“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:” (1st Cor. 1:26)
I would like to relate this verse to two others, ones that if you have read these letters to you for any length of time you have seen quite often. The first is Matthew 22:14, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” And the second would be Matthew 7:14, “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
Some my friends are not even called, and among those who are, not all are chosen, but it is the last verse offered here I would ask you to contemplate today. Few find that strait gate.
There is a fourth verse that must accompany the others though, and it is the key, so to speak. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Heb. 11:6) And, if you will avail me the time, a fifth, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44)
Called, seeking, chosen, that is the order.
Again, I must repeat myself, no one can reconcile the free will of man with the Sovereignty of the living God, but it is a subject worth contemplating occasionally, if you will consider this fact, if you have been chosen it is for a specific reason, and it is not because the Almighty saw righteousness in you. “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isaiah 64:6)
Why God chooses is completely up to Him, if He does not chose some that is His discretion, it is His will, not ours who will enter His Kingdom. Here is where many falter, here is where many do not like to contemplate further, for to understand fully a thing one must understand the inverse of it, and in this case it is in the minds of some incorrectly seen as black and white, if the Almighty chooses some for heaven, then that means He chooses some for hell.
Recall, many, not all are called, remember few, not many find it, remember, unless the Father draws them.
The Lord Jesus Christ died for the sins of all, but not all will accept that truth.
Do they need to hear to know that there is One they should be seeking? No, for Romans 1:20 stands as a truth. “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” If that realization, that truth begins to formulate in their mind, does that mean that God is calling them? Yes, I believe so, for I know it by personal experience.
By their seeking and being called, does that mean they will be chosen?
Few are.
Here is where free will then steps into the equation, now they know there is a God in heaven, one who rules there, on earth, and in all creation, what they do with that knowledge, with that truth is now entirely up to them. I will phrase it like this, and many of you who read it may not like it, but nevertheless it is the truth, submit yourself willingly, in love and great humility to the Sovereign Lord of all creation, or face His eternal wrath in the Lake of Fire.
Those invisible things, His eternal Godhead and power, are clearly seen, no one ever born will have an excuse on their day of accounting, and that accounting for them will be at the Great White Throne of Judgment.
For us who have been born-again, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)
Reconcile yourself to these truths and find joy that your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
