Tag: chose you

50.c. Wilderness – 14.i. ” Know therefore that the LORD your God is God”

 

Deu 7:6-10  “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face.

 Titus 2:14    who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

 1 Peter 2:9    But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

 Malachi 3:17    “They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.

Israel was holy in their standing before God before they were holy in their conduct. They were set apart unto God by His choosing (God has chosen you to be a people for Himself) and were then called to live as chosen people. As much as anything, their election meant the LORD set His love on them. Their motivation for such a total obedience was to be that they knew God loved them. (Guzik)

A proper understanding of the evil of sin, and of the mystery of a crucified Saviour, will enable us to perceive the justice of God in all his punishments, temporal and eternal. We must deal decidedly with our lusts that war against our souls; let us not show them any mercy, but mortify, and crucify, and utterly destroy them. Thousands in the world that now is, have been undone by ungodly marriages; for there is more likelihood that the good will be perverted, than that the bad will be converted. Those who, in choosing yoke-fellows, keep not within the bounds of a profession of religion, cannot promise themselves helps meet for them. (Henry)

For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God—that is, set apart to the service of God, or chosen to execute the important purposes of His providence. Their selection to this high destiny was neither on account of their numerical amount (for, till after the death of Joseph, they were but a handful of people); nor because of their extraordinary merits (for they had often pursued a most perverse and unworthy conduct); but it was in consequence of the covenant or promise made with their pious forefathers; and the motives that led to that special act were such as tended not only to vindicate God’s wisdom, but to illustrate His glory in diffusing the best and most precious blessings to all mankind. (Brown)

For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God,…. Not sanctified in a spiritual sense, or having principles of grace and holiness in them, from whence holy actions sprang, at least not all of them; but they were separated from all other people in the world to the pure worship and service of God in an external manner, and therefore were to avoid all idolatry, and every appearance of it: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth; for special service and worship, and to enjoy special privileges and benefits, civil and religious; though they were not chosen to special grace here, and eternal glory hereafter; at least not all of them, only a remnant, according to the election of grace; yet they were typical of the chosen people of God in a special sense; who are chosen out of the world to be a peculiar people, to be holy here and happy hereafter; to enjoy communion with God in this life and that to come, as well as to serve and glorify him now and for evermore. (Gill)

13.z. “Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated.”

Malachi 1:2  “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.’” Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel!”

Deuteronomy 7:6-8    “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth  It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,  but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Jeremiah 31:3   the LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

We see the love of God and the heart of God.  To fall under the hate of God is dreadful.  On earth being hated by God comes with worry, anxiousness, calamity, always seeking but never finding satisfaction in self, others, or things.  Things you plan will come to nothing even after you have accomplished them.  The end will be apart from God and in this whatever your plans you have or completed will lose all satisfaction.  To be loved by God and to seek and desire Him we find satisfaction the world can never fulfill.  To be loved by God gives us joy in this world and peace and hope in the world to come.   Eternity awaits each of us.  Few will end up in heaven and many will end up in hell.  The choice to be loved by God and to trust Jesus Christ for this love is clear.  To trust Jesus is to love Him, rely on Him, cling to Him, and faithfully follow and obey Him.  This is a choice and intentional choice.  Likewise to reject Him is to deny God’s love and in this rejection, there is only God’s hate, wrath, anger, judgment, and His rejection of you.  Who wants to be hated by God?  However, many do this by rejecting His Son, Jesus Christ, the redeemer, and the savior.  There are consequences for rejecting God and blessings of the love of God for trusting Jesus Christ.   Delaying this choice is living in continued rejection of His love.  Choosing to trust Jesus Christ is to immediately be in and under God’s love.

43. Many are called, but few are chosen.

Deuteronomy 7:6   “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.

Exodus 19:5-6   Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;

Psalms 50:5     “Gather to me my faithful ones

Amos 3:2     “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20     Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,  for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Titus 2:14    who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

1 Peter 2:9    But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Being chosen and called is an act of God.  “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.”  Being called and chosen is not enough. There must be a response to the calling of being chosen.  There must be an act of acceptance of the call and then act accordingly to that calling.  I fear too many want the benefits of being called/chosen but have no desire to live their daily lives in line with this calling.  I fear the neglect of His word has diluted the influence in their lives and leaving them blind and deaf to His calling.  Being chosen we are to be set apart from the influence of the lies of our culture, society, and worldly wisdom.  This calling and being chosen (setting apart) is more than accepting the call, for in this calling there is a call to action.  A call to make disciples, to proclaim the gospel, to proclaim the day of salvation, to proclaim the need for salvation, to proclaim hope and the reason for our faith, to humbly serve, honor, glorify, follow and obey.

How are we too except to know any of this if we daily neglect His word and take a complacent attitude toward the calling of God.  The simple truth is we will not.  We mock God if this is our approach.

We all are to be obedient to God. We cannot just accept the wonderful calling of God and continue to live a life following our own desires. We are to be the “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ”

Paul very clearly stated the responsibilities of the called: “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful”  The called and chosen must be faithful! They must continue to actively believe, obey and rely on God. The called and chosen will need to faithfully endure, both in good and in bad times.

The man in the parable who was invited to the wedding had a duty to come dressed for the occasion, which symbolically meant that he was to put on righteousness, but he didn’t do that. So Jesus made this famous statement that “many are called, but few are chosen.” Therefore, the called-out ones must be spiritually prepared and be clothed with righteousness which is a manifestation of His word in our lives.

If His word is not ever-present in our heart, mind, and soul the world will take it captive with lies and deception.

I am sending you

Exodus 4:10   But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.

1 Corinthians 2:1-4     And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.  For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.  And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,  and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

2 Corinthians 11:6     Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.

What is it that keeps us from proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ.  Coming up with excuses is nothing new.  Note Moses when he said “they will not listen to me” and again when he said “I am slow of speech and of tongue”.  We can come up with all kinds of excuses not to do what the Lord has asked us to do.

John 15:16  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide,

John 20:21  Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

Mark 16:15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”

Luke 14:23  And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.

Matthew 28:19  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,

Psalms 96:3  Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!

Acts 1:8  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Knowing ourselves and what we think we are capable of, what we have done in the past, how we have failed and fallen short, how we listen to the doubt satan has put into our head, and not wanting to be rejected, all can lead us down an excuse path.  In reality it is just us with fear of not saying it right, not knowing it right, not knowing it good enough, and thinking we are not good enough and that if the good news message we proclaimed is rejected  we did it wrong or we will be perceived as foolish and weak.

Replace the thoughts that lead to excuses with promises and commands from scripture.  Beyond these you only need 3 seconds of courage to speak the first word of the Good New of Jesus Christ.  It is God who works in the hearts of mankind to soften it to hear the need of redemption and forgiveness of sin.  It is not how well we speak or know the entire bible.  It is not with eloquent words but by the simple truth and mighty work of God that a person comes to either believe or reject salvation – our calling is to proclaim the Good News.

“I am with you”

“I will never leave you”

“I chose you”

“I appointed you”

“You will receive power”

“I am sending you”

“Go and make disciples”

“Declare His glory”

“Compel people to come”

Chosen

John 15:16  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

Acts 9:15     But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

1 John 4:10     In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Galatians 1:15   (  But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,

Ephesians 2:10    For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

John 15:8     By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples

Isaiah 55:10     “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,  so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.  “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

1 Corinthians 3:6     I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

John 15:7     If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

John 14:13     Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

John 16:23     In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.  Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Matthew 21:22     And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

Chosen by God, beforehand, for His purpose.  His purpose is to bear fruit, abide, glorify, ask, pray, plant, grow, and be joyful doing it.  Staying in His word is the foundation on which we understand, hear, obey, and accomplish His purpose.  Apart from it we are only serving self interests and guessing at what His purpose is for our life.  Our understanding and knowledge of Him comes from and through His word.  Application into our daily lives happens when we seek and desire for His purpose each moment of every day.  Neglecting this and becoming complacent to this will not accomplish His purpose.  Being to busy to spend time in His word is the same as saying He is not worthy of our time.  Take time, make time, set aside time to feed and be filled with His word.  It will not return void.  It will set seed into your heart and mind.  He will whisper life into application for you.  Call upon Him.  Cast your cares at His feet.  Believe in His promises and humbly serve, honor, follow and obey Him as His word comes alive into your soul.

Do not lose Heart

“For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself.”

“ For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.  So we do not lose heart“

“ For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,”

Psalms 44:6  For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me.

Deuteronomy 4:37  And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day,

Deuteronomy 8:17  Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’  You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Zechariah 4:6    Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.

Psalms 17:7   Wondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.

Psalms 42:5   Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation

Deuteronomy 7:7  It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,  but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

This is copied from a commentary that seemed to capture my thoughts so much better: “Few men have been more conscious of their weakness than was the Apostle. The earthen vessel had become very cracked and scratched, but the heavenly treasure was unimpaired, as in the case of Gideon, when the pitcher was broken the lantern shone out. Paul here confesses that he was troubled, perplexed, persecuted, and cast down, always bearing the scars of Jesus, and being perpetually delivered over to death. But he gratefully accepted all these disabilities because he knew that they gave greater opportunities to Jesus to show forth, through him, His resurrection power. With the daily decay of the outward, there came the renewal of the unseen and spiritual. It is only in proportion as we are conformed to the sufferings and death of Christ that we begin to realize the fullness of what He is, and what He can be or do through us. Our one thought must always be the glory of Christ in the salvation of others.” We can trust in God for our rock, refuge, power, strength and know there are times when these are not given to us outwardly but inwardly.  There are times when we certainly see these outwardly too.  God is not limited.  It is in Him we trust – what ever brings Him honor and glory in His sovereign plan and purpose.