The Special Forces

The Special Forces

To claim that every believer is saved by grace, goes to Heaven by "accepting Christ," receives the same reward whether or not the believer vigorously and faithfully seeks and obeys Christ, assuredly is to do violence to the Scriptures. This concept is not biblical!

It cuts away the zeal a new believer might have for seeking Christ diligently after the manner of the Apostle Paul.

They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers. (Revelation 17:14)

Called. Chosen. Faithful. Why are these saints "special forces"?

A young man from our church recently enlisted in the special forces of the US Navy. Less than a fourth of those who began the rigorous training finished the program successfully. He did!

Other branches of the armed forces in the United States have similar special forces. So do the armed forces of other countries.

What is "special" about these people?

They have undergone training more severe than the remainder of their branch of service.

They are given unusually difficult assignments.

Are there special forces in the Christian Church, or are all "saved" people marching in the same rank? Can we aspire to a higher rank? What benefit is there in moving, say from the "called" to the "chosen"; or do all Christians have the same responsibilities and privileges?

Let's take a look at what the Bible says about "special forces" in the Christian Church.

First of all, there is our introductory verse, Revelation 17:14.

They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers. (Revelation 17:14)

Is every believer "called"? Is every believer "chosen"? Is every believer "faithful"?

Well, we know from the following passages that every Christian is not chosen.

For many are called, but few are chosen. (Matthew 22:14–KJV)

Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" (John 6:70)

Apparently most of the multitude had left the Lord Jesus, because they could not understand what He meant when He spoke about His body and blood. But the twelve disciples had remained with Him, although I feel certain they did not understand either. Yet they stayed!

It appears that passing from the ranks of the "called" to the ranks of the "chosen" has something to do with staying with Jesus when we do not understand what He is talking about. Or perhaps they stayed because they had been chosen for some other reason.

In any case, it seems the multitude were invited, but only twelve people stayed to hear Jesus elaborate on what He was proclaiming. It is clear that in this instance there was a difference between the called (invited) and the chosen.

How many Christians today are interested in the loaves and fish but have little interest in the body and blood of the Lord? Yet, the body and blood of Jesus Christ are our resurrection and our eternal life!

To what are we called?

To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours. (I Corinthians 1:2)

We are called to be "holy ones." We are not called just to be church members. We are called to be "holy," that is, set apart from the world for God's special purposes and free from unclean spirits. This is what it means to be a Christian.

"Holy" means called of God for His special purposes. It indicates also the absence of unclean spirits. We are holy first by assigned holiness. Then the actual holiness must be worked out in our personality.

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. (II Corinthians 7:1)

It seems to me that of those who are called to be saints, only a few are interested in pressing into our Lord in order to gain resurrection life.

The Bible states that not many people are "called" to partake of Christ so as to be a "holy one."

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. (I Corinthians 1:26)

The true elect (called) of God are a minority of the peoples of the earth. God loves them all, and deals with them patiently.

But of the entire Church (the called) many do not bear the fruit of righteous behavior, that to which they have been called. As Jesus declared, they are removed from the Vine, from Christ.

If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. (John 15:6)

Perhaps those who remain after the purging are the "chosen."

And then there is the category of faithfulness. Called, chosen, and faithful. It is not enough, that is, if we wish to be in God's special forces, to be called and chosen. We then must remain faithful throughout a lifetime of trials. A few of our trials test us to the core of our personality.

We can emerge victoriously from all of our testings, as did the young man from our church. But we have to be determined. Also, we have to love not our life to the point of death, giving to God everything He asks for no matter how dear it or the person may be. We have to imitate Abraham's episode with Isaac in this instance.

I think that in our day the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom is not nearly strict enough. I believe many church-attenders have the impression that they are in some sort of social club. Perhaps such people would be scandalized at the very thought that if they did not begin to bear the image of Christ in their personality they would be removed from Christ and cast aside as not worthy to be included among the called and chosen.

But this is what the inerrant Scripture teaches us.

Yet, the Bible goes on to teach us that there are not only the called and the chosen, but also a "firstfruits" who remain faithful throughout every sort of testing and affliction. I view the firstfruits of the Church as comparable to the special forces in the military.

There are a number of passages devoted to God's firstfruits.

We already have mentioned the called, chosen, and faithful. You may notice, in Revelation 17:14, that these disciples are with the Lamb in a time of war against wickedness. Just as in the case of the special forces in the military, the called, chosen, and faithful are associated with the war against the enemy.

These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless. (Revelation 14:4,5)

I don't believe being defiled with women refers to physical marriage, for that is not defiling. Probably the reference is to the spirit of romance, which is idolatrous. In addition we might remark that adultery and fornication will keep us out of the Kingdom of God.

One of the rewards of the firstfruits company is to follow the Lamb wherever He goes. There is no other reward as great as this!

We see this same benefit in I Thessalonians. "And so we will be with the Lord forever." I do not believe it is realized generally, but those who will be resurrected (or changed) when Jesus appears are not the general population of Christian people but the Lord's firstfruits.

How do I know this? Because the fourth chapter of First Thessalonians is describing the first resurrection from the dead, the resurrection of the firstfruits of the Royal Priesthood. These are the saints who will descend with the Lord Jesus, destroy the armies of Antichrist, force Antichrist and the False Prophet into the Lake of Fire, and then go through the earth destroying the institutions of Antichrist, as described in the second chapter of the Book of Joel.

The first resurrection must be attained to. It was Paul's supreme goal, apparently.

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10,11)

So the idea that everyone who makes a profession of faith in Christ is suddenly going to be caught up to Heaven indeed is a fanciful idea.

Concerning the first resurrection from the dead, we might want to consider the following:

(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:5,6)

These who attain to the first resurrection are the blessed and holy members of God's firstfruits.

The statement that the Lake of Fire has no power over them is extraordinary. This means they could descend into the home of Satan, Antichrist, the False Prophet, the fallen angels, the demons, and a multitude of vicious people, and not be injured in the slightest. This is one of the benefits of attaining to the "special forces." We no longer would have any fear of the second death.

The thirteenth chapter of the Book of Matthew describes three levels of reaping Christ. There are the thirtyfold, the sixtyfold, and the hundredfold.

"But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown." (Matthew 13:23)

The three levels reminds us of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. There was the Courtyard. Then there was the Holy Place of the Tent. Finally there was the Most Holy Place.

It is interesting to consider that on the new earth there will be the area devoted to the nations of saved people, corresponding to the Courtyard of the Tabernacle, the thirtyfold members of the Kingdom of God.

Then there will be the new Jerusalem. The new Jerusalem is the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the holy Zion. The new Jerusalem includes the firstfruits and the remainder of the Church—we might say the hundredfold and the sixtyfold members of the Royal Priesthood.

Thus we see that everyone in the new world of righteousness will have a portion of Christ in him or her.

It is my understanding that throughout the thousand-year Kingdom Age, the firstfruits will minister to the less mature of the Church, who will be residing in the heavenly Jerusalem. The purpose will be to bring them to maturity in preparation for their service to those people saved from the nations, the citizens of the new earth.

We can see this ministry in the following passage:

We have a little sister, and her breasts are not yet grown. What shall we do for our sister on the day she is spoken for? If she is a wall, we will build towers of silver on her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with panels of cedar. I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. Thus I have become in his eyes like one bringing contentment. (Song of Solomon 8:8-10)

The "little sisters" are, as I see it, the immature Christians residing in the heavenly Jerusalem throughout the thousand-year Kingdom Age. Some of them are a wall against sin. Others are so weak they have to be enclosed with panels of cedar, the material used in Solomon's Temple. God loves the weak. He has promised not to extinguish the smoking flax, hasn't He?

Then there are the firstfruits. She is mature and powerful, reminding us of El Shaddai . She ministers to the immature in the heavenly city until they are ready to fulfill their role of bringing the Presence of God to the citizens of the new earth. The immature are righteous but must be made perfect.

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect. (Hebrews 12:22,23)

And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" (I Peter 4:18)

To bring the less mature to full growth probably is the main purpose for the thousand-year Kingdom Age. Another purpose would be to bring the firstfruits to perfection by means of their working with Christ at the task of governing the nations of saved people—the "sheep" who ministered to the needs of Christ's brothers and sisters, as described in the twenty-fifth chapter of the Book of Matthew.

A third reason for the Kingdom Age might be to select from the nations the people who are candidates for citizenship on the new earth. Those not found worthy will be destroyed by fire when they finally rebel at the end of the period. Also, the saved individuals must get used to being governed by Christ and His saints.

The Book of Ezekiel presents a picture of the coming to maturity of the firstfruits, and then their role in bringing eternal life to the people of the nations of the earth.

He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. (Ezekiel 47:5)

The dedicated disciples of the Lord will discover as they keep pressing forward in Christ that they now are in "waters to swim in." There is a fullness of the Spirit, a Wholeness with the Father and the Son in which one feels like declaring, "I am no more in this world."

What a marvelous state it is to be one with the Father and the Son. When we are, the world will believe that it is the true God who has sent Christ into the world.

And that is exactly what we see in Ezekiel, isn't it? We have become a tree of life growing out from the original Tree of Life. We are secure on the bank of God. The Throne of God has been created in us, and now we are bringing the Spirit of God to dead mankind.

Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. (Ezekiel 47:9)

The Glory of God shall cover us when Christ appears. Then the nations of the earth will flock to the Presence of God. They will want to go up to Jerusalem to be near Christ and His saints.

In the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:2,3)

The law that will go out from Zion will not be the Law of Moses but the Sermon on the Mount. The people of the nations will be taught to love God with all their heart and their neighbor as themselves.

Because of the self-will that has been developed in people as they have been taught that their personal freedom is the highest good, it will be necessary that the rules of righteousness be absolutely enforced. I think it is probable that Christ and His saints will issue the rules, and then the rules will be enforced by powerful angels. There will be no compromise. It is a government of iron!

During the Kingdom Age the people of the nations will grow accustomed to obeying Christ and His saints rather than their own will. This will prepare them for the coming new world of righteousness.

There will be some saints who will be assigned to judge the twelve tribes of Israel, according to the Lord Jesus.

You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Luke 22:29,30)

The following may be the greatest promise in the Bible. It is offered to those who overcome as Jesus also overcame:

To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Revelation 3:21)

When going through the Bible one may gain the impression that war and government are leading concepts.

It is true that the main issue of the Scriptures is the war against evil, an evil that began when Satan attempted to exert his will against the God of Heaven.

God is looking for people who will join with Him and His Son in the struggle to drive all evil and rebellion from the universe. We are invited to this struggle.

Among the people who are called to be holy ones will be those who make an effort to do good. Others who will make a more determined effort. And a third group who will wrestle with God until they overcome sin and self-will. These are God's special forces.

The following passages bring to mind what the young man from our church endured as he prepared to enter the special forces. On the advice of a Christian friend who had gone through the training before him, our boy prayed constantly that he might successfully endure the testings.

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death.

But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (I Corinthians 1:8,9)

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. (II Corinthians 4:8-10)

Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. (II Corinthians 6:4-10)

For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within. (II Corinthians 7:5)

What do you think about the experiences of the Apostle Paul? In addition to these sufferings, God permitted Satan to afflict Paul with what may have been an infection in Paul's eyes. When Paul prayed, God answered Paul to the effect that the purpose of the infection was to keep Paul in a weakened state so God's Glory would be manifest.

God's Glory indeed has been revealed in the writings of this man two thousand years ago.

I am not suggesting that the special-forces training our boy experienced was anywhere near that of the Apostle Paul. My point is that God has His own special forces who undergo constant training that God's will shall be done.

I would suggest to anyone reading my words that in spite of the rigors that must be endured, it certainly is worthwhile to pursue God's best. The reward of being resurrected and caught up to be with Jesus when He appears is sufficiently great to inspire many Christians to emulate Paul in ceaselessly pressing forward in Christ.

Our effort must include setting aside our own life that the Lord Jesus will do our thinking, speaking, and behaving. We accomplish this transfer of who is living in our body by continually calling upon Jesus to take over our behavior so it is He who is living and not ourselves.

Life is so short! We have this one opportunity to join God's special forces. Let every one of us take advantage of it.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

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