What it's about

For your information, this is a link to the 39 Articles and a little history....

The 39 Articles of Religion are the essential beliefs of the Anglican church codified. The articles were established by a Convocation of the Church in 1563, using as a basis the 42 Articles written under the direction of Thomas Cranmer in 1553. The 42 Articles were overturned under the fervently Catholic Mary I, but under Elizabeth I the pendulum swung back in favour of reform.

Fit for Destiny

You have a divine destiny. It’s not found in the stars or in your palms, nor is it subject to the plans of your parents, teachers, or even government. Rather, it’s God ordained and can only be found in Christ. The calling on your life is unique—especially designed for you.

Scripture declares, “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10, NIV). How far in advance? The psalmist pens: “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed” (Ps. 139:16, NLT).

God Himself foreordained our life’s work before we were formed in our mother’s womb. This truth is captured in His word to Jeremiah. He said, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world" (Jer. 1:5, NLT). The same is true for the apostle Paul; he writes, “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace” (Gal 1:15). Jeremiah’s and Paul’s testimonies only confirm the psalmist’s words that each of us was set apart to do a specific work for God before we were born. Each day was ordained; every moment was laid out before a single day passed! The question is, will we fulfill what was planned for us? Solomon states:

“I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him. That which is has already been, and what is to be has already been; and God requires an account of what is past.” Eccles. 3:14-15

There is so much in these scriptures. First of all, God has plans. The overall objective of His many plans is to build Himself an eternal dwelling place called Zion. (See Psalm 132:13-14.) It will be made up of redeemed mankind. Nothing can take away from it being accomplished, and mankind cannot add anything to it.

However, the writer of Ecclesiastes proceeds to deal with our roles as individuals in the overall Master Plan. He states that our present, as well as our future, has been beforehand in the mind of God. However, what has been done on our part already we will have to give an account of at the judgment seat of Christ. (See 2 Corinthians 5:9-11.) Did we walk in what He ordained for us to fulfill? Or did we mess it up, or even miss our assignment altogether. Did He have to assign another to do what we were called to do in the Master Plan, which will inevitably be fulfilled?

So at this juncture I need to make this most important statement. All of us believers in Jesus Christ will stand before Him as our Judge. There are numerous individuals in church unaware that they will give an account of what they’ve done in their short stay on earth. Many have the erroneous idea that all future judgment is eradicated by their salvation. Indeed, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from the sins, which would have kept us from the kingdom; however, it does not exempt us from the judgment of how we conducted ourselves as believers, whether good or bad, as 2 Corinthians 5:10 tells us.

We will be judged for our works, actions, words, thoughts, and even motives at the judgment seat. The judgments that will be rendered at His seat on that day will be eternal. In other words, there will be no alterations, revisions, addendums, or overrulings to these decisions throughout all eternity. Scripture is clear that the range of rewards is very large, spanning from having everything we’ve done burned up (1 Cor 3:13-15) all the way to reigning with Christ forever and ever (2 Tim 2:12).

Now here is the important truth we must understand. In regard to our works, or calling, we will not be judged according to what we did, but rather according to what we were called to do!

Let me give you an example. At the judgment seat Jesus may say something like this, “Evangelist Anderson, please step forward and give an account of all the souls I called you to win for Me.”

A man may come before Jesus a bit confused and trembling, saying, “Sir, You mean Accountant Anderson; right? I was an accountant with my own firm. This was my occupation. I set up many churches and nonprofit organizations. Those ministries influenced many souls and caused them to come into Your kingdom. Do you have me mistaken for someone else?”

The Master may reply, “No, I called you before you were born to lead multitudes in Asia to salvation; give an account of where they are. If you had obeyed Me, you would have been rewarded greatly for all the fruit you harvested for My kingdom. Now as a result, your works will be burn up as they were not in obedience to Me.”

Then we may see this scenario. Jesus may then say, “Accountant Jones, please step forward and give an account of what I called you to do.”

Then another man may step forward, also very confused and trembling, saying, “Sir, You mean Pastor Jones, right? I was a pastor of a church and had 250 members. I built that church from the ground up.”

To which the Master may reply, “No, I called you to work in the marketplace as an accountant and build a strong firm that would help many of My churches and ministries effectively fulfill what I ordained them to accomplish. If you would have sought Me earnestly, I would have shown you this. Then all the multitudes of people those ministries eternally changed would have been credited to you; you would have been rewarded for each soul. But now you will receive nothing for what you did, as it was not in obedience to Me. I also ordained you to be the head usher in a church across town from where you started your church. Had you obeyed, all seven thousand souls that this church eternally touched would also have been credited directly to you because you would have been a vital part of the body to which I called you. Since you were not there, you will receive no reward for those seven thousand souls.”

Allow me to give an example. I have a board member who is a dear friend and pastors a thriving church in the southeastern part of the United States. He started the church in 1991 with twenty-two people and is now pushing four thousand members. It is one of the easiest churches to preach in because of the hunger of the people. Multitudes have been saved and discipled in this church.

The church grew rapidly through much prayer, strong preaching, and hard labor; they built a beautiful building to accommodate the large numbers of people. After several years my friend observed a distinguished white-haired gentleman, always well dressed, attending the services. He also noticed that this man would sit in service after service and watch with tears running down his face. However, the pastor felt these weren’t tears of joy.

Finally this gentleman approached one of the associate pastors and shared that in 1981 the Lord spoke clearly to him that he was to start a church in this city. A few days later he had a dream of the building this church he was to pastor would meet in. The dream was so vivid that he had a professional draw a rendition of the building he saw in his dream. He then reported that he ran into some resistance and backed off from starting the church. After a while he traveled and ministered in other cities for a short time and eventually ended up back in the business world.

He then opened up a carefully folded paper and told the associate that it was the artist’s rendition of the building he had drawn up in 1981. When the associate looked at the drawing he almost went into shock. It was the exact building my friend had built years later, the building in which they were now meeting. My friend has since ministered comfort to this man, but the gentleman has shared the difficulty he’s had in getting over it. God does not intend for him to live in condemnation but to learn, grow, and find out how he can effectively serve the Lord the rest of his life.

I’ve heard many examples of people missing their destinies such as this. I’ve seen examples of it as well. In more than twenty years of traveling to churches worldwide I have seen senior pastors who I knew in my heart were called to be associates, business men who I knew were supposed to be in full-time ministry, and even pastors who I knew their calling was in the marketplace. I’ve seen people out of place in the corporate or business world; they worked for someone else because of fear of failing on their own; then I’ve seen those who were not faithful to another because they just wanted to be their own boss. I’ve seen people marry out of the will of God, and their calls have been thwarted. I have seen others who have been entangled with certain friends who kept them from their calling as well as those entangled in a recreation, sports, lust for money or power, or other various scenarios. The situations are endless. All of these have kept these believers from fulfilling their role in the master plan of building God’s house.

Bottom line, are you fulfilling your destiny? You may think, But I don’t know what I’m called to do. There could be a couple reasons for this. First, have you sought God earnestly? We are told that God rewards those who diligently seek Him in faith, not casually seek Him in wonder or doubt. (See Hebrews 11:6.) If anyone earnestly seeks God, fully expecting an answer, he will be shown what he has been put on the earth to do.

Second, have you planted yourself in a local church? God’s Word tells us, “Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God” (Ps 92:13, emphasis added). Those who plant themselves in the house of God, which in this life would be the local church, shall flourish in the courts of our God. An aspect of “the courts of our God” is the judgment seat of Christ. So we will flourish both now and at the judgment if we have been firmly planted in a local church. This is God’s design.

Third, are you entangled? Paul says of himself, “But I reckon my own life to be worth nothing to me; I only want to complete my mission and finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to do” (Acts 20:24, TEV). Paul was keenly aware of his life’s mission. He had a job to finish, and he was also aware the job wasn’t yet complete. The Lord reveals this to anyone who does not count his life more valuable than the will of God. In this lies the final key!

When we wholly lay down our life to fulfill God’s desired plan for us, then we will not only discover our calling, but we will fulfill it as well. An example is seen in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus asked a man to follow Him, and two others enthusiastically offered to be His disciples as well. However, all three had entanglements. The first man loved security. Jesus pinpointed his hindrance by saying, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head" (Luke 9:58). When he heard these words, the man most likely slipped to the back of the crowd and eventually left, along with a slew of others who were comfortable in their retirement plans, home equities, and secure jobs.

Next Jesus asked a man to follow Him but met up with the response that he desired to first go and bury his father. In doing this he would receive a double portion inheritance; if not, it would be forfeited. This man had money on his mind. After Jesus confronted him he also, with a slew of others who loved money, began to slip back.

Finally, another offered to follow Jesus, but his hang-up was close relationships. He was concerned he might offend his family, girlfriend, or other mates. They might not approve of him making such a radical step to leave his hometown to follow the controversial Rabbi from Nazareth. To this man, along with the others, Jesus responded, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:61-62).

The word fit comes from the Greek word euthetos, which means, “well-placed, suited for, adapted to.” So you can see the object here is not those who will make heaven, but rather those who are suited for laboring in the Lord’s work.

More than likely at this point Jesus has witnessed the large crowd of enthusiastic followers whittled down to just around seventy. There were probably thousands to start with, but He has just directly dealt with three major areas of entanglement that hinder folks from fulfilling their destiny: security, money, and relationships. There are other areas, such as pleasures or the desire for other things outside the purposes of God, but in my years of experience these are the majors.

Most when reading the Gospels miss Luke’s next crucial statement because of the transition into a new chapter. However, let me remind you that this is one long letter, and the church later added the chapters and verses for easy reference. Here what Luke says next, “After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, ‘The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few’” (Luke 10:1-2, emphasis added).

First of all look at the words, “After these things…” We must ask, after what things? The answer is after Jesus witnessed the crowd whittled down to a remnant of people who were still standing there saying to themselves, “I don’t care what it costs to follow Him; I’m willing and I will do it!” They heard His response to security, money, and relationship issues, and they were determined not to allow anything to keep them from fulfilling their destiny in God.

Then Jesus appointed seventy new team members, who were most likely the only ones left remaining. The words appointed and chosen are used synonymously in the New Testament. A person who is appointed is one who has been chosen, and one who is chosen is one who’s been appointed.

Hear this statement Jesus makes in the Gospel of Matthew in two different places. If He makes an exact statement in two places in the same Gospel, then we need to pay close attention. Here it is:

“For many are called, but few chosen.” Matthew 20:16; 22:14

Many are called. How many? Everyone to be exact! Every believer has a call upon their life and gifts to accomplish it. However, and this may shock you, only few are chosen or appointed to fulfill that destiny! Why are only a few appointed? Because only a few will forsake all their own desires, securities, lust for money, hindering relationships, etc. to fulfill the call upon their lives. Notice Jesus said, “The harvest is truly great, but the laborers are few” (Luke 10:2). It is not God’s fault our generation is not being reached, for God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). We are the ones who will have to stand before His judgment seat and give an account of why our generation wasn’t reached. If we fulfilled our call, then we will not be judged; however, if we allowed entanglements to hinder us, then it will be sobering at the judgment.

Here is the sobering fact. Jesus tells us that only a few will fulfill their called destiny. Every believer will have a call to build God’s house, but only few will fulfill it. This means the majority who stand before the believer’s judgment seat will suffer loss and not glorious rewards! I know this is not happy news; however, here is the good news: you can start now. You can get on your knees and pray and ask God to forgive you for all that you have allowed to keep you from obeying His will for your life, and then move forward step by step. Smith Wigglesworth, a great evangelist of the twentieth century, didn’t start his ministry until he was in his fifties. It is not too late for you!

So much is at stake. We can’t take lightly our entrusted time here on earth. People’s eternal destinies are dependent on our obedience to the plan of God. It is His will that all be saved and conformed into the image of Jesus. He doesn’t want any left behind.

All it takes is us doing our part and multiplying what He’s entrusted to us. Don’t be discouraged. Don’t see your part as insignificant. Seek God for your destiny, and don’t lose sight of the heavenly vision.

I appeal to you as a fellow citizen of the kingdom: fulfill your calling and make your election sure; run your race fully to the end. You’ll look back ten million years from this moment and rejoice that you did. You cannot be too committed to the will of God. So run your race to win!

This is an excerpt from John Bevere's book, Driven by Eternity. Used with permissions.