THE TRUE CALLING OF GOD

The traditional churches believe that their main mission is to convert everyone to Christianity in this church age. They go to great length to 'preach the Gospel' to every tribes and nations even at the cost of the lives of the missionaries and their loved ones. But if that is the will of God to save every soul under heaven in this age, then Satan must have the upper hand, since the large majority of mankind on planet earth had never heard the Gospel message, let alone understand and believe the truth!  If those who had never heard the Gospel and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour are going to eternal hellfire, then God is a respecter of persons when He chose the Jews to be the bearer of the truth.

Two millennia ago, Jesus Christ came to earth to qualify Himself as the King of the coming kingdom of God - the world government of Almighty God that will rule over all the earth. He did this by overcoming the temptations of Satan and all who are called into the one true church of God will have to overcome the temptations of this world - as Satan is the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4; Gal 1:4) - in order to become kings in the kingdom of God. Empowered with the Spirit of Christ, all of Christ's true disciples who are called and obeyed His commandments will do the Works of God. There are basically two great commissions for the church of God to do in this age - to preach the Gospel of the kingdom of God and to equip the saints with God's truth so that they can develop the character of Christ and qualify to become members of God's Family when born again as spirit beings at the first resurrection.

In this age, God is calling only a small group of people to form the firstfruits, with Christ as the firstborn among many brethren (meaning the first to resurrect among the firstfruits who are the called of this age) - Rom 8:29. 'For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called' - 1 Cor 1:26. Christ made this clear when He said, '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 - John 6:44.  The Lord was referring to the end of the church age when those who are called and chosen will be in the first resurrection at the last trumpet call. That is why Christ spoke to His called and chosen disciples in parables so that those who are not called in this time will not understand His teaching - ' Because it is given unto you (the called) to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (God), but to them (those not called) it is not given.' -Matt 13:11. The calling is something given unto those who are being called. The church is the firstfruits (James 1:18), and there will be subsequent fruits from subsequent harvests yet of the future.

Many people wrongly assumed that if they are given a wonderful opportunity too good to be true or are having some kind of unexplained emotional feeling, then God has 'called' them into some kind of ministry or some missionary work in a foreign land. But this is not what the Bible is talking about. Simply put, a calling is when a person begins to understand the truth of God  like never before when he reads, sees or hears them. Things begin to make sense and not be deceived by false doctrine and sway by all kinds of man-made teachings and practices. The question is - do you begin to understand the Bible like never before and all its teachings like the Gospel of the kingdom of God, God's Plan for mankind, Bible prophecy and the one true church begin to make sense to you? If it does, God is calling you. Those who are not called will find it almost imposible to understand and make sense of what the Bible is teaching despite reading it umpteen times!

Does it mean that those who are not called in this age are being discriminated upon? The answer is NO. The vast majority of mankind who has ever lived  are neither saved nor lost as they are not being called now but their time for salvation is yet future when the whole truth will be made known to them at God's timing. Those who are called in this age will be given the task to teach and minister to the countless billions who will be resurrected in the second resurrection to come towards the end of the Millennial Age. They will be given the whole truth and opportunity to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and hence eternal life (Acts 4:12). The true church of God is like the advance party called to be trained to help reap the great harvest yet to come during the Millennial Age.

The Apostle Paul stated this clearly in Romans 8:29-30, 'For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he (Christ) might be the firstborn among many brethren. Morever whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified.'  The meaning of these two verses are impregnated with the truth of God's Plan for those whom He called at this time - before the Second Coming of Christ. God knows the motivation and make-up of each of those whom He intends to call before they were even born - from the time they were in their mother's womb - foreknow. Next, God helps them to chart the course of their life to know and understand the truth of God so that they might be set apart from Satan's worldview and value system - predestinate. They would then be sealed and empowered with the Holy Spirit to be overcomers and conform to the image of Christ to have the Christ-like character essential for membership into the Royal Family of God when borm again into immortality - justified. Lastly, those called with be in the first resurrection on the last trumpet call (1 Cor 15:52) at the Second Coming of Christ - glorified!

However, many churches are still part of the Babylon's system of this world and God's will for them is to come out of her (Rev 18:4)  so that they will not be partakers of her sins. Are you being called, and if so, will you obey the call of God and be counted worthy to be in the first resurrection - a better resurrection (Hebrews 11:35). The choice is yours to make.


 

PLACE OF SAFETY

For years, I have been sold to the doctrine of pre-tribulation rapture where all who trusted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour will be raptured away to heaven just before the seven-year Great Tribulation is prophesied to occur towards the end of this church age. How wrong I was! What the Scripture really teaches is not any rapture but a place of safety on earth for the true church of Jesus Christ during the period of the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord - a total of three-and-a-half years or 1,260 days. The rapture doctrine was birthed as a result of the Council of Trent in 1545 based on the theory of futurism conceived by a Jesuit priest named Francisco Ribera to counter Catholic doctrines and traditions. An Anglican preacher named John Nelson Darby later refined it and the doctrines of dispensationalism and rapturism were conceived. It was never taught by Christ or any of His appointed Apostles and certainly not mentioned anywhere in the Bible! It is purely a product of human ideas and invention.

Since God is not the Author of confusion (1 Cor 14:33), the rapture doctrine cannot hold any ground as it leads to mass confusion and hayhem with innocent lives lost when Christians would be raptured away from planet earth with classrooms, airplanes in flight, moving vehicles and many others left unattended and in jeopardy! What the Bible teaches is that there is a designated place of safety on earth (not in heaven) for all true believers for a period of three-and-a half years (Rev 12:14; Psalms 91) - shielded from all the cataclysmic events unleashed upon planet earth. That is why Christ warned His elect to watch and pray always so as to be counted worthy to escape all these things (Luke 21:36) - there is a personal responsibility involved right up to the very end. Sadly, few would take His word seriously!

Christ says that no one has ascended to heaven except Himself who came down from heaven (John 3:13) and He also told His audience that 'Where I go (heaven) you cannot come' - John 8:21, 13:33. The rewards of all true saints are the kingdom of God which will come on planet earth ( Daniel 7:27; Matt 5:5; Rev 2:26; Rev 11:15). Many preachers have misunderstood the words of Christ in John 14:1-3 to mean the saved will have 'mansions in heaven' awaiting them upon physical death. The correct translation for this should be 'rooms' to indicate different positions of authority of temple priests. In like manner, Christ will dispense to the true saints different positions of authority as rewards, depending on their faith and obedience, when He returns to earth. Christ's teachings on the parable of the pounds found in Luke 19: 11-27 is a clear reference to this truth about rewards in the kingdom of God.

The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 put it succintly, 'That flesh and bood cannot inherit the kingdom of God... We shall not all sleep (physical death), but we shall all be changed...At the last trumpet...the dead will be raised incorruptible...and this mortal has put on immortality...Death is swallow up in victory.' If all the dead in Christ have gone to heaven, all these verses make no sense! Besides, there is no indication of a rapture in any variation whatsoever. This proves that the dead in Christ are 'sleeping in the grave' awaiting the sounding of the last trumpet (Rev 11:15) to be resurrected to immortality - to be born again as a spirit being (1 John 3:9) as compared to our physical birth as a human being. The dead in Christ will meet Him in the air (clouds) and return to earth when Christ will then descend on the Mount of Olives (Zech 14:4-5) to begin His rule on the kingdom of God with the headquarters in Jerusalem.

The Bible clearly states that Christ will come back to earth and every eye will see Him (Rev 1:7) - not the saints going to heaven to be with Him! Christ will then begin His rule on earth (kingdom of God) together with His saints for the next one thousand years (Millennial Age) - Rev 20:4. That is an undisputable fact despite what theologians and preachers may teach and preach. Those who hold contrarian views are sincerely wrong and deceived! For those who are called and obey His word, they will be counted worthy to escape all these global calamities just before Christ Return which God has promised to protect them (Luke 21:36) that are prophesied to come upon the whole earth like a snare (Luke 21:34-35).

To the era of the Church in Philadelphia, Christ promised all His true disciples (those who believe and obey His word) that He will keep them from the hour of temptation - meaning the Tribulation (Rev 3:10). He also promised to come to reward those who are faithful and exercise good stewardship on all that were entrusted them (3:11). To the true New Testament church ('woman'), God will provide a physical place of safety for three-and-a-half year, or 1,260 days (Rev 12:6) to shelter them from the global calamities. Daniel 12:11-12 indicates a period of 1,290 and 1,335 days, a countdown to the Return of Christ. From 1,335 days to 1,290 days, a period of 45 days is for the true church to finish its work of warning the nations and make preparation to flee to Judea, and the period of 30 days from 1,290 to 1,260 days (period of God's protection) is for the journey from the gathering place to the place of safety.

Simple faith by 'just believing in Jesus alone' may fall short of God's standard and expectations from those who will be protected during the coming Great Tribulation. They have been misled to believe that Christ will take care of everything once they believe in Him, and disregard personal responsibility. The truth is that one has to have the right belief coupled with obedience to be counted 'worthy to escape all these things'. Those who have ears let them hear!