IS SALVATON FOR EVERYONE?
Mat 13:10 “And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?”
Did Jesus choose what He said to His disciples and what He said to the general public? Indeed it seems that way from the scripture outlined above. Jesus was followed by great multitudes at this point as He usually was. They wanted to hear words from the Master Teacher. Some wanted to be fed the literal bread and others wanted healing for their bodies and souls. However, it was customary for Jesus to impart some words of wisdom before He did any of the other great acts when there were many people around Him. Yet, we see that He began to speak, but not clearly. He spoke in parables. A parable is described as an “earthly story with a heavenly meaning”. Sometimes if you do not have divine inspiration you may “miss the boat”. That is, you may miss the actual moral or meaning of a parable.
Here we see Jesus going out into a boat and speaking to the multitude from that vantage point of the sea. He tells them about this farmer who went out to sow seed and what happened with the seed. Surely the farmers in the audience could understand what He was saying. Yet, could they make the necessary spiritual connection to anchor them in the Saviour of the world? Were they able to clearly decipher what He was telling them to make a decision to follow Him all the way? Obviously, the disciples did not think so. Hence, when the multitudes were gone away they came to Jesus wanting to know why He did not speak clearly to the people. Mat 13:11 “He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.”
Note the answer carefully. The mysteries of the kingdom are given to the children of the kingdom; not to everyone. Jesus went on to say that if He spoke clearly then some of them would believe and they would be converted.
The question then arises but didn’t the scripture say in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Yes, it says exactly that. The key words are “whosoever believeth in him”. It is very important to know Him, in order to believe in Him. Many believe that they know Him. Here is the proof they offer of the knowledge they have of Him. Mat 7:22 “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?”
This will be His response:
Mat 7:23 “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” How terribly sad it will be to think that you knew someone and they openly declare they never knew you! But then we see these words in the books of Ephesians and Revelation:
Eph 1:4 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:”
Rev 13:8 “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
God has His chosen ones. They were chosen from the foundation of the world. He will reveal Himself and His secrets to them. They will serve and obey Him. They will do His commandments. If your name is not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world you will not serve Him. You will not hear His voice. You will not believe in Him. Are you one of His chosen ones?