Will You Heed the Call?
The call is going out and the sheep are hearing the call. The sheep are coming from all parts of the earth. The sheep are those who seek the Lord, or the truth, and they are finding the truth and the Lord (Matt. 7:7). The Lord is gathering His sheep from various walks of life and from various faiths and religions of man. The call is for holiness, for without holiness no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14 King James Version). The call is for repentance which consists of righteousness that comes from the heart—a changed life, a new heart and a new mind (2 Cor. 13:9, 11). The Lord is making more servants of others, as He Himself serves others continually. He wants to know who will care, who will change and who will endure. The Lord must sort out those who will be righteous and those who will remain wicked. The wicked must be marked for destruction and the righteous for eternal life (John 5:29). Never before has there been a determination like this made throughout the world. The Lord is preparing His soon-coming society where only righteousness will dwell, where only people who are righteous will dwell (Rev. 21:2, 4, 27).
Jesus Christ was an overcomer. There are very few who know this fact (John 16:33; Rev. 3:21; 5:5). He commands us to overcome our evil natures just as He did! He said His Way, which He came to show, us is very easy and very pleasant (1 John 5:3). Simply do good! We are to purify our souls by being obedient to God’s truth and fervently love one another from our hearts. We are not to complain against one another (1 Peter 1:22; James 5:9).
Jesus is calling His sheep to hear His true gospel—the one and only gospel that He taught to His disciples almost 2,000 years ago (Eph. 4:5). This is the gospel of the doctrine that conforms one to godliness. If a minister does not continually preach about this doctrine that conforms one to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing (1 Tim. 6:3-4). This is a message of personal, godly discipline. It is a message on how to imitate God and discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness (Eph. 5:1; 1 Tim. 4:7; Titus 1:1). It is a message on being a servant to others in a righteous, kind, courteous, and charitable way through deeds done in love. It is a message of God’s good works done in the Spirit, replacing the evil works of the flesh. It is a life of joyful striving, persevering, forcing ourselves to do the right thing, and resisting Satan and the pulls of the flesh (James 4:7; Luke 16:16). It is a life of purpose, a life of triumph, a life of hope and a life of peace. It is a life of trials that God puts us through so He can build His character in us, and so we can have Jesus Christ’s nature formed in us (Gal. 4:19). It’s a life that we accept as a newly sworn-in soldier of the Lord. We no longer need to be concerned with the affairs of the world, but only with what our Commander in Chief, our Lord Jesus Christ, has to say.
We live to please the Lord now and no longer live to please the flesh. We are now working full-time for the Lord, helping Him with the harvest of all those who have been chosen to have their day of salvation in this end time harvest of saints. When the Lord calls you, it is a holy calling—the greatest of all gifts from God. He is calling you so He can bless you. He is calling you so He can change you. He is calling you so you will be His friend. He is calling you so He can use you to call others in the future when you are ready (1 Tim. 4:14-16).
“Blessed is the man who perseveres in doing good under trial, like Jesus did, for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life [eternal life], which the Lord has promised to those who love Him” (James 1:12). Jesus learned obedience from the Father. He learned obedience by continually doing the Father’s Will on earth as it is being done by God in heaven (Matt. 6:10). By suffering for doing good, He eventually became perfect (Heb. 5:8-9). We must be tested too. We too must suffer. We must also be salted by fire. That’s what being baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire is all about (Matt. 3:11). Anyone who will live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Everyone who lives for God by imitating Jesus Christ will be persecuted like Jesus was. That’s part of the salvation package (2 Tim. 3:12).
If those who overcome will not be hurt in the second death, then we must all overcome to receive eternal life (Rev. 2:11). Today, there is very little emphasis on the subject of overcoming. This is because it does not fit into the framework of the social gospel that is being preached today. The watered down, incomplete gospel that is found in little “Bible tracts” is a man-made gospel, an incomplete gospel that could save no one (Mark 7:6-8).
Jesus shouted to the people, “Repent, or you will perish” (Luke 13:3, 5). Change from your evil way of life, or you will perish. Keep God’s Ways and walk in them, or you will perish. Keep My sayings, or you will perish. Do God’s Will on earth like I did, or you will perish. The “Bible tracts” claim that all you need to do is say the sinner’s prayer and invite Jesus into your heart. Accept the atoning blood and accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, and you are saved. Find one example where Jesus or the apostles ever said to anyone that this was the gospel truth. Find one instance where Jesus instructed His disciples to say that. If Christ did not say it or teach it, isn’t it antichrist doctrine?
He is calling you to save you and to spare you from what’s soon to come upon the world to test those who dwell on the earth (Rev. 3:10). He is calling you to give you a crown and to make you a world leader (2 Tim. 4:8; Rev. 5:10). He has chosen you to give you the opportunity to rule the nations of this earth with Him (Rev. 2:26-27). As it has been written, Jesus must reign. His job is to put all His enemies under His feet (1 Cor. 15:25). Then the nations will no longer train for war or go to war against one another. Jesus will enforce a lasting peace on earth (Micah 4:1-3; Is. 2:1-4).
Will you heed the call? Will you fight the good fight? Will you be at the wedding supper of Christ (Rev. 19:8-9)? Those who have accepted the call will be praying for you. Study God’s word daily (2 Tim. 2:15 KJV). Practice God’s word daily in your life of true, continual prayer (1 Thess. 5:17). When you commit all your ways to the Lord, He will do the rest for you (Psalm 37:3-5).