Many Called Few Chosen

Well, if you would turn to the
Gospel of Matthew chapter 22. I read beginning with verse 1,
I'll read down through verse 14 of Matthew chapter 22. And
Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which made
a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them
that were bidden to the wedding, and they would not come. Again
he sent forth other servants saying, tell them which are bidden,
behold, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fatlings are killed,
and all things are ready, come unto the marriage. But they made
light of it and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his
merchandise, and the remnant took his servants and entreated
them spitefully and slew them. But when the king heard thereof,
he was wroth, and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those
murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants,
The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways,
and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those
servants went out into the highways and gathered together, all as
many as they found, both bad and good, and the wedding was
furnished with guests. And when the king came in to
see the guest, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. And he saith unto him, Friend,
how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And
he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants,
bind him hand and foot and take him away, and cast him into outer
darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. For many are called, but few
are chosen. For many are called, but few
are chosen. Now, as we read the Word of God
as we study, not only in this parable, but in many places in
the Word of God, it is evident, and I want to speak this morning
on this 14th verse, and we'll use this parable some in our
message. But it is evident that there
is a personal and particular and irresistible call of the
grace of God which goes forth from the Spirit of God to God's
elect. We read in John chapter 10 and
verse 3, To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice,
and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. Now this call, this particular
call that I'm speaking of at this time is a call that always
produces faith in the Lord Jesus Christ when it comes to the sinner. It always produces faith in Christ. It always is effectual. It always results in the salvation
of the one who is called. Now were it not for this effectual
call of the Spirit of God no one would ever be saved. We read
in John chapter 6 verse 44 and 45 where it says no man can come
to me except the Father which has sent me draw him and that's
this effectual call and I will raise him up at the last day
and in verse 45 it is written in the prophets and they shall
be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me." This
is the effectual call that always produces faith in Christ and
always is effectual, always brings salvation to the sinner. Now,
but when the Lord says many are called here in verse 14 of Matthew
22, He is speaking not of the effectual call, but He is speaking
here of that earnest proclamation of the gospel of redeeming grace
by His servants. every time that a true servant
of God preaches the gospel of God's electing love, His redeeming
mercy, and saving grace, sinners are called by that proclamation
to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now in the book of 2 Corinthians
5 and verse 20, we read this, now then we are ambassadors for
Christ. And it goes on to say, as though
God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead be
you reconciled unto God. Now this call is a universal
call in its scope. I say it's universal in its scope. Yet, in divine providence, even
this call is limited to those who are privileged to hear the
gospel. In other words, if a man never
gets under the sound of the gospel, if a man never hears anybody
proclaim the true gospel of redeeming mercy and saving grace, the message
of free grace, then of course he is not going to receive this
general call even. Now then, but we preach the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ indiscriminately to all men, inviting all men
to come to the water. We invite all men to come to
Christ to be saved. Now the gospel call is an unconditional
invitation to peace. It's an invitation to peace,
be you reconciled unto God. Now the gospel preacher is God's
ambassador sent to spell out to sinners, to lost sinners,
the terms of peace. And that's exactly the call that
God has given us. Now He calls upon men by divine
authority, that is, Christ Ambassador calls upon men by divine authority,
be ye reconciled unto God. Speak unto lost sinners. Be reconciled
to God on the terms of the gospel. Come ye to the feast. Come to
the feast. The great king has made a marriage
for his son. Come. Come to the marriage. Come to the feast. And that's
the proclamation as he goes out by the servant of God. Now any
sinner who obeys this call and trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ,
he shall be saved. He shall be saved. Any sinner
that hears the call and responds to the call. The question is,
have you been able to respond to the call? Have you been able
to come? The marriage is ready, the feast
is prepared, the banquet table is set. Will you come? Can you
come? Well, we read here in Matthew
22 that they would not come in the last part of verse 3. They
would not come. And the Lord Jesus says in John
chapter 6, He says you would not come unto me that you might
have life. You just won't do it. Now isn't
that an amazing thing that there are some that just will not come? They won't come! And here it
is, the king has gone to all of this expense. And the king,
I mean look who this king is! This king represents God Almighty. And his son is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And the marriage is the marriage
of the bride of Christ to Christ. And yet these people, they would
not come. Can you imagine that? Now, because
man is spiritually dead, he has neither the will nor the ability
in himself to obey the call of the gospel. Because he is spiritually
dead, he does not have the will nor the ability to respond to
the gospel call. He won't come. Now, I want you
to note something here. The preaching of the gospel will
never will never produce faith in Christ until the sinner is
regenerated and called by the irresistible power and by the
Spirit of God, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. And until this
happens, the word, the invitation can go out and go out and go
out but the sinner will never respond and the sinner will never
come to Christ and partake of his saving efficacy because he
has neither the will nor the ability to do so. All reject
the gospel call as it comes forth from men. As men proclaim the
general call, as men say come to Christ, as they present the
invitation, all reject this call if it comes just merely from
men. But none reject that call when
it comes forth in the power of the Holy Spirit. When it comes
by the power of God's Spirit, When God makes men willing, when
He comes in to an individual's heart and makes him willing,
in that day, that individual will come to the feast. In that
day, he'll have an appetite for the master's banquet. In that day, he'll have such
an appetite that you'll not be able to keep him away from the
Lord's feast. Well, why is it that many hear
the gospel and perish? while others hear the same gospel
from the lips of the very same preacher and are saved. Well why is that? Well the answer
is very plain to me. Many are called but few, there
are a few, that are chosen. And those few who are chosen
have been redeemed by Christ at God's appointed time. They're
called by the effectual, irresistible power of God the Holy Spirit.
And thank God that he has chosen some and they shall be saved. They shall be saved. Many are
called But few are chosen. There are some that have been
chosen of God in old time and they will be saved. Now listen
to me. I want you to know this morning
the difference between those who believe and those who believe
not is the eternal purpose and the choice of God's electing
love. That's the difference. It's because
God has chosen these few. He has chosen them in divine
election. There are some men and women
in this world whom God has chosen to save. Now, I want that to
come forth very clearly. We've said it many, many times
in this pulpit, but I want to make it very clear to you that
we believe here in divine election that God chooses those that are
going to be saved. The rest The rest are left in
their sins to perish in their willful unbelief. God has done
them no injustice. He has done the sinner who will
not come any injustice. He does not force them to choose
what they will not do. He does not force them to do
what they choose not to do. Maybe that would be a better
way of saying He doesn't force them to do it. He does not violate
their will. He just simply leaves them to
themselves. And beloved, you can be sure
of this. that if God ever leaves a man to himself, if God ever
leaves a man to his own free will, if God ever leaves a man
and just simply does not come to him with irresistible power
and grace, that man will never be saved. He'll be lost, never
to enter into Christ, and never to partake in taste of the redemptive
power of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that man will
never believe on christ the bible is clear on that in john 6 37
through 40 The lord says that all that the father giveth me
shall come to me and they that come to me I will in no wise
cast out I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the
will of him that sent me And this is the will of him that
sent me that everybody that sees the son and believes on him I'll
raise him up at the last day, shall be saved and I'll raise
him up at the last day. Now the scripture is clear on
that, that God must teach a man to the Lord Jesus Christ and
he must draw the few that are saved unto the Lord Jesus. Now all who believe rejoice and
give thanks to God that he did not leave us to ourselves. Every one of you here this morning,
I'm sure you're astounded and amazed, astonished at the fact
that you have reason to suspect and to believe that you're one
of the few that have been chosen. While the many have been called,
you're one of the few that have been chosen. Are you not able
to rejoice in that, to be glad in that, and to praise God for
that? Now, there is yet a remnant according
to the election of grace. God has chosen to save some. There is an elect people in this
world, a people whom God has predestinated to eternal life,
a people that he's determined to save, a people of whom he
says, I will be their God and they shall be my people. Now then in Luke 13 and 23, Our
Lord was asked, are there few that be saved? Now sometimes
people poke fun at us Calvinists because we preach the doctrine
of divine election and they say, well you folks believe that there's
only just a select few who will be saved. Well, yes, that's just
exactly what we're saying. That's what we're saying. We're
saying that God has chosen a few that he's going to save and bring
out of their lost condition and out of the state of nature into
a state of grace. Our Lord Jesus Christ said plainly
in the text this morning, in your call, if you are chosen,
these are the words of the Lord himself and that ought to settle
the issue. There are just a few that be
saved. I know that in the end, God select
will be a multitude which no man can number 10,000 times 10,000
and thousands of thousands I know that in the end it shall be just
that way they should be more numerous than the sand of the
seashore but listen to me I know that God also has taken home
many infant that were elect of God and he's taken them out of
this world into eternal and pure heaven even maybe even for judgment
upon their ungodly parents but I know that heaven is going to
be populated and I know that everybody that God determined
to get there will be there and I know that all of his elect
will make it safely home under the streets of gold. I believe
that and I know that in my heart. Yet at any one time, God's elect
in this world are very few when compared with the multitudes
which seem to be perishing at this time. Is not the whole world
in the lap of the wicked one? Do you not judge there to be
many, many, many more that are following in the broad way than
there are that are following in the narrow way? Listen my
friend, Jesus said the way that leads to eternal life is narrow
and he said there be what? There be few who find it. Few! And so it is desperately
true. Now listen to me, in the days
of Noah Only Noah and his family found grace in the eyes of the
Lord out of the multitudes that lived upon the face of the earth
at that time. Think of it, if you will, Lot
was the only person in Sodom and Gomorrah, in the cities of
the plain, as far as we know, Lot was the only person that
was chosen of God, the only righteous man there was in those cities. Now of all the multitude who
left Egypt, only two, Joshua and Caleb, entered finally into
that land that flowed with milk and honey. Now there was another
generation, you remember, that came along and which they led
into the land. But all the rest that came out
of Egypt, about two million, that the rest, that two million,
perished in unbelief in the wilderness. Now among the many prophets at
Carmel, only Elijah knew God. Only Elijah, all these 400 prophets
of Baal, but one prophet of God there on the scene. Just one.
I'm telling you, there are few that be saved among all the religionists
of our day. When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem
to rebuild the wall, he said, I and some few men with me come
to do the work. That's Nehemiah 2 and 12. A great
multitude was carried away into Babylon, but when they came to
Jeremiah, Jeremiah had told them, no, no, no, don't do this, don't
rebel against God. But when they were taken into
Babylon, they came back to Jeremiah in repentance, and they said
in Jeremiah 4 and 22, or Jeremiah 42 and 2 it is, we are left but
a few of many as thine eyes do behold us." We're just left as
a few among many. Now then, at the last time in
the age of the church that's depicted in Revelation 3 and
verse 4 by Sardis, by the church in Sardis, there were only a
few names, the scripture says, found among the faithful. Just a few names found in that
whole church that were among the faithful. Now this is the
plain teaching of the Holy Word of God. Among the multitudes
who wear the name of Christ and profess to be his followers,
there are only a few who know him and are in love with him
and are saved by him. Among all the professors of religion
in the world, there's just a few that know him. There is a remnant
according to the election of grace. There are a few that are
chosen of God. There are a few that have had
a true work of grace in their hearts and have brought them
truly to a state of spiritual life. They have resurrection
life in their souls. They are alive from the dead
and they are truly God's children. And the rest are perishing under
the delusion of a false hope. in the religious world. Now then,
hear the word of the Lord and be warned. Are you among the
many who are perishing? Are you on the broad way? Have you been called by the preacher? Has some man called you, given
an invitation to you, and have you responded to the invitation
of a religious system, or have you received the effectual call
of God? Are you among the few who are
chosen? The few who are able to trust Christ alone? The few
who are able to depend entirely upon his person and work for
their salvation? Are you able to do this? Are
you able just simply this morning to say, on Christ the solid rock
I stand, I know that all of the ground is sinking sand and I
trust Christ, I lean on Christ, He is my Savior. Well notice
if you will in 2 Peter 1 and 10, I'm trying to hurry as quickly
as I can. I want to preach the message,
but I do want to get finished. I know that there may be some
who are suffering some. Now in 2 Peter 1 and 10, We read
these words where we're told there that we ought to make our
calling and election sure. Now, just a second here and I
will find it. 2 Peter 1 and verse 10 it is. Let me just read you that verse
of scripture. 2 Peter 1 and 10 where it says,
wherefore the rather brethren give diligence to make your calling
and election sure. For if you do these things, you
shall never fall." Now then, in speaking concerning this verse,
I solemnly this morning admonish you to make your calling and
election sure. Now, we talk about the few who
are chosen, and it may be that we're presumptuous when we say
that we think we're one of those few that are chosen. It just
may be we're presumptuous. I mean, we really may not know
in our own hearts whether we truly are one of those whom the
Lord has chosen, who has received this irresistible call of God
that has brought them to the gospel feast. Now, listen to
me, we need to give diligence to make our calling and our election
sure. Has Christ truly been revealed
to you? Do you know the Son of God? Do
you truly trust Christ alone as your Savior? Is Jesus Christ
your Lord and Master? Now if you will be honest, I
think you can know whether or not you're among the few whom
God has chosen. You can know your election. Now turn with me to Thessalonians,
1 Thessalonians 4, verse 10 1st Thessalonians 4 and Well what
I want to do. I want to use verses 4 through
10 here in Closing out our message this morning. I want to give
you five reasons quickly why you can know or how you can know
if you're one of these few that God has chosen and And I think
that as we give you these things that you can search your own
heart and apply them to your own soul and see whether or not
you're one of these few that are chosen. Now then, there are
certain identifying marks of God's elect. Number one, God's
elect, hear me now, God's elect here, and they receive the gospel
in the power of the Holy Spirit. Look at verse five. First of
all, Paul says in verse four, he says, knowing, brethren, beloved,
your election of God, knowing, Brethren, beloved, your election
of God. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only. Here's one of the identifying
marks. Here's one of the ways you can
know your election of God. Know that you're one of the few
that have been chosen by God in old eternity. and irresistibly
called by His grace in time. For our gospel came not into
you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance, as you know what manner of men we were
among you for your sake. Being taught of God, they are,
these that are the elect of God, they're assured of divine truth. They know what they've heard.
They know what God said. This is 1 Thessalonians and in
chapter 1 in verse 5. Now then, they know what they've
heard. God's elect, as we've said earlier, they're taught
to God by the Father and they come to Christ. Because they
have been taught to Christ and they believe the Word of God. And this is one of the evidences.
Do you believe the Word of God? Are you able to believe what
God has said in His Word? And have you been brought to
Him by the power of the Spirit? Now number two, God's elect follow
Christ. Look at verse six. and ye became
followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much
affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost." Like the Lord Jesus Christ,
those who believe are born of God, they believe God, and they
serve God with patience, they serve God with hope and love,
and they walk before Him in the joy of faith. And like their
Master, The people of God persevere in the hour of trial. They truly
do follow Christ. They follow Him. Are you one
of those who try to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ? That's what
the word follow means. Imitate! Are you an imitator
of the Lord Jesus? Do you seek to follow Him? That's
one of the identifying marks. Now if you have no desire whatsoever
to be like Christ, you can be sure that God never predestinated
you in old time to be like His Son, to be conformed to the image
of His Son. But if in your heart you want
to be like Christ, Then you're his follower and you desire to
be like him, then you'll follow him and you are a child of God. No one wants to be like Christ
except the few who are chosen and predestinated to be conformed
unto his image. Now number three, God's elect
are committed to Christ unto the spreading of the word of
the Lord. They were committed to the gospel.
Now every one of God's elect should understand, ought to understand,
that they are in the generation in which they're living God's
mouthpiece to the world. They're God's mouthpiece. We
are those through whom God will speak his word and speak his
truth. And if you're not committed to
the spread of the gospel, to the giving forth of the word
of God, the sending forth of the invitation of the gospel,
if you're not Christ's ambassador like this church was, then we
have reason, every reason to suspect that you're not one of
God's elect. God's elect are committed to
the gospel. What is necessary in order for
the gospel to go forth from this place? Well, I'm committed to
see to it that that gospel will continue to be preached, and
that the word of the Lord will continue to go forth, and that
it will be spread. And any man who loves the gospel,
who is saved by that gospel, will be committed to that gospel. And that's exactly what this
means. Now number four, God's elect
repent of their sins and they turn to God with a true heart.
Look at verse nine. For they themselves show of us
what manner of entering in we had unto you and how ye turned
to God from idols to serve the living and the true God. Now, my friend, we know that
repentance is not a once-for-all thing. We know that we repent
from the time that God gives us the disposition to do it until
the day we die. But God's people, they have turned
from their idols, they've turned from all that which held them
in bondage and slavery, and they turn unto the living God. They repent, they repent. God's people have a disposition
about them wherein you'll find them always turning. Turning from that which is contrary
to God. Turning from that which is opposite
of God. Turning from that which is forbidden
in the Word of God. Turning, always turning toward
God in Christ. And always turning to the truth.
Always turning to holiness. Always turning away from sin
under righteousness. God's people are a people that
have turned. and they're turned from their
idols. They truly have repented. And they keep on doing this.
They're constantly turning, turning, turning. Like I say, it's not
a once for all thing. But these people had the reputation
among those that knew them that they had turned from their idols
to serve the living and the true God. And that's one of the marks. Have you been turned? Have you
been given a disposition whereby you feel in your heart that you
want to turn from that which is wrong to that which is right. Do you have that disposition?
Do you feel in your heart that you want to do right? Is there
something there that you just simply can't say, well, I'll
just do whatever I please. And whatever feels good to me,
that's what I'll do. Listen. That's the mark of a
reprobate. Only a child of God, listen to
me now, has been turned. And if you've been turned, you've
been given a disposition that will enable you to keep on turning
as long as you live, from that which is wrong to that which
is right. And there'll be something in you that'll just make you
do it, and make you feel that you must do it. You may not always
turn as quickly as you would like to, and you may not always
turn as abruptly, but listen to me, you will turn. You will
turn. and you'll keep on turning. God's
people have turned from their idols and they serve the living
and the true God. Idols are dead. Idols are dead. God is living and God is true. Idols are false. God is true. Now then, number five, and the
last, and we'll hurry here. God's elect live in this world
as men and women of expectation and hope waiting for the Son
of God to come back from heaven. Look at verse 10. And to wait
for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even
Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. Now then I
say that God's people are a people of expectation, and they're a
people that wait. And oftentimes, you know, we
talk about waiting on the Lord, and I've heard people say, well,
all I ever get done is wait. God's people are a waiting people. Who are they waiting on? They're
waiting on God's Son from Heaven! That's who they're waiting on. He's coming back! And we're waiting
on Him! You say, well I can't solve the
problems of this world. Now I'm not asking you to. But
God's people are a people of expectation. They're always expecting
that the day is going to dawn when the Lord Jesus is going
to come back. He's coming back and when He
comes back it's going to solve all my problems. And if you're
one of God's elect, if you're one of the few chosen, you believe
in your heart, it's going to solve your problems too. It's
going to solve your problem. I'm telling you, that's one of
the identifying marks of God's elect, is they live with expectation,
always expecting something to happen. And they keep on expecting,
they get sick. And they go to the hospitals
and they're operated on and this happens and that happens and
all their world sometime or other crumbles and falls down around
them. But they just keep on expecting something to happen. God to intervene. God to come and cross their path. God to meet their need. God to
come and somewhere or another solve the problems. They just
believe that there are people of expectation and hope and you
just can't rob them of it. You can't put it out. And when
you can talk a fella into being so gloomy and so sad and so blue
that he just simply will not get up in the morning. He can't
get out of bed. He can't get going. And he just
simply gives it up. Let me tell you something. That
individual is not one of God's elect. Because that individual
has come to the place where he has no expectation. And he just don't believe that
God's in this thing. He don't believe that God is.
He don't believe that Christ is coming. And he don't believe
that God can and will do anything for him. And I'll tell you what,
even God's elect get down sometimes pretty low. I mean they get down
pretty low. They really do. And they have
problems, great problems and troubles. But my friend, the
true child of God has an expectation and a hope. And he hangs on to
that. Hang on to it. Whatever happens
to you, however bad things get, just keep on expecting. Because in a moment... You know
one of the things that amazes me more than anything else I
know of is how quickly God can intervene. How quickly God can
come. How quickly God can meet the
need. How quickly God can deliver.
That's one of the things that has amazed me in my Christian
life. That one day, I mean, there's
gloom and one day it's all finished and over and the next morning
God can come and deliver. I tell you, keep on expecting. God's people do. It is right. It is permissible. It is the
thing to do. Expect and wait. on the Lord God's people know
this is what they must do expect and wait on the Lord from heaven
as for me now listen to me now I think that we that are saved
ought to be filled with gratitude and praise and admiration toward
God because of what He's done that has put these differences
in our life. The only thing that's made a
difference between us and those that are perishing is the difference
which grace Mark it down, you can say whatever you want. These
things that I've given to you this morning here, listen, nothing
else, you can't counterfeit them. Devil can't counterfeit them,
can't be counterfeited. Cannot be. And I wish I could
elaborate, but I don't have the time, so I'll go ahead, maybe
some other time I'll elaborate. And so as for me, seeing that
grace has made the difference, And seeing that I have reason
now, I've searched diligently and I have attempted to know
my election, whether it's of God, whether, and I made it sure
by this little examination this morning. Listen, I ascribe all
to the grace of God, the whole of my salvation to the God who
loved me freely with an everlasting love and saved me by his pure
grace. By the grace of God, Paul said,
I am what I am. I'm chosen by grace, redeemed
by grace, called by grace, given faith to believe by grace, and
I'm preserved by the grace of God, and free grace alone shall
bring me at last into heaven's eternal glory. Jude 24 and 25
says, Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and
present you faultless before the presence of his glory with
exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty
and dominion and power both now and ever. Amen. And the songwriter
said, O to grace how great a debtor daily Daily, I'm constrained
to be. May the Lord be pleased to bless
these truths to your heart. And like I say, if anybody has
been made to suffer unduly, I apologize. May the Lord be pleased to meet
your need and to bless you. Father, thank you for your word
and for the privilege of preaching this morning. And Father, we
know that many are called, but few are chosen. Might we so examine
ourselves, might we be diligent in doing so, and apply the test
as we've seen it from your word this morning, and then I would
be able to say we know our election of God. Father, bless, we pray,
and supply all the needs of this people. We commit ourselves to
you. In Jesus' name, amen.

Many Called Few Chosen

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Many Called Few Chosen

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