Chosen Vessel

And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a CHOSEN VESSEL unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: (Acts 9:1-15) Now here was a man (Who was a lost sinner, and previously did not know who the Lord was until the blinding vision, and Christ speaking to him.) that seen a vision, prayed calling on the name of the Lord Jesus, and fasted at least three days. Yet he still needed to go to Damascus to be shown what to do. We will find out the one thing he lacked in these next verses. And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. (Acts 22:12-16) There are many today who are as Paul was. Some may be persecutors of the church, some may be so tucked away within the body of Christ they are hardly noticed, some may appear to be so shy and timid that many may think surely the Lord could not proclaim his word through such a person, some may be bound by alcohol, drugs, prostitution and such and yet be on the very edge of having a “Damascus Road Experience”, and some may not be what most would consider “Christian Material”. But the fact of the matter is, God will take the most common, most unlikely, most ordinary person and through such a vessel, do extraordinary things, for his glory for it is he who shall choose the vessels and not man. Men such as Amos who was a herdsman and had told by a religious leader of the day (Amaziah) to go and prophesy elsewhere. He responded, "I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. God called and qaulified him. Throughout the ages God has called many. Jesus said, "For many are called, but few are chosen". (Matthew 22:14) 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. (John 15:16) That being said, God is not a respecter of persons. (Acts 10:34) The grace of God has appeared to all men. (Titus 2:11) Meaning this, God has come to us in Jesus, and paid the price or penaly of sin once, (By the blood shed on the cross for without it, there would be no remission of sins, in Hebrews 9:15-22) for the just

and the unjust. The opportunity to receive eternal life is available for all mankind freely. Nevertheless, God who knows all from the start; already knows who will accept the message ahead of time, and who will decline to believe and not receive the truth of the Gospel. Nobody was, is, or will be rejected by him. John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Luke 6:46-49 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. (Jesus Christ alone is that conerstone, foundation, and rock.) But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great. Matthew 7:19-27 recounts the same story except it says in that day; (Judgement) Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Because despite doing wonders in his name by faith, we must be baptized by faith into the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of our sins. See Acts 2:38/4:12, Mark 16:16, Colossians 3:17, Galatians 3:27. Now today we have what Amos already prophesied of being in Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. Though there are millions of churches preaching weekly, they do so after the traditions of man. Acts 5:28 The Pharisees and High Priest are speaking here to the Apostles. Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. Paul who was baptized into the Lord Jesus Christ as did so in Acts 16:15/33, 18:8, and 19:1-6, though he was primarily called to be a preacher first, tells us any Gospel variation of his is but a Satanic deception. Galatians 1:6-9 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. (Jesus Christ, not trinity, is the gospel.) But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. 2 Timothy 3:1-2,5 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,... Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. Jesus alone has all power says Matthew 28:18. If one takes away it and replaces it with a tradition of man, (Justin Martyr changed the Apostles formula 100 years after Pentecost in 140 AD, to a trinity type which has been used by Catholics in some form even till this day.) then the name of Jesus (Which is the name singular of the father in John 5:43, and the son in Matthew 1:21, and the Holy Spirit in John 14:26.) which holds all saving and command power, can no longer forgive or remit one's sins. To be saved, we must be called, chosen, and faithful to the end. (Revelations 17:14) God has called many. There have been many called to serve him. He knew that certain people would respond with interest to the message. But because of worldly concerns or desires, they turned back and he has no pleasure in that action or them. Hebrews 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: (We are baptized by faith in Jesus and made whole or born again by the water baptism, and by the Holy Spirit indwelling in us thereafter.) but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in

him. Chosen means to be appoint, select, call out. When Samuel was sent by God to anoint the next king of Israel after his chosen Saul rebelled against him, He was sent to Jesse's house to find him. And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him. But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. Just as many preach that baptism is a outward sign of a already inward happening, (Or a just show of already being a Christian. Jesus who was baptized to be the righteous example in all to us, himself walked 70 miles to do so. He never asks of us something that he has not already done.) God says the opposite of man. His word states that it is a requirement, and that it saves us by our faithful obedience to his word, and thus clears our conscience. Baptism is a outward act of faith to gain the Holy Spirit inside of us. We do not do it to prove that we already have it, rather to obtain or receive it. It is by our faith in the work and grace or the operation of God. (Colossians 2:12) Just as the Hebrew children were saved by the waters and baptized unto Moses, we must do so in Jesus Christ, says 1 Corinthians 10:1-2. Now Samuel was trying to find the chosen one of God. "Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The Lord hath not chosen these. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, (A illustraition or example of the Holy Spirit, which came upon only a few of Old Testament believers. Today, God has freely poured out his spirit everywhere for all to be part takers of in these last days of mankind, before he returns and reigns as King of kings.) and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. God is not looking for seminary students to preach to all the world and to save it. Instead as many preachers are in fact blind guides and dumb dogs, preaching traditions which take away from the effectiveness of the word; he is looking in all the earth for those whose heart is strong towards him. To be chosen means you have chosen God over self interest, and by faith and love accepted his word above all things. He does not care if your can talk well, Moses stuttered. He will accept murderers who will repent and believe him, Paul approved of and sought to kill Christians. Moses killed a man. Peter swore. Jonah ran away from him. Samson was lustful. King David committed adultery and murder. Even Judas his betrayer was chosen, and would of been forgiven except that Satan tricked him into feeling guilty, and he hung himself from a tree. Christ came for the sinner. For the sick and not the whole, in other words for those who were not hooked up but for the needy and disenchanted. Those not squared away by the world's standards. Not many noble or esteemed people have accepted him because of pride and self sufficiency, as they are blinded by the Devil. He has called then to the highways and byways, to the drunks, and common everyday sinners, and to the weary of life saying, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light". (Matthew 11:28-30) God bless us all in Jesus name.