Leah and Rachel, the wives of Jacob, symbolize two aspects of redemption that are necessary if we would inherit the Kingdom of God. Leah, the lesser beauty, represents the rigors of discipleship, the part of salvation that is painful to us. Rachel portrays what we desire of God and of life—the part of our Divine calling and inheritance that brings joy to us.

We endure Leah, the cross, because of the joy of Rachel set before us. Leah gives us the spiritual strength necessary for rulership in the Kingdom while Rachel brings the compassion of heart that reveals the Presence of God to the nations. Together the two bear much fruit.

The story of Jacob (Israel) is that of each Christian disciple.

There was a Divine calling abiding on Jacob. Although Jacob and Esau were twins, God loved Jacob and hated Esau.

The work and concept of Divine foreknowledge and election will become of increasing importance as we approach the end of the present age. In the churches of today there exist both the wheat of God and the tares of Satan. The wheat includes all that has been born of God. When we start out in the Lord we have the Lord's wheat and Satan's tares in us. The work of salvation removes the tares until only the wheat of Christ remains.

The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; (Matthew 13:38)

We see, therefore, that election plays an important role in our salvation. But we must respond to the work of the Holy Spirit if we are to lay hold on that for which we have been grasped. Every aspect of our redemption is an opportunity, never a sovereignly imposed deliverance that operates independently of our response.

If any person who reads these words is troubled thinking that he never has been called of God, let him not concern himself with whether he is called of God but rather with doing God's will. Let him make his calling and election certain by seeking the Lord with all his heart, working out his salvation with fear and trembling. The Lord Jesus will receive whoever comes to Him in sincere faith.

The prevailing attitude of overconfidence and carelessness is not of God. Whether or not we truly have been called of God is revealed in our behavior, not so much in our doctrinal confession.

In the last days the Lord will send forth many different kinds of messengers: spirits, people, circumstances. These will remove from the Kingdom of God that which never has been born of God. The individuals in the churches who are not clothed in the Divinely ordained garments will not be able to stand during the shaking that even now is coming upon us.

The Kingdom net brings in multitudes of people. Each of them will be tried by fire.

To be continued.