“The Chosen”
Except for Jesus Christ, every man will have to be made before he can serve God. Otherwise, he will not. To serve God, you must look on His Spirit which is why He sends preachers into the world. The preacher will give you God’s Word which is His Spirit. The Word preached will manifest God to you. The preacher has an extremely important role in this great, but not mysterious, plan for salvation. The preacher will be a man that God has chosen directly. Before God chooses a man, he must be made. Also, the man must let God make him. Only God knows what must be done for a soul. Once the preacher has been made then he calls the world to salvation.
Not everyone that God picks out obeys His call. “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Consequently, everybody in hell is not evil. They, simply, would not heed God’s call. What is God’s call? The answer is, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The call is that deep, unfulfilled longing in your soul. You do not know how to satisfy or make it go away. You pretend that some enjoyment of the world is the answer but your heart knows that it is not. God knows what is the problem and the answer, which is why Jesus was sent. The problem is Christ being out of your soul. The answer is Christ being in your soul.
Jesus did not resist the Will of God but everybody else does which is why we have to be made. Again, everybody does not answer God’s call. There are preachers in hell because they refused His commandment to preach. There is no great mystery about gaining salvation. You, simply, must hear and obey God’s command. For the unrighteous, this is a work that they do not want to do.
The world does not want to serve God because they must live the Truth which is a burden to the flesh. The flesh wants to be free to do what it wants. To the world, living a lie is much easier. There is no accountability. Believing that you can go to Heaven without doing any work is preferred. The world believes that they can say and do not, which is why there are so many false Christs.
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.” (1 Peter 2: 9 - 12).
From the beginning - God, who is Spirit, has chosen a people to be like Himself. God knew the world would turn away but willed that there be a people to serve Him. I must make a distinction about the Chosen because the understanding is not what you might believe. The Chosen are they that choose God after He picks them. Nobody comes voluntarily. If you believe that you did come voluntarily then think a little harder about the circumstances leading to your decision. You have not been made until you love not your life unto death. In other words, you are obedient to all that God commands of you. Few people serve God with such devotion. “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
Of all that God has made, He claims for Himself a people. We would have died the death if our God had not intervened. Understand why we love Him now?
God chooses you when He finds you in His Spirit, like Jesus. At that day, He begets you. God calls everybody but only the few hear Him. When you obey then you find yourself in the Spirit of God. They, being of His Spirit, are the same that pleases God. When you respond to God’s commandment to repent and serve Him then you have grace for grace. Here is the marriage of God’s Spirit to your spirit. In this communion, you will find the Father glorying in His obedient child. Anybody saying that God has chosen them means little. God saying that He has chosen you is what matters. The people doing the Will of God are the same that approach His throne boldly. This is the spirit that you can glory in.
God did command us at the beginning but the flesh flatly refuses. Consequently, the flesh takes many souls to hell with it. But, there are a few that overcome their carnal souls to obey God. These souls are whom He chooses. “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” God was well-pleased with Jesus who served Him with all His heart. And, if you do the same, He will be as pleased with you.
We know the Chosen have been always those that obey His Word. Before I proceed, there is a truth that must be stated again even though few know it. The truth is this - Except for Jesus Christ, there has never been a soul that came to God willingly. All have resisted His Will. Anybody telling you otherwise is not speaking the truth. Remember, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Before anybody will serve God, he must be made to do so. The world must be taken out of your heart. Otherwise, you will stay in the mind of the flesh. Once the world is removed then you can see God. God has willed that there be a people to love and serve Him. Accordingly, God takes souls out of the world for Himself so that somebody will know His goodness and glory. We did not choose God first; He picked us first.
People think that because God is good to the flesh then they know His goodness. They do not. They are barely skimming the surface. As good as God is to the flesh the greater goodness is to the spirit. And, if God is the greater blessing by the Spirit then you should be as good to Him. The people that see God in His great power and glory fear Him deeply. I do not say that we are afraid of God because He does not want it. But, we do fear Him in respect to what He can do.
The flesh wants to look no further than itself. The flesh knows that there is more but is not interested. Looking further means leaving the world for the spirit which does not suit the flesh’s purposes. Therefore, you will have to be made to go further.
When you have been made by God to serve Him then you gain a truer appreciation of your life. And, you understand how hard God loves. Remember, Jesus did not want to go on the cross but His heart was set to serve God. Therefore, Jesus bowed to the Will of God. What Jesus did on the cross was about life, not death.
How do you obey God? The answer is by the spirit. The Spirit of God commands the spirit who obeys and compels the flesh to follow him, leading captivity captive. God commands both souls of a man but only the spirit will humble while the flesh rebels. The truer life has always been through the spirit. “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
The Chosen have never been (and never will be) of a carnal nature because the flesh does not obey. God’s Word has always been Spirit and Truth. If you obey God’s Word then your mind is translated into His Spirit. You increase the spiritual soul which is God’s Will and yours whether you know it. Increasing the spiritual soul is being like God and not the world.
What, then, was the first covenant all about? The answer is God’s great mercy. God knew all along that the flesh would turn away but He was going to give it every chance to repent anyway. The first covenant is the same as the second except that the flesh is removed so the spirit can have a chance. The soul that sins still dies and the one that obeys still lives. God wants the flesh to repent, return to Him, and regain the true life that it had once. True life is not dying. Jesus Christ was the last prophet that God sent to the flesh for this purpose and they murdered Him. God had given His commandments and obedience would have given the flesh a much more glorious life than it has now but its heart is elsewhere. The flesh wants it all, without God. The truth is that the flesh can have it all but not through evil works. Evil is disobeying God.
The world’s motivation is to get rid of the spirit and have all life to themselves. “But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.” By getting rid of the spirit then they would not have to hear the Truth (or so they believe) which tells and shows that they are wrong. Howbeit, they would rather hear that they are right even though they are wrong. This way, they believe that they can continue being devils and still go to Heaven.
Yes - The flesh killed Jesus but life as we know it is about God versus Satan. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” In our lives, this is happening always. If God had chosen and given rise to another people then the same would have happened. The flesh killed Jesus because He was bringing the Truth to the world. The same Truth that the flesh has fought hard to stop from the beginning.
Having run out of chances God removed the flesh in favor of the spirit through Jesus Christ. Jesus’ death was less about resurrecting the flesh and more about raising the spirit who was being strangled and, in many cases, dead already. The fact that the flesh was given a second life was due to the spiritual rebirth of the Chosen. In other words, the new life of the spirit raised the flesh (if only for a little while) too. Anybody thinking that God is going to resurrect the flesh to go to Heaven is dead wrong. To live, the flesh must resurrect itself through obedience which it will not do.
“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20: 1 - 10).
Jesus Christ is the angel with the keys to the bottomless pit. Through the Truth, Jesus can raise a soul from hell or leave him there. The Truth is the key. Jesus said to Peter, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” The keys are God’s knowledge and understanding. Knowing how to fight the devil is the key to defeating him. The flesh and his lies are bound to condemnation. The spirit of a man in the Truth is freed to salvation. Before, lies would bind the spirit but the Truth frees him now.
Heaven is God in your mind, New Jerusalem. The world contends that you do not have to serve God and still can go to Heaven. My counter-point is that if you do not want God now then you will not want Him later. You cannot simply turn this thing on and off at will. At death, you go to where your heart is. Your heart is where and what you love. Many think that they can stay in the world and turn to God at the last moment. Such a heart loves the world. His spirit and beloved flesh will remain outside of the grace of Heaven.
Hell is the world in your mind. You must allow God’s Word into your soul but most disallow Him. You must not allow the liar in your soul but most do. You are given this power. No one can come to God without first allowing Him into the soul. “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
The Truth binds the lies of the flesh and devil, shuts down the works of evil, and torments the workers of evil day and night. When you look on evil doers then you will not see love, peace, happiness, or joy. You see hell because that is what and where they are. And, hell is what comes out of them.
With Jesus preaching the Truth to the world, the devils were exposed for all to see. They invented many lies but none could stand. The Truth is a bright light which exposes and torments the creatures of darkness. If you stand for the Truth then you are a bright light, too. “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.” The devils will try to stop the Truth from being spoken or will flee from before It. Either the Truth will draw you to God or drive you from Him.
Righteousness rules supreme. Those righteous men, who lived before Jesus Christ, stood together with Him when He walked the earth. These were the souls of them that were slain for the witness of Jesus and lived with Him the thousand years. Keep in mind that time means nothing to the Spirit of God. Time is for the carnal man. Time is a count-down and a warning.
Those righteous souls stood with Jesus as His Disciples. Jesus’ preaching resurrected them and they reigned triumphantly with Him in the Truth which was the first resurrection. “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.” Everybody lives by Jesus Christ, including the world. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.” Jesus is the second life. Moses and Elijah were shown on the mount because their spirits were in Him.
The first resurrection are the souls that turned to Jesus when He walked the earth. They are the ones who left the world for Him. They had accepted Jesus’ preaching and repented of their ways. These people never die. “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”
Jesus’ Spirit was resurrected to Heaven immediately after His flesh died on the cross. In doing so - Jesus died for and resurrected the souls of all. For the dead already, those souls that had done good to the resurrection of life and those having done evil to the resurrection of damnation.
Jesus’ body was raised again when His Spirit re-entered it after three days. Through Him, all flesh was resurrected to the second life. Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ both the spirit and flesh were raised. Know that the spirit was resurrected first, then the flesh. The new order of life has been established. “But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.” In the beginning, the flesh came first and then the spirit. Now, the spirit is first.
After the resurrection, the flesh returned to what it had been doing before. This is the thousand years when Satan was loosed out of his prison but, this time, the Word of God has been left with us. The Word should have been left with us through Adam but he did not obey. Satan’s time out of prison is the same that the flesh is given to live again. Instead, the flesh uses the time to hate God. Then and now, such spirits fight against anything of God.
Through God’s preachers, the Word is carried forward, judging the righteous and unrighteous. The world attacks our spirits as before but now we stand with the Word. The world attacks the holy city (New Jerusalem), which is church in us. However, the preaching of Truth and Righteousness is the fire and brimstone raining on them. They are in eternal torment because there is no place to hide or escape God’s Word.
Jesus took away the first (flesh) and established the second (spirit). Therefore, how can the flesh be the Chosen of God? The flesh is weak and God is strong. “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Weakness and strength cannot be paired. Spirit with spirit is the perfect marriage. “And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.” Any service to God is done through the spirit only. The flesh was commanded to obey and re-assume his true place in life. Otherwise, the flesh exists only to die.
By the Spirit, the promises of God are fulfilled but according to the flesh they have yet to happen. Jesus returned three days after His death to show His believers the power of the Word and the fact that there is life after the death of the flesh. Still, men do not want to believe. On the Day of Pentecost, Christ returned as promised in the form of the Holy Ghost. Nobody knew what to expect but the Disciples certainly understood once the Holy Ghost had arrived. Even now, the flesh has no consciousness of the Holy Ghost.
Any soul that sees God does so in the spirit. A soul sees through the flesh to the Spirit of Christ within. “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” The Apostle Paul was caught up to the third Heaven. “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.” The men with Paul heard a voice but saw no man. Again, the Spirit was working but flesh was dead to it. There are many more examples where God is present but the flesh has no clue. “The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.”
The bottom line is that life can only be through the spirit. God is Spirit and life. God’s Word is life to all, except the flesh. Tell me again - How can flesh be the chosen of God? How can anybody serve God with the flesh when it is opposed to everything about Him?
“Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.” (Matthew 15: 21 - 28).
The Chosen are about the spirit, not the flesh. The flesh will not have God, making void the possibility that it can be numbered among God’s Chosen. Jesus comes for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The house of Israel is of the Spirit of God. The lost sheep followed the flesh until they heard the Truth. Then, they left the flesh for the Truth.
Jesus performed the works of God to show the world who had sent Him and that they should accept Him. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” Together with God’s Word, works, and grace there are those in the world who will come to ‘see’ Jesus as He is. They will see His Spirit in another person. Even so, some only wanted Jesus to fix the flesh as (I believe) was the case with the woman of Canaan and her demonized daughter. But, there are others who want much more for their lives.
To worship the Father you must do so in the Spirit and Truth. If you do not know how then you must keep yourself before His alter and let Him teach you. Love is a learned thing, whether it be in giving or receiving. God is Spirit, as we are, except that He is the good Spirit and we must work to be like Him. How can anybody even think that they can satisfy Him with flesh?
The lost sheep are the spirits of the people. They are lost out there in the minds of the world. They may be unaware of this fact but I know that they are not satisfied with their existence. They may be looking everywhere but the right place for their satisfaction. God has made a way through Jesus Christ for them to hear His Truth. “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.” Jesus Christ is God’s Word preached. God speaks through Jesus’ preaching, entreating the people to return to Him. The Word preached commands both spirit and flesh, but the flesh will not hear Him.
What the lost sheep will hear and see are the troubles causing their sufferings and the hope that awaits them. Through the Word preached, they will not like what they see and resolve to change their ways for the better. Sometimes, you do not have to be told to repent. You do so because you want to be cleaned of the filthiness of the flesh. The hunger and thirst was for God all along. We were trying to satisfy the soul with the wrong things. Once we were put on the right track then all that remained for us was to come to Jesus.
The sheep that Jesus spoke of were lost because they believed the flesh’s promise of life without God. The flesh promised an easier way but was lying. If a promised life has brought you nothing but suffering then you have been deceived. Any kind of torment is hell. What God promises is rest from all suffering. To keep you under seduction the world keeps promising that things will get better. You want to believe them but the obvious remains.
Once the devil has you fooled then he wants to finish you off. To have you so confused that you think you are right when actually you are wrong. If the possibility of returning to God is there for you then the devil will work harder to destroy you before that happens. The devils are masters of deception, especially if you want to believe them.
Despite the world, the lost sheep see even better. They know a better life exists but do not know what it is, where it is, or how to get to it. God sent Jesus for this reason. When the lost hear the Truth then they flock to it. The Spirit of God had been the real missing link in our lives. We, simply, did not know it. When we found it then we realize that this is what we had been looking for the whole time.
The part of us that had been looking was not our flesh but our spirits. You see - The flesh wanted nothing but the world while our spirits were dying a slow death. While the flesh hogged the plate, the spirit was being ignored. There were times when the spirit would fight through and cry for salvation and life. We knew something was wrong but could not put our finger on it until Jesus came.
The Truth makes sense to the spirit because it is real. The Spirit of God is life to our spirits; like being given water when you are dying from thirst. Never has anything tasted and refreshed so good while, at the same time, was giving life. The soul speaks volumes, quietly. Before you realize it, something on the inside is quietly but firmly driving you for more of this newfound life. You got to have it and do not care what anybody thinks. You are willing to leave all to keep getting it.
God knew that there are souls that wanted Him. Therefore, God sent Jesus into this hell of evil minds and hateful spirits to bring us out from among them. Jesus gave up everything to give us everything. Is that true love or what? There are souls in the world who do not want the world but the same is all that they know. Thus far, they have not found better but better will find them. Then, they must make the decision of their lives.
Despite their circumstances, the lost sheep had to be made to give up the world. Until Jesus, all that we knew was the world. We, too, tried to make heaven out of the flesh and failed miserably. There had to be more to life. Something had to make sense. Being told that a lie is the truth does not work. When someone says that he is telling the truth then good should come of it. When good does not come then you know that something is wrong.
All that we knew was the flesh. Therefore, while answering Jesus’ call, we tried to bring the flesh along which is why we had to be remade. We had to be shown what is true and untrue. We had to see that God is true but the flesh is a liar. We had to be torn down as carnal souls and rebuilt as spiritual souls. Then, we are in the position to choose wisely.
The lost sheep have to choose God over everything else. Having seen the abomination of desolation and being tired of the world then this should be a no-brainer. Looking at their efforts to live and seeing the little-to-no benefits in return then the choice for God should be much easier this time. Try the Spirit of God and then do the work that He gave you from the beginning. Try the Lord on His terms and see for yourself.
Jesus did not come for everybody because He knew that most did not want Him. Jesus came for those that would come to Him. These are the lost sheep. They want God and will do everything to be with Him. They are weary of their sufferings. I speak about the souls of people and the fact that they are tired of dying the spiritual death. Being away from God is dying such a death. This is what happens to the flesh, which you see. The spirit can die also, which is not readily seen. Jesus did not come for the flesh who never gets enough of the world. Jesus came for the spirit.
A soul may wonder, ‘Why does not God make the flesh bow?’ The answer is that God does but not to life. Ultimately, the flesh bows to the Word of God as much as it tries to live without Him. At the end, the flesh dies and effectively bows. The flesh is married to the devil and follows evil. The spirit must overcome the flesh to serve God. Now, this is possible through the Word. That being said, God has done more work for the flesh than the spirit yet the former still hates Him bitterly.
Life has been always about the spirit. Even before Jesus came, there were a few people that pleased God who knew and loved Him by the spirit and not the flesh. They knew that God was not flesh, nor did they try to make Him so. Righteousness has never been of the flesh but the spirit. The children of God forsake their flesh for the spirit, as Jesus did. All must do so before they can come to grace. Forsaking the flesh has always been the requirement. The conclusion of the matter is that we must love God more than ourselves. “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?”
The miracle of the feedings that Jesus performed were only for those people who had forsaken themselves to hear the Word. Their hunger for the Word was greater than anything else. Jesus did not seek to feed the world who cares nothing for God. “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” Jesus was only concerned with feeding God’s people who cared more for His Spirit than the flesh. Jesus fed them with God’s Word first, then the fish and loaves. These were lost sheep who were seeking their way back home. Help had arrived. The sheep knew it but the world did not.
“Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.” (Galatians 3: 7 - 18).
The Chosen and lost sheep are they to whom the second promise of God was made. Most of the world thinks that the second covenant was made to the flesh. The covenant was made not to the flesh because it will not obey. The second covenant excludes the flesh outright for this reason. The flesh is excluded by its own works.
God made Adam who, through the Word, was to build the spiritual man in himself and the world. Instead, Adam chose to follow the flesh. Therefore, Adam did not do his work and has no rest.
God chose one man out of a people and, through the same, He made a people for Himself. Even though there were other people, God made Adam for Himself and you know how that story went. Out of the line of Adam, God chose Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. There were sprinklings of God-fearing men but Abraham was the deeply respected soul. Through Abraham, Jesus would come.
The belief is held by most that God’s promise was made to Abraham’s natural soul and descendants. Much evidence exists that seemingly supports this belief. God built a people out of Abraham and of them He begets His Chosen who were not of the flesh.
Through God, Abraham became a great man. Abraham was a king with a kingdom that thrived during peacetime and war. During wartime, Abraham’s followers fought for him. During peacetime, they thrived under his rule. Was Abraham’s kingdom of one people? If so, where did they come from? If not, where did they come from? These were a people of and not of Abraham’s bloodline that followed him. These people were content to live in and be part of Abraham’s tribe. The same was true for Isaac and Israel. What was it that made them a people? Obviously, the bloodline was not the answer but rather their willingness to serve this man of God. Some will say they chose to be of Abraham’s tribe but, again, this shows that the bloodline did not make the kingdom but the heart. God is of the heart.
Abraham loved God. Accordingly, God made him great. Abraham’s greatness grew because of his love for God. God promised to bless, without measure, Abraham and his seed because he was counted as a Friend. This kind of devotion is not of the flesh but the spirit. Everybody is given the choice to serve God. Some choose to serve but many more do not.
As the Apostle Paul points out so keenly the promise was made to Abraham’s seed, not seeds, which is Jesus Christ. Here again, out of a people God chose one for Himself. From that one soul, God builds a people for Himself. This thing began with the flesh but ends with the spirit.
What distinguished Abraham to God was that his heart was like that of Jesus. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son out of his love for God. Jesus was willing to sacrifice Himself according to the Will of God. Both held dearly to God’s Word of faith. Such devotion is of the heart, mind, spirit, but not the flesh. The people that God wants will have hearts like Him. Through one man, Jesus Christ, God is building a people for Himself.
God established a new covenant while ending the old one. God established the new covenant with Abraham and fulfilled it through Jesus Christ. Jesus built the spiritual man through the Word of God. When Jesus had fulfilled the old covenant then He established the new one. Jesus built the spiritual man in His disciples that followed.
I emphasize strongly that you not take lightly anything that God says because there is always a deeper meaning and impact. God’s Spirit is deep so anything about Him is going to be that way. His blessing of Abraham was much deeper than most realize. God did favor him on the earth but the strength of His blessing was not to the flesh but to the righteous. How can Abraham’s seed be such a blessing to all nations except it be through Jesus Christ? Jesus is the seed that God was talking about. Has not Jesus Christ blessed the world? Has anyone else blessed the world, ever? Hate, prejudice, lying, and greed does not bless the world but love does. Jesus came because we had hell but not Heaven.
From the beginning, God’s great plan was Jesus Christ. After Adam had sinned God told the serpent ‘I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel’. A woman does not have seed of herself. She gets her seed from the man. This seed is not about the flesh but about the Word of God. The seed of the serpent (flesh) are its lies. There exists the enmity between Truth and lying. Eve’s seed is Jesus Christ, God’s Word. The flesh is agreeable to lying but Jesus defeated that enemy with the Truth. Can you see why Jesus was God’s master plan all along? “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:” Remember - the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
When the Lord stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son He had something else, much greater, in mind. The ram caught in the thicket by the horns was a shadow of good things to come; which is to say, Jesus Christ. Abraham did not have to sacrifice his son because the Lord had a more perfect choice. God wanted to see whether Abraham loved Him deeply. The sacrifice of Isaac would not have accomplished what Jesus did. Sometimes you just want to know whether a person truly loves you. Most souls say that they love you because of what you are doing for them. Sometimes you need to test that love by refraining from what you are doing to see what they will do. God did so with Abraham by telling him to sacrifice his only son. God does not command anything of us that He does not do.
The second covenant was made that Adam would prosper and be blessed if he served and obeyed God. But, from the beginning, man has shown that he will not walk perfect before God. In other words, the first covenant given by God was not honored by the flesh. With the second covenant, God had made a promise that could not be fulfilled because of the flesh yet His Word cannot fail. For His Name’s sake, God would keep that promise but not to the flesh because it would not fulfill its obligation. When God created the heavens and the earth then He rested from His work. Man’s duty is to continue God’s wonderful works. God gave man that much power but he is hardly using it.
“Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; And charged them that they should not make him known: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.” (Matthew 12: 14 - 21).
Jesus came to do a great work and did not love His life unto the death. The work was to deliver God’s people from the bondage of Satan through the preaching of the Word. In doing so, those souls would be reborn into salvation. Jesus meant harm to no one but the world intended the greatest harm to Him for what He came to do. Knowing the world’s intentions, Jesus made every effort to impart the love of God unto them. Your love is purified when tried by fire and yet stands rooted. “And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.” We are chosen by God when our love is the same as His love. God gives us His love and we accept Him into our hearts.
From the beginning, God has made His intentions known that salvation would be given to the Gentiles. Out of the Gentiles, would the remnant be counted as well. This one thing I know - If you try to see God in any other way than by the spirit then you never will. God’s people are of the Spirit, not the flesh. We are in His likeness and image. We are invisible, as God is. We love deeply, as He does. We love God and He loves us more than anything else. Our passion is the salvation of souls; to bring them to God’s glory.
“But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains: And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take anything out of his house: And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment. But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter. For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not: For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.” (Mark 13: 14 - 23).
Here is an example of how God is the major factor in our lives. Man has shown consistently his utter disregard for God to the extent that all life should have ended. God alone, in His abundant mercy, changed this fate. We could do nothing more than die. God sent Jesus Christ into the world and saved us from such an ending.
Even though Jesus was sent, the world still killed Him but not without playing right into God’s hands. By killing Jesus, the world killed themselves and released into the world the very salvation that they tried to prevent. They tried to prevent salvation and stop the very torment that grieves them now. Why would they try to stop salvation? The answer is because their deeds are evil and they do the lusts of the devil.
Even still, God is merciful enough to give the world a portion of life. God does as much because of the remnant that should come out of the world. As long as the world exists then a remnant will be coming out of it, which will be forever. For this reason, God stopped mankind’s self-destruction. Even so, the world still takes this time of grace and uses it for evil works. And, they persist in working to steal what God has given to His Chosen. “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”
If Christ had not done this most important work then there would be no flesh saved but, for the elect’s sake, He did. Now, everybody has a second chance at life and all good and evil souls live because of Jesus Christ. Without knowing, the world helped Jesus to fulfill God’s Will.
“Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.” (1 Peter 2: 1 - 8).
Can you see the great work of God here? God made a man (Abraham), chose him, and made a people out of him. Out of that people, He made the man Jesus Christ. From Jesus, God made a people of His Spirit.
God’s people are considered peculiar because they do not riot to excess like the world but, instead, worship Him. We forsake the world now for the glory of Heaven. In other words, we reject the flesh to save the spirit. The world chooses the glory of the flesh now and forsakes Heaven. We are unique and special because the Spirit of God takes care of our souls.
We are creatures of God’s Spirit, elect and precious. We have chosen God because He picked us. God picked us and we love Him in return. In such love, we choose God and He loves us more deeply. We, in turn, come to love Him more deeply. This circle of love goes on forever.
This life in Christ is very special and highly esteemed in Heaven. We do everything to keep it by forsaking the cares of the world. Jesus Christ’s body was broken into many pieces so that all could share of His great gift. In other words, Jesus’ life was broken so that all souls could have a piece and live again. Jesus’ life is the Word of God which is being given to the whole world. Consequently, the world lives. To this day, the world does not see or know that this has happened but it is a fact nonetheless. The world continues to live and does not know about the second chance that has been given to them.
Jesus stood for us to take the condemnation for our wrongs and died for the sins of the world forever. This selfless act of love fulfilled the first promise of death to the disobedient that would have hung over our heads forever. God sends His preachers for this reason. We are to show all these wonderful things that God has done and is doing. Perhaps, with this knowledge, more would turn to loving God instead of hating Him.
Now, every soul that comes into the world is given life by Jesus Christ. What a man or woman does with this gift is his or her decision. The fact remains that we would not have life without the sacrifice that Jesus made. Jesus died and lives for everybody. Life continues because of God alone.
We, as fleshly beings, were nailed to the cross by the commandments of God. We did not have the Word because we did not obey it. Jesus did. Therefore, Jesus was able to come off the cross by the Spirit. “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” Now, we can come off the cross if we follow Jesus. When the flesh goes down then the spirit rises. Otherwise, your condemnation remains and your spirit goes down with the flesh.
Having been made free from the first covenant, we can partake of Jesus’ fulfillment of the second. All that we must do is to follow Him. It is really that simple. Being members of Jesus’ body, we are brought together again into the fullness of the measure of His stature. Through Christ, we are God’s children and are of His family again.
We, the children of God, are as He is. We are members of the body of Jesus Christ. Christ stands now for us in the presence of our Father. Being members of Jesus’ body, we can stand holy and acceptable before God too. When our Father looks on us then He sees Jesus and when He looks on Jesus then He sees us. Christ bridged the troubled waters between God and ourselves.
The spiritual sacrifices that we offer are our disdain for the world and our love for the Lord. The spiritual sacrifices that we offer to God are the same which He shows to all mankind. We have learned to love as God does. We are of Jesus’ flesh and bones, the Word. We do not riot to excess with the world and they think us to be a strange lot. We are peculiar and special people because we do not love the world.
“When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?” (John 6: 61 - 70).
We were chosen when the commandment was given and we obeyed. This is how God chooses a soul. Jesus called His Disciples to follow Him and they obeyed. Jesus commanded them and they heeded.
“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another.” (John 15: 12 - 17).
Jesus came to us, we did not come to Him. We were lost in the world. Jesus came down from Heaven to bring salvation to the world. Those accepting Jesus’ gift are God’s Chosen.
When the Angel of God appeared unto Mary calling her highly favored, some have argued that was because she was without sin and the reason God chose her to have the baby Jesus. Wrong. Remember, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Mary was highly favored because God decided to use her, period, and not because she was righteous. She may have had some good qualities but, remember, we were all lost until Jesus came and did the work that God sent him to do. If Jesus had not done this work then all would be lost.
All were damned because Adam brought condemnation into the world. In other words, Adam denied God and released death into the world as a result. The devil was allowed into the first heaven and defiled everything. We were weakened to the point of not being able to return to God. There was no one to bring strength and life until Jesus came.
Adam was warned not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree is the soul, even yourself, that knows to do good but does not. Already in the Garden was the tree of life, Jesus Christ. God gave life to Adam at the beginning. Adam simply had to follow God’s commandment to keep it. Adam did not so death was released into the world and prevailed until Jesus Christ. Never did you hear God speak of Adam saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
God’s second promise was left unfulfilled which cannot be. Man could not continue without the fulfillment of the Word. All the good souls that had died were committed to corruption because condemnation was upon all flesh. Our spirits were weighed down heavily by the lies of the devil. We were not strong enough to remove this curse of all curses. We imposed the curse but could not undo it.
The condemnation would remain until mankind had paid for his wrongs. We were destined to die for our wrongs. We could not atone for our wrongs because we were not clean. You cannot offer consolation to God being yet sinful. To have life after the death of the flesh, we had to be forgiven.
When Jesus died for all mankind then the first covenant was fulfilled. Before Jesus died, He prayed the Father to forgive us. The prayer accounted for all the evil that had been done. Can you see that there is no more perfect sacrifice than dying for the guilty while you are clean of all wrong? Afterwards, there was nothing blocking the way to life if we chose it. Praise be to God who, knowing and seeing all things, made this way of life for us.
Good people were bound to the same fate as the world because the true help had not yet arrived. All the wrongs that were done had to be accounted for but there was no one standing worthy among men, until Jesus. God’s Word had to be fulfilled. Our curse had to be removed before any blessing could come. God does His works perfectly.
John the Baptist was the spirit of the prophet Elijah (or Elias) having returned. Elijah saw corruption through John’s execution. As you know, Elijah was taken up to Heaven and never seen again reportedly. I had always wondered about the significance of that event until this teaching. We know now that John was the spirit of Elijah having returned to earth. Elijah represented Jesus’ Spirit being taken up to Heaven triumphantly, returning, and walking the earth in another form. The work of Elijah was completed in John whose work was completed in Jesus. Now, we complete the on-going work of Christ in our lives. The world looks to destroy the men of God but His power and glory remain.
Condemnation prevailed because the leaders of the people came up short. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” You can see that the leaders are responsible for the actions of their people. As the leader goes then so do the people. Adam came up short. Moses, the great leader that he was, came up short too. Only Jesus saw God’s work through to perfection.
When Jesus Christ came, everything was changed for the better. Through Him we gained life instead of death. Jesus fulfilled God’s second promise by obeying and received everlasting life. The condemnation that Adam brought was replaced with life everlasting. Instead of death, a soul is committed to life if he obeys.
Mary was called and submitted to God’s Will. God called Saul of Tarsus, who was neither righteous or without sin, but submitted to His Will too. God told Mary what He was going to do and she consented. God wants to use us all but we will have to submit to His Will.
Jesus Christ’s living and preaching the Truth to the world is the reason that God was well-pleased with Him. Jesus obeyed and is why God said, ‘This day have I begotten thee’. The day is God’s Spirit in your soul. Unlike Adam, God found Jesus in His Spirit doing His Will.
We love the Lord because He loved us first. God’s love is so good. He was well-pleased with Jesus. God found Jesus in His love, continually. Whenever God looked into the matters of the Word, He found Jesus there serving Him. This holy place is where God chose Jesus, and anybody else for that matter, which is the Lord’s Day.
Being in Jesus is when and where God chooses us. God found Jesus exactly where He had commanded Him. God did not find Adam where He had put him. “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand).” Any time God finds you where He called you then He will be well-pleased with you.
Not everybody that God calls submits to His Will. Consequently, they go to hell. There are preachers in hell. These are men that God told to preach His Word who did not. Some may ask, ‘How can they be preachers if they never preached?’ The answer is because they were empowered by the Word. Whenever God commands you then you are given the power. “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
Jesus called Judas to righteousness yet what did he do? Was not the fact that Jesus calling Judas made him highly favored? Frankly, God has called the whole world wanting all to come to righteousness and yet are they serving Him? With that being said, let us look more closely at those who have chosen God.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified”. (Roman 8: 28 - 30).
The Chosen are the people that God has reserved to Himself; in other words, those serving Him. God has always selected people for Himself. God is Spirit and the Chosen are the same. The Chosen are those that love God.
God called everybody but chose only a few. God knew that only a few would be chosen because the majority shows a consistent lust for the world. From the beginning, this has been so. The righteous began with Abel and since then there has been only a sprinkling of souls that serve God willingly. God loved Abel but the devil hated him. We are loved and hated as well.
“For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.” (Hebrews 8: 7 - 13).
God removed the first covenant because of the people’s disobedience and established a new one for them that would believe. Believing is not saying; it is doing. Read James 2: 17 - 18. God has His Chosen now. Read Galatians 4: 28 - 29, Romans 4: 13, and Romans 9: 6 - 8.
Giving salvation to the Gentiles had been God’s plan from the beginning. God has given the flesh every chance imaginable to serve Him yet it will not. Nobody else’s word holds true except God’s Word. God sent His blessing out into the world and there would be no rest until all had been fulfilled. Every man’s words return to him void because they are lies. God’s Word cannot return to Him unfulfilled without having done what it was sent to do. Jesus Christ returned God’s Word to Him fulfilled and the result was His kingdom restored.
“And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour”. (John 12: 20 - 26).
When the Greeks asked to see Jesus then He knew that His work was done. Jesus came to complete the work that Adam had left undone, which is to obey God’s commandments to the end. The work was to go into the world and preach the Word of God. Doing so would build the spiritual man within himself and others.
In one last attempt, Jesus came to entreat the flesh to return to God and (while doing so) fulfill God’s second promise which is to bring salvation to the world.
With the spiritual man having replaced the carnal, we can be like God now. Only through the Spirit of God is this possible.
The lost sheep have always been those that would hear and obey God. All of Creation has been about returning to God the same glory that He gave. The spiritual man will do this but the carnal man will not. God knew the whole time.
The Spirit of God is the substance of all life. Take away everything else and God’s Spirit will be left standing. The natural man can only see the visible but it is the invisible that abounds. Break anything down to its most basic element and you will find God.
Of those that wanted righteousness, Jesus gathered and delivered them to the Father doing the work that was charged to Adam. The Word of God is offered to everybody that will believe. Now, the Chosen are they that follow Jesus Christ. Read Revelation 21: 1 - 5. God’s Grace is extended to all.
“As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha”. (Romans 9: 25 - 29).
There are people that are tired of being in the world. They may have loved the world at one time but do not desire it anymore. They find Jesus Christ to be water to their thirsty souls. I said to myself, when I heard the Word of God and was filled with the Holy Ghost, that this is what I had been looking for all my life. I did not know that I was even looking. I wanted to say that I found the Holy Ghost but, in truth, He found me. My soul is home again. Read Luke 15: 8 - 9. Read 1 Peter 2: 25.
The Jews are the children of God. The Jews are the Chosen and Chosen are the Jews. We are God’s children because we love, serve, and obey Him. To be a child of God, you will have to be of His Spirit. The flesh is not spirit. Christ delivered us back to the Father through the Spirit. We are satisfied in Jesus and God is pleased with us. The Spirit of God is alive in my soul! His Kingdom is established within me. God walks in me, talks in me, and is my heart’s desire. I was glad when they said unto me, ‘Let us go into the House of the Lord.’
Everything that God has made and does is for the Chosen; namely, the few that lust for the Spirit of God. God did not create the worlds for anybody else. To no one else did God say, ‘Of every tree you can freely eat’, but to those that He commanded to obey Him.
There are trees from which your hand picks fruit and those from which your mind picks fruit. There are trees of the earth and spirit. There are fruits of the trees of the earth that are poisonous to the flesh and those of the spirit which are poisonous to the soul. The fruits are the things of a soul (thoughts, minds, ideas, emotions, feelings, beliefs, etc.) from which the same chooses for his living. The unclean thing is the mind who knows to do good but does not.
The soul from whom God commands and receives obedience is the same that He chooses. The people of God know that the flesh was never His intended. The flesh is merely a beast of the field and the only one that will not obey the Lord. God gave the flesh a place in life but it chose death instead. This is not a child of God.
God cares nothing for the world. God keeps the world because He knows that without Him they will die immediately. For the elect’s sake, this cannot be because they will be coming out of the world always. Life, as we know it, will be forever. Man on and in earth is forever. Jesus Christ is the reason why mankind will be forever because He is the end of the world. The world does not have life because they do not have God.
God sent Jesus to reclaim His people who are His kingdom restored. The devil had cut off the elect from God through lies, deception, and seduction. Upon seeing the light again, we ran to Jesus like the demonized man.
Here are more scriptures for this teaching.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” (Ephesians 1: 3 - 6).
“But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2: 13 - 14).
“These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” (Revelation 17: 14).
“These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10: 5 - 8).
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” (Revelation 3: 7 - 13).
“I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” (John 10: 14 - 18).