, I'll get a wedding invitation. Oh, great, a wedding. I love weddings. I don't read it all. I forget where it's at. I even forget who is even being married, because I'm usually getting it from the parents. But eventually, I have to go back to get the address, the time, the location, and so on. And they're often printed in this weird, stylish font, so you can't read it anyway. This is not that way. This is for those who get this calling, who get it. God's working with them, know how to respond. For those individuals, it's clear. But it wasn't clear for Corinth. And they had gotten off into this idea that this was coming to them through men. And they were developing loyalties to men, instead of to the Word of God. Verse 1 of 1 Corinthians 3. And we'll read through verse 7. And I, brethren, could not speak to you as spiritual people, but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. What if someone came and spoke to you that way? That's a very, I don't know, politically incorrect way of addressing people. But Paul was just getting right to the point. It's like he didn't have time. I don't have time. You need to get this. You need to get it clearly. Verse 2, I fed you with milk and not with solid food, for until now you were not able to receive it. And even now you are still not able. Largely, even though we respond to the calling initially, God's invitation, it takes us years of living as His chosen to even understand the significance of that calling. Verse 3, For you are still carnal, for where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? I read that when I first read that I said, I am a mere man, so why shouldn't I behave like one? Well, God expects something more from those who are responding to His invitation. And Paul talks about this. Verse 4, For when one says, I am of Paul, and another I am of Apollos, are you not carnal, fleshly? Are you only evaluating things based upon what you see, touch, taste, smell? Verse 5, Who then is Paul? And who is Apollos but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? Christ Himself was the one through whom that message was delivered. We talked about that somewhat in the study this morning. And then He gave it to those to teach as well. The message is coming through individuals that God chooses, but the message is God's. The message is from the Father. The invitation is from Him. Verse 6, I planted Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.

God gives the increase. And He brings it about in the way He determines, not us. We don't do that. We don't determine that for ourselves. How many of you as children had any weight in the decision your parents make of how many children they were going to have? Do they have family meetings? Do they ask your opinion? Did you usurp any authority and force? No. What? What's going on? No. This is the Father's decision, working with His wife, how big the household will be. Now, we receive, if He decides He wants to have another child, we can't stop that. We receive that one as a brother or a sister, and we learn to love them. Even if they're adopted into the family, if the father or mother makes that decision, and someone comes into the family, we learn to love them, based upon our relationship with our parents. Do you think it's any different within the Church of God, of which Christ is His head and the Father is His Lord, our Heavenly Father? Why should it work any different when He assigned us this model of the family to learn from? Verse 7, So then neither he who plants is anything nor he who waters, but God, theos, gives the increase.

When the authority and preeminence of the Father is not understood properly, division ensues.

And frankly, brethren, you'll see this happening all over the world within Christianity itself, traditional Christianity, the separation that people try to make between Jesus Christ and God, the Father. Oh, that's the Father talking. Oh, no, that's Jesus talking. I mean, it's gotten so bad in some cases where they feel like God the Father is the meaning of the Old Testament, and Jesus Christ, His Son, is much nicer, much more merciful, but He's the author of the New Testament. We like Him much better. They're one. Christ, if you've seen them, you've seen the Father. I know we went through that over Pentecost, but it's something that's significant that we need to understand. We cannot see only Christ. We must recognize it. It makes clear everything, the structure and the order of heaven and within the Church of God begins with God the Father at the top. God is one with Christ, and we are to be one with them. But that doesn't mean we're equal. It is in our shared aspiration to love and revere the Father's preeminence over anything else. No child who respects his Father's authority would ever attempt to adopt new brothers and sisters into the family, right? Unless they really didn't understand. I mean, a little four-year-old, five-year-old Joey, brings a friend home and asks if we could adopt him. Well, the Father has to say, well, his parents may have something to say about that. And after a while, you recognize you just don't do that. I'm not the leader of this household. I do what I'm supposed to do. I have a role. So do the others, my parents. This is solely Dad's call. But this child, though, again, would lovingly receive and embrace all that that Father would see fit to make his children. That's part of the duty. The addition of siblings does not take away any of his love toward us. We we contend to think that, that the bigger we get, that the more that come in, that some of that love is not extended to us. I, tomorrow's Father's Day, so it's on my mind, I remember when my wife was pregnant with Chelsea, when she told me, the very day she told me that she was pregnant, and Courtney was about a year old at that point, this, what, 17 months apart you guys are? 17 months? So, and I thought, I was worrying for the next eight months, I was worrying that I wouldn't be able to love any other child more than I loved my daughter, that I could touch, play with, hold, caress. I'm sure many of you fathers thought the same thing. But you know what, from the day she was born, from the moment I could help hold her, your love expands. Love expands. It's something that happens within the spirit in man, but that comes directly from the spirit of God, in concept. God's love, there's no limiting it, and it extends to everyone. It's a really special thing. Look at the congregation in Rome here, Romans chapter 11, verses 22 through 32.

Paul was warning the congregation at Rome that they needed to continue to respect God's goodness and severity, both. He mentions that. And they need to understand the way that he works, or that they would be cut off, as Israel was, verse 22 through 32, Romans chapter 11.

He says, therefore, consider the goodness and severity of God. There are too many people today that love God's goodness, but they're not really crazy about his severity. We need to learn both.

There is a time when God must act severely, and it tells us who he is and why he does what he does.

The goodness and severity of God on those who fell severity but towards you goodness, if you continue in his goodness, otherwise you will also be cut off. He was referring to ancient Israel, which is not lost. I mean, they messed up. They were examples for us. That all happened as it was supposed to, the only way it could. But he was teaching them a lesson that just because it happened to them, it won't happen to us. So we have to be cautious. Verse 23, and they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in again, because they were originally cut off. We were grafted in. For God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree, which was wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature to a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written, the deliverer will come out of Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob, for this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. Concerning the gospel, this good news of the coming kingdom of God, concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. They don't get it. They don't see it. But concerning the election, this is those who are the chosen, who come out, who respond appropriately to the calling, and then move into that section of the process, the chosen, the elect, they are the beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling, the clicis of God, are irrevocable. His calling is irrevocable. Once the invitation is extended, it remains open, and people can respond. Again, the church at Rome needed to understand that these were mostly Gentiles, and they were not understanding their connection to the whole. He spoke very similarly with respect to the church in Ephesus. Look at verses 33 through 36 now. After he makes this whole connection to the plan of God and how everyone's in their stages, and we have to learn from the whole process, verse 33, he now commends God in His greatness. He says, Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out. For who has known the mind of the Lord? Oh, who has become His counselor? Or who was first given to Him, and it shall be repaid to Him? Oh, Dad, I think you should call that person. Oh, because they look like a really nice person, and they look curious, and I think they would be a really good addition to your family. What? This isn't just your father. This is the eternal God of the universe, and He has a plan, and we need to learn how to work within the plan. We don't use Serp as authority. We don't make those choices. We don't target people for conversion. If we do, brethren, we don't get it. We don't have the respect toward our Heavenly Father that we need to have. He manages that. Might He work through you? Yes, but you don't make that call.

He does. And we better respect that, or we'll be in as much trouble as Israel was. That's haughtiness. It's pride. It's thinking too much of ourselves. It's being self-assured instead of being God-assured.

Verse 36 now, For of Him and through Him, and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Only the Father determines who receives an invitation and when they will receive it. It's up to Him. He knows that everyone's going to be brought in in stages, and He knows what's best for every individual that's ever been born, or ever that never even came out of the womb, but that was impregnated, that was given the gift of life, but never had a chance to live it.

He has all that into the context of His plan, and we can't possibly begin to understand that level of detail. Don't usurp any authority outside of this plan because all things emanate from Him, through Him, and to Him. God the Father is the one that extends the invitation. Okay, what is the invitation to? So God is the one that invites. He extends the calling. What is the calling to? What are people being called to be a part of? Look at Mark chapter 1.

Mark chapter 1, Christ was beginning His ministry, and it describes it. Mark chapter 1, we'll read verses 1 and verse 14. It says, The beginning of the gospel, or the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the good news that He was delivering, as it was written in the prophets, Behold, I send by messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. It makes reference to John's work that kind of laid out the path for Christ as he came. Now verses 14 and 15.

Now, after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel, the good news of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, to repent and believe the gospel. Here's the calling. The calling has to do with an introduction of the invitation into what? The very kingdom of God, literally the ruling family of God. He reveals in that message that His offspring were made in His image, and He's giving us an invitation into His holy royal family. That's the gospel message. That's what we preach. That is the truth.

But the response is different. Verse 15, repent and believe. Ah! We'll talk about that in the second message about being chosen, because God chooses those who respond appropriately. The kingdom of God, brethren, is real. It's not someplace ethereal in the heavens. It's not something where we're living on a cloud. It is literally real. It extends everywhere but on this planet for the time being. And now it's being offered to humanity in stages. It's a world-ruling kingdom with God as its head and Jesus Christ, His King ruling every nation. Now, this is both a destination and a means of getting there. The work of God's kingdom is typified all throughout the scriptures. I like Isaiah chapter 2 here. Isaiah chapter 2 verses 1 through 4, we often read around fall holy daytime. It's a very encouraging scripture as to what will happen once Christ is ruling and what He's referred to as the mountain of God, the government of God, is ruling over all governments of men. It's describing what will be done there, what that work is like. And this reveals something about what we are being invited to. Isaiah 2 verse 1, the word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, now shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains. The Lord's house is what? The temple in which He resides, those who have His Holy Spirit. So there is a government that is established on the top of the mountains, and it's the government of God. And shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, the government of God, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways.

We talk about us being called into being kings and priests and teachers in the world tomorrow. He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths. The response has a lot to do with how we walk, what we do in this age. For out of Zion shall go forth the law. Zion in the Old Testament quite often is a specific reference to the church of God. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. At Christ's return, all authority and power on earth will be made subject to the rule of God through Christ.

But His rule will not emanate from the governments of men. They won't emulate the governments of men. And we can't look at it in that construct. It's not a democracy. It's not a republic. It's not communist or socialist. Any kind of economic or governmental term you can use to describe any government of man does not apply to the ruling family of God. It's not even a monarchy or a theocracy with God at the head. That's man's construct. I think we talked about this in the morning Bible study some months back. The kingdom of God is the ruling family of God, of which God the Father is the head. Look at Romans again. Romans 8, verses 12-17, also describes to what the calling invites somebody to. Romans 8, verses 12-17, Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. If we only view the structure and the inner workings of the ruling family of God from our physical eyes, physical ears, and the physical constructs of the governments of men, we won't get it.

We have to unlearn all of that. We have to see it from the pages of Scripture and how Christ defines it. Verse 14, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God, the children of God, are led by the Spirit of God, his Spirit of truth, his Helper, his Comforter. Verse 15, For you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, better translation for the word adoption, sonship by whom we cry out, Abba, Father, the one who invited us. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. Led by God's Spirit, with his very nature within, God's family will live as one and bring peace to his creation. This is to what we have been invited. And that's embedded in the gospel message, which we don't hear very much anymore. We hear it from the from the Church of God, but in most of Christianity it's completely unknown. And you just don't hear it. Look at Matthew 22. I made reference to this earlier. This idea that we are the Church of God, the called-out ones, was referred to as the Bride of Christ for a reason.

Those who are called, chosen and faithful, will marry into the family of God, and thus we will take on his name, and we will do the work of a bride, a wife, within that family. Matthew 22 will read verses 1 through 14. And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said, and we'll see a lot of what the response is supposed to be here as well. Verse 2, The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son. Notice that the son is not arranging his marriage. His father is arranging the marriage. His father determines the time. His father structures the whole thing. He determines when it happens, how it happens. He's designing the marriage. That doesn't fit within our society today, does it? Who does all the marriage planning? Right? The mother of the bride and the bride.

That's just our culture. I don't say that's wrong, but we miss a great deal when we don't recognize it's supposed to be done by the father. The fathers do this. Biblical model that we're trying to apply in this day and age. That's another sermon for another time. Verse 3, And sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding, and they were not willing to come. Notice they were called. They were invited to a wedding, but they were not willing to come. I've got more important things to do than to answer the invitation of the king. I'm too busy with what I'm doing here. I just can't make it. Verse 4, again, he sent out other servants, saying, tell those who are invited, see, I prepared my dinner. Now he's explaining this. No, wait a minute. You don't get it. You don't understand how important this invitation is. See, I prepared my dinner. My oxen and fatted cattle are killed. I'm expecting many to come, and I've got this whole thing laid out, and I'm hoping that we're going to have a great time and celebrate my son's wedding. And all things are ready. Come to the wedding. But they made light of it. Verse 5, and went their own ways. One to his farm, the other to his business. I've got more important things to do than to answer the call of God the Father. And you know what? You'll see as we go through this, that mindset isn't just in those who refuse to come, although that is the majority. Verse 6, and the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. What? You deliver an invitation to a wedding, and you get killed for it? Why? Today, and this ain't nature, you don't want to go, you don't go. But kill the messenger? What is so offensive about the invitation? It requires a change. This is an authority calling. This isn't just a buddy, or a pal, or even a family member. This is one who is in charge, and has the power and the authority to rule, and says, come, and we ignore it. We don't want to be told what to do. We talked about this in this morning's Bible study. Why? There are over 5 billion copies, at conservative estimates, 5 billion copies of the Bible on a planet today. And we talked about this in the, you know how many books it takes? For a book within its first week of sales to make the New York Times bestseller list? 9,000 in the first week. If it sells about 9,000 copies in the first week, it makes the New York Times bestseller list. Because so many Bibles are sold or distributed every week, every year. 480,000.

Well over 5 billion Bibles on the planet. Yet it remains the most the most controversial book on the planet. People are looking for answers, but they don't like the answers.

That's the problem. Again, we talked about that this morning. But these individuals don't like what the invitation looks like. They don't like what they're being told. They don't like truth. So if they kill the people delivering it, we can stop this whole process. Stop sending us this invitation. It's getting annoying to us. Like the two witnesses of that will be annoying to the planet at the end time. So they murdered them. Verse 7, but when the king heard about it, he was furious, and he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Verse 8, then he said to his servants, the wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Notice there's a worthiness here. Verse 9, therefore go into the highways, and as many as you could find, invite to the wedding. So those servants went out to the highways and gathered together all whom they could find or that they found. Both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. Okay, we're going to have a wedding. There's a lot of people here now. They've answered the invitation, they heard the calling, and they came. But again, not everybody came for the right reasons. Verse 11, but when the king came to see the guests, he saw men there who did not have on a wedding garment. We don't often get this in this day and age, and I've heard some commentaries that say back then, because garments were so rare in a very wealthy wedding like this is describing, you would actually be handed a garment at the door to wear if you didn't have one. Like you would do in a finer restaurant. If a tie-in jacket are required, you don't have one, they would give you one. This would happen. So he would have, this guy would have even refused then. Here is an individual who does not understand the importance of the occasion. We dress, we're supposed to dress for the importance of the occasion, but we've lost that in our society. Here is an individual who, by what he was wearing, was showing the one who had planned the wedding, the father, that he had no idea what he was there for, or if he knew he completely refused to comply. One or the other. Verse 12, So he, this is the one who put the wedding together, said to him, Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment? In other words, you knew you were coming to a wedding, you knew whose house you were coming into, you knew who the invitation was from, and you knew what was on the invitation as to how you should prepare for it. How did you just ignore everything I told you about this? And it says here, he was speechless. And the king said to the sermons, Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Verse 14, For many are called, but few are chosen.

Many are called, but few are chosen. Again, the called out ones will marry into the God family. This is not just a big thing, this is the biggest of things. Nothing else matters by comparison for human beings.

God's calling is very much a wedding invitation, and though not all will respond initially, all those who do must respond appropriately.

Now, last question. To whom is the invitation extended? To whom is the invite extended? Who gets the calling? Who hears the gospel message?

Though few will respond in this Age to God invitation, which is the plan, it's still an invitation to be part of his eternal family. The calling is not as exclusive as we might think, though. Look at Matthew 24 and verse 14. Matthew 24, 14. It's Christ speaking here, describing the work that will be done at the end time before he would return. He says in verse 14, And this gospel of the kingdom, the ruling family of God, into which every human being will have access at some point in their stage. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. It's part of the work of Christ that the church does. The work of Christ is to extend that message to every nation, but it goes deeper. Look at Mark 16. Mark 16 verses 15 and 16.

And he said to them, he's speaking to the 11 apostles, he says, and he said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel, this is the same good news, to every creature.

So the message goes to every creature. The invitation is extended to everyone on the planet.

Five billion plus copies of scripture all over the planet in two thousand languages available to everybody. And I'm not even addressing any of the access online, which would probably multiply that even more. The invitation is out there.

It's the invitation we all responded to, but it was our response that made us the chosen. And we must make a distinction, brethren, between the calling and being chosen. And then there is the faithful. Look at verse 16. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.

Every creature receives an invitation. The invitation is embedded in the gospel of the kingdom of God and is extended to many in every nation, every creature, but the public proclamation of the gospel has not always gone out like it has today. We talked about the word of God this morning. Brethren, it was written for us. There's a reason there are five billion copies in the world today. This book was structured and put together over a period of 1600 years by 40 plus different authors. 66 different books for us, for those who would respond to that public proclamation of the gospel, that invitation. But again, not all will respond. Many are called, but few are chosen. Look at Matthew 20. Matthew 20 verse 16. So the last will be first, and the first last, for many are called, but few chosen. Notice this last, first, first, last. There's a structure. God knew who would respond and who wouldn't. And when we go through the parameters of what makes one chosen, we'll see what that response is more clearly. But not everybody responds to the invitation, and not everybody responds appropriately. Brethren, we have to make sure that we do. God will choose whom He will choose. And much of that choice is based on or depends upon the timing of His plan and our response to it. Look at Romans 9. Romans 9 verses 14 through 18. Paul here is talking about who God chooses to work with and who chooses not to work with. It's His choice completely. He lays out in the Scripture what He's looking for in the response. And we'll talk about that more in the second part of this. But verse 14 through 18 here. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not. Is He being unfair? No. The message is going to everybody. He invites us to everybody. You can respond if you want. It's up to you. But He knows who will and who won't. He knows who He's working with and who He's not based upon that response. But others outside of that would say, hey, you're being exclusive. You know, you're pushing everybody out. No, it's not our design. It's His. And we follow His design. Verse 15, for He says to Moses, I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion, so that it is not of Him who wills, nor of Him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.

We can't determine this of ourselves. We don't somehow drum up faith within ourselves. It's His gift. We can't repent on our own. Paul says in 2 Timothy 2, that's something that God grants. He must give it so we can respond to it. It includes us, but we don't dig it up inside ourselves. Verse 17, for the Scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose, I have raised you up, that I may show my power in you, and that my name may be declared in all the earth. No flesh will glory in God's sight. None of us did this on our own. And we must recognize the incredible power of the Father that made this happen and glorify Him for it. Verse 18, therefore He has mercy on whom He wills and whom He wills He hardens, or He allows their heart to remain hardened. He knows He's unable to unsoften it. Otherwise, that would be taken away of everyone's free moral agency. And we can't be God without free moral agency. We need holy righteous character within free moral agency. The Father determines who will hear the message, and He knows who is in the best position to hear it. Every human being has free moral agency. God does not need to harden a heart any more than He needs to soften one that's already softened. If your heart is hard, you'll leave it there. If it's softened, He will work with that. But He's not going to do one or the other. Acts 2, verse 37. There's an important part we need to understand. And why I say family is so important in understanding the design of family. Acts 2, verses 37 through 39. We just reviewed this over the Pentecost holiday, holy day. Acts 2, verses 37 through 39. Peter, just giving this message inspired by God's Spirit that helped the people there to understand it was their sins that crucified Christ. He says in verse 37, it says, Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart. This is that conviction that goes on in the heart of one who is about to respond appropriately to the calling. And said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Here it is again. And Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to those who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. Notice how it extends to our children, our little ones who are not even young enough yet to understand, not mature enough to get it. God still calls them holy. He still calls them set apart. They are called. The wedding invitation that was sent to us said, You are invited, but so are your children. They're on the invitation. And that's a huge responsibility. When we recognize that invitation, we recognize who it's coming from, and we know how we need to respond. We know our children need to respond as well.

I mean, we can't just bring a couple of Helians, and they're dressed in their gym clothes, to appear before God in this wedding supper. They've got to be taught. They've got to be led. They've got to be instructed. We've got to model the way for them.

That gets missed. Again, God is not trying to save everyone in this age. That's not what the calling is about. He's only working with a few. He will work through those who respond appropriately to his invitation within that design of family. With their very children, he will work with them, and we've seen that in the church. Upwards of 60 to 70 percent of the current membership of the United Church of God are children of believers. I've done this before, but it's fun to see. If you wouldn't mind raising your hands. How many of your parents were converted?

That's about 70 percent or so. God works through families. We see that in Scripture. We see it in our own experience. Let's finish here in Matthew 7. Matthew 7 verses 21 through 23. That will be a good lead-in to the next message on the chosen. Matthew 7 verse 21. Christ says here, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. This is not about what we say. But he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Those are the individuals that will enter into that kingdom. Doing the Father's will. Not just calling Christ, Lord.

We must make that distinction. There will be plenty who will answer the invitation and the calling, who will call Christ, Lord, but they will not do the will of his Father.

Verse 22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? Make no doubt there's incredible power in the name of Christ. What does he say in verse 23? Sad. Incredibly sad here. And then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me you who practice lawlessness. Brethren, the invitation is distinct from the acceptance of it. And just because somebody comes to the wedding or responds to it in their own way, doesn't mean they're actually responding to it in an appropriate way. Even returning in RSVP, saying that you're coming, is not a guarantee of attendance. We know this. If you've ever planned a wedding, you know this. Even though the invitation cannot be revoked, as God said, and it won't be, everyone will have their opportunity. We know very, very few will respond to it in this age. God's calling is an invitation. It extends from our heavenly Father into His holy family. It's a calling of invitation into His family to be part of it. Those who respond to the invitation and mirror that response, model that response, look a certain way, act a certain way, live a certain way. We will examine that, the aspects and the nature of the chosen the next time that I speak.