Tonight's message is called Evidences
of Salvation. Last week in our study we looked
at verse 5 and touched on verse 4, which we looked at the previous
week in this study. Tonight in our study we'll look
at verses 6 to 10, but we'll read verse 5 with them to get
the context of the verses we will study tonight. Let's read
1 Thessalonians chapter 1 verses 5 to 10. For our gospel came
not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy
Ghost, and in much assurance, as ye know what manner of men
we were among you for your sake. And ye became followers of us,
and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction,
with joy of the Holy Ghost. so that ye were examples to all
that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded
out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but also in every place your faith to God's word is spread
abroad, so that we need not speak anything. For they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye
turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. and
to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead,
even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come." Now
my prayer tonight is that God the Holy Spirit would illuminate
the scriptures and show God's born-again blood-washed saints
evidences of their salvation in Christ. These evidences are
a work of God within the believer's life and in no way can they be
manufactured by man before salvation in our natural state, there are
none of these evidences. And what assurance these evidences
can bring the born again child of God as we look at the scriptures
tonight and as the Holy Spirit teaches us the things of Christ. Now, as I mentioned, when we
studied verse four, some say election is strong meat, but
we see Paul writing to young believers This was a young church,
it had only been established for a short period of time, but
we see Paul writing to this young church about this wonderful truth
of God's electing grace, of God's election of a people to salvation,
all according to his grace and all according to his mercy. So
we see then that when some say you shouldn't speak to babes
in Christ of this precious truth, the scriptures speak otherwise.
Because again, this was a very young church and Paul's teaching
them a great truth. He's bringing forth again by
inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, of course, this precious,
precious truth of the doctrine of God's electing grace. So it's
not to be kept from babes in Christ. It's not to be kept until
they so-called mature in man's eyes to a point where they can
accept it. No, we see that Paul here preached, preached all the
counsel of God to to God's saints. He knows that they've been chosen
in Christ before the foundation of the world. He knows they've
been saved and redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows they're
only born again by the Holy Spirit of God, so he holds back nothing. And this is what the true sent
gospel preacher of God is to do. He's to hold back nothing
and he's not to fear man, what man can do to him. The work of
God the Father in choosing a particular people in Christ before the foundation
of the world, and the work of God the Son in the perfect redemption
of His chosen people, and the sanctifying work of God the Holy
Spirit when He regenerates the people of God and enlightens
the minds of His chosen people to the sovereign grace of God
through the perfect finished work of Christ is what the preacher
is to proclaim. we are to proclaim that salvation
is of the Lord. It's of the Lord in His planning,
and it's of the Lord in His execution, and it's of the Lord in His application.
Salvation is of the Lord from beginning to end. And our sovereign
God loves His people. He loves His elect with an everlasting
love. Why? Because it pleases Him to
do so. It is He who wrote the believer's
name in the Lamb's book of life in eternity. Why? because it
pleased Him to do so. He sent, God sent, His beloved
Son to redeem His people, His saints, with His precious, precious
blood. Why? Because it pleased God to
do so. God poured out His eternal wrath on His Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, God incarnate in the flesh, because it pleased Him
to do so in the place of His people. And He bought us under
the preaching of the glorious gospel of salvation in and through
Christ alone. because it pleased God to do
so, beloved. It pleased Him to do so. And
He gives us preserving grace. He's the one who keeps us. He's
the one who protects us. Even amidst this global pandemic
we are in, we can look to Christ just like we looked to Christ
last year, just like we looked to Christ a month ago. And just
like if the Lord allows us to live however many years He allows
us to live, we will continue just to look to Christ and Him
alone as believers. And He gives us His preserving
grace. He keeps us because it pleases Him to do so. So knowing
then that salvation is of the Lord and knowing that these evidences
which we'll look at tonight, these evidences of salvation,
knowing that they are a work of God, within the believer,
we see that so-called human merit has absolutely nothing to do
with our salvation. Because it is God who chose us
in Christ. It is God who redeemed us in
Christ. It is God the Holy Spirit who
regenerated us by the power and work of God the Holy Spirit. And it's God who's called us
to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's God who's given us faith
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's God who's given
us repentance before Him. It's God who's done this for
the believer. It's His work in us, beloved. It's God who chose
us in Christ. It's God the Son who redeemed
us with His precious blood. It's God the Holy Spirit who
regenerated us. by his almighty power, and the
believer says, praise his mighty name for doing this. Praise his
mighty name. So think upon this, that the
grace we now enjoy in and through the Lord Jesus Christ was given
to us according to God's glorious sovereign purpose in Christ before
the world began. And the fact that salvation is
of the Lord, as Jonah proclaimed in Jonah 2.9, this wonderful
truth strips away any human pride and any human merit. And it gives
us a sure ground of confidence assurance only in the Lord Jesus
Christ and Him alone. It's God who's done this, beloved.
It's a work of God by His almighty power. And the fact that salvation
is of the Lord is Jonah. proclaimed in Jonah 2.9, it strips
away human pride. And again, it gives us a sure
ground of confidence and assurance to our faith in Christ Jesus
and Him alone, knowing that we are only saved by God's grace
and God's mercy in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And this
precious truth of salvation is of the Lord, highly exalts and
honors the name the person in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This truth of salvation is of
the Lord gives hope to the sinner, gives hope to sinners. It actually
encourages evangelism among God's people too. Some folks say that
if you believe in the doctrine of election that it actually
discourages evangelism. No, quite the opposite. It encourages
evangelism because we know that the Lord has a people out there
and all we do is proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
to whomever the Lord allows us to by opening the door of utterance
for us and we leave it in the Lord's hands. We pray, of course,
for that person. and we pray for them. If they're
a loved one, we pray for them until they breathe their last
breath. Never give up hope on your loved ones until they breathe
their last breath. Continue to pray for the salvation
of your friends and family and co-workers because only God can
save them. And this precious truth of salvation
is of the Lord and the precious truth of God's electing grace,
it encourages encourages evangelism because we do not know who the
elect of God are, but God knows who they are. And Christ has
told us in his scripture that all that the Father give him
will come to him. So what an encouragement to proclaim
the free grace of God and salvation, knowing that salvation is of
the Lord and knowing that it's all by his almighty power. Now
we see in verse 5 that the Word of God came to the believers
at Thessalonica, not in word only, but in power. We spent
a lot of time last week just looking at verse 5 and seeing
how the power there mentioned is the power of the Holy Spirit
of God. And we also see in verse 5 that the Apostle Paul brings
forth that the gospel comes to the saints of God. It comes to
them. They don't go looking for it.
No, it comes to them. They are drawn to a place where
they will hear the gospel of salvation in and through Christ
alone. And then they are granted faith
to believe, being born again by the Holy Spirit of God, by
His almighty power. And then the word comes to them,
just like it did to the Thessalonian saints, not in word only, but
all in power, in the power of the Holy Spirit of God, and in
much assurance. But it's all according to the
sovereign will and purpose of God. The gospel comes to you. The gospel comes to me. The gospel
came to the Thessalonian saints. The lost sheep of God does not
look for Christ. The shepherd comes and seeks
them out. And so Paul brings forth that
those who are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit of God,
through the Word of God, the preaching of the Word of God,
which the Holy Spirit illuminates and applies to our heart and
regenerates us and gives us faith to believe the Word that is being
preached, it also brings great conviction of our sin, doesn't
it? It sure does. It brings great conviction of
our sin, but it also, we see in verse five, brings a blessed
assurance to those in Christ, to those who are born again.
With that in mind, let us now look at some of the evidence
of salvation wrought in the born-again blood-washed believer. And keep
in mind, again, this is all by the power and the might of God
the Holy Spirit. It's all by God. It cannot be
manufactured by man. Let's look at verse six here.
First, we see that the Thessalonian saints, after that they had heard
the word of God with power, and after it came to them in much
assurance, we see then that they became followers of the apostles. And we know that is as they followed
Christ. They didn't follow Paul per se
and vault him up, they followed Paul as he followed Christ. Look at verse 6, And ye became
followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much
affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost. So those born-again saints
of God, Thessalonian believers, embraced the doctrine of Christ,
which Paul Silvanus and Timothy proclaimed. And they recognized
the authority of these preachers. They recognized them as spiritual
leaders sent from God, sent from God. Never forget that your pastor
is a spiritual leader sent from God to lead the church, to preach
and proclaim the gospel. And they're God sent. They're
God sent to do this. My oh my. And they've been given
authority by God the Father and the Holy Spirit. And they preach
and proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And true followers
of the Lord Jesus Christ, they acknowledge that. They follow
God's preachers as they follow Christ. And we see also that
the saints at Thessalonica received the word in much affliction,
the scripture says in verse six. Not only did they receive the
word in much affliction, But they received it with joy of
the Holy Ghost. See, if you try to muster up
joy in your heart by something you do, it's fleeting. It won't last. The joy spoken
of in the scriptures is the fruit of the Spirit, which is love,
joy, peace. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit.
It can't be mustered up by man's doing. It can't be mustered up
by man's doing. It's a work of God, the Holy
Spirit within the believer. If you try to muster up joy on
your own, you're going to fail. You're going to fall flat in
your face. That's what's going to happen. But if that joy is
produced by the Holy Spirit of God, it gives a great joy. I
was talking to Brother John yesterday. on the phone, wonderful talk
with our dear brother John. And he said, I'm not afraid to
die, brother Wayne, if I get this virus, because that means
I step into eternity. Now, he's not deliberately going
out and trying to get infected. No, none of us would do that.
But what he's saying is what every true born again believer
would say is that we don't fear death. because we know eternity's
waiting for us. Now what's waiting for the unbeliever?
Oh my goodness, everlasting torment. Everlasting torment, the wrath
of God upon them. Oh my, but for the believer,
everlasting joy, everlasting rest. Oh my goodness, what a
great God we have. What a great God we have. So
they received the word of God and they received it in much
affliction. They were being tried. They were
being persecuted for their faith. They faced much opposition for
their confession of the Lord Jesus Christ. But we see in verse
six that they did it with joy of the Holy Ghost. My, these
followers of the Lord Jesus Christ stood fast. They clung to him
in his glorious gospel truce. That gives him all the glory.
You see, salvation is of the Lord when we preach and proclaim
that as preachers. And even when the believer proclaims
that and acknowledges that, that gives all the glory to God, beloved. That gives him all the honor.
That gives him all the praise. That's a salvation from beginning
to end. that he's the Alpha and the Omega,
just like the scripture says. And that glorifies God, beloved. Now, these Thessalonian believers,
they probably had family members turn against them. Many of us
have had our own family turn against us for our confession
of Christ, where they don't want to have anything to do with us
anymore. Or if they do, it's just all surface talk. They don't
even want to speak to you about the things of Christ. I've experienced
that. In my walk, my wife has experienced that in her walk
in Christ. It's sad, but it happens. Now, do we still pray for our
family and our loved ones who despise us and who do not want
to hear about the Word of God? Of course we do. With tears,
we lift them up, asking and begging the Lord to save them if it be
His will. Oh yes, so they probably had their own family members
turned against them. We know this from the words of our master
that some believers have experienced the truth of our master's words,
which are these. Suppose ye that I am come to
give peace on earth, I tell you nay, but rather division. Or
for from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided,
Three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided
against the son, and the son against the father. The mother
against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother.
The mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law. Luke chapter 12, verses 51 to
53. These are words of our master.
And note, not only did some of the family members turn against
them, but no doubt some of their close friends also turned against
them. These born-again believers. We
know that they, at one time, some of them were pagan idolaters.
They worshiped the gods of their own imagination, and they turned
from them. But those who were still left
in their sin, left in that pagan worship of idols, turned against
these believers who turned from those idols. They turned against
them. They persecuted them. But this
verse here brings forth, they received the word in much affliction
and persecution, but they received it with joy of the Holy Ghost.
That's that peace that passes all understanding, that the world
will not understand that the believer has in Christ. Now,
why were they persecuted? Well, they were persecuted and
they suffered affliction because they believed what the Word of
God said. They're born again of the Holy
Spirit of God. They're given faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. They've been given eyes to see
Christ and ears to hear the voice of the shepherd, the Lord Jesus
Christ. through the preaching of his glorious gospel, and they
saw their desperate need of Christ. They saw their need of being
saved from their sins. They'd been shown by the Holy
Spirit of God that Christ alone is the only Savior of sinners.
Now one sure way to know that your heart is wrong is to despise
what the preacher proclaims from the word of God, or to have a
haughty spirit, to be unteachable, to be unteachable under the preaching
of the gospel. When this is bought forth, when
this type of spirit is bought forth, this haughty, unteachable
spirit, that so-called believer is in a very, very bad spot,
beloved. They are in a very, very bad
spot. Because God's people, we receive
the word of God. We receive the word of God in
much affliction and with joy in the Holy Ghost, don't we?
And these true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, they had received
the word in much affliction. The scripture says this over
in 1 Timothy 3.12, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ
Jesus shall suffer persecution. Beloved of Christ, beloved of
the Lord, these Thessalonian saints live that verse. Again,
I'll read it again. Yea, in all that will live godly
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. They live that verse,
beloved. That verse was real for them.
And we who are the born again blood washed saints of God know
as they that absolutely no one in is in Christ unless we were
chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world by the Father, by
God our Father. And we who are born again blood-washed
saints of God know, as they knew, as these Thessalonian believers
knew, that absolutely no one is in Christ Jesus unless we
were in Him when He honored God's law for us by His perfect walk
before our Heavenly Father, that fact that we were in Him when
He established the perfect righteousness for all of His chosen people.
And we who are the born-again, blood-washed saints of God know,
as the Thessalonian saints knew, that absolutely no one is in
Christ Jesus unless we were in Him as our substitute when He
endured the wrath of God on Calvary's cross, in our room instead, when
He obtained eternal redemption for us. Paul said, I'm crucified
with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but the life that
I live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and
gave Himself for me. Gave Himself for me. My oh my,
we who are the born again blood washed saints of God know as
these Thessalonian believers knew that absolutely no one is
in Christ unless we were in him when he was buried and when he
raised again from the dead and when he entered into heaven for
us, there to appear in the presence of God for us. When he sat down
at the right hand of the majesty on high, beloved, we are seated
in the heavenlies with him, the scriptures declare. We who are
the born again, blood washed saints of God know as. These
Thessalonian believers knew that absolutely no one is in Christ
Jesus unless we were placed in his body, the church, by the
sovereign, irresistible power of God, the Holy Spirit, when
he raised us from our state of natural spiritual deadness. My,
and beloved of God, we who are in Christ Jesus are in Christ
Jesus by God's mercy and by his grace and by virtue of the miracle
of the new birth. And those who are born again
will live godly in Christ Jesus. and shall suffer persecution.
Shall suffer persecution. Persecution from places you never
thought it would ever come from. My goodness. But like the saints
at Thessalonica, all of God's saints received the word in much
affliction with joy in the Holy Ghost. All true followers of
Jesus Christ believe the same gospel these saints at Thessalonica
believed, and all who believe will suffer much affliction.
The true gospel of God's amazing grace through the merits of Christ
alone, purposed by God for a particular people before time began, is
hated by all unregenerate people and absolutely infuriates false
religions. They hate that truth. They hate
that truth. And our Lord Jesus Christ separates
his sheep from the goats under the preaching of his glorious
gospel, the gospel of the free and sovereign grace of God in
Christ alone. We know, as the scriptures declare,
he didn't come to bring peace to the whole mass of fallen humanity. He came to bring peace to the
hearts of his chosen, blood-bought, born-again people. And he does
this by calling us to himself under the preaching of the gospel,
the gospel of salvation in Christ alone. And all true followers
of the Lord Jesus Christ, they cling to Him. They cling to the
Lord Jesus Christ. They love His gospel. They love
the truths that are brought forth in it. And by God's grace, even
when we suffer much affliction because of our faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, we will continue to cling to Him by the grace
of God. And we shall not be moved away
from the hope of His gospel by the grace of God. Even if the
whole world turns against us, by God's grace, we will cling
to Christ. We will cling to Christ, whether
father or mother or close friend or even your brother or sister
in Christ turn against you and persecute you, you still cling
to Christ. He's the only hope of believers. He's the only hope. Remember
again, the words of the master in John 15, 18 to 20. If the
world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.
If you were of the world, the world would love his own, but
because I have chosen you out of the world, look at that, Christ
has chosen his people out of the world, when? In eternity,
the Father gave a people to Christ, in eternity, beloved, marvelous
truth, wondrous truth. Therefore the world hateth you.
It hates us. Remember the word that I said
unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they
have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have
kept my saying, they will keep yours also. Again, John 15, 18
to 20. Now let's read with that in mind,
let's read verses seven and eight in First Thessalonians chapter
one. so that ye were examples to all
that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded
out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but also in every place your faith to God's word is spread
abroad, so that we need not to speak anything." They were young
in the faith. They were a young church. They
were indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, and by His grace, and
by His power, and even through the affliction, the much affliction
they were going through, beloved. They continued in the faith,
even though they suffered much affliction. So much so that they
were examples to other believers in different parts of the country.
Look at what the word of God proclaims about them in verse
eight. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only
in Macedonia and in Achaia, but also in every place your faith
to God's word is spread abroad, so that we need not to speak
anything. Those saints at Thessalonica
evidence their faith by their love for the Lord Jesus Christ,
and their love for his gospel, and their love for his preachers
and their love for one another. They sought to gather together,
not to exalt one another, but to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ.
Not to make a play for power. No, they gathered together. They
gathered together for the furtherance of the gospel. That was why they
gathered together. They were saved by the same Holy
Spirit of God. They were washed clean by the
same precious blood. The Lord Jesus Christ has shed
his precious blood, which cleanses the believer from all sin, which
was shed at Calvary's cross for the remission of our sins. No,
that's who they, they had the same father, beloved God. They
had the same father. And so they were, together going
forth in their faith in Christ Jesus for the furtherance of
the gospel, to proclaim salvation is of the Lord, to proclaim the
wondrous message of the gospel. And so it was evidenced, again,
their salvation was evidenced by their love for Christ, for
the Lord Jesus Christ, by their love for his gospel, by their
love for his preachers, by their love for his God's word, by their
love for each other, for one another. And like the two on
the road to Arimaeus, their hearts burned within them. When the
Lord Jesus Christ enlightened their minds to the meaning of
the Holy Scriptures, their hearts burned within them. They were
excited about the gospel. Oh my. And they heard the gospel. And by God-given faith, they
believed what they heard. And they supported the gospel
with their attendance, with their prayers, with their finances. And it was a labor of love. for
them. They supported the gospel for
the furtherance of the gospel. As Pastor Henry Mahan said in
his Bible Class Commentary, they became witnesses, evangelists,
and missionaries. A person who has been chosen
to salvation in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, and brought
to a living, vital union with Christ, will carry a great burden
for all people. He will witness to others and
cheerfully support those who preach the gospel. In all saints,
all saints who believe, the true gospel are overwhelmed with joy
when they hear of others who have been given faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And when they hear of others
who are sounding out the word of the Lord, they rejoice. They
rejoice. Paul wrote these words about
those who are true followers of Christ at Thessalonica. In
every place your faith to God's word is spread abroad so that
we need not to speak anything. The churches that had been established
in the truth who were meeting in different locations had heard
about the work. our Lord Jesus Christ had done
in the hearts of the saints at Thessalonica. And of course,
we know they rejoiced, just as we rejoice when we hear that
the Lord Jesus Christ has saved one of his lost sheep. And notice
that there were others who were talking about what God had done
for the saints at Thessalonica, not what they had done for God.
See, that's the difference between a religionist and a true born
again believer. Now, a religionist will want
to tell you all kinds of things that they've done for God. And
trust me, you can spot them a mile off, and you can just listen
to their words. They'll tell you, I've done this for God,
and I've done that in my church. We did this, and we did that
for God. But the true born-again believer, the true saint of God,
tells people what God has done for them, what God has done for
the group that's assembled here. He saved us by His grace and
by His mercy. It's a work of God. And just
having a church here is by the mercy and grace of God. Just
having a church that we could attend to. Right now we're not
able to attend, but praise God we know that down the road we
will be able to, and it should make us even more grateful. the
fact that we have a place to attend by God's grace and by
God's mercy where the gospel is being preached and proclaimed.
It's absolutely wonderful. So the way to tell the difference
between grace believers and religionists is that religionists tell you
what they're doing for God and what their churches are doing
for God, but grace believers We tell what God has done for
us. We tell people, God has saved
me by his grace and by his mercy. Look what God has done. This
is a miracle. Salvation is a miracle of grace. It's wondrous. And we say, look
what God's doing with the church. Look how he's using the church
for his glory. It's absolutely incredible. It's absolutely incredible. Paul
said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. See, he's talking
like a grace man. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it's the power of God. Listen to who gets the
glory. It's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that
believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein,
in the preaching of the gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith, as is written, a just shall live by faith. So
Paul, in that proclamation in Romans chapter one, he gives
all the glory to God. He says, look what God's done
for us. Look what he's done. So the grace believer, the true
born again believer, we don't talk about what we've done for
God. No, we talk about what Christ
has done for us. We talk and we proclaim his wondrous
works. Oh, the Lord saved me by his
grace. I was dead spiritually. I was
dead, I didn't ever care for the things of God, but he's given
me an interest in Christ now. He saved me by his grace. I'm
born again by his Holy Spirit. I've been given faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Hallelujah, what a miracle of
grace that is. God gets all the glory for that,
all of it. Oh my, every true believer knows
this to be true. Our great majestic God is the
one who has delivered us from the power of darkness. It is
He who has translated us into the eternal kingdom of Jesus
Christ our Lord and Savior. We could not have raised ourselves
from our state of spiritual deadness that we were in, in our natural
state. We could not have set ourselves free from the prison
house of unbelief, in the prison house of sin that we were in.
We had no power to do that. We could not have delivered ourselves
from the power of darkness, or the power of Satan, or the power
of sin. And the reason we know we couldn't
have done, we couldn't have delivered ourselves from any of that, because
Jesus Christ alone is our only deliverer. It is He who has delivered
us from ourselves. It is He who has set us free
from the prison house of unbelief. It is He who has set us free
from the prison house of sin. It is He who has delivered us
from the power of darkness and set us free by His almighty power. It is He who has delivered us
from the power of sin and the power of Satan. Jesus Christ
in Him alone is our great Deliverer, beloved. He's our great Deliverer.
Give Him all the glory, give Him all the honor, and give Him
all the praise. Let's read verses 9 and 10 now.
We see more evidence of the saints at Thessalonica's election by
God. That we see more, again, more evidence of their salvation
in Christ and that their salvation is of the Lord. Look, 1 Thessalonians
1.9, For they themselves show of us what manner of entering
in we head unto you, and how ye turn to God from idols to
serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from
heaven. whom He raised from the dead,
even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. Now we
know, we know as we looked at just a few seconds ago, that
we've been delivered from a state of spiritual deadness, we've
been delivered from the prison house of sin, we've been delivered
from the prison house of unbelief, all by the power of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And those of us who served idols,
like these folks, I was a Catholic, I served idols. Catholic Church
is full of idols, beloved. Full of idols. The Lord delivered
me from those idols. The idol of Mary. All them saints
that people pray to. Those are all idols, beloved.
All idols. It's nothing but idol worship.
But the Lord delivered His people. You see, look at verse 9. For
they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we head
unto you, and how you turn to God from idols to serve the living
and true God." Now, they couldn't have done that by themselves.
They didn't have the power to turn themselves from these idols,
just as they didn't have the power to raise themselves from
spiritual deadness that they were in. No, no, God turned them. God turned them. by His almighty
power, and they turned. When they're turned by the power
of God, oh, they turned, didn't they? They turned. They turned
from those idols. My, it says they turned from
serving idols. They turned from serving sin. They've been given repentance
before God. They turned from the sinful lifestyle
that they once loved. And they turned to the Lord Jesus
Christ, it says. They turned to serve the living
and true God. Oh my, they turned to the Lord
Jesus Christ. They turned to the living and
true God because they were turned by the almighty power of our
great God. And brethren, the blood of Jesus
Christ that was sprinkled on the minds of those saints by
the power of God the Holy Spirit is the same blood that is sprinkled
on our conscience by the same power, the power of God. This
is what purges our hearts from dead works to serve Christ, the
true and living God, is his precious, precious blood. Now, I don't
know if any of the hearers here have ever bowed down to graven
images made with hands of gods of silver and wood, but we all
had our own idols too. It might have been money, it
might have been pleasure, it might have been self, it might
have been ambition, it might have been a seeking power. It
might have been a god created from the idle factory of our
hearts and imaginations. But we've all turned away from
those things, just as these Thessalonian believers have turned away from
the idols that they once served, that they once bowed down to.
We who are born again by the Holy Spirit of God, now we serve
the true and living God. It's He who has saved us from
our sins. It is He who will keep us from
falling. And it is He who will one day
present us faultless before God's throne. The Lord Jesus Christ
will do this. Let's close with verse 10. Oh,
this verse characterizes again all of God's enlightened children. This is another evidence of salvation.
I had no hope before the Lord saved me. I didn't wait for his
coming. I didn't look for his coming.
I didn't care. I didn't care. But oh, praise
God. He's given me a hope now. He's
given me a hope in Christ. And that's a hope Brother John
was talking about. That when we die, we have a hope.
We'll go right to glory. into eternity we go. Oh praise
his mighty name. Praise his mighty name. Look
at verse 10. And to wait for his son from
heaven whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus which delivered
us from the wrath to come. Beloved of God, The Lord Jesus
Christ is the great deliverer of his people. He delivers us
from spiritual blindness. He reveals to us what we are,
sinners by birth, nature, and choice. He purges us from our
sins by the shedding of his precious blood. And he turns us from idols,
gods of our own imagination, and he turns us to himself to
serve the true and living God. And we say, praise his mighty
name for doing that for us. And our Lord gave these saints
that's like a preserving grace to wait for his son from heaven.
And he does that for all of his born again, blood washed saints.
He gives us the same preserving grace that he gave to them to
wait for our appointed time of departure from this life, whether
it be at our death or whether it be when the Lord returns in
Christ. all believers have been made
fit for eternal glory. And all who are bought to saving
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are made fit by God. That is,
they are worthy and qualified right now for entrance into everlasting
glory. And our standing, beloved, never
forget this, the believers standing in Christ, our standing is complete
in Christ. And that shall never change.
We are accepted in the Beloved. We are accepted in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Paul told this to the Corinthian
believers, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye
are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus and by the Spirit
of our God. 1 Corinthians 6.11. Our sins,
which are many, are pardoned, Beloved. They're all pardoned.
The Lord has stripped us of our robe of self-righteous rags and
sinfulness, and He has clothed us in the garments of Christ's
righteousness. Therefore, Christ is now and
always shall be our fitness. We are qualified for heaven in
Christ. Praise His mighty name. Praise
His mighty name. Amen and Amen.