43_Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen.pdf

May 2004

L EGACY

T HE T EACHING

OF D EREK P RINCE

Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen

Have you ever known someone you would call a “born leader?” Or do you

know anyone who is blessed with such a beautiful voice you would say they

were “born” to sing? If so, have you also ever witnessed the heartache that

develops if people aren’t doing what they were “born” to do? There is

definitely a difference between being called and being chosen.

hen Christ uttered the words, “Many are

called, but few are chosen” in Matthew

22:14, He was not offering us an opinion

or a probability. He was stating a fact. That fact is still

as true today as when Christ first stated it. (While this

Scripture refers to salvation, the principle also applies to

our calling to Christian service.) * Many Christians are

called by God to His service, but few are ever chosen

and appointed to walk in that service. Some

Christians are called in childhood. Some are called

comparatively late in life. But very often I’ve found the

call to God’s service comes to Christians in their teens

or twenties. Therefore, Matthew 22:14 should be of

particular interest to young believers.

Between the time when a Christian is first called to

service and the time when he is actually appointed by

God to that service, there nearly always intervenes a

period of testing. Often, the more responsibility

required in the service to which a Christian is called,

the more intense will be the testing through which he

must first pass. Only those who successfully endure

the testing will be chosen to actually carry out the

service. In the book of Judges, when Gideon first blew

the trumpet to call the people of Israel to God’s service

against the Midianites, 32,000 men answered the call.

By the time that Gideon had subjected his followers

to the tests which God appointed, however, he was

left with 300 men — less than one percent of those

who were called passed the tests and were chosen for

service. I suspect the proportion is barely any higher

* Italics added as editor’s note.

May 2004

today — if at all. Nevertheless,

God’s wisdom was justified by the

event. Gideon was able to do more

with 300 tested, disciplined men

than he could ever have

accomplished with 32,000 mere

followers. Once again, the same

applies today. One tested, trained,

disciplined, self-denying servant

of Christ is worth a hundred

Christians who are merely

“members” of some group or

organization.

Much modern evangelism

centers in counting converts. I

believe God is more concerned

with making disciples. During the

days of His earthly ministry, Christ

could have numbered His

converts by the thousands, but in

the last hours before the cross He

was left with just 11 men who

remained disciples. Even after His

resurrection — and although He

had revealed Himself alive on one

occasion to “over five hundred

brethren” (1 Corinthians 15:6) —

only 120 went to the upper room

to seek the power from on high,

without which He had warned

them that they could not be

effectual witnesses for Him. The

true progress of God’s kingdom

has always depended upon

quality, rather than quantity. It is

time for us to emphasize this fact

again today.

neither be deterred by the one nor

entangled by the other.

The Bible continually warns

Christians that they must expect

to undergo testing. From the

beginning of his epistle James

says, “My brethren, count it all joy

when you fall into various trials,

knowing that the testing of your

faith produces patience” (James

1:2–3). Peter writes that trials

come only “to test your faith, to

show that it is strong and pure. It

is being tested as fire tests and

purifies gold — and your faith is

far more precious to God than

mere gold. So if your faith remains

strong after being tried by fiery

trials, it will bring you much

praise and glory and honor on the

day when Jesus Christ is revealed

to the whole world” (1 Peter 1:7

NLT). Intense trials are not

something strange for true

Christians; they are God’s own

appointment.

The Bible also gives us many

pictures of God’s faithful servants

and of the testings through which

they had to pass. One of the

classic examples is Job. In Job

23:10–12, we read Job’s own

testimony concerning his testings:

“But He knows the way that I

take; when He has tested me, I

Two Types of Testing

There are two main ways in which

God tests Christians who are

called to service: by allowing

things to become hard, and by

allowing things to become easy. In

the parable of the sower in Mark

4, Jesus spoke of the seed that fell

on stony ground and compared it

to Christians who “endure only

for a time. Afterward, when

tribulation or persecution arises

for the word’s sake, immediately

they stumble.” But He also spoke

of the seed that fell among thorns

and compared it to Christians in

whom “the cares of this world, the

deceitfulness of riches, and the

desires for other things entering in

choke the word, and it becomes

unfruitful.” Some Christians are

not prepared to endure

opposition, persecution, ridicule,

loneliness, poverty or apparent

failure for the sake of the Gospel.

Others cannot remain steadfast in

the midst of worldly ease and

comfort, popularity, wealth and

success. Those whom God

accepts for His service must

the teaching legacy of derek prince | dpm archive

May 2004

shall come forth as gold. My foot

has held fast to His steps; I have

kept His way and not turned

aside. I have not departed from

the commandment of His lips; I

have treasured the words of His

mouth more than my necessary

food.” In verse 12 we find the

secret of Job’s victory. It lay in his

attitude toward God’s Word.

Those who esteem God’s Word

above all else will always come

through their trials victorious.

Another servant of God who

endured severe testing was

Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a very

young man when God called him.

In fact, Jeremiah himself thought

that he was too young to be a

prophet at all (see Jeremiah 1:6).

One of the most difficult trials for

young Christian people to endure

is loneliness. Faithfulness to God

holds them apart from the empty,

worldly pleasures and activities in

which they see others of their age

indulging. They feel themselves

aloof, cut off. In Lamentations

3:27–28, Jeremiah described this

test: “It is good for a man to bear

the yoke in his youth. Let him sit

alone and keep silent, because

God has laid it on him.” Jeremiah

himself endured this particular

test (see Jeremiah 15:17). Like

Job, Jeremiah drew his strength to

endure from his attitude to God’s

Word. This was his mark as a true

servant of God. “Your words were

found, and I ate them, and Your

word was to me the joy and

rejoicing of my heart; for I am

called by Your name, O LORD

God of hosts” (Jeremiah 15:16).

Moses is another great servant

of God who learned to endure

testing. His first test was that of

worldly rank and pleasure.

Brought up in Pharaoh’s house

and heir presumptive to Pharaoh’s

throne, he could have enjoyed all

the wealth and culture and luxury

of Egypt. When he refused to

succumb to this temptation, he

was rejected by his own people

and persecuted by Pharaoh, and

he had to endure 40 years of exile

and poverty and loneliness. Still

he overcame all these trials

because he never allowed the

appeal of temporary wealth and

glory to blind him to the true

glory of God and the eternal

reward that God offers. Hebrews

says that Moses endured this

because he “thought it was better

to suffer for the sake of the

Messiah than to own the treasures

of Egypt, for he was looking ahead

to the great reward that God

would give him. It was by faith

that Moses left the land of Egypt.

He was not afraid of the king.

Moses kept right on going because

he kept his eyes on the one who is

invisible” (Hebrews 11:26–27

NLT). Today many Christian

young people are being blinded to

the true glory and eternal reward

of real Christian service by

prospects of worldly comfort and

success.

The Weight of the Call

The Bible uses three powerful

words concerning the calling of

God. First, it is a “high calling”

(see Philippians 3:14). It is on a

different level from all the other

interests and claims of life. In a

Christian’s life nothing else may

take precedence over the calling

of God — neither a home, nor

any family or earthly ties. “If you

want to be my follower you must

love me more than your own

father and mother, wife and

children, brothers and sisters —

yes, more than your own life.

Otherwise, you cannot be my

disciple” (Luke 14:26 NLT).

Secondly, the call to serve God

is a “holy calling” (see 2 Timothy

the teaching legacy of derek prince | dpm archive

May 2004

1:9). It is something sacred, to be

guarded jealously from all

compromise or defilement. It

demands dedicated time of

prayer and spiritual self-

emptying. Its fulfillment

demands our strength, our time,

and the consecration and

development of every gift and

talent that we possess.

Thirdly, God’s call is a

“heavenly calling” (see Hebrews

3:1). The voice that calls us to

Christian service comes from

heaven. Whether it comes as “a

still, small voice,” or as “the

sound of many waters,” it is the

voice of almighty God. His voice

has supreme authority and is

worthy of unconditional

obedience. When Paul heard the

call of God, he said he “did not

rush out to consult with anyone

else” (Galatians 1:16 NLT). He

did not seek confirmation or

permission from the religious

leaders of his nation, or even

from those who were already

apostles of Christ. He got alone

with God — to know to the full

God’s purpose for his life.

Today, when God calls

Christians to specific ministry,

the first reaction of many is to

seek the opinions of others. Who

will send me? Who will finance

me? As a result, the voice of God

is soon drowned out by the

opinions of men. But to the

Christian who is called and who

is willing to put all his confidence

in God, there comes a blessed

assurance from God’s own Word:

“He who calls you is faithful, who

also will do it” (1 Thessalonians

5:24). The fulfillment of a

Christian calling depends

supremely and solely upon God

Himself.

God. It describes people who —

in their prosperity and self-

sufficiency — turn away from the

call of God. In fact, later when

they change their minds and turn

back to seek God, it’s too late!

God has withdrawn Himself. The

voice that once called is now

silent. The hour of opportunity

has passed.

Whether His calling to you is

general (like in Micah 6:8) or

specific (like in 1 Peter 4:11), let

me encourage you to heed His

call. Take it seriously. Endure His

tests. Dedicate yourself to being

about the business of heaven.

Don’t become another name

added to that of the “many” who

were called—but never chosen.

Don’t Delay

Lastly, the calling of God is

urgent. When Joshua put before

the Israelites the call to the

service of God, he said: “Choose

for yourselves this day whom you

will serve” (Joshua 24:15). Psalm

95:7 (NLT) says: “Oh, that you

would listen to his voice today!”

The call of God does not wait

upon man’s convenience. We

may not defer our decision to

surrender to Him to some more

“convenient season.” The devil

says “tomorrow,” but God says

“today.” In Proverbs 1:24–32,

there is a solemn warning against

deferring to answer the call of

For further study, we

recommend Derek’s message:

God Wrote Your Scenario

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Derek Prince Ministries

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