GENUINE CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOR EVIDENCES GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE!
Matt 22:14-16
14 For many are called (invited and summoned), but few are chosen.
15 Then the Pharisees went and consulted and plotted together how they might entangle Jesus in His talk.
16 And they sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians, saying, Teacher, we know that You are sincere and what You profess to be and that You teach the way of God truthfully, regardless of consequences and being afraid of no man; for You are impartial and do not regard either the person or the position of anyone.
AMP
14 For many are called (invited and summoned), but few are chosen.
15 Then the Pharisees went and consulted and plotted together how they might entangle Jesus in His talk.
16 And they sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians, saying, Teacher, we know that You are sincere and what You profess to be and that You teach the way of God truthfully, regardless of consequences and being afraid of no man; for You are impartial and do not regard either the person or the position of anyone.
AMP
Transcript
00:00I
00:29know that all of us like titles of the message that we begin with each Sunday, and this message
00:36is entitled Genuine Christian Behavior Evidences God's Chosen People.
00:43When we ponder upon this title today, we think about the fact that we're talking about two
00:49major things here.
00:51We get down to seeing that 1.
00:54Behavior identifies God's chosen, dearly beloved children, and number two, God, the author
01:01and creator of life, actually chose those who fall into this category of being called
01:08his chosen or favored people.
01:11First Peter, chapter 2, beginning in verse 9 declares, But you are a chosen race, a royal
01:19priesthood, a dedicated nation, God's own purchased special people, that you may send
01:26forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of him who called
01:32you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
01:36Verse 10, Once you were not a people at all, but now you are God's people.
01:42Once you were unpitied, but now you are pitied and have received mercy.
01:47Beloved, I implore you as alien and strangers and exiles in this world to abstain from the
01:54sensual urges, the evil desires, the passions of the flesh, your lower nature, that wage
02:01war against the soul.
02:04Conduct yourselves properly, honorably, righteously among the Gentiles, so that although they
02:10may slander you as evildoers, yet they may, by witnessing your good deeds, come to glorify
02:17God in the day of inspection, when God shall look upon you, wanderers, as a pastor or shepherd
02:25overlooks his flock.
02:28Genuine or true believers are recipients of special choice by God and for God.
02:35And scriptures unanimously declare that true Christians are chosen of God.
02:42So who dares to question the right of the Creator's right to choose them?
02:48God does no harm to anyone because this is impossible for our loving Father.
02:55He may, if he pleases, bless or bestow special benefits on some whom he chooses.
03:04In Romans chapter 9, verses 20 and 21, the Word declares, But who are you, a mere man,
03:13to criticize and contradict and answer back to God?
03:17Will what is formed say to him who formed it, Why have you made me thus?
03:23Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same mass the lump one vessel for
03:28beauty and distinction and honorable use and another for menial or ignoble or dishonorable use?
03:37Someone many years ago said to me, You can't know Jesus Christ and what the Bible says
03:44and interpret it because you have to know Hebrew and Greek.
03:50The same individual followed up by saying, I am a very smart man.
03:56I replied in effect saying, Well, I may not be very smart, but you are mistaken in having
04:03to know Hebrew and Greek to really know God because it doesn't take intelligence to know
04:10and love the Lord Jesus Christ.
04:13Jesus said in John chapter 15, verses 16 and 17, You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.
04:24I have appointed you.
04:25I have planted you that you might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing that your fruit
04:32may be lasting, that it may remain abide so that whenever you ask the father in my name
04:39as presenting all that I am, he may give it to you.
04:43And this is what I command you, that you love one another.
04:49Jesus didn't say anything about having to know Hebrew or Greek to being chosen by him.
04:55Jesus said, You haven't chosen me, but I have chosen you and appointed you or ordained you.
05:04In their election to their apostleship, Jesus told the twelve that his decision did not
05:11begin with them.
05:13You have not chosen me, but I first chose you.
05:19Our Lord chose twelve common men as his disciples who later became apostles, except for Judas Iscariot.
05:28These men were not chosen because of their intellectual or scholastic abilities, but
05:34rather they were a rowdy, tough band made up mainly of fishermen and one a much dreaded
05:41tax collector.
05:44Tax collectors basically had poor reputations and were of a class of people who were despised
05:51by their fellow Jews.
05:53They were classified generally as sinners because they were allowed to gather more than
05:58the government required and then to pocket the excess amount.
06:03Have you ever wondered why these kinds of men were allowed to have such close intimacy
06:09with Jesus Christ?
06:11Well, we can know that it was not because of their wisdom and goodness in choosing him
06:17for their master, but more so it is because of his favor and grace in choosing them for
06:24disciples.
06:26Apostle Paul declares in First Corinthians chapter one, beginning in verse twenty six,
06:34for simply consider your own call, brethren.
06:38Many of you were considered to be wise according to human estimates and standards, not many
06:45influential and powerful, not many of high and noble birth.
06:50No, God selected, deliberately chose what in the world is foolish to put the wise to
06:57shame and what the world called weak to put the strong to shame.
07:04And God also selected, deliberately chose what is in the world is low born and insignificant
07:11and branded and treated with contempt.
07:14Even the things that are nothing that he might depose and bring to nothing.
07:18The things that are verse twenty nine, so that no mortal man should have pretense for
07:25glorying and boast in the presence of God.
07:29Verse thirty, but it is from him that you have your life in Christ Jesus, whom God has
07:36made our wisdom from God, revealed to us a knowledge of the divine plan of salvation
07:43previously hidden, manifesting itself as our righteousness, thus making us upright and
07:50putting us in right standing with God and our consecration, making us pure and holy
07:57and our redemption, providing our ransom from eternal penalty of sin.
08:03Verse thirty one.
08:05So then, as it is written, let him who boast and probably rejoices in the glory of the Lord.
08:12Jesus Christ is God and he has made to us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and
08:19redemption and all that we need or could ever desire.
08:24We are foolish, ignorant and blind in the things of God with all of our braggadocio
08:30and prideful knowledge.
08:32And yet our precious savior is made wisdom to us.
08:37Just think about it.
08:39We are guilty, repugnant and obnoxious to Christ's justice and his grace.
08:45And yet Jesus is made our righteousness, our great atonement and our sacrifice as the
08:52innocent lamb of God.
08:55We are perverted, depraved, corrupt, and he has made our sanctification and the very spring
09:02of our spiritual life through his Holy Spirit, who is given to all who have chosen Christ
09:10as savior, eternal life and their all in all.
09:15In Ephesians chapter two, beginning in verse ten, the word declares, but God, who is rich
09:21in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespass,
09:28he made us alive together with Christ by grace you've been saved, verse six, and raised us
09:35up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in all the ages
09:42to come, he might show the exceeding richness of his grace and his kindness towards us in
09:48Christ Jesus, verse eight, for by grace you have been saved through faith, not of yourself.
09:54It is a gift of God, not of work, lest anyone should boast.
10:00For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared
10:06beforehand that we should walk in them.
10:10You see, it is the will of God that all our boasting and rejoicing should be in the Lord
10:17Jesus Christ and our salvation being only through Christ as we truly live in him.
10:25All who do genuinely belong to Christ Jesus are humbled and God is glorified and exalted
10:33and it is again declared in verse thirty one.
10:37So then, as it is written, let him who boasts and proudly rejoices and glories boast and
10:43proudly rejoice and glory in the Lord.
10:47Hallelujah.
10:49True Christian behavior begins with love for God and his son, Jesus Christ.
10:54Dear listener, Jesus has chosen and appointed those who have obeyed his commands and who
11:02love him with all of their hearts and love their neighbors as themselves.
11:08The opening scripture says that Jesus has appointed you.
11:13What has he appointed us to?
11:17We have been appointed, first of all, to love the Lord with all of our heart, our mind,
11:24our soul, everything within us.
11:26And before you and I could ever love others, we must love God first.
11:32This love for God is not an idle declaration of, well, I love God.
11:39But you see, there is a real substance to godly love and the love that we show in evidence
11:46to our neighbor and especially the brotherhood of believers in the family of God.
11:53In first Corinthians chapter thirteen, beginning in verse four, Apostle Paul gives us insight
12:01and visual expression of true love that is only possible by the life of precious Holy
12:07Spirit living within a genuine, faithful believer in Jesus Christ.
12:13Beginning in verse four, Paul says, love endures long and is patient and kind.
12:19Love is never envious nor boils over with jealousy.
12:23It is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.
12:30It is not conceited, arrogant and inflated with pride.
12:33It is not rude, unmannerly and does not act unbecomingly.
12:38Love, God's love in us, does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not
12:46self-seeking.
12:48It is not touchy or fretful or resentful.
12:51It takes no account of the evil done to it.
12:54It pays no attention to a suffered wrong.
12:59It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.
13:08Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best
13:14of every person.
13:16Its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything without weakening.
13:24Love never fails, never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end.
13:30As for the prophecy, the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose, it will be fulfilled
13:35and pass away.
13:36As for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease as for knowledge, it will pass away.
13:42It will lose its value and be superseded by the truth.
13:47Did you see that love does not behave itself unseemly or unbecomingly?
13:55Many say they love the Lord Jesus Christ and that his love dwells in their hearts.
14:01But the question is, does love overcome and take a hold of selfishness, pride or jealousy
14:09in your relationship with others, or is domineering and controlling and belittling of others?
14:16In 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 5, Paul has something to say about Christian behavior.
14:24Love does not behave itself unseemly or unbecomingly, as we read.
14:29We have to ask, what does behaving unseemly or unbecomingly really mean?
14:39How many of you know that we sometimes have to dive into the meaning of a word before
14:45it really impacts us?
14:47In Greek, this admonition is expressed in only two words.
14:53Love is not distorted, is not ugly and shameful and base.
14:58The Greek word schema means shape or plan, is identified in English as words like scheme
15:07and schismatic.
15:10It refers not to the substance of a thing or person, but to its outward appearance,
15:17the shape that it takes before others.
15:20Paul is concerned not only with the Christian's character, but also with the way that he expresses
15:27this character outwardly.
15:30Some Christians think it makes no difference whether they speak bluntly or tactfully as
15:36long as they speak the truth.
15:39Paul says the manner of our speech and actions make a difference in how we express our true
15:47Christian behavior.
15:49Looking at the word seemliness, it suggests the ideas of tact and delicacy, judgment and
15:57propriety.
15:59It relates to the shape rather than the substance.
16:04Much in the way of a Christian behavior is shapeless and even quite ugly.
16:10God's word tells us that those who come before the Lord must not have only a pure heart,
16:17but they must have clean hands as well.
16:21Their behavior is to be as graceful and unoffending as their moral standard and honor and integrity
16:28are true.
16:31Some people even boast about their bluntness as though it were a virtue to slap people
16:36in the face with the truth.
16:39Their friends protect and defend them by saying, well, he or she meant well, but that is not
16:47enough according to what Paul tells us in that we must not act unbecomingly or unseemly.
16:55We must not only mean well, but we must appear well and kind in our words, in our actions
17:03and our deeds.
17:05We must be graceful and handle the gospel of love, which we are so passionate and eager
17:11to share and make known because the bottom line, we are representatives of our Lord Jesus
17:18Christ.
17:20No professing Christian has a right to be blunt, hurtful, or tactless in their speech
17:27and ugly in their behavior, no matter how right or correct their beliefs might be.
17:33When unseemly behavior arises from envy or jealousy, or when pride makes us assertive,
17:41or when our lust for praise leads us to trample on others so we may present ourselves or cause
17:47ourselves to be seen, we are displaying and behaving unseemly and unbecomingly.
17:56In Colossians chapter 3, verse 12, Paul outlines the character of the new man, the new person.
18:05He begins by telling us, clothe yourselves, therefore, as God's own chosen ones, his hand-picked
18:14representatives, who are purified and holy and well-loved by God himself, by putting
18:20on behavior marked by tenderheartedness, pity, and mercy, kind feeling, a lowly opinion of
18:28yourself, gentle ways, and patient, which is tireless and long-suffering and has the
18:35power to endure whatever comes with good temper.
18:39Verse 13, be gentle and forbearing with one another, and if one has a difference or grievance,
18:45a complaint against another, readily pardon each other, even as the Lord has freely forgiven
18:52you, so you must also forgive.
18:55And above all, put on love and enfold yourselves with the bond of perfectness, which binds
19:01everything together, complete in ideal harmony.
19:05Verse 15, and let peace, soul harmony, which comes from Christ rule, act as an umpire continually
19:12in your hearts, deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your
19:18mind in that peaceful state, to which as members of Christ's one body, you are also called
19:25to live and be thankful, appreciative, giving praise to God always.
19:31Verse 16, let the word spoken by Christ the Messiah have its home in your hearts and minds,
19:39and dwell in you, in all of its richness, as you teach and admonish and train one another
19:44in all insight and intelligence and wisdom, in spiritual things and as you sing, psalms
19:51of hymns and spiritual songs, making melody to God with his grace in your hearts, and
19:58whatever you do, no matter what it is, in word or deed, do everything in the name of
20:05the Lord Jesus Christ and in dependence on his person, giving praise to God the Father
20:11through him.
20:14When I think about Paul's instruction in these verses, I think about what James tells us
20:20in his writings that says in James chapter 1, beginning in verse 23,
20:28for if anyone listens to the word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man
20:35who looks carefully at his own natural face in a mirror, for he thoughtfully observes himself
20:42and then goes off and promptly forgets what he looks like, but he who looks carefully into the
20:49faultless law, the law of liberty, and is faithful to it and preserves in looking into it, being not
20:56a heedless listener who forgets, but an active doer who obeys, he shall be blessed in his doing,
21:05his life of obedience. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, piously observant of the external
21:13duties of his faith, does not bridle his tongue, deludes his own heart, this person's religious
21:19service is worthless, futile, barren, external religious worship as it is expressed in outward acts.
21:30Verse 27, external religious worship, religion as it is expressed in outward acts, that is pure and
21:39unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this, to visit and help and care for the orphans
21:45and widows in their afflictions and need and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from
21:52the world. Can you see that as outlined in these verses, that the word of God can reveal our flaws,
22:01our shortcomings, and helps us to see where we need to change certain behavior patterns that
22:08came with the package of the old man or old woman? There's a testimony of a little girl who
22:15displayed the wrong attitudes one day as her mother corrected her for her improper behavior.
22:23It begins by saying many of us Christians are like the little girl who started a fight with
22:30her friend, her mother who heard the quarrel, talked with her little girl about trying to show
22:37her what was wrong and her need of asking God's forgiveness. Accordingly, when the little one
22:43kneeled down to pray, she humbly asked, oh God, please forgive me for getting angry and quarreling
22:51with Charlotte. So far so good, but the wrong disposition was still there for the child went on
22:59and make Charlotte come to me and ask me for forgiveness. Oh Lord, give her no rest until
23:07she is sorry and comes to me and tells me so. From little on in our Christian lives,
23:15all professing believers have an immature childlike behavior which needs correction and shaping
23:23and clothing in the new creature of our Lord Jesus Christ in order to display true and
23:29genuine evidence of being a chosen one belonging to God. Dear listener, at first my inclination
23:39was to apologize for the repetition in the word, but I quickly grab a hold of it,
23:46of that thought, because I know how many of you know that the precious word of God demands that
23:54we as professing believers must recognize who we are, as we just read repeating in Colossians
24:03chapter 3 verse 12, which declares, clothe yourselves therefore as God's own chosen ones,
24:11his own hand-picked representatives who are purified and holy and well beloved by God himself
24:19by putting on behavior marked by tender-hearted pity and mercy, kind feeling, a lowly opinion of
24:27yourself, gentle and patient, which is tireless in long-suffering and has the power to endure
24:34whatever comes with a good temper. Being a believer in Jesus Christ means to be chosen.
24:43Just think about that. It is a unique privilege and an honor to be chosen out of the whole world
24:51to become a child of God and receive our share and portion which is the inheritance of the saints,
24:59God's holy people in the light. Colossians chapter 1 verse 12. Paul states that as the elect of God
25:10we are both holy and beloved. The proof that our faith is genuine is first of all demonstrating
25:19respectful love and admiration for our great God and Father and for our neighbors and secondly
25:28our desire for holy living is provided by our precious Prince of Peace and Savior Jesus Christ,
25:36death, burial, and resurrection. Although we will fail from time to time, we should steadily
25:45be progressing towards a more godly life by growing in maturity, in love, faith, and the
25:52grace of God. These in effect show that we are the beloved of God and therefore we should continue to
26:01reflect his love until he comes to take us to our eternal home. When Paul tells us to clothe
26:09ourselves with these several qualities in order to glorify God, we must not miss the point in what he
26:18is saying. The word clothe indicates that there is a definitive act that we must engage in after we
26:29are saved. He is in effect telling us to act as a chosen one of God. First mentioned are the bowels
26:38of compassion or as some translations put it by putting on behavior marked by tenderheartedness
26:46and mercy and the second attitude that Paul instructs us to adopt is that of kindness
26:53which may also be translated as goodness and gentleness. Next is humility which means to
27:02consider ourselves being lowly. Without this virtue we may consider ourselves to be spiritually
27:11higher than those whom we are assisting and helping and become patronizing and condescending
27:18which is odious to God. Meekness comes into this array of attitudes also. Meekness indicates that
27:27we must exercise discernment when approaching any situation especially in regard to our own
27:34importance and the true needs of others. And finally there one long suffering is mentioned by
27:41Paul. We must never give up on anybody because if God hasn't given up on us where would we be?
27:51Ponder and think about that say long. We must give moral support and encouragement to others
27:58and extend grace to them just as God extends to us throughout our spiritual journey. The world
28:06has its own philosophy which is opposite of Christianity and it says live and let live
28:14but rather for a genuine believer in Jesus Christ we are instructed to watch and see
28:22who is struggling in their Christian faith in order to uphold them, encourage them. There's a
28:29testimony I came across that expresses the love and evidences the true behavior of God's chosen
28:37people. It begins by telling one winter in Chicago a young man of debauched and self-indulgent habits
28:49was happily converted to God. His life was so radically changed that not a soul who knew him
28:56doubted the depth and genuineness of God's work of grace in his heart. He lived like a Christian
29:04for many months. One stormy evening in November after business hours he was on his way home when
29:11he was delayed by an open drawbridge. A large brilliantly lighted bar stood right at hand.
29:19He had often frequented such places before his conversion but never since that time. This evening
29:26however as he waited for the bridge to turn and let him through he stepped into the bar for no
29:33other reason than to get out of the pelting sleet. Suddenly all the familiar temptations closed around
29:41him and almost before he was aware of his danger he'd ordered a drink. One drink led to another
29:49and before he left the place he was partially intoxicated. Before he reached home he despaired
29:57of his salvation. My family, my friends, the church will all know about it. He groaned within himself
30:06no one will have any confidence in me. I am disgraced. I am lost. But two young men from his church
30:15who had seen him leave the bar came up to him and said Charlie don't go home tonight.
30:23Come with us and we'll take care of you. We promise that no one in the world shall ever hear
30:29from us a word of what happened tonight. They encouraged him saying that God would forgive
30:36and restore him. Next morning he was himself again. They knelt together in earnest prayer
30:44and when he rose from his knees it was with the glad assurance of pardon and God's favor restored.
30:52This young man never again yielded to such temptation and he went on to become a successful
31:00minister of the gospel. Hallelujah what a wonderful ending to life dedicated to Jesus Christ
31:09and the evidence of true behavior of a child of God. May God have mercy dear listener.
31:16May God have mercy on us every one of us. May we go on to fulfill what our dear eternal father
31:25has ordained for us each one of us to do for the kingdom of God while we have breath on this earth.
31:32Hallelujah.