How do you respond when you read or hear
something that just does not settle well in your spirit? When something happens that you are just not
ready to deal with what do you do?
Before I was a Christian I used to just stuff it way down deep inside my
mind but I discovered that when I did this it would “rear its ugly head” (pop
up to bother me when least expected) at the most inopportune times. After I became a Believer I learned to give
these things over to the Lord. To do
this the Lord helped me envision a closet with a shelf that is to my right and
set just high enough for me to place things on.
When I face something I do not agree with or am unable to deal with I
give it over to Him, and I mentally place it on that shelf. You see later, when I am able to or need to
deal with something on the shelf, the Lord knocks it off for me to catch. When I do face it again I ask Him what He
wants me to do about it and He always gives me clear direction. This makes it possible for me to have a
teachable spirit and to grow without these things hindering me. The subject of predestination is one of those
things.
When I read Matthew 22 the Lord knocked the
subject of predestination off my shelf.
It is a parable stating that the Kingdom of God was like the king who
gave a wedding banquet for his son, telling those who had already been invited
that all was ready. Yet they did not
come. The king then told his servants to
go out in the main roads and get as many as they could find to come, which the
servants did. The wedding feast room was
filled. The king then noticed a man not
dressed appropriately and asked him why.
The man was speechless, not responding.
The king then commanded his servants to tie the man and throw him out
into the darkness. Then Jesus states
(Mt. 22:14 AMP),
“For many are called (invited and summoned), but
few are chosen.”
I have heard people who base their concept
of predestination on this verse as their main base of doctrine, but it has
always bugged my spirit when I heard it used this way. It does not seem like the Heavenly Father I
have come to know, so this is one of those things I put up on the shelf. When I read this chapter here came that jar
labeled ‘predestination’ off the shelf into my hands. I asked our Heavenly Father what He meant regarding
predestination and this was His response:
“You were wondering about My words, ‘…many are
called (invited and summoned), but few are chosen.’ Some men believe that this proves
predestination, but predestination in their minds means that from the beginning
I have chosen who will accept Me and who will not. I have not chosen who will and will not
accept Me. Each individual chooses. Yes, I know ahead who will but that does not
mean that I make them choose or not be able to choose. It is My will that every man come to me, but
I know and have seen that some will not.
This grieves my heart, but I will not force someone to come. If I made everyone automatons then where
would the joy be in one turning to Me?
No, each may and must choose to follow Me or turn from Me. In this verse I mean that I call everyone,
but some come in the emotion of the moment and have no real substance to their
decision. These are the ones that come
without the ‘wedding garment.’ How can I
choose someone who has not yielded himself to Me? How can I mold them, bend them, ply them into
the image of My Son if they are not yielded to Me? This is a hard word to accept, but it is
just. Do not focus on the ones who deny
Me. Do not focus on the ones who accept
Me. Focus on these who come but do not
know how or resist yielding all to Me.
The ones who deny Me will have many chances to choose me before they
die. The ones who accept Me will be
changed as they are discipled in the church body. The ones who do not know how to FULLY accept
me or resist yielding ALL to Me need your help.
They are the ones teetering on the edge.
Satan would push them into the chasm of sin. I would that the words you speak and write draw
them into My loving arms.”
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, let me ask
you, what is the most important thing on God’s heart? Just what is it that is foremost in His
mind? Having a people that praise Him is
good as well as people who read His Word and pray, but I submit to you that the
MOST important things on His heart and mind are those people in the world who
do not know Him yet. Think about
it: once one of these precious people dies
they are lost to Him forever. No wonder
Jesus shared so many parables regarding what the Kingdom of God was like – so that
we would know how precious these people are to Him and how close He is to losing
them. How precious are they? 2 Peter 3:8-10 (MSG) states,
“Don’t
overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand
years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some
measure lateness. He is restraining
himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone
lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change. But when the Day of God’s Judgment does come,
it will be unannounced, like a thief. The sky will collapse with a thunderous
bang, everything disintegrating in a huge conflagration, earth and all its
works exposed to the scrutiny of Judgment.”
Make no mistake, Brothers and Sisters, the
time is coming and is closely upon us when that Day of God’s Judgment comes and
those people who do not know Him as their Savior and Lord will be lost to Him
forever. He is holding out to the last
possible second but that day will come.
It behooves us to be doing everything we can to “compel” them to come in. Remember the man who was not “dressed” for
the occasion? He also was lost to the
celebration. So, leading someone to the
Lord does not “end” our obligation. Is
it any wonder that many people come forward at revivals and conferences and
then go back into their old lifestyles?
Remember what the Lord shared with me?
“…I call everyone, but some come in the emotion of
the moment and have no real substance to their decision. These are the ones that come without the ‘wedding
garment’.”
Lead someone to meet Jesus and then
establish them in that new lifestyle by fellow-shipping with them. Help them to see, by your example, that it
was not a once-and-for-all decision but a daily living existence. When you establish them in living daily with
Christ you ensure they have their wedding garment on.
“When
the king entered and looked over the scene, he spotted a man who wasn’t
properly dressed. He said to him, ‘Friend, how dare you come in here looking
like that!’ The man was speechless. Then the king told his servants, ‘Get him
out of here—fast. Tie him up and ship him to hell. And make sure he doesn’t get
back in.’ “That’s what I mean when I
say, ‘Many get invited; only a few make it.’” –Matthew 22:11-14
MSG
