Sermon # 1 - Chosen To Be Faithful Series

The word of the Lord as found in 1 Samuel 2:35, And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever. (ESV)

This year I believe has been appointed by God to be one wherein each one of us will be raised up, and built up by the Lord. All through the Bible, we observe that God chose to raise one person specifically to fulfill His divine plans. Through that one selected individual God blessed an entire nation, and thereby accomplished His purposes. No wonder then that God expressly raised Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon and the list goes on who would carry out His will in their life time, for this was God’s plan from the beginning of creation.

However, there were those who forget the very purpose for which God chose them. There are some who get inflated with pride when God begins to use them, and begin to think that they are indispensable. This is an erroneous thought as the Lord will use us only as long as we walk in obedience to Him, but when disobedience takes over, the Lord will choose to use someone else instead.

Let me highlight from the above mentioned list, two people whom the Lord chose but who wistfully failed to fulfill God’s purposes in spite of their calling. Samson, whom God chose to be a judge of Israel, and Saul who was raised to be the King of Israel. Though both of them were chosen by God, their disobedience made them miss out on God’s plan. However, this did not in any way thwart God’s purposes, for God raised someone else to replace them in due course.

God is in the process of constantly raising men and women who will carry out His plans in their life time. If we are faithful, the promise of God to us is that He will build for us a sure house. There may have been several disturbing, unsettling situations that we faced last year, the Lord assures us that He will establish us in the New Year. There are many who are left in a state of confusion and double mindedness, not sure of which way to turn to, and the Lord is willing to come into such a situation and turn it around.

The purpose of God’s choosing us

We read in 1 Samuel 2:27-28, Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "This is what the LORD says: I revealed myself to your ancestors when they were under Pharaoh's control in Egypt. I chose one of your ancestors out of all the tribes of Israel to serve as my priest,… (GW)

Our God is one who specializes in choosing people. God has chosen each one of us for a specific purpose, especially those of us believe in Him, and are gathered together in His name. Here are a couple of reasons why we have been chosen by God.

• Chosen to be holy and perfect in His presence

The first reason God chose us as written in Ephesians 1:4, Before the creation of the world, he chose us through Christ to be holy and perfect in his presence. (GW)

God’s special purpose in choosing us is that we should be holy and perfect in His presence. God is not pleased if we pretend to be perfect before men, but desires that we stand faultless before Him.

• Chosen to proclaim the excellent qualities of God

The second reason we have been chosen by God is explained by Peter in 1 Peter 2:9, However, you are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, people who belong to God. You were chosen to tell about the excellent qualities of God, who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (GW)

We must constantly remind ourselves all throughout the New Year, that we are chosen by God to be those who will share the good news of the wonderful things that the Lord Jesus has done in our lives to everyone we meet. We receive so much from the Lord, but often are so hesitant and ashamed to share these testimonies of God’s goodness with others.

Eli failed to do the will of God

The context in which 1 Samuel 2:35, the promise verse for this year was recorded, was when Eli, who was called to be a priest before the Lord, failed to fulfill the will of the Lord in his life.

God longs that we co-operate with Him to accomplish His plan for our lives. There are some who take pride in being part of the non-cooperative movement, where they are in constant rebellion against the will of God. It is only when we live in obedience to the will of God, will the kingdom of God be established amongst us.