Answering the Call

Transcript

Good afternoon to all of you.  Good to be here with you today.  As Mr. Burnett said, it's been an interesting week to struggle along with some of the sicknesses that have been going around.  Thankfully I haven't had the flu like some people have had but we do struggle with some of those things.  We've had at least one student who missed most of the week this week because of the various problems.  So, we had one student, by the way, who was unable to get here for classes because of all the snow and bad weather up in the Midwest.  So, we're grateful that they were able to make it back as well.  

Things are going along well at Foundation Institute as we start into our second semester.  We're introducing some new classes this year and getting off to, I think, a fairly good start on some of those things.  We're looking forward to seeing how they develop as time goes by but it seems amazing that we're already half way through another year.  The time is just flying by very quickly.  

I debated a great deal about what subject or what sermon to give today.  I had three different ones that I have been considering.  One that I've been trying to get to come together for about three months and it's still not coming together.  So, I decided I better not try that.  I talked with some of the students about a couple of other options that I had and they said, "Well, you know there were a few of us that were in Houston a few weeks ago and you gave a sermon there.  We'd really like to hear that one again."  And I know, as I look around, there are quite a few of you who were there.  Well, you're going to hear it again.  

And if it works, wonderful, and if not, don't blame me, it's the bad advice I got!  But I do think the subject is one that's worthwhile and therefore I'm eager to be able to cover it with you.  

In September of 1940, most of us were not alive.  There are very few in this room who could remember back to that particular time.  But, as we know enough of our history we realize that there was specter of war over this world.  As a matter of fact, there were certain areas that were already well at war even though this country was not.  But in September in 1940, President Roosevelt and Congress authorized the first peacetime draft in American history.

By December of 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, American military forces had grown to about 2 1/4 million men under arms.  And by the end of World War II that number had grown to nearly eleven million who had either been drafted or volunteered for military service in those six years from 1940 through 1945.

In addition to that there were approximately 350,000 women who had voluntarily joined up to serve in the military as well.  It was certainly a challenging time for our country and our people.  And it was in other countries as well. But certainly in the context of our own country, it was a challenging time and not just for those who faced the greatest dangers of combat, but even for those who remained behind.  It was a challenging difficult time.  

Many of the basic necessities of life were rationed: gasoline, rubber, basic foodstuffs, meat, sugar; things along those lines that were rationed and people had a limited amount available to them.  Millions of women sacrificed their role as homemakers to go into the factories to begin to produce the material that was needed for those who were in combat.

By 1945 25% of all married women in this country worked outside the home.  Some of you perhaps have read (I'm certain you're familiar with) Tom Brokaw's book, The Greatest Generation, that talks about those individuals who made up that World War II generation.  Those who served in combat and those who had various functions at home as well.  

In the years that followed World War II, many of us came on the scene.  We are the beginning of the baby boomers.  And, we lived through that period of time as young children.  As I was growing up in those post war years of the 1950s, my family moved to one of the new housing developments that were beginning to spring up all over the country under the name of the "suburbs, suburban area."  

My parents bought a three-bedroom home with a full basement on a half-acre lot for 13,500 dollars.  We'd certainly like to see those days come back again.  But, certainly doesn't happen today that way.  But that was pretty much standard.  

Throughout our neighborhood, that's what the various lots were; what the homes were like.  And in that neighborhood virtually every home had been purchased by a family where the man had, in some way, seen service during World War II.

My father flew 8th Air Force B-17s out of a little grass strip in Britain in what was then called the Army Air Force.  Next-door neighbor was an interesting fellow.  His name was Al Feedack.  He was Russian.  And he and his wife had actually emigrated from Russia shortly after the end of World War II, as they had that opportunity.  He was a veteran as well, but of a different army.  

The next house down where I had a couple of friends who stayed or who lived, their father, Eddie, Eddie Bryan, was a veteran of the Navy in the southeast South Pacific during World War II.  

The man who lived across the street always was fascinating to me; a nice man in many ways.  But his story was a little different; he was a veteran as well.  But, he had the interesting experience of receiving two unique letters the same day.  One was an invitation to come to New York to try out as an outfielder for the Yankees and the other letter was from his dear Uncle Sam telling him he had something else in mind.  
And of course you know which he actually got to do.  But I still remember him; think about him and his family as well.  

We, who were the sons of those veterans, had our own ideas about what our father’s military service had been like.  After all we weren't there to see those things but we did know what was really going on because after all, we had John Wayne.  

And those of us who lived through that period, you remember that John Wayne served in every possible branch of the military.  He captained, was an admiral with an aircraft carrier, he handled a battleship, he captained submarines, he landed on the beaches, he flew fighter planes and just for good measure occasionally he joined the cavalry and fought Indians too.  

We knew that our fathers must have been a lot like John Wayne and we had our own ideas about that.  We played through the woods, the fields around us and we pretended that we, likewise, were soldiers and had been through some of those things.  But our ideas really weren't really that realistic.  

Though our fathers were usually pretty busy as life was quite busy during that time.  They were doing their chores, their work; they were doing the various things that needed to be done and in some cases trying as best they could to put those war-time memories behind them.  

But from time to time, on a warm evening those men would sometimes sit around and share stories with one another.  Have a beer, talk about what they'd been through.  A lot of times at that point, the ladies would go off to talk among themselves about something else.  And, we boys would try to kind of get up close to the edge of the circle of men as they were telling their stories and sit there and listen to our fathers describe what they'd been through.  

We soon learned that those who had the most personal experience with war were, for the most part, the least likely to have much to say. They really didn't want to talk much about it because they'd seen it up close.  The ones who had kind of been in the background very often had all kinds of wonderful stories.  We learned before long that, as a matter of fact, our fathers were not John Wayne.  We learned that sometimes the good guys don't win and sometimes the good guys don't even survive.  Some of the stories we listened to were exciting, some were funny.  

I still remember the man across the street talking about being on a ship in the South Pacific and how he was sitting there, the ship was at dock in a particular island.  And a Japanese torpedo plane landed in the bay where they were docked.  And it turned around and dropped its torpedo at the ship that was just sitting there with all these men on it.  And they could see, of course, the wake in the water, as it's headed straight toward them, nothing they could do, just brace themselves.  
At about 150 yards out, the torpedo exploded because there was a big piece of coral out there that nobody knew anything about.  So, he had some funny stories to talk about the great relief those men felt as they went through those things. 

There were other stories that weren't quite so funny.  There were even the stories where these men, who had been through so much, were left sitting there silently for a little bit, thinking about what they'd been through, thinking about friends that would never be coming back.  Never be a part of that suburban existence that they were enjoying.  

All of those men wanted their sons to be men of courage who would answer the call whatever the danger might be.  And yet, at the same time, all of them prayed that their sons would never see the things that they had seen.  Were they the greatest generation?  

Well, we could probably debate that.  Were they any better or any greater than those who answered the call in World War I or Korea or Viet Nam or today in Afghanistan?  In the caldron of war great leaders often come to the forefront stirring their followers with powerful words, moving deeds of courage and sacrifice.  And the words often live on inspiring those who come later.

General Douglas Macarthur was one of those individuals and he's well remembered for his final speech given at West Point.  As he spoke to the cadets there, he remind them, he reminded them of three words etched into the crest of West Point: the words duty, honor, country.  Powerful words. 

The long grey line, as it has been called, has through the years provided many young men who've courageously marched to their deaths with those three words etched in their hearts and minds.  But, all of those calls have been calls to war.  

No matter how much courage and sacrifice each generation has shown; we still live in a world of war.  A world where evil continually seems to hold a death grip on the hearts and minds of men.  

Millions upon millions down through the ages have answered the call to go to war.  To defend the homeland, to defeat the enemy.  Only to find that each new dawn brings a new battle and a new enemy.  The only lasting victors seem to be death and destruction.  

The call to war has stirred honorable people down through the ages.  But, there is a call that is greater, more noble, and more important than any trumpet or march or anthem pointing the way to another blood-soaked battlefield.  As noble as the words duty, honor, country are; they're not the words that you and I have been called to have etched in our minds and hearts.  

I sometimes wonder about us.  I wonder if we, and I include myself in that, truly understand and appreciate the sacred calling that we've been called to embrace.  We've been summoned; we've been called to a calling greater than any in all of history; greater than any human has ever imagined.  

Like those before us, our calling requires personal sacrifice, dedication, courage.  It's a calling that requires us to be honorable soldiers in a very different kind of warfare.  To hand the independent rulership of our lives over to someone else and to trust His decisions about what He requires of us.  

Yet, while it is a call, that changes our lives today, it's also a call to glory; a call to honor, a call to reward that is far greater than anything this life could ever offer any of us.  If we see that call properly, it is a call that's worth any sacrifice we could ever be called upon to make. 

You and I are not the first ones to receive that call nor will we be the last.  But receiving the call isn't enough.  It's a call that must be answered.  And, our lives must be the answer to that call.  In 2nd Peter 1 in verse 10, 2nd Peter 1 and verse 10.   Peter says, 
2 Pet 1:10 "Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;" 

He's talking about various things that need to be done, various aspects of our character and how our lives need to be lived as he shows us that.  But he summarizes it with that statement that you and I have a duty, a responsibility to make our call, our calling and election sure.  What does that mean and how do we do it?  

As I began to put this message together a few weeks ago, I started to gather the scriptures that had to do with this.  And I found that some form of the word call occurs over 800 times in the Bible.  So obviously, we're going to have to do a little elimination here to be able to cover what it says. 

As I began to go through there and choose the ones that I found to be the most meaningful and making the points that I think we need to see, I found over 40.  And, that's still too many.  

I don't know about you but I don’t like hearing sermons that are just basically a long list of scriptures where you just go from scripture to scripture to scripture.  There is in me a certain little tiny bit of sarcasm, leave it at that.  And, that little tiny bit of sarcasm, when I hear one of those messages that just gives me scripture after scripture, makes me want to say, you know what – I have a concordance.  Okay, I can look them up and go through them in that way.  

So, I'm going to try to very diligently limit the number of scriptures that we use today.  But, I do hope that you will realize and that in the days to come, you will be motivated to study a little bit the subject of the call as well.  Because there are a number of scriptures that are very powerful and meaningful that we won't be covering today; I hope the ones that we do will be helpful.

The sermon hasn't really developed in the way that I intended; that's all right, that happens frequently.  That's, as I mentioned, the other sermon that I've been trying to put together for three months hasn't developed the way I intended either, so we're not giving that one. But this one, I think, has some meaning and value for us.  

As I began to do the study about this calling that you and I have been given, I find that there are about, there are three different facets of calling that come to mind.  I notice this as you go through the scripture, that you find that the calling that God gives to His servants is first of all a calling from something. To call from something that must be left behind.  

Second:  That it is a calling to something, and that that we are called to, is usually, in this sense, a shorter term that prepares us for something more.  

And third: that the calling that God gives leads to a special destination or goal, a destination that's in mind from the beginning.  Well, it's a destination that we must keep in mind to fulfill that calling.  

When I use the parallel of the military draft, I find that those individuals, who were called, as again if I put it in the context of the World War II generation, were called from the life that they had been living.  If you read some of the parallel histories, whether it's Brokaw's or some of the others, they describe those individuals and what the world was like.  

Much of this country was agricultural at the time that World War II began to develop and the draft came into existence.  Many of those individuals who were called to become a part of that great military force were called from a very rural background and they had very little exposure to many of the things of modern society in that sense.  

They were called from that world to a very different existence.  They frequently had to give up occupations, educations, plans many things that are a normal part of life.  Because we realize they couldn't be part-time soldiers.  They can't effectively function in the way that we need them to living as they had always lived and just kind of adding some soldiering skills along the way. That wasn't going to do it.

For example, if I think of my father's experience, he had a pilot's license before he ever went into the military in World War II.  And, when he went in and told them that he already had a pilot's license, they laughed at him and they said, "We'll try not to hold that against you."

And he learned very quickly that flying in the military was very different than being a private pilot. From a different calling, called from a different way of life to something very different.  In fact, in that calling everything the military did, from the uniforms to the haircuts, to the close-order drills were designed to separate those individuals from their former lives.  

It wasn't just an arbitrary matter to do that.  They weren't just doing that because they could.  The military knew that these men could never be effective soldiers as long as they had split loyalties between their civilian lives and their lives as soldiers.  So, they were called from that civilian life.

Next, they were called to a period of intensive training, conditioning.  Not only did they need to learn new skills that they didn't have; they also had to learn what to do with that when it had to be done, it had to be done immediately; whether they felt like it or not.

Most of us as Americans are not particularly good at following directions.  We don't like people telling us what to do.  But, in the military, when instructions are given, they have to be obeyed immediately; lives are in danger.  So, we have to learn how to do that.  And these men had to be trained so they could understand and do these things.

Lives are at stake; response must be innocent, instant.  Much of the physical and mental training during that period of time was designed to push people beyond where they had been before.  It was designed to develop a new way of thinking and doing things.  And in the process, people were urged to perform at levels they never had before and never even knew they could.

In the process they not only developed greater capacities, they also developed a level of mental strength, character - would carry over in their lives in many ways for years to come.

And then special training as well, also produced something else because these men who were called and placed into this training position came from all kinds of different walks of life, all kinds of different backgrounds.  You normally didn't go and serve with all your friends, but instead, you're thrust into an environment with people that you didn't know at all.

And yet, in the process, you became a unit.  You began to trust one another, rely upon one another in a special way.  There are special bonds that were built during that period of time.  But all of that was not the final goal; the ultimate goal was that they would be an effective military force.  

Soldiers who could accomplish whatever the military put before them.  For the most part, the military planners accomplished their goals.  But they were a little too far, they were a little too shortsighted in the end result as well. 

They failed to consider what happens to those men when they come back.  Many of them struggled.  Many of those who served never returned to where they were before; they did other things, changes took place in life.  Some struggled for years to try to come to terms with the things that they had been through.  All would agree, who had been through it that the experience of war was the seminal event in their lives that changed the way that they lived and thought and related.  

Now, I want to take that principle, those three fundamental aspects of calling: calling from, calling to and calling for even a greater purpose.  And, I’d like to overlay that three-part process on the calling that you and I are given; the calling that you and I have from God.

To illustrate that, I want to look at three specific callings that the scripture shows us about and see what we can learn from this.  First of all: the calling of Abraham.  Second: the calling of the Nation of Israel.  And third: the calling of the disciples of Jesus Christ.
You'll know where we're going as we progress forward today.  I want to begin by looking at the calling of Abraham.  

Now the story of Abraham is contained throughout scripture.  As a matter of fact, Abraham is mentioned nearly 300 times as you go through the scriptures.  But, for our purpose, rather than going back to the accounts in Genesis and so on, I'd like to go to Hebrews, chapter 11, the famous faith chapter and see what it tells us about Abraham; what we might learn from the story that's here and the calling that God gave to him.  

Hebrews 11 beginning in verse 8.  Heb 11:8 "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive" (as an inheritance.) out of the place which he would receive as an -  try this again, I'm not reading it properly, "He was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. 

"And, he went out, not where he was going."   Verse 9-10 "By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God."

When you look through those three verses, 8, 9, and 10, you find the three elements of the calling we talked about.  Abraham is called from something.  He was in Ur of the Chaldeans and he was called from his life there. (Gen 15:7Then He said to him, "I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.)

His experience, as far as we understand, he was a successful person there, was doing well in his life.  Was up in years by the time that this calling came and yet, when God called him, He called him to walk away from that.  

He called him to something very different.  Again we go through the account and we find that Abraham left that area, went to Huron after his father's death; traveled down to what we today call, appropriately, the Promised Land.  That's exactly what it was.  It was the land that was promised to Abraham.  

God took him there and again, when Abraham left, he didn't know exactly where he was going, he just knew that God said, go out and I'll show you the place.  So, Abraham was called to leave behind everything that he had grown comfortable with, everything that had meaning in his life so to speak, to leave it behind and to go to another place.

And when God took him there, Abraham looked around and saw this land; God said, "Look as far as you can see, north, south, east, west; look around; all of this is to be yours and your descendants."  Of course at that point, he had no descendants.  

And what's more, during the entirety of Abraham's life, he didn't own one square inch of that land.  God promised it to him; He said, "It's yours, it's going to be yours, look around, all of it will be yours and you'll have descendants like the sand of the sea."  And He didn't give him a square inch of that land. (Gen 13:15-17...”for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. 16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. 17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.")

He lived the whole time as a wonderer, as a nomad, so to speak; even within that land that God had promised to him.  It's a very different kind of life than what Abraham had lived before.  And yet, we also note in this process that that kind of temporary existence in the Promised Land was not the end result or is not the end purpose to this call.

That as a matter of fact, there was a call that was much greater and that's why we see there in verse 10 that it says, he waited.  Heb 11: 10 "for he waited for the city which has foundations," Abraham lived in a tent, tents don't have foundations.  "He waited for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God."  He was called to something greater.

Not just a temporary existence there but he had some important lessons to learn during that time.  Let's drop down to verse 13 of this chapter.  As it describes Abraham and those who had gone before him, he said Heb 11:13 " These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them," they believed in them, Abraham had absolute confidence that God would fulfill that calling that He had given to him.  

He called him, He said come out, dwell in this place that I have, I'm going to give you this wonderful inheritance. Abraham had confidence in that.  So, he saw them afar off and "embraced them and (they) confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."

It's what Abraham was through the entirety of his life.  It's what Isaac was; it's what Jacob was down through the ages there; they were travelers so to speak, nomads.  He goes on to say, verse 14 here, "For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland." They're seeking something bigger, they recognize there is a purpose to this calling and they seek that.  

And he says, (Verse 15) "(and) "truly" if they had been "if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return."  God didn't make them stay.  It was a choice they had to make, but they'd been given a calling and they embraced that calling and trusted the God who did the calling.

Verse 16:  "But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. (And) Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them."  

Abraham is given as an example for us. Abraham's example could be summarized in a variety of different ways but there is an interesting passage completely separate from this that I think encapsulates the character that Abraham shows in this process.  It's a scripture in the book of Revelation, Revelation 17.  Which describes those who will be with Jesus Christ at His return and certainly would include Abraham among many others who have responded to God's call.  

Notice what it says about these individuals in revelation 17 and verse 14, revelation 17 in verse 14.  Breaking into the thought describes again Christ's return Rev17:14 "These will make war with the Lamb, now obviously not the ones that are the called of God but those who are rebellious to Him, "These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful."  

We see these three words that describe those who are the ones who will be with Jesus Christ when He returns, those who are the called, the chosen, and the faithful.  That certainly is a good description of Abraham and those who have responded to God's call. 

The called obviously refers to those that God has summoned just like Abraham was.  The chosen, well, that refers to those who respond to the call.  If we were to look at Jesus Christ's example of the parable that He gives of the wedding supper in Matthew 22 for example, we find that there are those who are summoned to come to this wedding supper and there are a great many that make excuses.  (Mat 22: 2-5 The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, 3 and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. 4 Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding." ' 5 But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.)

The call has gone to them, the invitation has come, but they make excuses instead of coming.  And, now of course, there are many lessons to learn from the parable but as you reach the end of that parable in verse 14 of Matthew 22.   (Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.)  We find the principle given there are many called but few are chosen, few are chosen.  

The difference between those who are called and those who are chosen is the response.  Those who are called and don't respond, they lose their opportunity.  Those who are called and do respond, become God's chosen. 

 And the third term: faithful, describes those chosen who have demonstrated across time that they will consistently do what God requires, regardless of personal desires or whatever difficulties they might face.  

We note that the word faithful here is a word that describes what they are, not simply what they do, not simply their actions.  It's a word that describes their very character.  They are faithful.  And because of that God knows He can rely upon them.  He's called them, they have responded and therefore God has chosen them and they now have proven themselves faithful through time. 

Those are the words that give a good description of Abraham.  Was called by God, he responded to that call even though it required great personal sacrifice.  Though it required him to live in a very different way that ultimately leads to a promise that he still is waiting to receive.  Abraham was called, chosen and faithful.  

Now let's look at that second calling that we talked about that scripture tells us about, the calling of Israel; the calling of the nation of Israel.  When you look at that example, unfortunately we don't find the same thing we find with Abraham.  We find some things that are a little different.  

We find a nation that has been in captivity in Egypt for centuries.  Scripture tells us they'd spent about 400 years in Egypt and nearly 200 of that had been in some degree of slavery.  

And as we enter the story, in the beginning of the book of Exodus, we find a people who are under a terrible oppression.  The conditions under which they live are horrible.  They are crying out to God for deliverance and they're waiting. 

They have heard, undoubtedly throughout their lives, of the story of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the Promised Land; that land that flows with milk and honey; that land where they can be free.  That land where they can no longer live in abject slavery ruled over by harsh taskmasters.  But they can't go there; they pray to God, they cry out to God.  Probably there are many aspects of that that we're not fully given the picture of but it was a crying out that you sometimes look at and think—well, they wanted God to intervene but did they really believe He was going to.  

And after a period of time, God sent them a deliverer, a deliverer who had been prepared in some of the most fascinating ways.  And if you are watching FI online, the Acts class that we're going through, I will tell you that part of that is covered in the act in the class that is coming up this next week.  And I probably won't tell you anymore in hopes that you'll go ahead and watch the class this next week.

But, nonetheless, you'll find that yes, there are those things that I think, are fascinating stories to find out how God dealt with Moses to prepare him for this.  The people were crying out and God had heard, He tells Moses, "I heard them."  But He didn't act right away, took a period of time.  And finally, God sent Moses to them.  

Things were extremely difficult and God sent Moses to begin to lead them out and, of course, you read through the story and they were excited about it.  That was wonderful.  God was bringing them out, they heard God's message after all of these years of prayer.  They heard the message.  And here were these incredibly miraculous events taking place essentially destroying the nation of Egypt without the Israelites doing a thing.

God was weakening Egypt, bringing it to its knees so that He could fulfill the promise that He'd given to Abraham.  God sent Moses to them and lead them out through, again as we said, some of the most amazing miracles; the crossing of the Red Sea.  And lead them out into the desert of Sinai.  

Not a pleasant place to be but nonetheless God had led them there.  And, God was very patient with them.  There were all kinds of problems that came up, as you know, you read through the account and we're not taking the time to go back and read it.  But, you know there were all kinds of problems that came up.  

That in a short period of time, roughly a couple of months from the time they had crossed the Red Sea, until God led them to Mt. Sinai. He spoke to them there. He led them into this area and He spoke to them.  And they felt the ground underneath them trembling, they saw the mountain smoking with fire, they heard the voice that spoke to them, the terms that God was setting before them and after, as you read through Exodus 20. (Ex 20:18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.)

 After the first Ten Commandments are given, they go to Moses and say, Okay, tell you what, why don't you talk to God and tell us what He says and we don't want to hear Him anymore. (Ex20:19 Then they said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.)

Because they were so frightened by this incredible God, His great power.  In a short period of time, there they were worshipping a golden calf.  But again, God was patient with them.  And as you read through the account, I think it's fascinating to find that God fed them, God gave them water miraculously.  He led them through this desert with the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud day-after-day showing them where to go, leading them.  

So that in a period of 18 months He leads them to the border of that promised land that they had heard about from their parents and grandparents.  That had been a part of the legendary history, so to speak of the nation; they were led to the border of that land.  And, God told them, send spies out into the land to let people know what's there. (Num 13:2 "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.")

And when you read through the account, you find that it tells us that it was the time of the first ripe grapes, so it had to be the autumn of the year.  That's when the grapes would begin to ripen.  So, in the autumn of the year they came to the edge of that land.  Now, of course, you realize that autumn is a great time for them to go in and take the land.  

Because, the nations that are there are planted and gotten their crops ready, the crops are all ripe; they're ready to be harvested.  And Israel is ready to walk in and take over, all the land is at its greatest.  The abundance is there, it's ready for them.  

So, they send the 12 spies into the land and those spies come back with their reports and we read the story of the different things that they brought back to show what was in the land.  Probably the most famous of all is the cluster of grapes that's carried on a pole between the shoulders of two of the men.  We try to imagine what that must have looked like.  They're all kinds of depictions of it and I've seen some that show this cluster of grapes with grapes that look like beach balls.  I don't think that's exactly what it was.

But it probably was an amazing cluster of grapes and quite honestly having been in that area and seen the grapes that are growing there today, I saw some of the most beautiful grapes I've ever seen in my life there.  They did, it looked like ping-pong balls.  If you can imagine a cluster so big of grapes so big around that it takes two men to carry this; this is what's in the land.  And that's what Israel heard about.  Oh, what a wonderful land.  It's a land that flows with milk and honey.  

But as you remember the story, there were two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua, who told them, what a wonderful place this was.  That God's going to give it to us, we can go in and take it. (Num 13:30Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.)

But then there were ten others, ten other men, each representing one of the tribes who said, well, yeah it's a great land but you know it's just too hard for us to go in, we can't do it.  The Cities are walled up to the heavens.  Well, not really but it kind of looks that way.  And there are giants in the land and we're like grasshoppers in their sight, there is no way, there's just no way we can do it.  (Num 13: 32-33 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.")

And the people listened to them.  Caleb and Joshua said what is wrong with you?  If God is on our side, He destroyed Egypt, He brought us through the Red Sea, He did all of those incredible things, He's fed us, He's given us water, He's led us day and night and now you think He can't deliver us and give the land to us?

And the people listened to them and said, "Stone them."  (Num 14:10 And all the congregation said to stone them with stones.)  They refused.

Now as you read through the account, you find that these people said oh, you know, we're so worried, you've led us out here, Moses, and our children are going to be destroyed by these people in the land and oh, we're all going to die.  We blew it.  

And God heard and God said, Okay, you're worried about your children dying there; I can take care of that.  You're not going in; you’ve disqualified yourself.  I've given you this wonderful opportunity and you've disqualified yourself.  So you go in, turn around and walk back into the desert; you'll die there. Your carcasses will rot there.  And anybody over the ago of 20 will never set foot in that land. (Num 14:35 I the Lord have spoken this; I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.')

Well, when the people heard that, they said, well, now that you explain it that way, okay, we'll go.  And of course, Moses, said no, you can't it's too late.  And the next day some of them tried and some of them died.  (Num 14:43-45 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned away from the Lord, the Lord will not be with you." 44 But they presumed to go up to the mountaintop; nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove them back as far as Hormah.)

And then they had to do exactly what God said, turn around and walk away.  What's it like?  I've often felt what's it like to just imagine yourself in that spot as one of those Israelites who has been given this incredible calling, this incredible opportunity and you must come to terms with the fact that you blew it; you wasted it.  

You look around at your family and your children that you supposedly were so concerned about and you know that you've just denied them this incredible blessing that God had promised.  They'd stood on the edge of that land, they'd looked across and they had seen it, they smelled it, they could feel the breezes blowing across it.  They'd seen the produce, they'd seen what that land was like and now what they had to do was to turn around and put their backs to it and walk out into what in the Hebrew is described as a waste-howling wilderness.

A desert of rock and scrub and mountains that produce nothing; you get to walk back out into that and every step you take is one step closer to your own death; you blew it.  You were given an incredible calling. You were told to leave Egypt behind, but we don't want to leave all of Egypt behind.  Oh, yeah, let's leave the bad parts, but you know, can't we take our golden calf with us?  Can't we take just a few of the Egyptian gods with us?  No, you can't.  They didn't want to leave Egypt behind; they didn't want to serve God unconditionally and trust Him.  And as a result, they failed in that calling they had been given.  

They chose not to respond whole-heartedly and as a result they were unfaithful.  Called, making the wrong choice and unfaithful, it describes ancient Israel.  And they lost what would have been an incredible blessing.  What would have the history of Israel been and what would it have been had they gone into the land at that point?  But they didn't.  

Now I mentioned a third calling and I think it's a very important one that we can learn from as well, the calling of Jesus' disciples.  We could easily spend the rest of our time looking at that example of those that Jesus called to be His disciples.  The three facets of the calling: being called from, being called to, an ultimate goal to that calling.  We could readily show that with those that Jesus called in the first century to be His disciples.

But, I think it would be more helpful if, instead of looking at those first century disciples, we look instead at a group of disciples that Jesus called later on.  In fact, He's calling them now. We are those disciples.  How are we answering the call that you and I have been given?

Like all the others, we have been called out of something. We have been called out of a world, out of a society, out of a system that is determined to go contrary to God.  We're called to leave it behind.  How are we doing?  

As we look at ourselves and evaluate ourselves, how are we doing in walking away from that world that we were a part of when God called us?  In 2nd Corinthians, chapter 6, 2nd Corinthians 6, to me it's one of the most beautiful passages where Paul describes this, he quotes from the Old Testament, of course, in this but we find that he gives us a sense of it that's very special.

Second Corinthians 6 starting in verse 17, he says, 2nd Cor 6:17-18 "Therefore", quoting from Isaiah, "'Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch (what is) unclean, And I will receive you." 18 'I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.'"  

How are we doing with that?  God's calling us to come out of this world. We can tie in all kinds of other passages, we can tie in Revelation that tells us to not touch those things lest we be defiled by those and receive the curses of the false system of this world.  Notice just one verse, you don't necessarily need to turn there but it is in that passage in Isaiah 52 and I've always been impressed with what it says in verse 11.

Isaiah 52, verse 11.  Is 52:11 "Depart! Depart! Go out from there, Touch no unclean thing; Go out from the midst of her, Be clean, You who bear the vessels of the Lord."  Now in a sense we might apply that to the sons of Levi who were the ones who carried the physical vessels of God.  But in principle, you and I are vessels of God as well.

We carry about in us the Spirit of God that He has given to us.  Are we clean?  Have we departed from this world and all the evil of it?  Are we clean; those of us who bear the vessels of the living God?  We're called out of this world.  Are we constantly aware that we have been called out of this world and all the forms of this world's pollution?  

I think back to the time when I recognized that I was being called.  Thankfully, I was with my family and we were all being called at that point but, I still remember the concept in my mind as I began to understand the truth.  When God began to open our minds to understand things.  In a way one of those things that I remember was learning about Christmas.  

I remember reading, our family sat down, I still remember that one Sabbath, our family sat down with that; remember the little old booklet (white cover with the black print –we didn't have any color) and it told us about Christmas.  And I remember our family sat there and we read that and we all said, "Okay, we're convinced, that's got to go.  That can't be a part of our lives anymore."

And we began to make certain changes along those lines.  There was that sense of being called to a new knowledge, a new understanding.  But there was also a recognition we were being called from something.  We've been a part of religion; we attended a little protestant church every Sunday morning. 

My Dad was a Sunday school teacher until he made the mistake of using the correspondence course to teach his Sunday school class.  That didn’t go over well.  But, yeah, that'd been our background, that's where we had been, we knew those things, we'd shared in those things but now we realize those things were wrong. It wasn't simply a matter of being called to a richer understanding.  It was a recognition that what we had believed was a lie; and that God called us from that.  

That the message we had heard about Who Jesus Christ is and what He's like, that was a lie.  The idea that when you die, you go to heaven or hell, that was a lie.  Not because those people intended it to be a lie.  They were deceived.  In many ways, they were very fine people.  But what we were given was a lie and God called us from that.  

And since that time, I must say, there are many times when it seems like, well, Mr. Pinelli and I have talked about at times, sometimes, it almost seems like there is a supernatural influence out there in this world that through the years continually tries to insert that Protestant approach into the Church of God.  And we have to be alert to that influence.  We were called from that.

What were you called out of?  Are you still leaving behind all those things that God called you from?  Or are we sometimes too much like the Israelites who wanted to bring along the comfortable things of Egypt?  

Remember Jesus Christ gave a principle when He talked about can you take a garment that's made of old fabric and patch it with new cloth?   And explained, no, you can't do that.  And we draw the principle from that, and, of course, there's the parallel of not putting new wine in old wine skins.  

We draw the parallel of understanding that this Christianity that you and I are called to is not just a hatched version of what we used to be.  It’s not just kind of - the old person that I used to be when I went to church on Sunday and kept Christmas and now I'm over here and I go to church on Saturday and I don't keep Christmas, I keep the Feast or whatever- and that's really the only difference.  

No, it isn't the only difference; we were called from something that was wrong and we're called to something very different.  Jesus Christ tells us you can't just patch up your old life.  Do we understand that and how it applies to the way we live our lives today?  

Second Timothy, chapter 2, 2nd Timothy, chapter 2, in verse 3.  2nd Timothy 2 in verse 3: 2 Tim 2:3 he says, "You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." So Paul uses a metaphor of service in the military.  He says, verse 4, " No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier."  

We've been called and we are told that we are not to entangle ourselves with the affairs of this life.  With the things that take so much of the time and the energy and the attention of people in this world, we're called from that.  It's not what our primary focus has to be.

As I've said before and repeat again, saving the whales isn't going to bring about the kingdom of God.  It's wonderful to be concerned about all kinds of things but you can become so distracted by all of those wonderful causes in this world that you lose sight of the fact that we're called out of this world.  And that our lives are to have a different focus.

If we're not consciously aware of something that we're leaving behind, because God called us out of it, then the chances are good, we're not leaving it behind.  In 1st Peter, chapter 2, 1st Peter, chapter 2 and verse 9, 1st Peter 2, verse 9, he says, 1Pet 2:9-10 "But you" (you) "are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy."  

We've been called out of darkness; spiritual darkness and we need to leave it behind.  How well are we answering God's call to leave this world and it's pollutions behind?  How much are we using the Light of God's truth to judge ourselves and the choices that we make in our own lives?  

Like those others that we've talked about who have been called, who have received a calling from God, we have been called from this world.  But, we've also been called to live a different type of life today.  Okay, how are we doing?  As we said, when the call comes out, just receiving the call isn't enough.  There has to be a response and it isn't just a mental response; it's a response that shows in the way we live our lives.

So, how are we responding?  Are we choosing with our lives to respond to that call that God has given to us?  We are in training to come to a higher standard; to add spiritual skills that we didn't have before God called us, to develop a godly strength of character.  How are we doing?  

I was most pleased to hear Mr. Franks' sermon during the Winter Family Weekend.  When he talked about the fact that you know sometimes it seems that we ask the question: Well is this worldly?  And if not, then we can get away with it.  And as he said, that's not the question.  The question we must ask ourselves is: is this godly?  Is this the standard God wants me to come to?  Am I coming to that?  

We're here in 1st Peter, go to chapter 1. 1st Peter, chapter 1 verse 13, he says, 1Pet 1:13  "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind," you understand the metaphor that's used there that in the ancient days when or well, let's just say the first century here when these people were receiving this message, it was common for men to wear a long garment that came down almost to the ground over whatever else they were wearing and they also wore around them a leather girdle or belt.  

And when you were faced with a situation where you needed to be able to move freely, in whatever way, whether it was a battle or you were fleeing or whatever it may be, even working; you would reach down and pull up the tail of that garment and tuck it into that leather girdle and you created, in a sense, a pair of shot pants that gave you freedom to move around.

You girded up your loins.  So, what it says here is to gird the loins of your mind.  What about that?  Do we think about that?  Is that a part of our constant living as a Christian?  
1 Pet 1: 13-16 …."be sober, (and) rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."  

Do we think about that?  Is that a part of the decision-making process in your life and mine?  Is that something we take the time to consider when we face decisions because we all face all kinds of decisions every day?  Some of the big and important decisions; some of them seemingly almost insignificant decisions.  

But decisions that we must make day-after-day; decisions about what we do, what we say, where we go, who we spend our time with, how we dress ourselves, how we conduct ourselves. We make decisions day-after-day.  Do we do so with this question in our minds: is this something I am in that sense fulfilling this statement here; that God says to be holy as God is holy in all my conduct?  

Is that the standard I'm using?  Or am I allowing something else to be my standard?  Notice in the same vane, I want to go back to a very short verse: First Thessalonians 4, First Thessalonians 4, and notice verse 7, breaking into the thought here but it says it very well.  First Thessalonians 4 in verse 7.  1Thes 4:7 "For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness."  

God didn't call us to be like this world around us, He called us to live a life that's holy. A life, again as we just said, but where we ask the question: is this godly?  Not just is it acceptable, not just is it the minimum standard that I can kind of get away with, is it godly? Is it holy?  

Holiness involves a focus upon moral purity in our lives.  How devoted to purity are you?  I have to ask myself that, I go before God in prayer and I ask Him to help me see what's going on in my heart.  Am I devoted to that sense of moral purity?  

Look around you at this world and what you're encouraged to see, to do, to participate in.  We're in a world where lust is rampant, where it's encouraged, where it's almost seen as healthy.  How devoted are you to having purity of eyes; that your eyes will be pure?

We are told that God has such eyes that He refuses to look upon evil.  What about my eyes?  Do I refuse to look upon evil or am I willing, even eager, to look upon those things that are evil?  Am I devoted to purity in the use of my eyes?  

Many of us recognize that we are in a world where people speak all kinds of evil things; where some people open their mouths and what comes out is the equivalent of a sewer.  And it's so easy for us to compromise; it's so easy for us to let the wrong way of speaking become a part of our lives as well.  

How devoted are you to purity in your speaking?  How devoted are you to purity of mind?  Are you and I demanding that level of purity from ourselves?

Now, you know, it's interesting; I got an interesting response after I gave this message in Houston a few weeks ago.  One individual said, "Well, you know, you talked about this purity thing.  To me that's really nothing more than just another form of self-righteousness."  No, that's completely wrong.  God has called us to be pure as He's pure, to be holy as He is holy.  

He didn't call us to be minimally acceptable; He called us to come to a higher standard.  Are we?  Are we demanding that of ourselves? Because the only way we're going to get there is if we do, demand of ourselves a higher standard.  

The commonality of our shared calling should be creating bonds between us that are stronger than any bonds that this life can give.  We share in these struggles together and just like those men (and ultimately women who shared the experience of being called out of their day-to-day life and becoming very different in the way that they lived), we've been called.  

We've been called out of this world; called to God's truth, to God's church, to God's family.  And we come from all kinds of different backgrounds just as they did.  We come from all kinds of different experiences just as they did.  But, we also understand that God has called us together.  God has called us to be His body; the body of Jesus Christ.  

We read through the scripture that there's no such thing as independent Christianity, where each one does his own thing and exalts his own ideas and keeps a distance from one another.  We've been called to be a part of one body; to appreciate those that God has called.  How are we doing?  

Are we constantly aware that we have been called to be active participants in a church and a work that is far more important than anything else in our lives?  How well are we answering God's call to live our lives today as fitting representatives of God's way?  We have been called.  If we want to be chosen, we must consistently and constantly respond to that call.  

The third facet of the calling of the disciples of Jesus Christ in the first century, in the tenth century, in the 21st century is that we are called to something far greater than this life today.  Second Thessalonians, chapter 2; 2nd Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 13, 2nd Thessalonians 2, verse 13.  2 Thes 2:13-14 "But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, (because) (Be) God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification" (or being set apart by the Spirit and belief in the truth) 14"to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

 I wonder how much we stop and think about that that this calling that you and I have been given is a calling to share in the glory of Jesus Christ Himself; not something that He withholds from us.  He's eager to share with us.  A glory and honor, an existence far beyond anything our lives can even imagine right now.  

In 1st John 3, 1st John 3.Again, I'm sure many of us have read this over and over but it fit's well here; verse 1.  1 John 3:1-2 "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world (doesn't)(does not)" know us, because it did not know Him. Verse 2 Beloved, now we are children of God;" even now what we have been called to in a sense is to be a part of the family at a level – 

…"and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."   And then the next verse is so very important to keep in mind.  Verse 3 "And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He" (Jesus Christ) "is pure."  

How well are we answering God's call to share in the eternal glory of the sons and daughters of God?  Are we recognizing that calling?  Are we answering that call?  There are many more passages that instruct us about this calling that God has given to us, urging us to walk worthy of our calling, telling us it's a holy calling.  Assuring us that God's calling is irrevocable; concept: that we and the brethren all around us have been called by God Himself needs to be imbedded in our minds and it needs to be in front of us in everything that we do.  

Duty, honor, country; they're noble words; they're noble words for a people yet don't understand a calling from God. But, I submit to you that those are not the words that should be inscribed in our minds and hearts.  For us, the words that should keep us on track, the words that set the standard for our conduct day-after-day, for the decisions we make, the relationships we have are the words: called, chosen, faithful.

God has called us.  In choosing to respond, we become His chosen ones.  And we now, must live our lives, now and always, as faithful servants.  When we have done that, then we have fulfilled what Peter told us; we have made our calling and election sure.  
(2 Pet 1:10 "Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;")