And eternal life shall live in
all glory's name. His house will stand forevermore
in glory be found. And as he stands before the throne,
he will rise to make his own. All right, 1 Thessalonians chapter
1, 3 verses 2 through 3, 1 Thessalonians chapter
1, we give thanks to God always for you all. making mention of you in our
prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and
labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ,
the sight of God and our Father, knowing, Brethren, beloved, your
election of God. Now, I love these Wednesday night
services. because I love you. And I love to bring these messages
to you on Wednesday night. These are special messages, special
time. Worship and fellowship in a very,
I think, a very intimate gathering of God's breath. A time that
we try to preserve as a time of special comfort for God's
people who generally make up the congregation. But Paul says
in verse one, Paul writes, Paul, Silvanus, and Timotheus under
the church of the Thessalonians. And this is also written to us.
Paul, Silas, and Timothy were constant companions. Kind of
like, well, Todd and Albert. Paul, Todd, and Albert, or Marvin,
and Paul, and Todd, or whoever. There were men known well to
this church that preached there often, and the church loved them,
and they loved the church. So this is a very personal letter
from these men. It's God's Word. Yep, it's a
love letter from God from these men to the church. Read on. The church which is in God the
Father. This is what it means to be saved. It means to be in God's purpose,
in God's covenant, in God's love. Everybody's not. God's church
here, in the Lord Jesus Christ, to the church that's in Christ,
found in Him, having His righteousness, found in Him, covered by His
blood. He says, Grace be unto you, all
grace, all grace, from the God of all grace. is unto those that
are in God, and in Christ, and peace. God is not angry with
His people. God loves you. That's what I
say. I like these words tonight, because
I can tell you, God loves you. Smile. God loves you. And He has a wonderful purpose
for you. Grace and peace from God. We
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through his
blood. Read on. We give thanks to God, all of
us, for you all. Thanks to God. Look over at the
second letter to the Thessalonians. Paul says this quite often, as
do all of God's people. They give thanks to God for all
things, but especially for the brethren. The fellowship first
three of chapter one. All says we're bound to thank
God always for you rather. But the chapter two verse thirteen
we're bound to give thanks always to God for you rather. Beloved
of the Lord. You know so many places today
that thank me and for doing things for coming to God's house. Now,
we're bound to give thanks to God. We wouldn't be here, right? So we're always giving thanks
to God. Read on, the rest of this verse, one of my favorites.
Beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you. He didn't choose him. He chose
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. So we're bound to give thanks
to God. And Paul says we always do. Oh,
like Samuel, I love what Samuel said. He said, God forbid that
I should sin against the Lord and cease Him to pray for my
brethren. I don't love to think only of myself, me and mine. That's positively sinful. But
let me think of others. Paul did, and he had a lot of
trouble, didn't he? Nothing but trouble. And he didn't
think of himself. He was thinking about everybody.
Paul was in jail, and he was trying to comfort young Timothy. We give thanks to God always
for you all, every one of you, old and young, weak and strong,
male and female. All of you give thanks, making
mention of you in our prayers. It's a good thing to call names.
Now, obviously, I can't do it every time we meet together.
Too many. Too many saints. All those are
in various churches even in here. But we can do it ourselves when
people come to mind. Making mention of you. Lord bless
the brethren. Verse 3. He says, we remember
without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love. Your work of faith. All that
you do. Paul, Timothy, and Silas say,
we remember all that you have done for us and each other and
the cause of Christ. And so do I. So do I. Thank the Lord for your generosity
and your support for me and mine, the gospel, and all who preach
it and each other. Thank the Lord for that. Your
work of faith, that's what it is. It's all because of who you
know and believe. And it's a labor of love and
it's not duty. You don't give out of duty. You
give out of love. And patience of hope in our Lord
Jesus Christ. Everyone in here goes through
trials. Everyone. Everyone of God's people are
called to suffer. And you take it patiently. Patience
of hope. Because we sorrow not as those
who have no hope. We have great hope. It's good
hope. It's sure hope. It's in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now look at the next line. He says, In the sight of God
our Father. They say together, we remember
all that you've done and are in the sight of God and our Father. Principally, this is who takes
notice. This is who takes notice. He said it's all done in our
Lord Jesus Christ by faith. That's God's Son. Whatever He's
done in His Son's name, He's real pleased with it. How about
you? Do you remember things that people
do for your children? There are people that love your
children, esteem them highly, and do things for them, and make
of them. You love people who love your
children. They don't have to love you. But you sure love them
if they love your children, don't you? How much more, God? It's all
in the sight of God. Listen to this, Hebrews 6. God
is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which
you've showed toward his name. He rewards his people, all that's
done in the name of his Son, for the cause of Christ and the
good of his people. Yes, he does. He pays back with
interest. It's all in the sight of God.
You see that? Our Father. Knowing, brethren,
beloved, your election of God. Knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election of God. Now let me ask you a question.
Can someone be saved and not know it? Just let me ask you what you
think. Not that it matters. Can someone be saved and not
know it? I believe so. I believe so. Salvation, let me try to explain. Salvation is, our Lord called
it a new birth. A new birth. And he likened it
unto the first birth, because he used the same words to describe
it. Life begins, natural life begins
at conception. Right? Now, who knows when that
begins? Not even the mother. The mother
doesn't even know that immediately. She finds out pretty quick. But
who knows when that sperm fertilizes that egg and a life is begun? God does. He's the one that did
it, right? He's the one. God only. Is that
when life began? I don't care what the modern
world said, that is when life began. According to Psalm 139,
when David said, you knew me before I was formed. Jeremiah,
my pastor, spoke of that. Jeremiah, the Lord said, before
I formed you in the belly, I moved thee. So life begins at conception. And it's, and Peter said, we're
born not of corruptible seed. And the word is sperm. But we're born of incorruptible.
The Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. All right? The Word of God is a seed which
God the Father sows. The wind bloweth where it listeth.
The Holy Spirit's the one who plants the seed. The wind bloweth
where it listeth, and thou cannot tell the sound thereof. And it
lands on whomever he decides. And you don't know, and I don't
know. when that seed is sown. That
gives me hope, doesn't it? Because there's hope for anybody
that's going to understand. That gives some people hope in
here, about lost loved ones and so forth. Whenever the seed is
sown, planted in the heart, that's when life begins. So I believe,
based on this analogy, that a person can be, that life can have begun,
new life, eternal life have begun, and they not fully, that person
not fully understand it, not believe it, or even really know
what has happened. Most folks, when this starts
happening, they begin to be filled with guilt. That's a sign of
life. You didn't have that before.
Did have any guilt over sin before, this is conviction. They began
to be filled with doubts and fears and so forth. And most
people are waiting on healings, waiting on something, waiting
on improvement, self-improvement or something. But according to
the scripture, according to this scripture, one can know. One can know. John said that,
and hereby we may know. that we're the sons of God. According
to scripture, I believe one can be regenerated and they themselves
not be fully persuaded of it, not fully understand what's happening.
Like a mother, kind of like a mother when she's first, this new life
is within her and she starts feeling something she never felt
before. Now, Hannah Parks could stand up here and just say a
little more about this. Hannah, would you like... I heard the baby both just jump,
flip. But when this first begins, it's
new, something that never was there before. It's just little
feelings at first. And you don't really know what
it is until you go to the great physician and he tells you. And I believe that's the way
it is, spiritually speaking. But let me tell you this stuff. I don't believe that someone
can be regenerated, saved, regenerated or saved, and or saved, well,
and saved, and others not eventually know it. pregnant woman. She begins to
stick out. It begins to show. A globe begins
to be over the face and so forth. And that's the way it is, truly. You know, most of my personal
judgment about people, their spiritual state, is based upon
their reaction to the gospel. This is called the word of life.
And Paul said, the Lord said this through Paul, he said, thanks
be unto God who always causes us to triumph and make manifest
the savor of his knowledge by us in every place, puts the savor
of life to life and death to death. That these words of life,
life responds to life. See I was smiling at her and
she smiled right back at me, couldn't help it. Life responds to life. But now death won't respond either. Will it? So that's a pretty good
indication. Pretty good. But let me ask you
a question. Would you like to know if you're
one of the elect? Would you like to know for sure?
Can you know that? Now, nobody in here can look
at that Lamb's Book of Life, can they? Nobody. Nobody in here's seen it. No
one but Jesus Christ. Well, he wrote this book. And under inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, Paul said, knowing your election, beloved. Can one
know their election? Well, he wouldn't have wrote
this if he couldn't. He wouldn't have given us false
hope and assurance. Would you like to know your election?
All right, let's look and see, and examine yourselves, see if
you be of the faith here, see if this applies to you. All right? Knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election of God, for our gospel came. Our gospel came. Came to you. Our gospel came. to you. God's gospel. Wherever God has a sheep, he
sends a gospel. Every one of God's sheep hear
his voice. It's the gospel. God's gospel. Paul called it our gospel. Stan,
I never get tired of talking about this. God's gospel Paul
called it in Romans 1, God's gospel as opposed to man's gospel. When Paul talked about when he
learned the gospel over in Galatians 1, he said that gospel, I didn't
receive it from man. The gospel I received wasn't
after man, and neither did I learn it from man. It wasn't all about man. Our
gospel is not about man. It's about God. How God has saved
us, God's gospel, our gospel. Now, we have for years summed up the
gospel, God's gospel, our gospel, with this term, the gospel of
God's sovereign electing grace. That's how we No, we have for
years, haven't. When somebody asks you what you
believe, you generally say, we believe sovereign grace, sovereign
electing grace. That's how we have summarized
our gospel for years. All right, how do we know our
election of God? Well, number one, we hear the
gospel. of God's sovereign election. Now, brethren, beloved, your
election of God. This is the first thing that
God's people hear. Oh, yeah, uh-huh. Turn with me
to Acts 22. Acts 22. I know what these frauds
do, these false preachers say. I know what they say. I've heard
them. I've heard all the arguments. these cowards, these fellas that
don't believe the truth. They say, well, I believe that,
but it's family doctrine. Well, it sure is. But what they're saying is that
you don't just tell everybody that. You tell everybody how
much God loves them and Jesus died for them, this and that
and the other, and later on, you slip this doctrine in on them.
You slip, cover it up, hedge it about. Say it in ways that
they don't know what you're saying. Look at Acts 22, verse 14. Paul's talking about his conversion. This is when Ananias came unto
him. Look at verses 12 through 14. Now Paul's rehashing his conversion
here. And Paul says, One Ananias, a
devout man, According to the law, a good report of all the
Jews which dwelt there came unto me, and stood and said unto me,
Brother Saul, receive thy sight. The same hour I looked up upon
him, and he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee."
It's the first message I heard from a man. Election. God elected Jews. Oh, ain't it
nice? Don't tell him that. You'll run
him off. Oh, no, you won't. You'll make him thankful for
the rest of his life. True belief. One of God's elect. How do you know you're one of
God's elect? The gospel of God's election comes to you. Look at
Ephesians. Would you turn it about four
or five passages with me? This will be about the tenth
time I've looked at it, so you can do it once. Ephesians 1,
Ephesians 1, verse 4. These are our beloved scriptures. Ephesians 1, well, I wish I could
read it all. Blessed be God. Verse 4, according
as he hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the
world. 1 Corinthians 1. Turn over to 1
Corinthians 1. Should have done it chronologically,
shouldn't I? Sorry about that. 1 Corinthians
1. twenty seven. First twenty six
and seven you see your calling brother. Oh yeah every one of
God's people do have it not many wise men at the flesh not many
mighty not many noble are called but God have chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wild God have chosen the
weak things of the world to confound things which are mighty base
things of the world things which are despised have God chosen The last verse there, that he
that glorieth, you're going to glory in the Lord. Glory in what?
His sovereign election of you. That's right. 2 Thessalonians,
you've already read that with me, but look at it again. I didn't
read the 14th verse. 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 13
and 14. Oh, we're bound to get things.
2 Thessalonians 2, 13 and 14. We're bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God had
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of spirit and belief of the truth. Whereunto, that is, this salvation
He called you by our gospel. Our gospel, what is it? It's
the gospel of God's sovereign electing grace. One more, with
me. The last book in the Bible, Revelation
17. All those in heaven know why
they're there, and this tells us why. Revelation 17, you have
it? Verse 14 talks about the war
against God's people and God's Christ. 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 are called and chosen and faithful. Faithful to do what? Faithful to tell everybody who
it was that did the choosing. Faithful to tell everybody. God
did not, that I did choose thee for Lord, that could not be.
Hadst thou not chosen me, I would never have chosen thee. Who gets
the glory? God gets the glory. Make Jesus
your choice, fully on that crown. They're not saying that in heaven.
They're talking about how he chose them. All right, go back
to our text. Peter said this now. We may know our election by the
gospel of God's sovereign electing grace came to us. Now, Peter
said this, give diligence to make your calling and election
sure. This is what we're doing tonight. What I want you to do is I want
you to leave this place with some assurance that you're one
of God's elect. If you're interested, that's
a good sign. But Peter said, give. Peter said,
give diligence to make your calling and election sure. We know our
election by the call. And I just read to you there
in 2 Thessalonians, it said, God had chosen you through sanctification
of spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our
gospel. This is the gospel call, whom
he foreknew That means for chose for love, he predestinated and
we predestinated. He. The call is and you heard it,
you've heard it so many times. But the car and the cause is
the same. Like in Isaiah 40 through 42. Chapters 40 through 42, the
Lord begins in chapter 40 by saying, Behold your God. This is the first thing all of
God's elect here is who God is. He's the God of selection. That's
what, you know, that's what makes the God of the Bible to differ
from this God today. And I've used this little saying
before, but it's not just clever, it's true. The God of this present
day is running for election. Isn't he? Like some politician,
hoping everybody casts a deciding vote for him. He's no more powerful than an
earthly politician. But our God does elect him. He does elect him. So this is what Isaiah was told
to preach. Tell them, this is the call.
This is the call of God. Behold your God. This is the
first thing all of God's elect hears. God is God. Some of you
have told me as much. I thought I used to know God.
I didn't know him at all. This is God. And then over in
chapter 41 of Isaiah, he said, well, chapter 40, all flesh is
grass. All flesh is grass. Chapter 41
says, behold, you're the high. That's what, that's something
all of God's elect learn about themselves. I'm nothing. I'm nothing. And then over in
chapter 42, another call, another behold. my servant, mine elect,
mine elect, Christ, in whom I delight, in whom everybody is elected."
That's what all of God's people hear. That's the gospel call,
in short. Well, look at our text. "'Knowing,
brethren, beloved, your election of God, for our gospel came not
unto you in word only.'" There was But in power, but also
in power. Most of us at least sat under
the gospel for a short time until the Lord opened our eyes. Some not too long. It was pretty
quick. But most of us sat under it for
a while anyway before the Lord opened our eyes and our ears
to it. But before he does that, it's
just a sermon. It's just a sermon. For me, as
a young man, it was just doctrine. I believed it. I was convinced
of it. Just doctrine. But then one day,
just word only, but then one day, I feel like I was the only
one in that whole building. Was it that way with you? Is
it still that way with you sometimes? I hope so. Because it still comes
in power like that. This is not just words of men. This is not just a sermon. This
is the word of God. This is the voice of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is how he speaks to his
people. Please God by the foolishness of preaching. And preaching the
gospel. Our gospel. And the word comes
not in word only, but in power. power, ear-opening, ear-opening
power. The ears were once shut. The
Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost, our Lord told
us in the Gospel of John, Convinces. He convinces of sin. Righteousness. Judgment. That's what the Holy
Ghost does, all concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what
the Holy Ghost, when he comes, the Holy Ghost, he convinces
of sin. And it's from the heart, in the
heart. He does the heart work. He operates on the heart. That's
how we operate. It's not just the head. It's
not, yeah, I'm a sinner. It's all my sins ever before
me, like you read. You know, Brother Ron read Psalm
51 tonight, study. You know, most of the martyrs
that went to the stake, to be burned at the stake, or to be
beheaded or whatever it was most if you read the stories many
of them. Read that song before they die. Because that's the heart of all
of us all their lives they know themselves to be. And they loathe
their sin. They hate their sin. It's ever
before them, their sin. This is what the Holy Ghost does.
You're led by the Spirit. Don't let these idiots out there
try to make you think that being led by the Spirit makes you walk
on cloud nine above this world and all that stuff. Those fellas that are saying
that are the most wicked, sensual, corrupt men on earth. What the
Holy Spirit does is keep people convinced of sin, of their need of Christ. That's what keeps them coming
back to hear the gospel. That's what makes the gospel
always sweet to them, of judgment, their need for Christ to bear
the judgment for them. It's all concerning Christ. This
is what the Holy Spirit, and yes, we're going to see in a
moment the fruit that the Holy Spirit gives. But all whom God had elected,
here it is, all whom God Almighty had chosen or elected, he's called
by the gospel and given the Holy Ghost to. It's not a separate
work, folks. It's not a separate work. It's a simultaneous work. The
Holy Spirit, every one of God's people are operated on by God's
Holy Spirit, who grants repentance, faith, and forgiveness. So the Holy Ghost is given to
the God's elect. Read on, verse five. Our gospel
came unto you, not in word only, but also in power and in the
Holy Ghost and in much assurance. Now, do you have much assurance? Not one person in here nods their
head. Why? Where are you looking for assurance? Now, if you stopped and thought,
yes, I have a lot of faith, yes, I, that's not the assurance that
God gives. John Newton, I would venture
to say, was one of God's greatest saints. We sing his hymn, don't
we? Love John Newton's hymn. He said
this, when I look within, All is vain and dark and wild. Can I deem myself God's child? You don't look at yourself for
sure. I tell you what, are you assured of the fact that you're
no good rotten sinner? That's assurance. That's all
the assurance you need to have about yourself. But this assurance
that he's speaking of is being assured of who God is. Paul said,
I know whom I have to be. I know whom. I know whom. Assurance is assurance
of who God is. Are you persuaded beyond a shadow
of a doubt? Can anybody or anything convince
you otherwise? This is life eternal that they
might know thee, the only true God. You've been sitting right
there for years, Brother Henry. I just can't believe you'll be
sitting there till we put you in a box right here. I just can't
believe that. You still mind your head about
this same gospel. You must be convinced who God
is. Can anybody convince you otherwise?
They try, don't they? They come down to the store and,
oh, poor Brother Henry, he gets all that. He gets probably more
than I get of all these false religions. But nobody's convinced
him otherwise yet. No, the Holy Ghost convinces
his people. And, you know, every one of God's
people may have been convinced about error until they heard
the gospel, and God unconvinced them of that, and convinced them
of the truth. Now you're never going to convince
them otherwise. assurance of who God is. Are you sure who
Christ is? Do you believe that that man
that walked this planet 2,000 years ago is God Almighty? Absolutely
God Almighty? Mm-hmm. Do you believe that? And everything he said is absolutely
true, the Word of God. Do you believe that he is salvation
completely, 100%? All your hope of salvation? Anybody?
Your assurance is sounding pretty good to me. This is what the
assurance we're talking about. This is the assurance that the
Holy Spirit gives, assurance of who Christ is. Now, are you
sure the salvation is by grace? Are you absolutely certain of
that? So now, let me ask you. Do you have any assurance? You know, if you look to Christ
and Christ alone, you can have full assurance, absolutely full
assurance, no doubts whatsoever. If you look to verses like when
he said, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Words like this, all that the
Father giveth me shall come to me, and he that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out. In no wise. Ask Lott. Ask Mary Magdalene. Ask the thief
on the cross. Just ask somebody. Solve the
times. Ask them. Is it true there's
salvation by grace? I'm sure of it. I'm sure of it. So you have an assurance. So
the elect have this assurance. They're not sure of themselves.
False professors are real sure about themselves. They're real
sure about something they did years ago, and all they're doing
for this and that and the other. God's people are convinced and
are assured by God himself of who God is, assured of the truth. Are you convinced that every
word in this book is true? You have assurance. Bless God
for that assurance. The gospel came and gave you
much assurance. Read on verse five he says and
you know what manner of me and we were among you for your sake. Look over at the next chapter.
OK Paul the apostle was sent by God and the people back then
listen to the people back then these men came these apostles
came to them said. Well they didn't actually tell
everybody we're from God, but they began to preach and God
made it known to them that these were men sent by God. Christ
verified them to many. These are my apostles. But, you know, they were just
people like us. People in the churches were just
like us, human beings. And here came Paul and Peter
and James and John, just men like us. And the people didn't
have a Bible, John. It was a miracle, wasn't it,
that these people believed. And Paul said that in chapter
2. He said, I thank God, verse 13,
I thank God that without ceasing, because when you received the
word of God, which you heard of us, you received it not as
the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God. Brother Ed, you know the apostles
had doubts and fears wherever they went preaching. Oh Lord,
are they going to believe us? Yes, they are. Like our study
of Moses. Moses said, they're not going
to believe me. Yes, they are. Yeah, they are.
I'm going to make them. My people will be willing. They'll
hear. They'll believe. Our Lord told
the apostles In there, when he talked to them personally in
Matthew 10, to send him out before they went out preaching, he said,
those that hear you are going to hear me. And here they went preaching.
Now, it wasn't only the truth that confirmed them to the people. power of the word, but these
men were exemplary man. These men were. Or were the finest
man. Just the finest man. And their
manner. The manner their their ways,
their methods, their attitude and so forth, the way they. Conducted
themselves before the people What's the word I'm looking for?
Not confirmed, but. Well, it made the people. Be
convinced the people read on chapter two, Paul says this in
verse. Three, he said, no, our expectation
was not of deceit or of uncleanness, nor guile. As we were allowed of God to
be put in trust with the gospel. Now, this is a man sent by God,
isn't it? He realizes the sacred trust. He realizes his one commission
from God. The gospel. The gospel. It's a sacred trust. Read on. And Paul said, Woe is unto me
if I don't preach it. And so he said, We speak not
as pleasing men, but God. Boy, you could sure Father, man,
man, please. You can hear. One thing, they won't ever call
you a worm. Read verse five, it said, neither
at any time use we flattering words. Oh, a real, real young preacher
who's just scared to death might, you know, say things in a fit
of nervousness to make people Comfortable, because he's uncomfortable,
but he'll quickly learn that we're not in the business of
trying to make people real comfortable. Flattering words. No, no. Read on. Nor a cloak of covetousness. God is witness. Nor of men sought
we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others. Not in it for
the glory. Verse seven, but gentle. general. So Paul said, you know,
that was that gave the people some assurance. And this is important
now, perhaps more than ever in a day when there's so many false
preachers, is it not? It's so important. You know,
we'll read on. It says, verse five, you know
what manner of men we were among you, verse six, and you became
followers of us. You know, I'm still a follower
of the apostle Paul. Yes, sir. It's becoming unpopular. It's becoming unpopular. Paul
is, now more than ever, Paul is being called into question.
Oh no, I believe everything Paul wrote here is not Paul's word,
but God's. And I'm following everything
he said. Peter, James, aren't you? Still following. You became
followers of us. I'm not telling you people follow
me, but we're following the Lord's leadership through power. Having
received the word in much affliction, God's elect, look at this, every
one of God's elect, all who believe the truth, really believe the
truth, and it always sounds out, whoever really believes it, out
of the abundance of the heart, the mouth's got to speak. Everyone who truly believes the
truth will tell others about it. And it says, you receive the
word in much affliction. All who believe the truth will
be persecuted for it. Every single person who believes
the truth. There will be a division in their
family, in their old friends. At the job. Where they are, they
become a fish out of water. Every single one of. Gospel divides, that's what our
Lord said, didn't he? She said, you think that I'm
coming to bring peace on earth? I say not peace, but division. He said, a man's enemies will
be those of his own household. I've come to set a man at variance
with his father." See the difference between the
gospel. It causes division. Division. And it's not pleasant. It's not
pleasant at all. But, verse six says, you get,
you have this affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost. Our Lord
over there in Matthew 5, remember Sunday morning? He said, Blessed
are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say
all manner of evil against you falsely for my name's sake. For
thus they persecuted the prophets before you. John, there were
several other Johns who were persecuted too. You're just one
in a many line of Johns. You've got a good name. John, first and second John here. Actually, you're about six or
seventh John somewhere down the line, 700th. John's had been
a lot of John's been persecuted for the gospel. You're a good
company by John the Baptist, John the Apostle, John Warburton,
John Flavin, John Newton, John. You're smiling. This gives you
joy. This is one of the marks of God's
elect. One of the marks of God's elect is everybody disagrees
with you. One of the marks of God's true
preacher is everybody hates you. Everybody but God's true preacher. And boy, it's
not pleasant at all. It's not pleasant at all. Go
in a restaurant and everybody's looking at you and you know that
they're just stabbing you in the back. They know who you are
and they wish you'd just drop dead on the spot. That's not
pleasant at all. But our Lord said, You rejoice.
This is a mark. One of my elect. This is what
they did to the prophets. This is what they did to the
apostles. This is what they'll do to everybody who stands for
the truth. Because men don't like the truth.
They hate the truth. They hate the God of truth. But you rejoice. And the Holy
Spirit gives joy, gives assurance in that way. In that way. We don't look We're not trying
to be divisive. We don't want to be hated. But
if the truth divides, it's a good sign. It's a good sign. One of God's elect. Read on. Verse 7 says, You were examples
to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. Examples For from
you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and
Achaia, but in every place your faith to God's word is spread
abroad. We don't need to speak anything. We don't need to go
tell anybody about you. Everybody knows you. And I can
say that about this church wherever I go now. This church is known
throughout the world, literally. It really is. Yes, it is. Certainly all over Mexico, known
in Dominican Republics, known in England and other places.
It's known. And certainly all over the United
States, wherever the gospel is preached, it's known and loved
with highly esteemed among the saints. I read on, verse 9 says,
"...they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we
had unto you." People, you know, I talk to various
ones all the time, and they bring up various ones of you. Oh, I
love that so-and-so. He's such a, or she's such a,
oh, aren't they a wonderful believer? Yeah, they sure are. I know. I know. How you turn to God. Here it is, one of the elect.
You turn to God from idols. Idle is a man-made God. Idle
is an image, but that is something that men imagine God to be. It doesn't have to be a little
statue, but it can be anything that men imagine God to be. And men, in their vain imaginations,
have come up with all sorts of descriptions of God, contrary
to this book. Well, when you heard of the true
and living God, living and true God, You turn from that, from
all that idol, to the living and true God. The living and
true God. Like, oh, was it Hosea that said,
what have I to do anymore with idols? Was it Hosea, John? What have I to do anymore with
idols? I've heard Him. Yeah, Hosea. I've heard Him. You can have that God who wants
to be God. My God is God. This is one of
the elect. And, verse 10, I close, the elect
wait for his son from heaven. What are you doing here on a
Wednesday night, people? It's raining out there. Miserable
old night. It wouldn't stop raining. Long enough for us to have worship.
But what are you doing here? You'd be doing so many other
things. You've got things to do. Some
of them came a long way to get here. What are you doing here?
I'm waiting. I'm waiting on his son. Just
like our Lord said to the disciple, you go before me into Jerusalem
and I'll meet you there. So they just went to Jerusalem.
He didn't say when. He said, you go on up there and
you meet together and I'll be there. He didn't tell them when.
So they were there. Thomas wasn't. And so he didn't
have any assurance, did he? He was just full of doubts. We call him Doubting God. And
they came to him and told him about the message, and they didn't
give him anything. But those that were waiting,
oh, the Lord did come, didn't He? He did come. That's what
we're doing here. And bless God, one of these days
we're going to be doing this. The Lord said to the disciples
of old who were standing, listening to His Word, Just like they always did. Worshipping
at his feet, listening to him speak to him, and he went up
out of their sight. They were standing there gazing,
and the angel said, why you be in Israel, Galilee, why you stand
gazing up in heaven? This same Jesus who gone up shall
so come in like manners you've seen him go. So that tells me
that he's going to come to his people who are waiting. I believe
it's going to be when all God's people are worshiping. I really
believe that. Say, what about the time difference?
I don't know. There's no time with God. They'll
be getting ready to go. Just come home. Waiting. That's all we're doing, waiting.
He said he'd come, so we'll wait. And we believe him. That's for sure. You want a God's
election? All right, stand with me. Our Lord, thank you for your
word. It is our all our comfort, our sole source of comfort. We
thank you for it. Thank you for revealing it to
us. Most more than that in us, revealing
Christ in us. Thank you, Lord, for your sovereign
electing grace, saving grace, your salvation in Christ Jesus,
our Lord. In his name, we've met here tonight
for the glory of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. I don't know. I don't know. you