No. 1
From the days of Abel there have been in this world those who have walked for God's pleasure amidst a generation that had departed from Him, amidst those who sought to be happy in their own pursuits and who gave Him no place in their thoughts and lives. Among the faithful are two outstanding names of antediluvian times, Enoch and Noah, the former being taken to heaven without dying, the latter being brought safely through the waters of the flood on to the new world. But there was no call from God in those times to separate from the world around, although these men were separate in life from the unrighteousness around them. The call of God to separate from an unrighteous and ungodly world came when idolatry had reared its head.
God's call to Abraham is found in the first three verses of Genesis 12. It was an individual call, for God said, "Get thee out." It is true that natural considerations and relationships had at first some influence on Abraham, for in Genesis 11:31 it is recorded "And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son … and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there." Their objective was "the land of Canaan," but Abraham did not seem to take the lead and to move on from Haran to Canaan until his father died.
It was a call to separation from all that is nearest and dearest to the natural heart; from country, from kindred and from father's house. The divine call sets us apart from a life lived in patriotism, natural associations and natural relationships. Everything for Abraham was now to be found in another land, to which God Himself called him; and there he was to be blessed and made a blessing to others.
Whatever greatness Abraham may have had in the land of his fathers has all been forgotten, but the greatness that God promised him is found in the record of Scripture, and in the nations of the world that have been derived from him. Had he not obeyed the call of God, his name would have been long forgotten, and even if there had been records of his prowess in the land of the Chaldees, they would have long since perished among the ruins of that land.
Messiah, the Christ of God, according to the flesh has sprung from Abraham. When Lazarus, the poor beggar, was received into heaven, it was into the bosom of Abraham. So often in the records of the Old Testament do we read of Abraham, while almost all the writers of the New Testament have mentioned him, his name being too upon the lips of the Son of God.
All true Christians are "called saints," or saints by divine calling. When we first trusted in the Lord Jesus we were probably more occupied with the blessing offered to us, rather than with the fact that it was God Himself that was calling us by His Gospel. But God would have us to understand that had He not called us by His grace, we should never have been blessed. The obedience of faith responded to the divine call, but from beginning to end it was a sovereign work of God. Had we not been compelled by divine grace we would have forever remained at a distance from God. In 1 Corinthians 1:1, Paul presents himself as a "called apostle," and tells the saints that they were such by God's call (verse 2).
Christ crucified, we are told in 1 Corinthians 1:23, is "unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness." But "unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor. 1:24). The call of God that brought us into such wondrous blessing has given us to apprehend Christ as God's wisdom and God's power.
In this world, those that are highly esteemed are the wise after the flesh, the mighty and the noble; "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world … and … the weak things … and the base things … and things which are despised … and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: that no flesh should glory in His presence" (1 Cor. 1:27-29). The few from among the great of this world that God has called have their place among the despised, not because of their greatness, but in spite of it.
When the call of God reached us we were dead in trespasses and sins, without a movement in our hearts towards Him; but He quickened us, raised us up, and made us sit down together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. From Ephesians 1 we learn that this divine call is no afterthought with God, but according to His eternal purpose in Christ for His own glory. This divine blessing He has given us in Christ is "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world." We had no part in that, saving that God chose us in the sovereignty of His love.
God has also "predestinated us unto the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will." What a wondrous place of relationship and favour this is; and we owe it all to God. We could not have a nearer place, or a relationship with such dignity as this; and God has given us this blessing for the satisfaction of His heart of infinite love.
Like the prodigal of Luke 15, we should have been satisfied with a servant's place, but the Father had some-thing much better in store for us, that which would bring satisfaction to Himself. That is why He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, and made us accepted in the Beloved. Nothing but a son's place, and that to share the place of His own Son, would do for God. It gives Him joy to have sons before His face, having His own nature and character, "holy and without blame" and in love.
Soon, those who have been called to sonship, and who have now the Spirit of sonship, which gives them the present enjoyment of a son's place, shall be brought home to the Father's House. The hope of "His calling" will be realised when the Lord Jesus comes and takes us to be forever with Himself. Then we shall be "like Him," and conformed "to the image of His Son," and shall share the inheritance of which we have been made "heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ." This will be sonship in all its fulness, as Romans 8:23 tells us, waiting for sonship, the redemption of the body.
If in Abraham we have the individual call of the saint illustrated, in Rebekah we have the call of the bride foreshadowed. Abraham's unnamed servant was sent to procure a bride for Isaac, one suitable to be united to the only son of his father. This surely brings before us the sending of the Holy Spirit to bring the bride of Christ home to Him. Rebekah was shown by the servant something of the treasures that belonged to Isaac, testifying that the father had given to him all he possessed. Rebekah's heart was won for Isaac by the tidings she heard from the servant, and when the call came, "Wilt thou go with this man?" her reply was, "I will go."
When we come to the reality of what was fore-shadowed in Genesis 24, it was not only the position that the Son had, or the riches He possessed, that attracted the bride; but "Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it" (Eph. 5:25). The love of Christ for the church has been manifested and measured in His death. The man who found the treasure in the field, like the man who found the pearl of great price, sold all that he had to possess it; but Christ not only impoverished Himself to get the church, but He gave Himself, of infinite worth, to have for His heart the object upon which He had set His affections.
We look back to the cross to see the manifestation of Christ's infinite love; but in love He is now caring for the church, and soon He will present it to Himself, all glorious, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. To be suitable for Him, the church must be like Him; just as Eve, come from the side of Adam, was his like. Apart from Christ's death He could never have had the church; but He has died, and the Spirit now brings tidings to us of His love and glory, and as we cross the desert to meet Him, we are still learning more of Him whose love is so great and who is so glorious.
Israel, God's earthly people, were called from the bondage of Egypt to be for Himself a peculiar people. Of this call it is written in Hosea 11:1, "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." But now, in His grace through the Gospel, God has called His people, not only from among the nation of Israel, but also from among the Gentiles "which were afar off" (Eph. 2:17).
Believing Gentiles are "no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." Very soon the saints will be "a holy temple in the Lord," the divine structure is growing up to this; but while waiting for the completion of the church at the rapture, the saints on earth form "a habitation of God by the Spirit." This building is "the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Tim. 3:15). Until the Lord comes to take us home, we have individually the blessings of sonship; we have corporately the blessings of the body and the bride of Christ; and we have collectively the blessings that belong to God's house.
At the beginning of Ephesians 4 we are exhorted by the prisoner of the Lord to walk worthy of the calling wherewith we are called. What dignity should mark those who are God's sons, who belong to the body and bride of Christ, and who form the dwelling place of God. This dignity does not make us high minded, but rather brings out in us the traits that marked the Son of God while here below. Who was so great as He, but who so humble?
We are exhorted to walk worthy of the calling "with all lowliness and meekness," and the Master has given us an example in this, for He said, "Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart." There was no one who ever suffered long as HE did, enduring the contra-diction of sinners against Himself. How patiently too He bore with the weakness and ignorance of His disciples; a perfect pattern for us. His life yielded unbroken pleasure for His God and Father; and we are left here that we too may give the Father pleasure as we follow in the steps of His Son. To walk worthy of the calling we must know what the calling is; and we must be close enough to Jesus to manifest His features while conscious of the dignity of the calling.
There are many Scriptures in the New Testament that bring out different features of the call of God. The apostle Peter in his First Epistle writes, "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 marvellous light" (1 Peter 2:9). In his Second Epistle, Peter writes that God's power has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness, "through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue" (2 Peter 1:3). Paul, in Romans 8:28-30, writes of the divine call in relation to the purpose of God; and he exhorts the Thessalonian saints to walk worthy of God "who hath called you unto His kingdom and glory" (1 Thess. 2:12); and in 2 Thessalonians 2:14 he writes that God has called His people by the Gospel "to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." Many more Scriptures might be quoted relating to this important subject, but we shall look particularly at the high calling, the holy calling and the heavenly calling.
This aspect of the divine call is found in Philippians 3, it is "the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (verse 14); and it had a transforming effect on the life of Saul of Tarsus. The things that were of value to him in Judaism he counted loss for Christ; and all that could possibly attract his heart as a natural man he reckoned to be worthless, because of the "excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus" his Lord. Moreover, he had suffered the loss of all things, which probably included all his material possessions; but instead of mourning their loss, he counted them as filth, something to be rid of at all costs, so that he might have Christ instead.
God's calling on high was in Christ Jesus, and He it was that filled the vision of the Apostle. Once he had valued his own self-righteousness, but now through faith he was found "in Christ," and in Him he had the righteousness of God, a garment of worth and beauty compared with the tattered rags of his own self-righteousness.
Paul found everything worth having to be in Christ. Present things were not only worthless, they were a positive hindrance to the enjoyment of the eternal things, the heavenly and spiritual blessings that were in Christ. It was Christ he wanted to know, not the things that the learned of this world value; not its philosophy or its religion, things that perish, but Christ Himself in whom all the imperishable treasures of God are found.
He wanted, too, to know the power of Christ's resurrection while walking through this world. This is the greatest power that has ever been manifested, it is the exceeding greatness of God's power (Eph. 1:19-20); and Paul in his life as a Christian, and in his service to the Lord, needed this divine power to meet all the adverse circumstances through which he passed, and to stand against the forces of evil as he fought the good fight in the service of his Master.
The Apostle desired to get as near to his Master in all things. His Master had suffered here; he wanted to have fellowship in His sufferings. His Master had died and come out on the resurrection side of death; he too desired to die like his Master, and to have part in the resurrection from among the dead. He could not have part in the atoning sufferings of Christ; the only part he could have in them was that his sins were upon Christ when He suffered for them; but he could have part in the martyr sufferings of Christ, and this he desired, and his wish was granted.
In his Master in heaven there was a prize, and this is what the Apostle sought. He had not yet obtained it, but he reached forward with earnest longing to secure that for which Christ had laid hold on him so long before. ONE THING was constantly before him; it urged him forward, it drew him irresistibly, it made him forget all his achievements, it held his heart and occupied his mind, lifting his spirit above all the immense trials, fierce conflicts and abundant labours of his devoted life; it was what lay ahead, the prize of the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus.
What a blessed day it will be for the Apostle when he gets his prize! Already he has entered the presence of his Master, and has that which is "far better" than anything down here; but soon he will have his part with Christ in the coming glory; and what makes that part so blessed to the saints of God is that it is "in Christ" now we have it, and in the coming day we shall have it "with Christ."
The prize is open to all, and our minds are to be occupied with it as being in Christ. To have this bright, heavenly outlook requires maturity in the things of the Lord, even as the Apostle writes, "Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded" (Phil. 3:15). But it is added, "And if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you." The Lord's servant desired that all the saints might, with him, seek the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Soon the Saviour will come from heaven, and "change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself" (Phil. 3:21). This is the blessed hope of our souls, and this will put us in possession of the prize, and bring us into the enjoyment of all that God has held out to us, all that is in Christ for us to enjoy by the Spirit now, and all that we shall share with Him in His kingdom, and in the presence of the Father in His house for evermore.
Although Timothy was a most devoted and faithful servant of the Lord, who had known what it was to suffer imprisonment as the Lord's servant (Heb. 13:23), and who had shared much of the privations in labour with Paul, there was evidently the danger of his naturally sensitive temperament shrinking from the hardships belonging to the conflict into which God had called him. Because of this, Paul wrote to him, "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, nor of me His prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God." (2 Tim. 1:8).
The power of God enables the faithful servant to endure whatever trials he will have to face in the path of God's will. For this God has given to us the spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind, which will keep us from all fear. We have already experienced this divine power, for it has saved us, bringing us from under the domination of Satan, and translating us into the kingdom of God's dear Son.
But the God who has given to us the spirit of power. and has saved us from our sins, from sin's dominion, and from the fear of death, has also called us with a holy calling. In the midst of a polluted world, sodden with sin, the Christian is to remember the character of the divine call. The God who has called us is holy, and as the Apostle Peter exhorts, "But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15-16).
This divine call is not according to our works, for we were poor sinners, not only in nature but also in practice, with an unholy nature, and walking in unholiness. God's call proceeds from His sovereign goodness, "according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (2 Tim. 1:9). How very often the sovereignty of God's call is brought before us. God is working in time to give effect to His eternal purpose, and to bring us into blessing He has manifested His grace in calling us.
God's grace was given to us before the world began, but it was given to us in Christ Jesus, the One in whom all God's counsels centred. But the grace was not manifested till the Lord Jesus came, and as our Saviour He has "abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel" (2 Tim. 1:10). What a mighty work the Lord accomplished in His death; and what blessed results are made known in the Gospel. Entering into death He has annulled its power, and coming out in triumph He has brought to light a new kind of life, eternal life, a life over which death has no power, and He also has given us the prospect of incorruptibility, for those who have died in Christ will be raised in incorruptibility, and we who are alive at the coming of the Lord Jesus shall have our mortal bodies swallowed up of life.
The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews sought, by the Spirit of God, to engage those to whom he wrote with Christ glorified at God's right hand. Formerly, the Hebrew believers had belonged to an earthly system of religion in which God was dealing with man in the flesh, but the truth of the Gospel presented, not an earthly Messiah, but a heavenly Christ in the presence of God; and now those, who had been occupied with a worldly sanctuary and material symbols, were being weaned from them to be engaged with the spiritual substance in heavenly things.
Now they were partakers of a heavenly calling, being called from heaven and to heaven. Christ Jesus was the Apostle and High Priest of their confession, replacing Moses as their apostle, and Aaron as their high priest. This was an entirely new system. The Apostle had come out from God and had made Him known. As High Priest, Jesus has entered into Heaven, and the names of His people are engraved on His heart and on His shoulders. A pilgrim, heavenly people have the support of their High Priest and His constant love and care.
Israel had killed their Messiah, but God, because of Christ's intercession, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do," treated them as a manslayer and not as a murderer. Their city of refuge is not on earth, but in heaven, and all who flee to Christ in heaven are saved from the avenger of blood, and will be brought into liberty when the High Priest leaves His present place to come for His saints. This we have in the language of Hebrews 6:19, "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil, whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an High Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." As surely as Jesus has entered into heaven, so also will His people.
Abraham illustrates the heavenly calling inasmuch as he walked as a pilgrim and a stranger in this world, and "He looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Heb. 11:8-10). The city for which he waited is found in chapter 12 of Hebrews, "the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem" (Heb. 12:22). The pilgrims of former days manifested by their pilgrim walk that they sought "a better country," and we too in Christianity seek a better country, "that is, an heavenly" (Heb. 11:16).
Heavenly things are now to engage us; we have access to the presence of God in heaven; our Minister of the Sanctuary is in heaven; and we take our way onwards to heaven to be with God and with Jesus there. When we get to heaven we shall find all that we have waited for, the heavenly country and the heavenly city; but on the way we are to manifest that we are a heavenly people, called with a heavenly calling.