Descriptive Greeting Continued - Called By The Holy Spirit Series

Intro:

1. In the U.S. alone, a total of over 5 billion greeting cards are produced. Over $150 million are spent on postage to mail them.

The smallest greeting card ever sent was to the Prince of Wales written on a grain of rice!

2. We continue with Judes Descriptive Greeting, last week we looked at the Author, the one giving the greeting, now...

3. The Audience in which the greeting is for.

Trans: Jude 1:1b-2

I. FIRST THE Greeting speaks of the Privileges of the believer.

A. We are Called by the Spirit.

...To those who are the called - κλη-τός klētos adj "Called out, invited, chosen, appointed. Verb form ka-le-o

One of the names for the Holy Spirit is Para-clete. It comes from two Greek words. One is para, and the other is k-le-tes taken from the verb ka-le-o. The Paraclete is "one who is called alongside."

The church is ec-cles-si-a, lit. "the called-out ones." The church is called out of the world, unto fellowship with the Lord.

The kaleo can be used for the calling of one’s name.

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21 (NASB)

Can be used as a descriptive title:

Speaking of believers John writes, "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him." 1 John 3:1 (NASB)

It can be used in the sense of an invitation:

"16 But He said to him, "A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; 17 and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ’Come; for everything is ready now.’ 18 "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ’I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.’ 19 "Another one said, ’I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’ 20 "Another one said, ’I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’ 21 "And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ’Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 "And the slave said, ’Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 "And the master said to the slave, ’Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 ~’For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’" Luke 14:16-24 (NASB)

It can be used in legal proceedings:

"And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus." Acts 4:18 (NASB)

Believers are called to special service:

"Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God," Romans 1:1 (NASB)

"When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them." Acts 16:10 (NASB)

Believers are called to live holy and peaceful lives:

"13 And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. 15 Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace." 1 Corinthians 7:13-15 (NASB)

In our passage it is related to the call to salvation:

"28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified." Romans 8:28-30 (NASB)

NOTE: THE CHART...

"23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. 25 As He says also in Hosea, "I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, ’MY PEOPLE,’ AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, ’BELOVED.’" 26 "AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, ’YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE,’ THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD." Romans 9:23-26 (NASB)