MANY ARE CALLED, FEW CHOSEN

1. CALLING of God is the triumph of MERCY over JUDGMENT according to PURPOSE of SALVATION in the NAME of Jesus Christ, as it is written: “… I will proclaim the NAME of the LORD before thee; and will be GRACIOUS TO WHOM I WILL BE GRACIOUS, and will shew MERCY ON WHOM I WILL SHEW MERCY” [Exodus 33:19] MERCY came first, to grant reprieve from SIN through CALLING, “And the LORD God CALLED unto Adam, and said unto him, WHERE ART THOU?  And he said, I HEARD THY VOICE in the garden, and I was AFRAID, because I was NAKED; and I HID myself” [Genesis 3:9-10] HEARING of the CALLING of God removed the covering of DECEPTION, reducing Adam to SORROW for his beggarly condition and of REPENTANCE obtained MERCY. GRACE came later, the blood of an animal was shed as token of the SALVATION that should come via the BLOOD of Jesus Christ. God made COATS of skins to conceal their nakedness, symbolizing COVERING of the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God in Jesus Christ, “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make COATS OF SKINS, and CLOTHED THEM” [Genesis 3:21] Some were CALLED by MERCY and MANY  in latter times by GRACE but FEW shall be CHOSEN, “For MANY ARE CALLED, but FEW ARE CHOSEN” [Matthew 22:14]

2. God, who in ancient times CALLED men through His PROPHETS, “… Hath in these LAST DAYS SPOKEN UNTO US BY HIS SON, … [Hebrews 1:1-2] The SON is the FATHER revealed in the frame of man, ‘To wit, that GOD was in CHRIST, RECONCILING the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them …” [2 Corinthians 5:19] We are RECONCILED and ADOPTED into the FAMILY of God as CHILDREN by the GOSPEL preached in the NAME of Jesus Christ, “And if CHILDREN, THEN HEIRS; heirs of God, and JOINT-HEIRS WITH CHRIST; if so be that we SUFFER WITH HIM, that we may be also GLORIFIED TOGETHER” [Romans 8:17] We are enabled to SEE the INHERITANCE prepared for us, yet have not the full possession being CHILDREN and not yet SONS “Now I say, That the HEIR, AS LONG AS HE is a CHILD, DIFFERETH NOTHING from a SERVANT, though he be lord of all” [Galatians 4:1] Our CALLING is of CHILDREN, we must need pass through the furnace of OBEDIENCE to be forged in the likeness of the Jesus Christ to become SONS; “Though he were a SON, yet LEARNED HE OBEDIENCE by the things which HE SUFFERED; And being MADE PERFECT, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” [Hebrews 5:8-9] Though, MANY ARE CALLED, FEW ENDURE to be made PERFECT in fellowship of His SUFFERING, “But he that shall ENDURE TO THE END, the same SHALL BE SAVED” [Matthew 24:13]

3.Our CALLING is of SOLDIERS of Christ, “Thou therefore ENDURE HARDNESS, as a GOOD SOLDIER of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth ENTANGLETH HIMSELF with the AFFAIRS of this LIFE; that he may please him who hath CHOSEN him to be a SOLDIER” [2 Timothy 2:3-4] As long as we are in this body, we are in Christ’s BOOT CAMP, our FAITH daily TRIED as by FIRE. If any draws back, he is rejected, “Now the JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH: but if any MAN DRAW BACK, my soul shall have NO PLEASURE IN HIM” [Hebrews 10:38] Listen carefully, of the 32,000 men mustered by Gideon, only 300 men made through BOOT CAMP, “… Whosoever is FEARFUL and AFRAID, LET HIM RETURN and DEPART early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand” [Judges 7:3] FEAR is the aroma of hidden SIN; when a man conceals his SIN, he repudiates the basic condition for MERCY, “He that COVERETH HIS SINS SHALL NOT PROSPER: but whoso CONFESSETH and FORSAKETH shall have MERCY” [Proverbs 28:13] Those who were free of hidden SIN, were led to a stream to be PROVED of SELF, “ … Every one that LAPPETH of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that BOWETH down upon his knees to drink.  And the NUMBER OF THEM THAT LAPPED, putting their hand to their mouth, were THREE HUNDRED MEN: … “ [Judges 7:5-6] Ten thousand men, made it to the steam only 300 found the NARROW WAY; they “LAPPED” to demonstrate restraint over fleshly appetite, “Because strait is the gate, and NARROW IS THE WAY, which LEADETH UNTO LIFE, and FEW THERE BE THAT FIND IT” [Matthew 7:14]

4. Our CALLING is INVITATION to the MARRIAGE SUPPER of the LAMB, “And he saith unto me, Write, BLESSED are they which are CALLED unto the MARRIAGE SUPPER of the LAMB. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God” [Revelation 19:9] MANY RECEIVE the INVITATION but FEW CHOSEN; the WAY is strewn with AFFLICTIONS and sundry TEMPTATIONS. Beloved, recall how God brought Israel out of Egypt to inherit the Promised Land but “… with many of them GOD WAS NOT WELL PLEASED: for they were OVERTHROWN IN THE WILDERNESS. … Now all these things HAPPENED UNTO THEM FOR ENSAMPLES: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ENDS OF THE WORLD ARE COME” [1 Corinthians 10:5-11] The “ENDS OF THE WORLD” is so close, let us WATCH and PRAY not to be caught unawares, “… not walking in CRAFTINESS, nor HANDLING the WORD OF GOD DECEITFULLY; but by MANIFESTATION OF THE TRUTH commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God” [2 Corinthians 4:2] The Lord will come as a “THIEF in the NIGHT to separate SONS from MANY CHILDREN, “Then shall two be in the field; the ONE SHALL BE TAKEN, and the OTHER LEFT. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the ONE SHALL BE TAKEN, and THE OTHER LEFT. WATCH therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come” [Matthew 24:40-42] 
Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, amen