I like that hymn. All right, let's
turn back to Acts chapter 2. Let's read one verse. This is just not my usual way
of preaching. I've been doing a little bit
of this lately, taking one verse as a text. I don't feel very
good at it, but this caught my eye and captured my attention,
and several things came to mind after reading this. Acts 2.44, And all that believed
were together, and had all things common. I can't help but smile when I
listen to new or young believers as they tell me of the mixed
emotions that they go through. I've listened to people over
the years and still listen to people speak to me and tell me
of the mixed emotions that they feel. Joy, when they hear the
gospel, they feel great joy. They worry that they might fall
away. They have great peace and assurance
through hearing the gospel of God's sovereign grace. That does
give peace. That's the only gospel there
is, and it does give peace. Yet they have this ongoing struggle
with sin inside, which gives them nothing but grief and worry. And as I said, I can't help but
smile when I listen to people tell me those things, because
it doesn't change. No matter how many years you
go on in the faith, it doesn't change. You still have those
struggles. And most new or young believers
that I speak to, they think, and they tell me, surely no one
else has the struggles that I have. Surely no one else is as simple
as I am. Surely everyone will make it
but me. And the fact is, every believer
experiences the exact same thing that you do. Any believer in
here, whatever you feel, whatever you are going through, whatever
you struggle with, whatever doubts, fears, whatever it is, I guarantee
you, everybody in this room is going through the same thing
at some time or another. I do. I do. True believers truly have
all things common in that sense. Common. So this is the subject
tonight. All things common, or things
that all believers have in common. Now turn with me to first 1 Corinthians
1. The first thing that we have
in common is what we are. We are common ordinary people. It was written, we have Mark
12 down there. It says that common people heard
Christ gladly. The scribes, the Pharisees, those
who thought they were something, somebody, those who were well
known and well thought of by other people, the high, the mighty,
they didn't listen to Christ. They didn't need what he had
to give. But the common people, ordinary
people, average people, not above average, just average, they heard
Christ gladly. They heard what he said, gladdened. So it is with all of God's people. They hear that they're just common
people, just ordinary people. Look at 1 Corinthians 1, verses
26 and following. You see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called. I look around this room. And
I don't know the educational background of most of you, but
I do know that there are no doctors in here. I don't think. Henry,
you don't have a doctorate that we don't know about, do you?
An honorary doctorate? No lawyers? Nobody in here that's
really somebody in the world? Nobody in here, really. Some
maybe are, but if you don't show it, that's good. Things that are, not many, wise
men after the fledge. Not many mighty, that is powerful. Not many, I don't see anybody
in here who wields a great deal of power and authority in the
world, influence anywhere. Not many noble. Anybody in here
of noble ancestry? Anyone descended from a king
somewhere? I don't think so. Not many. It
doesn't mean there aren't any. There was a queen one time, queen
of England I think it was, years and years and years ago, said,
I thank the Lord for the letter M. She said it doesn't say not any
noble. Thank God it says, not many.
I hope she meant that. Not many mighty, not many noble
are called. Why? They don't need this gospel. This gospel is for the poor and
the needy. This gospel is for beggars, spiritual
beggars. Our Lord said in Matthew 5, blessed
are the poor in spirit. For theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. This gospel is for the poor. This gospel is for those
who can't get themselves to heaven. This gospel is for those that
don't have a goodness, don't have any righteousness, don't
have what they see they need, and they need a handout. It's
all grace for them. And that's who Christ calls,
the needy. He said, I didn't come to call
the righteous. but sinners to repentant. That's why we are
constantly, constantly talking about man's sin, man's sin, in
hopes that God will break somebody's proud heart and reveal their
need of Christ, because only sinners need this gospel, and
only sinners get this gospel. Not many mighty, not many wise,
not many mighty, not many noble are called. Now, wait a minute.
God's people are wise. After he calls them, they are
the wisest people on planet Earth. Yes, they are. Yes, they are. They've become, they have this
wisdom that's from above. Now they're the wisest, the mightiest. They have power with God. Do
they know someone in high place? They know God, or rather, are
known of Him. mighty, noble. Are they noble? They're a royal priesthood. They're
sons of the king now. But not before he calls them.
He made them all those things. He makes us kings and priests. But they're just common, ordinary
people. The fact of the matter is, most of God's people are
usually very run-of-the-mill, common, ordinary, down-to-earth
people. And that's good, because that's
the only kind I can really associate with. And here's something else they have
in common. They're common people. Look with me at 2 Thessalonians
2. 2 Thessalonians 2. I don't like you having that
outline. Give it back. You think I'm going somewhere
and I'm not. Jude 3. is where he said, I thought it
good to write unto you of the common salvation that we should
earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. The common salvation. All believers have this in common.
They have the same salvation. They were saved the same way. They have this common salvation. And it begins with their calling. Well, it didn't begin with their
calling, but they heard about it when they were called. 2 Thessalonians 2, I love these
verses. Verse 13, 2 Thessalonians 2,
you need to at least commit this chapter or this general area
here to memory. You can sum up what you believe
about what God has done for you. in these two verses. If you want
to talk to somebody about it, give somebody an answer. 2 Thessalonians
2, 13, we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation. Who chose you? Did you choose
Jesus as your? No, no. You say, no, God chose
me or I would not have chosen him. All right, here's what he
did. He chose you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. In other words, the Holy Spirit
came, sent by God Almighty. The Holy Spirit came with the
truth, the truth, the gospel of your salvation, the truth
as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ. He comes in time to the elect
of God, those who have been chosen by God before the world began.
The Holy Spirit comes. and brings the truth and reveals
to them who God is and what they are, centered before this holy
God, and shows them Christ who is the truth, the truth of how
to get to God, the truth of what we need to get to God, how we're
accepted, and shows us that and sets them apart. The truth sanctified
by the Spirit, he sets them apart. Some of you probably came, and
when you first heard the gospel, perhaps you were sitting with
someone else who's no longer here. Maybe a relative or someone. And they heard the same thing,
but they didn't believe the truth. But you do. Well, who maketh
thee to differ? That's what the scripture says.
Who maketh thee to differ? God did. God set you apart. That's sanctification of the
Spirit. Isn't this the summary of God's salvation? Belief of
the truth. Whereunto, verse 14, whereunto
he called you by our gospel. Our gospel. Now Paul said, and
I was going to have you turn, you know, We're called by the
gospel. Paul calls it our gospel. In
another place, he called it my gospel. But in Galatians 1, Paul
clearly says there be some that come preaching another gospel,
which is not the gospel, but a perversion of the gospel. He
said there's some who come preaching another Jesus, but it's not the
Jesus of the Scripture. And this is so prevalent today. Our gospel now, and you could
turn to any book. John 1. I've got all kind of
chapters written down here that we could turn. I'm going to pick
one. Jude 1. You thought I was going to turn to Romans 1 or
Ephesians 1. I wrote several more down after
I gave you that. Jude 1. You could go to John
1 and tell our gospel, couldn't you? You could go to Romans 1,
oh my, the gospel of God concerning His Son, declared to be the Son
of God with power. You could go to Ephesians 1,
couldn't you, and tell our gospel, it's a different gospel than
that other gospel. You could go to Colossians 1,
you could go to Hebrews 1, you could go to 1 Peter 1, but we're
in Jude 1. Chapter 1, verse 1. There's only
one chapter. Jude 1, this is it. This is a
summary of the gospel, of how God saved us by the gospel. It
says, to them that are sanctified by God the Father. You say, I
thought the Holy Spirit sanctified them. He did. So did Christ. So did the Father. These three
are one in this work of setting apart His people, His elect.
We're sanctified by God the Father before the world began in his
choice. We're sanctified by Jesus' blood. It's the blood that sanctifies
us, makes us holy. We're set apart, sanctified by
the Holy Spirit in time by the gospel gospel. That's what sets
his people apart. The believers, the elect, believe
the gospel. Believe the gospel. Goats? But,
but, but, but, but, but. Believers believe. And feed on
it, and love it, read on it. It says they're sanctified by
God the Father, preserved in Jesus Christ. Right there's the
gospel, isn't it? We're preserved in Jesus Christ. That is, we're kept by the power
of God. What's the power of God? The
gospel of Christ. Christ, the wisdom of God and
the power of God. We're kept by Him. Preserved
by Him. He's made us holy by His righteousness. He has shed His blood for the
remission of our sin. And called. What's called? Is that an invite? Oh, no, no,
no, no, no. Oh, no, no, no, no. The salvation
was done. It's not an invite for us to
do anything. It's an announcement. That's what it's called. It's
a subpoena, Barbara. A subpoena is not an invite.
Have you ever received a subpoena to go to court? It's not optional,
is it? You will go. You will go willingly,
or they will come and get you, but you will show up. And so
it is with the call of God, right? It's a divine subpoena in which
all of the elect, all that the Father giveth me shall come to
me, Christ said. So we are set apart by God, Father,
Son, Holy Spirit, preserved, saved, kept by Jesus Christ,
and God called us in time to tell us about it. And we believe. We believe. All right. So we
have this in common. We're saved the same way. Christ
said, my sheep hear my voice. It's not a stranger's voice,
not a strange voice. When Paul went to Mars Hill,
when Paul went to preach at Mars Hill, all the people said, what
is this he's preaching? He seems to be the setter forth
of a strange God. This is strange new doctrine,
they said. Remember that? Strange doctrine.
Paul was just preaching the Old Testament. Paul was just preaching
the old scriptures, the old story, old as God himself. But the people
were, it was so foreign to that new generation, to that modern
generation, who had risen above that in all their wisdom, so
called. It was so foreign to them that they thought, this
is strange what we're hearing here. We've never heard of God
like this. Well, your God seems to be God. We have our gods here. They do what we let them do.
Paul set forth the living and true God. The God who is God. Salvation that actually saves.
Blood that actually atones. I mean, a call that actually
gets the job done. Salvation that actually saves. And that's a strange doctrine
to our generation. You preach it to anyone in this
generation, they'll say, well, I've never heard anything like
that before. Well, strange doctrine. What I'm trying to say is Christ
said a stranger's voice they won't hear. The sheep won't hear
anything but this gospel. They'll hear the gospel. While
the world won't hear the shepherd. They just won't hear it. The
gospel call. The common salvation. The common
calling. From A to Z, I thought about
this, from A to Z, from first to last, from Adam to Zerubbabel,
they all hear the same message, the same gospel, exact same gospel. What does Zerubbabel cry when
he puts his top stump? Now John, what was his? What
did he cry out? Go ahead and say it. Grace! I
saved my grace. Adam knew it. So did Zerubbabel. So from A to Z, all believers
know it. All right, they all hear the
gospel of the glory of God. The next thing, turn with me
to John 6. John chapter 6. All God's people
have a common faith. They believe the same thing. One Lord, one faith, Paul wrote
in Ephesians 4. One Lord, one faith. John chapter
6, go over there. Common faith. Paul wrote to Titus
and he told Titus about the common
faith once delivered to the saints. And every writer says something
about this. Luke, in his gospel account,
said this in Luke 1 verse 1. He said, Since many have taken
in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things
most surely believed among us all. He said, I'm going to do
it too. Things most surely believed.
By all God's people, all God's people believe the same thing.
Ephesians 4 said, one Lord, one faith. Why do they have one faith? John 6, verse 45. This common
faith. Verse 45, our Lord said, it is
written in the prophets, this is Isaiah 54, and they shall
be all taught of God. They have the same teacher, that's
why they have the same faith. common faith, they believe the
same thing. He quoted Isaiah 54, verse 13, which says, All
thy children shall be taught of the Lord. Christ can paraphrase it. He
can read it how he wants to. But he said, They shall be all
taught of God. Well, Isaiah wrote, All thy children
Christ is talking about His children. They shall be all taught of God.
And every man that hath heard and hath learned of the Father
cometh to me. Looks to me. Depends on me. Calls on me. Every man. They
have this common faith because they have a common teacher. They're
all taught of God. Now take this phrase there just
for a minute. They're all taught. God teaches
His people. The salvation that God's people
experience is a teaching, a leading and a guiding into all truth.
That's what our Lord said in John 16. The Holy Spirit, the
Spirit of Truth has come. He'll lead and guide you into
truth. Most religion today is nothing
but emotionalism and spiritual pep rallies and all of that.
And, you know, claiming this and claiming that and this and
that and the other. God's people are being grounded and settled
in the truth, the scripture said. Right? They're being taught.
When Christ went up to the mountain, he sat down, his disciples came
to him, and what does it say? He taught them. Because this
is what, when you know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
Sets you free from what? Being caught up in the hysteria.
Being caught up in every new wind of doctrine that comes along.
Being taken in by these deceivers. Not if this word is grounded
and settled in you. You'll see it for what it is.
You'll see it by this magnifying. You can spot it. As John wrote
in 1 John 4.1, try the spirits, see if they're of God. Try them,
because many false prophets have gone into the world. How do you
try them? Not by outwardly by the Word. Try to put them to
the test. Put me to the test. There were
some noble Jews and Thessalonians, Bereans, that after the apostles
preached, they said, we're going to go home. We're not just going
to take your Word for it, they said. We're going to go home,
we're going to get our Bibles out and we're going to see if
what you're saying is in the Bible. And Paul and them said, Wonderful. We think that's a jolly good
idea. We insist that you do. As a matter
of fact, meeting's over. Go now and search the scriptures
and see if these things are so. That's what you're going to find.
You're all taught. They shall be all taught by God's
Word. And Peter said we're born again
by the incorruptible seed. We're not born by some experience,
not born by some vision, some sign, some wonder, some emotional
experience. We're born again by the Word
of God that liveth and abideth forever. The incorruptible seed. And if this seed is in you, it'll
remain. But if some wild experience is
all that happened to you, that'll leave. All right. He says they'll
all be taught. of God. God himself is a teacher. You parents that really want
to instill something in your children, do you leave it to
somebody else, or do you teach them? Those most important lessons
you want your children to learn, do you teach them, or do you
leave it up to somebody else? You teach them. You teach them. They'll all be taught of God,
God himself. Listen to this. Our Lord, when
Peter confessed Christ, when Peter confessed Christ, he said,
flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you, Peter, but my Father,
which is in heaven. He taught you that. They'll all
be taught of God. Paul said this. He said, when
it pleased God to reveal his Son in man. Paul said, the gospel
I preach, I didn't learn it of man. when it pleased God. And though it's a man, a vessel
whom God uses for you to hear it, it is God's Word. It is God
himself that teaches you. David said, I have not departed
from thy judgments because thou hast taught me. David said that. I have not departed from your
judgment. You've taught me well. Who God teaches, Nancy, they're
taught. If God does the teaching, they're
taught. Somebody learns a lesson according
to how good the teacher is, right? Anybody in here have a real good
teacher in school that you learn something from and it's always
stayed with you? Why is that? They were a good
teacher. I learned all the states in alphabetical order when in
the fifth grade, and I can still to this day, I sing them in a
song. I'm not going to do it. Ask me later. I can sing them
all in alphabetical order. I had a good teacher. She was
a good teacher. It's the only one I can remember.
It's the only thing I can remember. But she was a good teacher. And
if God does the teaching, they'll all be taught of God. Whatever
God teaches can't be unlearned. David says, I have not departed
because God has taught me. Lessons learned from the Father.
In the same sense, if God teaches you, you're taught. If Christ
saves you, you're bought. You get that? Somebody says, are you saved?
Well, if God saved me, I am. If the preacher did it, I'm not.
If I did it, I won't last. But if God saved me, what God
does is forever. That's all we're preaching here.
Salvation of the Son of the Lord, and it lasts. Alright, they're
taught of God. Look at the next thing. They're
all taught of God. All right, they'll all be taught
of God. This is the lesson. This is the one lesson, the first
primary lesson they are taught, of God. This is eternal life,
that they might know Thee, Christ said, the only true God. He said
in Isaiah 43.10, I've chosen you that you might know Me, the
only true God. This is what God teaches His
children, I am God, there's none else. He teaches all His children
that He is indeed, capital G, capital O, capital D, and all
that that means. He's not trying to be God. He
won't be God unless, I mean, He's not God if you'll let Him
be God. He is God. I never grow tired of saying
that, and I hope you don't grow tired of hearing that. This is
the thing he reminds us over and over again. I'm God. I'm
your God. I'm your God. He teaches that
we'll all be taught of God. Who is God? Well, the God that's
being preached today doesn't even resemble the God of the
Bible. We're taught from Scripture. Well, we have this common Confession. Common faith. I want you to turn
to Titus chapter 3. Common confession. Titus chapter 3. This is good. You'll like this. They have a common teacher. They're
all taught of God. They believe the same thing.
Common confession. Titus chapter 3. This is my confession. How about you? He says in Titus
3 verse 4, After the kindness and love of God our Savior toward
me appeared. Just put your personal pronoun
in there. Toward me appeared. Not by works
of righteousness which I had done, but according to his mercy
he saved me. by the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which He shed on me abundantly
through Jesus Christ my Savior. And being justified by His grace,
I am made an heir according to the hope of eternal life." Did
you see in there anywhere that God did it all, didn't He? That's
all what God has done. That's a confession of all. We
confess Christ. That's what we do when we get
in that pool. That's what we do when we believe the truth. We confess Him and Him alone. Let me read this to you. I love
this. Brother Don Bell said this is
the verse the Lord used to open his dark heart. He says, God
who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Don was
an Armenian preacher, Pentecostal Armenian preacher at the time,
pew jumping, chandelier swinging, Pentecostal Armenian preacher
at the time. And he heard that verse. just like Saul of Tarsus. God
taught it from the Word. And a common confession of our
sinfulness. Go to Ephesians chapter 3. A
common confession of our, not only Christ, but of ourselves.
This was repentance of sin. A confession of our own sinfulness. This is the thing that God does
to every one of his people when he begins to work on them, he
begins to reveal to them what they really are. And Paul, now Paul was the finest
man on the planet. Would you agree with that, Paul
the Apostle? But he called himself the chief
of sinners. He called himself the chief of
sinners. John Newton, you love John Newton's
song Amazing Grace? John Newton wrote that. He was
a great preacher too. A devoted, fine preacher. Just a wonderful man. All his
life he always called himself the old African blasphemer. That's what he called himself.
When he referred to himself, he referred to himself as just
an old African blasphemer. Because he was a slave trader. He actually dealt in slaves.
Black slave trade. And the Lord brought him down
to nothing. He was made into a slave by a
black person, of all people. He became a slave himself. And
he never lost sight of where the Lord found him, delivered
him from. So he always called himself,
didn't call himself Reverend Newton, just an old blasphemer. Paul said, I was injurious. Paul
said, I'm a cheap sinner. He said, I'm not fit to be called
an apostle. That's what Paul said. Ephesians
3, tell me if this is not your confession about yourself. Ephesians 3, verses 7 and 8 says,
and relate this to yourself, I was made a minister, or I was
made a believer. according to the gift of the
grace of God given unto me, by the effectual working of his
power." That's how, that's how, can you say that? That's how
I came to be here. It was the gift of God's grace
by the effectual working of his power. Verse 8, "...unto me,
whom less than the least of all the saints." Does everyone in
here argue that, that you're the less than the least? That's
what Brother Craig Brant said. There's only going to be one
argument in heaven, and that's everybody arguing who's the chief
of sinners here. No, it's me. No, it's me. Less
than the least. Is that you? That's what God
brings every person to believe about themselves. That's their
common confession. Just an old sinner and nothing
at all. But Jesus Christ is my Lord and all. Unworthy, unworthy is what we
all say. Worthy as a lamb. We'll say them
that day. And we have common trials. We
all have 1 Corinthians 10. You like this verse, those of
you who know it. We all go through common trials and temptations
and difficulties. 1 Corinthians 10. You have it? Verse 13. 1 Corinthians 10, 13.
Now read this with me. I hope you turn. This will give
you great comfort. There hath no temptation, verse
13, there hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common
to man. There's nothing you've gone through,
there's nothing you've thought, there's not a thought that's
run through your head. Not a sinful thought, not a sinful desire,
not a whatever that's run through your head that hadn't run through everybody
else's head. Huh? That's what it's meant. There's
no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man, no
trial that you've gone through that some believer hadn't gone
through. No difficulty. It's all common. It's all common. We all believe, though, don't
we, that nobody's as bad as I am. Surely nobody thinks the awful
thoughts that I think. I see so many heads doing this.
There must be somebody beside me. We all have this same problem. We all have the same common difficulties,
temptations with sin. We all say with Paul, wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me? We all have these common
difficulties, common tribulations, trials. Our Lord said you must
through much tribulation go into the kingdom of heaven. Who is
he saying that to? All of God's people, you must through much
tribulation, tribulations being persecution. Persecution. Everybody here that works, that's
a believer and works in a public works, you can't find anybody
that believes like you do. Everybody there can get together
and be big old, have big old fellowship together and pals,
but you're not included. Isn't that right? Nobody, you can't find anybody
that believes like you do. John, you can. Can't you? Right
there. Stan, you have to look long and
hard to find him at M.W. and vice versa. But most of you,
you're hated by all men. Why? Why? For Christ's sake. For the truth's sake. That's
why. Persecution. We all have it in
common. We're hated. I think, I'm one, well, I'm a
preacher here in this town. I'm preaching the truth. I am preaching the truth. That's
not boast, I'm just telling. I'm not going to apologize for
that. I am preaching the truth. But
there's not a preacher in this town that has anything to do
with me. And when they see me, they know
who I am. And they look at me like they could kill me. And they would if they could.
Honestly, I'm telling you the truth. Persecution. Now, Tim James has the same thing
in Cherokee. Tom Harding has the same thing
in Piedmont. Henry Mahan has had the same thing for fifty-some
years, and he's been there fifty-some years, there's still not a preacher
having anything to do with him. And on and on I could go with
that. Jim Byrd in Michigan, Greg Elmquist in Florida, and on and
on. So we're not alone. That's why we preachers like
to get together. Common persecution. Afflictions.
We go through the common, the same sorrows and sadness and
affliction. Somebody in here's lost a loved
one. Well, somebody else has too. Someone in here has lost
this or that and the other, gone through this and that and the
other. Somebody else has too. And Paul said, I'm comforted in the
same comfort I attempt to give you. He said, we're all comforted
the same way. Because we're going through the
same thing. And we have these common trials. And the next thing we have in
common, and I want you to turn. Hebrews 11, alright? Hebrews
11. We have the common desire. We
have the same desire. Hebrews 11, David, oh, I love
Psalm 27, verse 4, David said, One thing have I desired of the
Lord, and that's what I'm going after, he said. that I may dwell
in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, inquiring
to his temple, behold the beauty of the Lord, inquiring to his
temple. One thing, David said, that's what I desire. David,
you're not the only one. All God's people have the same
desire. Paul said, oh, that I might win
Christ and be found in him. Oh, that I might know him. Paul
said, forgetting those things, pressing toward that mark. Look
at this, Hebrews 11, that's the chapter about all believers,
and it says in verse 13, these all died in faith, not having
received the promises, but persuaded others, seen them afar, persuaded,
embraced, confessed, see that? That they were strangers and
pilgrims, and they were. Because they were persecuted
to death for it. And they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country. Truly, if they'd been
mindful of, or if they kept thinking about where they came from, they
would have had opportunity to have returned. They'd have thought
about going back. But no. Now, they desire a better country. They've got this one desire that
they have. They desire a better country. A heavenly country where
God is, so God's not ashamed to be called their God, and they're
not ashamed to call Him their God. They desire a better country. And they're just like Peter,
all of them. If given an opportunity, they say, no, we're not going
back. To whom shall we go? This is life. Words of life. Common desire. Common goal. Common hope. Be found in Him. Hebrews 10. Just turn back a
page. Hebrews 10. We all have in common the same
love and fellowship. Oh, is it wonderful. You know,
the word community comes from this word common. So many things. Communion comes from this word. Companion comes from the word
common. Common. We all have this in common. have this love of God shed abroad
in our hearts, love for Him, love for the truth, and love
for each other. John said, we know we've passed
from death unto life because we love the brethren. We love the brethren. Hebrews
10, look at this, I like this. He said in verse 32, call to
remembrance the former days in which after you were illuminated,
you endured a great fight of afflictions. Persecution and
all that. Verse 33, partly while you were
made a gazing stop, both by reproaches and afflictions, and partly while
you became companions of them that were so you. You became
the companions of those just like you. God brought you together
in his sovereign providence from all walks of life. And God's
people now become your companion. David said, I am a companion
of them that fear thee. That's who my companions are
now. Light can't have fellowship with darkness. And then we all
have this, common end. 1 Thessalonians 4, 1 Thessalonians 4, we all have
a common end. 1 Thessalonians 4, that means
we're all going to the same place, the same way. Because we're going
to get there, the same person has taken us. First Thessalonians
4, verses 16 through 18, says this. The Lord himself, same
one that taught you, same one that bought you, same one that
called you, is the one that's going to bring you. The Lord
himself, Nancy. Not Peter. Peter's not going
to meet me at the pearly gates. Christ's coming all the way to
get me. Huh? Who about you, if you're
going out, what if Joseph Aaron was gone for a long time, would
you send somebody to get him? Would you go get him? Huh? The Lord himself, read on, the
Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel.
with a trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first."
We looked at this recently. Then we, which are alive, or
that is, still here and remain, shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall
we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words. That's what we have in common. They have a lot of things in
common. And there's so much more. The disciples, I need to bring
this out. The disciples there in Acts 2
verse 44 said they had all things in common and they sold possessions
if anybody had any need. God's people are generous and
meet the needs whenever they see it. They're God's people. They have common possessions
and everything. What's mine is yours, right?
What's yours is mine. That's the way it really is with
God's people. If there's a need, they'll meet
it. They have that in common. All right, let's stand. Our Father, thank you for this
common salvation, common faith to common people such as us. Not many wise, mighty, or noble
recall. We thank you, Lord. We see our
calling. And we're amazed that you would include us. We thank
you, though, and we thank you for teaching us personally and
ask that you continue to teach us, lead us, guide us, leave
us not to ourselves or to any man, but our God and our Savior. And we thank you in Christ's
name. Amen. Thank you. you