Chosen One

Abraham: Genesis 12:1-4

Moses: Exodus 3:1-4

Samuel: 1Samuel 3:1-18

David: 1 Samuel: 16:1-13

Paul: Acts 9: 1-20

Listing of a few of God's Chosen Ones, and how they knew they were handpicked by God ...

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hi friends, welcome to Matthew 4.4. I'm your host, Winifer. Today I'm going to ask a question. How do I know that I am called by God as one of his chosen ones to be a vessel? Okay. And we're going to do that by going through the Bible, and I'm selecting five of his chosen ones. And after you hear it and you go back and you read it for yourself and you've spoken to God about it, answer the question just for you, you know, because some of us seem to feel that we need human validation in the area as being chosen by God to be one of his vessels to minister to people that he has clearly set apart so that you and myself were able to be the vessel that Christ used in order to heal them, deliver them, protect them, whatever he does, which he really doesn't need us, okay? Because he can do all that on his own. But if he chooses to select us, I need you to understand there there's a time where he might do that. Don't question it, because you do not need human validation that you are chosen by him. It's you. Okay, let's start with Abraham, who was known as Abram. Let's go to Genesis chapter 12, verse 1 through 4. It says the Lord said to Abram, Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you. I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you. Verse four says Abram went as the Lord directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy five years old when he left Haran. Y'all did you hear that? Abram was seventy five years old when God called him as a vessel to be used. Let's go on to Moses 'cause he's the next one up. Exodus chapter three. Let's start with verse one. It says Moses, meanwhile, Moses was tending the flock of his father in law Jethro, the priest of Midian, leading the flock across the desert. He came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There are there an angel of the Lord appeared to him in fire flaming out of a bush. As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed. So Moses decided I must go over to look at this remarkable sight and see why the bush is not burned. Verse four goes on to say When the Lord saw him coming over to look at it more closely, God called out to him from the bush. Moses, he answered, here I am. God said, Come no near, remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your father. He continued, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at him. But the Lord said, I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt, and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well what they are suffering. Therefore I have come down to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians and lead them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. The country of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizites, Havites, and Jebusites. So indeed the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have truly noted that the Egyptians are oppressing them. Come now, I will send you to Pharaoh to leave my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. Now let's go over to Samuel. He's the next one that's up that God called. And first Samuel chapter three. Let's go there. It says first Samuel chapter three, verse one. During the time young Samuel was minister to the Lord under Eli. He was under Eli. A revelation of the Lord was uncommon and vision infrequent. They didn't have revelations and visions during that time like that. It was something that was very rare. One day Eli was asleep in his usual place. His eyes had lately grown so weak that he could not see. The lamp of God was not yet extinguished, and Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was. The Lord called to Samuel, who answered, Here I am. He ran to Eli and said, Here I am. You called me? I did not call you, Eli said. Go back to sleep. So he went back to sleep. Again the Lord called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli. Here I am, he said. You called me, but he answered, I did not call you, my son, go back to sleep. At that time Samuel was not familiar with the Lord because the Lord had not revealed anything to him as yet. The Lord called Samuel again for the third time, and getting up and going to Eli, he said, Here I am. He called me you called me. Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the youth. So he said to Samuel, Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. When Samuel went to sleep in his place, the Lord came and revealed his presence, calling out as before, Samuel, Samuel. Samuel answered, Speak, for your servant is listening. The Lord said to Samuel, I am about to do something in Israel that will cause the ears of everyone who hears it to ring. On that day I will carry out in full against Eli everything I threatened against his family. I announce to him that I am condemning his family once and for all, because of this crime, though he knew his sons were blaspheming God, he did not reprove them. Therefore I swear to the family of Eli that no sacrifice or offering will ever expiate its crime. Samuel then slept until morning. When he got up early and opened the doors of the temple of the Lord, he feared to tell Eli the vision. But Eli called to him. Samuel, my son, he replied, here I am. Then Eli asked, What did he say to you? Hide nothing from me. May God do thus and so to you if you hide a single thing he told me he told you, excuse me. So Samuel answered, He is the Lord. He will do what he judges best. Samuel grew up, and the Lord was with him, not permitting any word of his to be without effect. Thus all Israel from Dan to Beersheba came to know that Samuel was an accredited prophet of the Lord. Let's go on to David. Samuel chapter sixteen verse we'll start with verse one. The Lord said to Samuel, How long will you grieve for Saul, whom I have rejected as king of Israel? Fill your horn of oil, and be on your way I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen my king from among his sons. But Samuel replied, How can I go? Saul will hear of it and kill me. To this the Lord answered, Take a heifer along and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I myself will tell you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I point out to you. Samuel did as the Lord had commanded him. When he entered Bethlehem, the elders of the city were trembling to meet him, and inquired, Is your visit peaceful, O seer? He replied, Yes, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. So cleanse yourselves and join me today for the banquet. He also had Jesse and his sons cleanse themselves and invited them to the sacrifice. As they came he looked at Eliab and thought, Surely the Lord's surely the Lord's anointed is here before me, before him. But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance, but the Lord looks into the heart. Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him before Samuel, who said, Lord has the Lord has not chosen him. Next Jesse present Shamma, but Samuel said, The Lord has not chosen this one either. In the same way. Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not chosen any one of these. Then Samuel asked Jesse, Are there are these all the sons you have? Jesse replied, There is still the youngest. He is tending the sheep. Samuel said to Jesse, Send for him. We will not begin the sacrificial banquet until he arrives here. Jesse sent and had the young man brought to them. He was ruddy, a youth, handsome to behold, and making a splendid appearance, the Lord said, There, anoint him, for this is he. Then Samuel with the horn of oil in hand anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of God rushed upon David. When Samuel took his leave, he went to Rama. Now let's go to the last one, and that's Paul. Let's turn to Acts chapter nine. And let's begin with verse one. Now Saul still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues of Damascus, that if he should find any men or women who belonged to the way, he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains. On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? He said, Who are you, sir? The reply came, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. The men who were travelling with him stood speechless, for they heard the voice but could not but could see no one. Paul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. For three days he was unable to see, and he entered and he neither excuse me, and he neither ate nor drank. Verse 10 goes on to say, There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. And the Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias, he answered, Here I am, Lord. The Lord said to him, Get up and go to the street called strait, and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is there praying, and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him that he may regain his sight. But Ananias replied, Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem. And here he is, and here he has authority from the chief priest to imprison all who call upon your name. But the Lord said to him, Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings and Israelites, and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name. So Ananias went and entered the house, laying his hands on him. He said, Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me, Jesus who appeared to you on the way by which you came, that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. He got up and was baptized, and when he had eaten he recovered his strength. He stayed some days with the disciples in Damascus, and he began at once to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues that he is the Son of God. All who heard him were astounded and said, Is not this the man who in Jerusalem ravaged those who call upon his name and came here expressly to take them back in chains to the chief priests? But Saul grew all the stronger and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus, proving that this is the Messiah. Glory to God. LC. Did you hear what human validation did at the end? They were surprised to know that God could use a vessel, especially like Saul. Someone who spoke against Jesus. That movement where they're calling on the name of Jesus, asking things in his name. Today, right now, today, I'm saved because he was obedient. Ananias was obedient. Samuel was obedient.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

Abram was obedient. Moses was obedient. And once again, David and Paul.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

Excuse me. Never doubt when God has told you something, do it. You don't need human validation. When it's all in the Bible where you can find it, listen to him. There's a scripture in the Bible also. I can't put my hand on it right now, but it's just coming into mind into remembrance, where he tells you, he gives you permission to listen to the spirits, but he also cautions you. He said, even some of them are lying spirits. Excuse me. If it does not line up with the word that God has put in this blueprint that I call this what I call my Bible. It's a blueprint. It tells us what we need to do, how to do it.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

We're not walking blindly. We are not walking blind.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

And when he says that we have power, we have his grace, we have his spirit with us, we have him with us. Don't doubt it. You don't have to go to man and have a conference and hear what all they have to say because they know him.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

You don't.

SPEAKER_01 18:47

That was unusual at that time. But remember, Eli was his servant. Excuse me. What got Eli and his children where they were punished? Is the fact that Eli knew his sons were doing horrible things in the in God's sanctuary. He was doing horrible things. And Eli didn't even take the time to correct them. There's some people who their children, they're ministers of Christ. And they won't correct their children. And they know they're doing something wrong. And they won't put a stop to it. Even if they can't stop it, bring it to their mind and let them know, you know, what you did there was not okay. And tell them in the scripture how it's not okay. Don't let what your children are doing, your family members are doing, that goes against the teachings of the Lord. Don't let that be held against you. No. Let them walk in their own punishment.

SPEAKER_00 20:09

What you do is make them aware.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

I'm aware you're not gonna do this here. And so be it. But you don't need human validation. When you get a chance, go back and read about Abraham. He's known as Abram. Go back and read about Moses, Samuel, David, and Paul.

SPEAKER_00 20:35

Excuse me for the coughing.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

Just go back in your journey with Christ and ask the Lord to teach you. It's better for him to teach you because you won't have any mistakes. And if there are mistakes, guess what? He'll correct them. Stay blessed in peace. I love you. Lord, I thank you, and I ask that you will continue to bless us and keep us safe through the power and the leading of the Holy Spirit. We bless and praise you. In Jesus' name. Amen.