“Brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure.” – 2 Pet. 1:10. (R2727)

Interest in the recent election of a President of the United States has been general throughout the whole world, and especially amongst English-speaking peoples: in fact, the exercise of the franchise by the public, whenever and wherever, is generally a matter of absorbing interest to “the children of this world” – whether the office be a high one, as that of President of the United States, or Member of Congress, or Member of Parliament, or whether it be a lower one, for some petty office of ward magistrate or constable. The candidates for these offices and their friends, in proportion to the dignity of the office, do not hesitate to spend plenty of money on TV adds, banners, signs, and speaking engagements. And this is looked upon as thoroughly reasonable, and engaged in by the reputedly more intelligent and saner of all nations.

But there is another election in progress – an election of a hundred and forty-four thousand, to a higher position than that of any earthly magistrate or potentate; and for not a few years merely, for the elect are promised this highest of all honors for all eternity.

Does the world (non-believers) know about this election?

We answer, not really. True, many have heard something about an election – that God is “taking out of the nations a people for his name,” a “little flock,” who, as joint-heirs with Jesus Christ their Lord, will be given the Kingdom which God hath promised to them that love him, – the Kingdom for which we pray, “Thy Kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.” But though they have heard of this Kingdom and the election now in progress, to make up the foreordained number of its kings and priests they do not really believe it, but regard it as a fantasy, “as a tale that is told,” a fairy story which none but the simple-minded and children would take seriously. Ah yes! and so the Redeemer-King informed us it would be; and so, he prayed to the Father, saying, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.” – Matt. 11:25,26.

If the wise and prudent, the keen and the shrewd, the learned and the great, really comprehended the situation, – if they really believed in this election which is in progress under divine direction, according to the divine Word, what haste there would be amongst them to “make their calling and election sure,” as the Apostle exhorts. It is not that people are not appreciative of such honors and dignities of power and influence as this Kingdom offers, that they pass by God’s election, and treat it with indifference; for their love of power, their love of influence, their love of position and prestige, is abundantly in evidence in connection, not only with the governments of this world, but also in connection with even the trifling offices in the nominal churches. The spirit of “Which shall be greatest?” has apparently not died out.

But while those who seek for earthly offices of a brief tenure and comparatively small dignity are willing to sacrifice time, energy, money, etc., to attain these petty offices and honors, and while they can arouse enthusiasm amongst their friends and neighbors, leading to expenditures of time, money and energy to an astounding degree, and though they think it strange that we “run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of us” (1 Pet. 4:4), nevertheless, they affect to think it remarkable that we who are candidates for the superlatively high office for which God has nominated us should spend time, influence and means in making our calling and election sure, and in assisting “brethren” in their election work: they consider our time wasted. Although they spend millions of dollars in speeches, brass bands, editorials, TV adds, etc., etc., to determine which of two individuals should hold the most honorable office of this nation for four years, they consider it remarkably strange that we should spend a fragment of the amount, or make the one-thousandth part of the commotion to secure for ourselves and to all of the “elect” the great “prize of our high calling.”

DIFFERENT STANDPOINT – DIFFERENT VIEW.

All this only illustrates the two very different standpoints from which matters may be viewed.

1) From the world’s standpoint the Lord’s consecrated people who seek to make their calling and election sure to the heavenly Kingdom are counted fools, because to attain that they are willing to sacrifice present temporal interests; and this sentiment of the public is the same today that it was in the Apostle’s time, when he wrote, “If any man among you seems to be wise, in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise.” (1 Cor. 3:18; 4:10.)

2) From our standpoint, seeing the eternal things and the glories attaching to them, we cannot avoid the feeling that it is “the children of this world” who are foolish, in that they expend so much breath and energy upon things which, if attained, last but a short time, and bring with them large measures of perplexity and trouble and criticism of opponents to their election: and sometimes untellable injury to themselves, the ruled.

But why this difference of opinion? Which party is sane, and which is lacking in sanity?

We answer, that the difference is that the one class sees what the other class does not see, and that because God has specially revealed it unto the one. As it is written, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man [*the natural man, unilluminated by the holy spirit] the things which God hath in reservation for them that love him; but God hath revealed them unto us by his spirit, which searches all things, yea, the deep things of God.” – 1 Cor. 2:9,10.

The fact, then, is that the Lord’s consecrated people, through faith and by God’s holy spirit, have inside information respecting “the things not seen as yet.” Hence, we see that the two parties – the one seeking earthly honors and advantages, for themselves and each other, the other seeking the heavenly advantages, or election for themselves and each other – are both laboring for what they see; for what they consider to be the most valuable thing they see and may attain. O how precious, then, is this eye of faith, which the Lord’s consecrated people have! No wonder our Lord said to some of his disciples, “Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear” – other eyes do not see and other ears do not hear these heavenly things.

And in that sense of the word comparatively few even in civilized lands have been called or nominated of the Lord for his election – comparatively few know anything about it or the terms which must be understood and obeyed in order to make the calling and election sure.

Note: it is important here for those not so acquainted that we distinguish between three distinct groups of individuals referred to here in this study in order to avoid any confusion. The first two are what we refer to as natural men.  

1) *the natural man, a.k.a. the worldly man (the heathen, which includes all non-believers),

2) believers in general, those justified through faith, but who have yet to have taken the second step of a full surrender and consecration to the Lord, and

3) those justified ones who having received the call, who have promptly adhered to the Apostle injunction that they present themselves as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, their reasonable service (Rom 12:1).

Only this latter group, the fully consecrated who have entered into covenant relationship with the Father, a covenant by sacrifice (Psa 50:5), have received the holy spirit. Until the believer takes this step and fully surrenders himself to the Lord, following in the Master’s footsteps, no matter what his faith or his professions, he is still a natural man, and subject to the laws governing the natural man.

For more on this please see “The Tabernacle its Spiritual Significance” Parts 12-14 

Continued with next post.