Faithfulness - Being Called Out & Into — Stephen Kaung

Will you please turn again to Revelation chapter 17, Revelation chapter 17, verse 14. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and they that are with Him called and chosen and faithful.

2nd Timothy, 2nd Timothy chapter 2, we read from verse 11 through verse 13, 2nd Timothy chapter 2, verse 11. The Word is faithful, for if we have died together with Him, we shall also live together. If we endure, we shall also reign together.

If we deny, He will also deny us. If we are unfaithful, He abides faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. Lamentations, Lamentations chapter 3, we read from verse 22 through verse 24, Lamentations chapter 3, verse 22.

It is of Jehovah's lovingkindness we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness. Jehovah is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in Him.

Revelation chapter 2, Revelation chapter 2, verse 10,. Fear nothing of what thou art about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast of you into prison, that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days.

Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give to thee the crown of life. And finally, Luke 16, the gospel according to Luke chapter 16, we read from verse 10 through verse 12. He that is faithful in the least is faithful also in much, and he that is unrighteous in the least is unrighteous also in much.

If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who shall entrust to you the truth? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another's, who shall give to you your own? Let us pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, our hearts are full of joy and thanksgiving, because such as we are, and yet Thou hast called us unto Thyself. We are Thy children, and we have the rights, the privilege to come to Thee, to call Thee up, our Father, and to worship Thee.

O our Father, how we do thank Thee for all Thy mercy, lovingkindness, and grace. And Father, as we continue in Thy presence, we do ask Thee that Thou will quicken Thy word to our hearts. Do speak to us and draw us into Thyself, and to Thee be the glory, in the name of our Lord Jesus.

The Lamb’s Final Victory and the Three Qualifications

We have been considering together on this verse in Revelation 17, verse 14. And that verse tells us that there is a war going on. There is a war going on in the spiritual realm, a war that has been going on through the ages and the centuries.

But that war will one day come to an end. And Revelation 17, verse 14 tells us, here is the last battle. Now this war is a war between God and Satan. So in this last battle we find that the Lamb of God, with His army, those who are the called and chosen and faithful, they will go out and fight against the beast and his followers.

And the beast will be completely destroyed. And if you go on to Revelation 19, you will find that the beast will be thrown into the lake of fire, and Satan will be bound and put into the bottomless pit for a thousand years.

And then the kingdom of God shall come upon this earth. Not only our Lord Jesus shall reign, but those who are the called and the chosen and the faithful, they will reign with Him during that millennium.

We are looking into these three qualifications. Those who are qualified to follow the Lamb into the last battle and into the glory of the kingdom. And these are the people that are the called, the chosen and the faithful.

Being Called Out of What Is Not of God

We have considered together on the called. Thank God we are called by glory and virtue. We are not just called to satisfy our little needs. We are called to satisfy God's own glory. And we are called by grace.

None of us is worthy, but His grace comes upon us freely and universally. And we are called according to purpose. When God calls us, He has a purpose behind it. And that purpose is the consummation. We are called out of many, many things, more than probably we have been called out.

We are being called out of all that is not of God. Now brothers and sisters, anything that is not of God has only that which is of God will remain to eternity. So we are called out from all that which is not of God.

Whether it be sin, whether it be the world, whether it be fair flesh or our self-life or the kingdom of darkness, God is calling us out of all these things in order to call us into His very purpose. Not only to have Christ as our righteousness, but to know His life, His resurrection life, how real it is, and to know the light of that life that is guiding us every day.

We are called to be God's children. We are called into the fellowship of God's Son, Jesus Christ. We are called to be the body of Christ. We are called to be part of that eternal purpose of God, even Christ and His bride, the Church.

So brothers and sisters, we do thank God. It is not because we are better than anybody else. It is because God looked upon us and by His grace He called us. We are the called. We find we are not only the called, we need to be the chosen.

Choosing Christ to Fulfill God’s Purpose

That is, if we respond to what we are called into, then we will be the chosen to fulfill that function, that purpose that God has called us. We remember the story of Moses, how he, when he was forty years old, he chose God.

He chose the reproach of Christ rather than the riches of Egypt. And because he made that right choice, he became the vessel of God in leading the children out of Israel unto God's purpose. So brothers and sisters, we who are the called, we need to prove ourselves that we are the chosen.

Now, it is true, God has chosen us even before the foundation of the world. And that chosen is for a purpose. But we will not be able to really fulfill what God has ordained for us until one day we made a choice.

We choose Christ rather than by that we will be the chosen. We will be those whom God can use to fulfill. Now, this morning we will come to the third qualification, the faithful. Not only the called, a character, he cannot deny himself to what he is, deny, but he will never deny himself, and unfortunately, often times we are.

God’s Faithfulness to His Promises

But he remains faithful. Now, why is it? Because God is faithful. He will deny what he is, but he is so faithful. He is faithful to his promise. You remember in the Garden of Eden, when man fell, and God in his mercy came to man and offered to man the promise of redemption, of salvation, and he said, the seed of the woman shall come.

And when the seed of the woman shall come, he will crush the serpent's head, even though the serpent will hurt his heel. Now this is God's promise to mankind. From the very beginning of man's history, and probably it was over 6 ,000 years ago, God made that promise.

But God was faithful to his promise. 4 ,000 years passed, as if God had forgotten, but God had not forgotten. He was faithful to his promise. So 2 ,000 years ago, the seed of the woman came into this world.

Even our Lord, Jesus Christ. God is faithful. You know, God is faithful to his word. He spoke to Noah, saying that the world is so corrupted, violence everywhere, and God repented of creating mankind.

But Noah found favor in God's sight. So God told Noah, he said, there will be another 120 years, and then he will destroy the world. And sure enough, 120 years. Now we may think 120 years is a long period.

If we can live to 120 years, that will be a very long life. But to God, 120 years is nothing. And yet, you'll find he kept. Blood came, and destroyed. So this world is not what we thought. It was destroyed once.

But God said his family came out from the ark, sacrificed to God, savored, ascended to God, and God smelled it, and God said, I will never destroy the world, never destroy mankind, and God's earth remains.

The days of the earth remains. There will be sea time, and never destroy the earth. Do you know that today mankind is still under the Noahic covenant? Here we find sea time and harvest continue on. Winter and summer continue on.

You may not like winter, but winter and summer continue on. Heat and cold continue on. And day and night. And there you'll find God made a covenant with Abraham. 430 years later came the law, but the law did not annul the promise that God had made.

And again you'll find God is faithful to what he promised David. He promised David. He was pleased with David. So he promised that, and his household shall be firm forever, and his throne shall be established forever.

And we find how it is fulfilled in the son of David, even the Lord of David, our Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, his kingdom never ends, and his throne. Not only you find the faithfulness of God is sung by the psalmist.

How in the book of Psalms you'll find the psalmist, they sing of the faithfulness. Kindness endures forever, and thy faithfulness remains from generation to generation. It is the song of the prophets.

The Faithfulness of Christ and the Example of Moses

You'll find they prophesied of the faithfulness of God. In Lamentations chapter 3. You know the children of Israel at that time were in very, very bad condition. And actually they were destroyed. They were taken into captivity.

But thank God, when they look up, they found that because of the loving kindness of God, we shall all be consumed. And how true it is. But we are what we are today. It is not because of what we are, it is because of what he is.

Because brothers and sisters, you come to the New Testament. And who do you find as the faithful one? Our Lord Jesus Christ. You know there is none in the whole world who is so faithful as our Lord Jesus.

He is faithful to his Father, even until death. And that's the death. So in the book of Revelation you'll find again and again, he is called the faithful witness. In Revelation chapter 1, he is the faithful witness.

In Revelation chapter 3, you'll find God is the Amen. Christ is the Amen, the faithful and true witness. And in Revelation chapter 19, you'll find when he shall come, he is called the faithful. Our Lord Jesus is faithful to his Father.

Not only our Lord Jesus himself is faithful, but you know, he is the one who brings faithfulness. Do you think that naturally we are faithful? Now you may find in this world some people are more faithful than other people.

Now that is true. But when you come to the will of God, you will find no matter who you are, the natural man is never faithful to God's will. Naturally we are unfaithful. That's what we were. But thank God, our Lord Jesus, he is not only faithful, but he imparts faithfulness.

Why? Because the life that we received from him is a faithful life. In other words, in that life of Christ that we receive, there is that nature of faithfulness there. It is on that basis that he expects us to be faithful.

You know, he never demands what he has not given. If he should demand faithfulness from us and it is not in us, then we are under the law and it will bring death to us. But thank God, what is grace? Grace is his always give first before he demands.

He demands on himself. He does not demand really on us. So here you will find the Lord is looking today for people who are faithful. We are not only to be the called. We are not only to be the chosen.

Moses’ Faithfulness Under Pressure

Now after we are chosen, then it requires faithfulness to him. That we may be faithful to him to the very end. So this is what God is looking for among his people. Of course, we like to think why? Because in Hebrews chapter 3 we are told that Moses was faithful to a ministering servant for a testimony of the things in God, in all.

He was chosen to be the leader of the children of Israel. Now when Moses led the children out of Israel on the way to the promised land, during that 40 years, how faithful he was in the house. That when the children of Israel worshiped the golden calf, and God wanted to destroy that nation.

And God said, I will destroy that nation and I will raise you up as a great nation. Now think of the faithfulness of Moses. Moses was so faithful to God, that not only he refused that he will be blessed by God to substitute the children of Israel.

But on the contrary, he pleaded with God. How he insulted for the children of Israel. Even to the extent that God, if you will not forgive them, blot my name out of the book of life. Now brothers and sisters, that is a tremendous thing.

Those names are written on that book of life. They will be able to enter into what we call heaven. And that is the blessed hope of everybody. That is the final thing. And yet Moses, as a servant of God, he was so faithful to that which God had entrusted him.

That he would rather see himself destroyed, than to see the people of God destroyed. Now that is faithfulness. And then afterwards, if you go to Numbers chapter 11, you know, they began that wandering journey.

And when they began that wandering journey, now how the children of Israel were difficult. They were very, very difficult. You know, they want everything to satisfy them. And if something happens, they murmur.

And they not only murmur against God, of course, Moses was the target. They murmur against him. They blame him for everything. They want to kill him, to stone him to death. Now that was the situation Moses was in.

And often times you find that in the controversy between God and the people, Moses was in the middle. God was angry. And the people was angry. And Moses was in the middle of the whole thing. Now you will think, in that situation, what will you do?

And you know, one day Moses really complained. And Moses said, God, why do you allow these things to happen to me? Why do you say that I have to take the children of Israel in my breast and carry them as nursing father, carry the babies?

I haven't brought them out. I haven't formed them. Now why do you put this burden upon me? You see the point? You see, Moses felt that God has entrusted him with the house of Israel. And he was a nursing father to them.

And he wondered why. Why God should do such a thing to him? He said, that's too much for him. And yet he was faithful. He remained faithful. And even though the children of Israel provoked his spirit, and he lost his temper, and because of that he was unable to enter into the promised land.

But you'll find, he wasn't one to say, well, if I could not enter, nobody should enter. But instead you'll find even before his death, he pleaded with the children of Israel to be faithful to God, that they may enter in and possess the land.

Brothers and sisters, that is faithful. And not only that, but he was faithful in all God's house. And God's house, representatively, is, you know, God commanded Moses to build a tabernacle. And God gave him instruction to the very last detail.

Now, it was almost like God was insulting Moses. You see, Moses was a big man. He had all the learnings of Egypt. And Egypt was famous for its architecture. Now, even today people go to Egypt to see these pyramids.

And if you study the pyramids, you will find it was built with such precision. And we were told that in the big Great Pyramid, there is a hole there. And that hole points to the North Pole. And because of all these thousands of years, you'll find that it shifted a little bit.

But it shows how accurate when it was built. Architecture was one of the glory of Egypt. And Moses was a builder. And yet God insulted. God asked him to build a little tabernacle. And what is that? And told him to the very last detail, the material, the measurement, even a nail.

And said, well, I will improve it. But you'll find his faithfulness is doing God's will. That is faithfulness. And Moses is faithful in God's will. That has much to do. Why? Because what he did is a testimony.

Of the things that is to come. Because this tabernacle is only a shadow. It is the shadow of a reality. And the reality is the New Jerusalem. So it is a big thing, not a small thing. Even though a tabernacle is a small thing.

But it is a shadow of the reality. Now you cannot change the shadow. If you change the shadow, it won't see the reality anymore. So it is a tremendous thing. Now brothers and sisters, we often think that a small thing, what does it matter?

But you know, it is a testimony of the things to come. In Acts chapter 13, it says that God has chosen David. Why? Because God saw in David a heart. He is a man at the God's own heart. Who shall do all in the heart of God, heart of David, to do God's will?

And this is when David was a shepherd in the wilderness. What a faithful shepherd he was. Why? Because the lion came. The bear came. And they came upon him. He was entrusted with. And he was tending a few sheep, as his brother said.

And yet how faithful he sacrificed his very life. He will fight with the lion. He will take hold of the bear and tear it up in order to save. How faithful she was to Saul. Saul wanted to kill him. But there was no one faithful among Saul's servants as David.

And this was what Ahimeleh said, Faithful in your house than your son-in-law David. He was so faithful, faithful to God's word. Because Saul was God's anointed. So he wouldn't help himself by killing Saul.

It is as if God tested him, put Saul into his hand twice. And his people said, now kill him and all your trouble will be over. And David said, no, I cannot. Saul was close to God. He ascended to the throne.

The first thing he did was to take Jerusalem. Because Jerusalem was the appointed place in Deuteronomy. God said one day he would choose a place to put his name there. But all these hundreds of years passed.

And that place was still not there. But David knew by revelation. Jerusalem. The thing he did as king was to take Jerusalem. That God may have a name on earth. And he brought the ark into the city. Build God, to build the temple.

Because he was a man of war, he shed blood too much. And yet not because he was not allowed to build it. He will have nothing to do with it. You'll find he prepared all the materials. Teenagers, he was taken as a hostage to Babylon.

Daniel’s Faithfulness in Exile

Seems as if luck came to him. Because even though he was taken as a hostage when he was a teenager. Out of his country, out of his family. And transplanted into a foreign country. But he was chosen to be educated, instructed to stand before the great king.

He was given king's wine. But here you'll find a young man. He was determined not to pollute himself, keep himself pure. What's wrong with enjoying the king's food and the king's wine? Well, because the king's food and the king's wine were usually first sacrificed to the idols.

Before they were given. So Daniel wanted to keep himself pure for God. He wouldn't let himself be polluted. Because his life was for God, not for anybody else. And God opened a way for him. He was able not to drink the king's wine and the king's food.

And yet he was fatter than the other young man who had the king's wine, king's food. And God gave him wisdom, understanding, discerning, interpreting dreams. Who was Daniel? Put into the first place in the government, next to the king.

You know, not only in the Babylonian empire, under kings. But even after Babylonia was destroyed by Medo-Persia. And here you'll find, again, he was almost like a prime minister in Medo-Persia. And of course the other people were very jealous of him.

So they wanted to find fault. To accuse the prime minister, he must be managing tens of thousands of things. The whole country, the whole empire. And yet his enemies couldn't find anything that he did.

Why? Because he was faithful. Finally they said, if we want to find anything in that man, we have to find it in his relationship with God. So they persuaded King Darius, you know, try to boost up his ego.

That during these seven days, nobody can ask anything from anybody, from any God, but from you. Well, that really boost up his ego. So he fell into that trap. He signed that decree. And Daniel knew it.

He went to his room, knelt down. But he didn't think of calling, call him, chosen him. But God has given him power. Because he said, God has counted him. So God used him as an apostle. And how faithful he was to God.

Paul’s Faithfulness in Ministry and Suffering

You know, you remember on his last trip to Jerusalem, he called the elders of the church in Ephesus to come to my leaders. And he shared his heart with them in Acts chapter 20. He said, during the three years and half that I was with you, how I ministered to you with loneliness, with tears, with tribulations.

That I have not withhold anything good for you. That I have shared with you the whole counsel of God. That I help you day and night, not only in public, but from house to house. Brothers and sisters, how faithful that was.

And no wonder, when he was tried by King Agrippa, his testimony was, oh King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to that heavenly vision that God has given to him. Brothers and sisters, we do know, that because God is faithful, because our Lord Jesus, because the life that he has given to us, is our seven letters to the churches.

Faithfulness Through Tribulation in Smyrna and Pergamos

His letter to the church in Smyrna said, you are in tribulation, but do not lose heart. Do not be afraid. There will be ten more days of tribulation. You know, ten in the scripture means very short time.

That is the meaning of eight or ten. You know, you remember when the servant Abraham sent to get Rebekah, and the servant next day said, now since you have already given Rebekah to Isaac, all right, my mission is fulfilled, so we go.

And of course, the brother and the mother said, no, no, no, let her stay a little longer before he go. A ten of eight days, not just a short while, a ten of eight days. You know, but the servant, no, God has blessed me, why should you delay him?

And Rebekah said, I'll go. You know, so eight and ten means a very short time. Brothers and sisters, in this world, but remember, in the world you are faithful even unto death. And you shall receive, in the third letter, the letter to the church in Pergamos, to me.

You keep my word, you still honor my name, as long as my servant Antipas, Antipas was dead. And you became, in church history, we do not find a person. As a matter of fact, Antipas, in other words, here is a man who, he is a man who is of the other world.

So he seems to be a person that is against all. And because he is so faithful to God, he is Antipas. And he suffered, probably martyrdom, for that reason. But his faithfulness, faithfulness is not just a personal thing.

If one is faithful, he is able to, after the church in Philadelphia, he said, hold fast. What God requires is very, the word, it refers to faithfulness, or whether it refers to faith, by the context. It is the same word.

Right, because faith, one, it means acknowledgement of God's revelation or truth. Now that's faith. It is a firm conviction, acknowledgement of God's revelation or truth. Secondly, faith, that conviction, you believe in God, then you have to surrender you to God.

If you don't surrender to God, what is your faith? And thirdly, because you surrender to God, therefore, you find there is faithfulness produced within you. You are faithfulness, and faith actually cannot be separated.

Faith and Faithfulness as One Reality

You know, Dr. Lightfoot, he was an Anglican bishop, and he was a most learned person. He wrote some commentaries, which almost cannot be surpassed. And when he interpreted the word faithful, he said, the scripture called believers faithful, the faithful.

Now what does that mean? Does it mean that they have a faith, a belief? Or does it mean that they are trustworthy, they are faithful? He said, you cannot be rigid about it. You have to let the two things come together.

In other words, those who have faith will be faithful. Those who are trustworthy is because they are trusting. So brothers and sisters, how can we be faithful? We can be faithful if we have faith. Faith is the secret to faithfulness.

You know, if we believe in God, our faith will give us that faithfulness. And this is something that God is looking for from his own people. Here you find the Apostle Paul, how he encouraged Timothy to be faithful.

Paul’s Charge to Timothy in a Time of Apostasy

You know, 2 Timothy is a very special letter. Every book in the Bible is special. And every book in the Bible speaks to us. But 2 Timothy is most relevant to our days. You see, there is a great difference between 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy.

Even though it is just a matter of a few years. Paul wrote 1 Timothy after he was released from Roman imprisonment. He revisited Ephesus. And he was in such a hurry, he couldn't stay there long enough.

So he left Timothy there to help build the church there. And the church is the house of God, of the living God, the pillar and the base of the truth. And in other words, here you'll find the church, even though it was very weak, and yet it was still church in God's eyes.

And God left Timothy there to help build up the church. That it may truly fulfill its testimony as the pillar and the base of truth. And that's the reason why you'll find in 1 Timothy, Paul instructed Timothy as to how to build the church.

But in 2 Timothy, it was only a gap of a few years. And you know, the situation in the Roman Empire completely changed during that few years. Because in AD 64, you remember? Nero burned Rome. And the people were murmuring.

So he tried to find a scapegoat. And he said the Christians did that. So from that time onward, to be a Christian becomes a crime. You know, when Paul was first taken to Rome to be a prisoner, to be a Christian was not a crime.

At that time, the Roman Empire considered Christianity as a sect of Judaism. And Judaism was a recognized religion in the Roman Empire. So the Roman Empire didn't persecute Christianity. But then, you know, Christianity and Judaism were separated completely.

And to be a Christian became a criminal, a crime. Now think of that. Under that kind of atmosphere, how it had affected the church. So when Paul wrote 2 Timothy, the situation had completely changed. Paul said, all Asia has forsaken me.

They haven't forsaken God, but they've forsaken Paul. Why? Because they want to protect themselves. Keep a distance between them and Paul. Because Paul was a criminal. And brothers and sisters, it was during the time of great tribulation, great trouble, at that time, the church was shaking.

And many God's people became unfaithful. So when you are put into that kind of situation, are you able to remain faithful to God? Faithful to your brothers and sisters? Faithful to the vision that God has given to you?

Some people may not deny God, they deny their brothers and sisters. And we find this happening everywhere, under the communist rule. And some people even go to the extent of denying Christ. Why is it so difficult?

It's too difficult. When you lose faith in God, you lose your faithfulness. And there you find Paul. In that kind of situation, he knew Timothy was a timid. You know, Timothy was a shy, naturally timid.

So Paul was encouraging him. Paul said, be faithful. If you are faithful, if you endure, you will reign with Christ. If you are unfaithful, you deny, God will deny you, but God will not deny himself. In other words, be faithful.

And Paul said, by the grace of God, look at me. I have fought the good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. And now, there's a crown of righteousness waiting for me. Not only for me, but for all those who wait for the coming of the Lord.

Remaining Faithful in an Unfaithful Age

Brothers and sisters, in our days, this is a day of unfaithfulness. This is a day that people are losing faith. And especially in such a time, how we need to be faithful. And the only way to be faithful is to have faith.

You know, when you look around, it's full of unfaithfulness. The world is unfaithful. Even your brothers and sisters may prove to be unfaithful. And what will you do? There's only one you can look to, and that is God.

And you'll find he remains the same, yesterday, today, and forever. He is always faithful to himself. And because he's faithful to himself, he is faithful to you. And he expects you to have faith in him, and to be faithful to him to the end.

And not only that, but there you'll find in 2 Timothy, what Paul says. He said, he said, Be thou therefore my child, be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus, and the things which thou hast heard of me in the presence of many witnesses.

These entrust to faithful men, such as shall be competent to instruct others. You know, we are in a time when you find the testimony of God is severely contested. We are living in a dangerous time. We are living in a time of apostasy.

We find falling away on all sides. We find the church is not what it ought to be. Now, when we are living in that kind of situation, what shall we do? Is it because others are unfaithful, therefore we can be unfaithful?

Is it because others lose faith in God, that we should lose our faith too? Or should we, under that kind of situation, that we should, by the grace of God, be strong in the grace of God, and keep all that God has entrusted us.

And not only that, but entrust to those faithful men. In Proverbs it said, faithful men who can find. The gospel said, when the Lord shall come, will he find faith upon this earth? Brothers and sisters, we are severely tested today in this matter of faith and faithfulness.

But God, and he wants us to be faithful, and not only ourselves be faithful, but entrust all that he has given to us, to faithful men, that his testimony may continue on. Brothers and sisters, thank God, he is faithful, therefore have faith in God.

Following the Lamb into Glory

And the called, the chosen, the faithful, they will be following the Lamb today, wheresoever he goes. So in the last battle, when the Lamb came to the last battle, they will be there with him, and they will enter into glory with him.

May God bless you. Dear Heavenly Father, we do realize that we are living in an unfaithful world. We do realize that faith is falling away all around. We do realize that even among thy people, faithfulness, but Lord, we do look to thee.

Thou has given us that life of thy beloved Son, that is faithful to the very end. So we just, we cannot trust ourselves, but we do trust in thy life. Lord, we look to thee. We know that thou art God, and thou art ever faithful.

So Lord, keep us faithful to the very end. Lord, raise a faithful man and woman among thy people throughout the world, that they may maintain thy testimony in this age of unfaithfulness. In the name of our Lord Jesus.