3) CALLING:
"Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called". Romans 8v29.
There was something amazing, something spectacular, something supernatural going on in the north shores of the sea of Galilee. Prior to this, the almost deafening silence of the prophetic utterance had been broken by John the Baptist, who declared he was the voice of God. His teaching pointed to One greater than him who had already come. There was something really special about this One because He went about calling grown men to follow Him, and they did. It is absolutely staggering to read about the call of first Andrew, then Peter, then James, then John, then Phillip, then Bartholomew, then Matthew; and so on to Saul of Tarsus arrested by the Divine call on the road to Damascus. If you read the story of their call and their subsequent following of Jesus, (this led to their martyrdom in every case except one) you will be struck with the supernatural and awesome effect this had on these men's' lives. Andrew and Peter immediately gave up their business as did James & John; Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom (he was a tax collector for the Romans), in what was a very lucrative profession at that time, the record says he immediately left all and followed Jesus. What kind of call is this?This is no normal human response to the call of a Man who said "follow Me." This is a response to something beyond normal human understanding, it is the Divine call in time, that was known and predestined before time began. "Whom He did predestinate them He also called." This was destiny, the fulfillment of the purpose of God which these men must and did respond to. It was an effectual call, it changed their lives forever and in the case of the twelve apostles called by Christ, it changed the course of the entire world.
This Divine call is the answer of the Divine predestination before time began. This speaks of the precious single moment in time. in the life of every believer when God calls and they respond and the response is immediate and life changing. We will see in the next section under justification just how life changing that moment was. I remember in my own experience that very day. I did not wake up deciding that day to be saved; indeed the opposite was the case. There was a gospel campaign going on, but I did not attend. Indeed that very day at the age of 17 years, I had made up my mind to finish with the "religious stuff" and go my own way. It was in the evening, in a way I still cannot describe, the ultimate "bolt from the blue came" when no-one was present. Something within me caused me to sink to my knees and ask God to help me, and in a moment it was done, an unmistakable, powerful, effectual call of God in my life There is no doubt that many had played a part in this moment and it would take a lifetime to describe all that went on in that single moment of time. The same call that came to Peter, James and John and Paul and millions of others through the centuries, and over a dozen of my peers within the space of that one week, had come to me. Has it come to you? If it has, you will know about it, it is the unmistakable, powerful call of God within the soul of a human being.
This is no altar call, no preacher asking you to sign a card of commitment, this is the Divine voice in the soul raising you to spiritual awareness and changing your life forever. No-one knows beforehand to whom this call will come, it appears from the reading of John chapter 17 that even Jesus doesn't know. It seems Divine beings have the agreement with themselves to apportion roles in the great plan We are not privy to the Divine counsels prepared in eternity. We only get to know after the event. Only God writes history before it happens, but what is sure is that God has secured a people for Himself and for the glory of His Son and it all begins with the Divine call in the soul.This is just the same life changing destiny altering call today, as it was way back when Jesus was here, as it was when the God of glory called Abraham to leave his family for a new land. The same Divine call is coming today.
We could not begin to describe all that happens in this one moment of time but there are some lovely scriptures telling us a little of what it means.
1st Thessalonians 2v12 "called to His kingdom and glory": 2nd Thessalonians 2v14 "called to glory": 1st Peter 2v9 "called from darkness into His marvellous light": 1st John 3v1 "called to be the sons of God" and many, many more. Before we finish this section we are going to learn just how glorious this call is, and will be. This call is to something beyond human words, and we can only learn it piece by piece as we go along; it will take all eternity for us to take in the whole.
WILL THAT LIFE CHANGING CALL COME FOR YOU TODAY?
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