For Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen…

Website DIVISIONS (Over 600 articles to help you to grow in every facet of your life)

Written by Jimmie Burroughs Email this article to a friend

“For many are called and few are chosen is the last verse of a parable that Jesus spoke shortly before he went to Jerusalem to be crucified. A parable is a word picture of a deeper truth. On this occasion Jesus wanted to demonstrate how that all people are called to salvation but only a few will be chosen. That statement begs the question: does God randomly chose some and reject others?

You need to see the context from which it comes to understand. Here is the parable:

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

“Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“For many are invited, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:1-14)

First, who do the characters in the parable represent? The King is God; the son is Jesus; the servants are the messengers who carry the invitation to the people; the first ones invited are the King’s chosen  guests who  reject his invitation; the second group includes everyone else.

God sends the invitation many times and it is rejected. The people not only refuse to come but they also make it clear that they want nothing to do with the King or his Son.  At last he tells his messengers to go out into the highways and the hedges of the world and compel anyone and everyone to come, the bad and the good.

This is a formal banquet so everyone is required to be dressed appropriately and of course since it means bringing people off the street it must include the proper attire which is furnished by the king.

At the door each person is given the attire that they are expected to wear. When the king enters the banquet he notices a man not dressed appropriately and he asks, “How did you get in here without the wedding clothes friend?” The man was speechless. No wonder because he was offered the wedding garments at the door and he refused them. He has no excuse.

Then the king told the attendants, “Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

What is the meaning the meaning of, “For many are invited but few are chosen”? The meaning includes the best definition of predestination: God never makes a bad choice and God never chooses a person who would not choose him in his own time. God is sovereign who knows all things even before they happen so it should not surprise us that he would know his own even before they chose him.

Some have said, well if God already knows his own, what is the use to invite anyone. Notice in the parable that the King sent his messengers out to invite the people. Everyone is given a genuine invitation and everyone  has  freedom of choice to chose yea or nay; those who choose God are the chosen and those who reject God are rejected.

The man who refused the wedding garment is the person who refuses God’s grace. He might think he is alright wearing his own garment after all he has always been a good person; not so because our garment is filthy and defiled with sin for all have sinned. We cannot approach God in our sinful condition. We must put on the righteousness of Christ. When we receive Jesus and our savior, we receive the cloak of his rightness; our sins or covered.

Nothing will replace that: we will never be good enough in ourselves; we will not be acceptable because we have gone through a ritual at birth, or confirmed later, or have been baptised. Only our personal belief and trust in Christ will outfit us with the acceptable wedding garment to come before the King.

Just as the man who entered the banquet without the proper attire was bound and cast into darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, so will all who reject the Lord and refuse his righteous.

This is a place of eternal separation from God. It is a separation from love, forgiveness, peace, joy and every good thing of God. That is why it is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth; it is a place void of any virtue or good thing.This is not a place where anyone wants to wind up for all eternity.

I know that hell is not a popular subject today and many believe there is no hell but that is not what Jesus believed. He spoke more about hell than he ever did about heaven. Anyone who teaches there is no hell is not teaching what the Bible teaches. It is a deception that leads people to the very place it refuses to believe exists.

Today I am the servant messenger sent out by the King to invite you to the greatest event of all time, the wedding banquet of the King and his son. The choice is yours to make; will you accept or will you refuse? God already knows in advance that some of you reading this invitation will say yes. God bless you; you will be eternally grateful! I probably will never see you in this life but I look forward one day at that great banquet of the King and his Son  to be able to meet you and to greet you in the presence of the King and his Son. Continue to read to see how you can receive Jesus as your savior

According to the Bible there is only one way to have a spiritual connection with God and Jesus reveals it: He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life and no man cometh to the Father but by me”. (John 14:6)

Here are the steps by which we are reconciled to God. We must be careful not to omit any for each is essential in the process of reconciliation.

Understanding our condition: First, we must understand that we are separated from God. This is an inherited condition from birth. The Bible is clear on this: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The Bible also says, “For the wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23). Death means separation, thus our sins separated us from birth from any relationship with God. Therefore, the very first thing that we must acknowledge is that we are lost and our sins have alienated from God and we need a redeemer, Christ the Lord, and only then can we come to the point of reconciliation.

God’s remedy: Second, we must understand clearly who Jesus is and what he did for us. First of all Jesus is the son of God equal to the Father and is far more than a rabbi (teacher), a prophet or just a good person. He was virgin born; he lived a life completely free from sin; he was crucified and was buried and rose again on the third day. He ascended into heaven and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father. He paid in full the penalty for our sins; He is our redeemer who reconciles us to the Father. Jesus died for us on the cross: “Christ also hath once suffered for our sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3-18). Because of our sin, there is a great gulf fixed between us and God and we can’t cross it on our own. We can never be good enough; we can never buy our way through charitable giving, neither is there any other way. Jesus is the only way (John 14-6). It is only by his cross that we are able to span the gulf that separates us from God.

Jesus is the only remedy for our sin, had there been an easier or better way, God would not have sacrificed his son. The penalty for sin is great therefore the price was great; it required the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus to meet God’s requirement for reconciliation.

Our responsibility: The only response on our part that will be acceptable to God is to repent and trust in Jesus as savior.

I said earlier that each step in the process of reconciliation is vital and must not be omitted. Personal repentance is absolutely necessary. The word from whence our word “repentance” comes is a military term which means about face and that is a clear definition of what repentance is: it is a willingness on our part to turn away from our former sinful life and turn to Christ to follow his new way. It is to be sorry for our past sins and to desire God’s forgiveness and to make a complete and permanent change in the way we live.

Experiences differ when we come to this commitment in life. Some will feel a sense of cleansing for a lifetime of sins while others may feel a peace that passes all understanding, the like of which they never experienced before. Regardless of what we may feel or not feel, it is certain that when we repent that God does forgive us and receive us as his own. While feelings may be important, we need to remember that salvation is based on God’s promise and nothing more.

A personal relationship with the Lord happens when we repent of our sins (turn from our sins) and trust in Jesus and believe he died for our sins, paying the penalty for us, and was buried and rose from the grave. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and not of ourselves; it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8). GRACE is God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense. This is how we become the children of God as we read in John’s gospel: “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12)

THREE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS:

* Does what you have read make sense to you?

* Is there reason why you should not receive the gift of eternal life?

* Are you willing to turn from your sins and trust in Jesus right now?

The Bible says that,” Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

Read the prayer below and see if this is what you would like to say to God. Remember that it is not a prayer that saves but it is our faith and trust in him as savior that reconciles us to God. “That if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9). The prayer confirms what we already believe in our heart.

I don’t want to mislead you here; trusting in Jesus is more than a simple carefully worded prayer asking Jesus to come into your heart or walking down a church isle and signing a card. It is forsaking all to follow him; it is turning from your sin and desiring him more than all the world has to offer. His Word,   the Bible, becomes your guide book for life. You seek to know him better and to please him in your every action. When that is your purpose and only then should you pray the prayer below.

“Jesus, I repent of my sins and trust in you with all of my heart to come into my life and to be my savior and to forgive me of my sins. Thank you for dying on the cross in my place. I believe that you are the son of God and I want to commit my life to follow you forever”.

Did you sincerely pray this prayer and are you willing to follow through? If so, WELCOME TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD. You have just made the greatest decision of your life. According to God’s promises and the desire of your heart, you can be sure that God has saved you and that you will spend eternity with him in heaven. This is only the starting place; be sure to go now to www.otobefree.com to follow through and read each article on the navigational bar. They will direct your next steps.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To subscribe to blog simply click on the RSS button on the left, and copy and paste the URL of our RSS feed into your RSS reader. ARTICLE INDEX _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ FREE Reproduction Rights – Feel free to publish this article on your website as long as the following information is included at the end of the article:

Jimmie Burroughs is the author of JimmieBurroughs.com ; get more tips on personal development: www.JimmieBurroughs.com

JimmieBurroughs.com is founded and maintained by Jimmie Burroughs Nashville, Tennessee. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ © 2011 Jimmie Burroughs. All rights reserved