Turn, if you would, to 1 Thessalonians. We looked at the first four verses
this morning. Tonight's message is called Marks
of Election. In our study this morning, we
looked at the first four verses of 1 Thessalonians. Tonight,
we'll look at verses 5 to 10, where we will see the marks of
election in the believers' lives. Let's look at the first four
verses again, Paul and Savinius and Timotheus unto the Church
of Thessalonians, which is in God the Father and in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God
always for you, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering
without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience
of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, in our Lord Jesus Christ, in
the sight of our God and our Father. knowing, brethren and
beloved, your election of God. And we looked at Paul's introduction
this morning to the saints at Thessalonica and the Holy Spirit
moved Paul to pen this truth in verse four about the electing
grace of God. And remember, these were young
converts. young converts. Again, some say election is strong
meat, but we see Paul here writing to young believers about this
wonderful truth, this wonderful doctrine. And it's precious. It's very precious to God's people.
Very precious. And doctrines not to be kept
from babes in Christ. Doctrines not to be kept from
babes in Christ until they mature in the faith. No, we see here
that that Paul preached all the counsel of God to them. Including
election. Because all things are in Christ. In Christ. And he preached that
the saints of God here. He pens these letters, again,
by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. We have to always remember
that, that these words are penned by Paul, but under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit of God. And he pens to them that they
are God's saints, chosen in Christ from before the foundation of
the world, saved and redeemed by Christ. The work of God the
Father in choosing particular people in Christ before the foundation
of the world, the work of God the Son in the perfect redemption
of his people, his chosen people, the sanctifying work of God the
Holy Spirit, when he enlightens the minds of God's chosen people, all through the sovereign grace
of our great God, again, through the perfect finished work of
Christ, is something that the preacher must proclaim. We're
to hold back nothing. We're to hold back nothing. A steady diet, a steady diet
of God's sovereign grace and his sovereign mercy bestowed
upon his chosen people in Christ and for Christ's sake is what
matures God's people. A steady diet of God's sovereign
grace and his sovereign mercy. It's what matures God's people,
his born-again, blood-washed saints. It grounds us in the
faith when we hear the gospel preached and proclaimed. This
afternoon, I'm working away at home and listening to a message
and just having my own little personal revival time. But it's
so for all of us when we hear the gospel, isn't it? It's wonderful,
isn't it? It's absolutely wonderful. And we are built up and strengthened
as we listen to the gospel preached and proclaimed. Doesn't matter
who's preaching it, which grace preacher's preaching it, doesn't
matter. It's the gospel that matters. I remember a long, long
time ago, Donny Bell telling me this. He said, it's not the
man, it's the message. And he said to me, you got the
message, Brother Wayne. That's when I first started preaching
out in Oregon. And I've never forgotten that. You don't ever
graduate from that as a preacher. It's not the man, it's the message.
It's all about Christ. It's all about our king. It's
all about him. He gets all the glory. So a steady
diet of God's sovereign grace and his sovereign mercy bestowed
upon his chosen people in Christ and for Christ's sake is what
matures God's born-again blood-washed saints. And it's the Holy Spirit of God
teaching us. It's he who teaches us. The preacher's
just a mouthpiece. Now, this is also true. You will
never see your own growth. I see growth in you. Other people
will see growth in you, but you'll never see your own growth in
grace. We never graduate from thinking
that we're just sinners saved by grace. But others will see
you growing. Others will see you growing.
And it's through the preaching of the word of God, the Holy
Spirit takes the words, and teaches us the things of Christ. How
many times have we read the scriptures and went, I've never saw that
before? Or you hear a preacher preach on a text and you go,
my goodness, that's wonderful. Now you may have read it 100
times. You may have read it 100 times and then just all of a
sudden the Holy Spirit just lightens it up, enlightens it, the scriptures
say, illuminates it. He illuminates the scripture
for you and you're just filled with joy. filled with joy, and
it all comes through this book, beloved, through the word of
God, through the word of God. And that's why we love to hear
the gospel preached. Listen to this exhortation. Beware,
lest ye also, being led astray with the error of the wicked,
fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to whom be glory
both now and forever, amen. That's what God tells us in his
word in 2 Peter 3, verse 17 and 18. He says this. I'll say it
again. Beware, lest ye also being led
away with the error of the wicked fall from your own steadfastness,
but grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord, of our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to whom be glory both now and
forever. Amen. Grow in the grace and knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. How do we do that? by being under
the sound of the gospel? By reading the scriptures? As
the Holy Spirit illuminates the scriptures? I ask you this, as
a born again believer, do you know more about Christ? Do you
marvel more about Christ and his salvation now than when he
first saved you? Do you marvel more in the saving
grace of God and Christ more now than you did last year? Does he not become more and more
wonderful to us as the years pass by? It's wonderful, isn't
it? That's the Lord doing that, beloved.
That's the Holy Spirit having us grow in the knowledge and
the truth of the gospel. And what does it cause us? It
doesn't cause us to walk around sullen-faced, does it? It causes
us to rejoice within ourselves with joy unspeakable. That's
why we long to be together. That's why we long to hear the
gospel preached. We see the words here, and look
at these words in verse four again. Knowing, brethren, beloved,
your election of God. How did Paul know they were God's
elect? How did Paul know they were God's
elect? I ask you, did he know by their outward show of boastful
religious exercises before others? No. No? No? Did he know by them meeting on
Saturday or on Sunday? No? Did he know that by them
praying in public to draw attention to themselves? Many folks do
that, don't they? No? Did he know by them refusing
to eat pork or not, or eating pork or refusing to eat pork?
That's what the Jews did, right? Or any foods that were forbidden
under the law of Moses, is that how he knew they were elect?
No. Was it by them waving their baptismal
certificate around? Well, I'm baptized, I'm saved.
Which is what the Church of Christ people believed? No, it wasn't
by that, was it? No. By speaking in gibberish? Like people who speak in tongues
and all this, they say these, oh, I'm not gonna say. They say you must speak in tongues
to be saved. No, that's a lie too. All those are in other gospels.
All those are outward shows of man. Do they show their election
by the souls they claim to have won to Christ? Or by boasting
of abstaining from one thing, not doing one thing, but doing
this over here is okay, but not doing that. By abstaining from
something, brethren, brothers and sisters, my dear brothers
and sisters, it's not what we do that gives God's people assurance. It's not what we do that gives
God's people assurance. It's not. It's just not. It's
not what we do that makes our calling and election sure. assurance
of faith, the faith of God's elect is based upon what God
has done for us and in us. I won't give nothing for someone
who professes to love Christ and hates the brethren. I won't give nothing for their
profession, I'm telling you, because that's what, you read
1 John, it's so clear, isn't it? God's people love the brethren. We saw that in our study, 1 John,
2 John, 3 John, I mentioned that this morning. I just, I believe what the word
of God says in that case. And I believe what the word of
God says in all cases. Is it so for you? Yeah. What this word
says is what matters. Oh my. And our sovereign God,
he loves us with an everlasting love. Because it pleases him
to do so. He wrote our names in the Lamb's
Book of Life. He didn't write them in there
like people say, as soon as you accept Christ, He just wrote
your name in the Lamb's Book of Life. We're talking about
God who's eternal. He did that way back in eternity. And it's Him who wrote our names
in the Lamb's Book of Life. And it wasn't because of anything
we do or would ever do. It's all mercy, beloved. Mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. And he sent his beloved son,
God, the father sent his beloved son. His beloved son, the one
whom we've chosen, the one who were chosen in, sent him to this
earth. To to redeem us, to purchase
us with his precious blood, and you know why he did it? Because
it pleased him to do so. Isn't that incredible? That'll bless you for a long
time, won't it? Oh, my, because it pleased him to do. He poured
out. He poured out his eternal wrath. On the Lord Jesus Christ. He
poured out his eternal wrath on the Lord Jesus Christ, his
his darling son, beloved. His darling son, he poured out
his eternal wrath on his darling son. Because it pleased him to
do so. and he poured out that wrath
on his son, his darling, beloved son, that we might be saved, that
we might be saved. And then he bought us under the
preaching of the gospel, his gospel, the gospel of God's free
grace in Christ. He bought us under that, didn't
he? We marvel at that, don't we?
Remember the chat you told me you guys moved all the way up
from Detroit up to here and then just came in this church? The
rest is history. And not by chance. He bought
you here. He bought you here to hear the
gospel and to save your eternal soul. That's amazing. That's
amazing. It's wonderful. Oh, it's wonderful. And then, not only does he save
us by his grace, but he preserves us by his grace. I was listening
to a preacher this afternoon. What a true statement he says.
He says, if this, he says, if this, if my salvation was dependent
upon myself, he says, I'd lose it thousands and thousands of
times. But praise God, it's not dependent on us. It's dependent upon Christ. Oh, that just makes my heart
sing, beloved. Oh, no wonder we say, praise
His mighty name. Oh my. 2 Timothy 1.9 says, He who has
saved us and called us with a holy call, and not according to our
works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given
us in Christ Jesus before the world began. So we clearly see
that our election is of God. Therefore, we are very plainly
taught that salvation's of the Lord. Salvation's of the Lord. Human merit has nothing to do
with it. Nothing at all. We can't keep ourselves even.
We couldn't save ourselves, and we can't even keep ourselves.
But praise be to God, the one who saves us, keeps us. Keeps
us. Oh, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. We are redeemed in Christ, regenerated
by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, and called, called effectually,
invincibly by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, granted faith
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and then He keeps us. He keeps us. And he will one
day present us faultless, oh my, faultless before his throne
with exceeding joy. It'll bring him great joy. You
know why? Because we're his blood bought bride. He purchased us with his precious
blood, beloved. Oh my. So election, to think
upon this, that the grace we now enjoy was given to us according
to God's glorious sovereign purpose in Christ before the world began.
To think upon that. This doctrine of election is
a wonderful doctrine. Wonderful doctrine. To God's
people. You know what it does? It strips
away human pride, doesn't it? It strips human pride right from
us. Oh my. We preachers like to call
it stripping grace. Because that's what it does.
It strips you down to nothing. Down to nothing. You know why? That we might be clothed in the
righteousness of Christ. That we might be clothed by the
Father in the righteousness of Christ. And this doctrine of
election, it exalts and honors the name and the person and the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This doctrine alone of election,
that we're chosen in Christ before the foundational world, it gives
hope to sinners. It gives hope, it encourages,
and folks say, well that'll kill a church evangelistically. No
it doesn't. It actually encourages evangelism. Because we do not know who the
elect are, therefore the gospel is preached to everybody. And
God does the saving. Right? That's right. Oh, it's
wonderful. It's wonderful. We know, we know,
we know that the Master said, all that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and he that cometh to me I will know why
is cast out. So therefore to preach the gospel, knowing that,
the Lord will accomplish His will. His word will not return
unto Him void, will it? Not at all. Not at all. Oh my. Salvation is of the Lord and
by His almighty power. Let's read verse 5 now. 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 man
we were among you for your sake. Now we see here that the way
that the gospel came to the Thessalonians, Thessalonian believers, it reveals
their election. Because it came not only in the
external ministry of the Word, But it came in the eternal efficacy
by the power and revelation of the Holy Spirit of God. Look
at that. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only. They didn't just hear it as words
spoken. No, it came in power. It's like
dynamite, beloved, for the believer. It came in power and in the Holy
Ghost. and in much assurance. There is a difference in hearing
the arguments and teaching of men and in hearing the word preached
and made clear to the heart by the Holy Spirit of God. So we see then that the Apostle
Paul brings forth that the gospel comes to the saying of God not
in word only, but in power. It comes to the elect of God,
not in word only. but in power, in power, and in
the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. Look at how unanswerably conclusive
it is too. When a child of God is quickened
under the word of God, which we know is the sword of spirit,
like what happened to Lydia, remember Lydia, her heart was
opened? I mean, she's born again. We
know regeneration precedes faith. She is born again. Her heart
was open to receive that word. She's given a new heart, beloved,
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, my. And when the Lord opens
the heart like he did with Lydia, when we're regenerated by the
power of the Holy Spirit of God, oh, he gives us hearing ears
and seeing eyes, and we gladly receive the gospel. And it's
a miracle. It's a miracle of God. It's a
miracle of God. Those who the scriptures say,
do not seek God, now seek God. Those who the scripture says,
do not understand the things of God, now understand the things
of God, being taught by the Holy Spirit of God. It's incredible. Those who were dead, lifeless
spiritually, are now made alive. And it's a miracle of grace.
If you're saved, you're a trophy of God's grace, beloved. You're
a trophy of the grace of God. Isn't that amazing? We don't
think we're trophies, but we're trophies of God's grace, beloved.
And that's why we give him all the glory. Remember, the scripture says,
talking to Sister Diana after service this morning, And remember
that Romans chapter 9 there. Let's turn there. Romans chapter
9. Romans chapter 9. Look at this. Look at this here. It says, Verse
20, Nay, but, O man, who art thou that replyest against God?
Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast
thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour and
another unto dishonour? God's elect are the vessels unto
honour. What if God willing to show his
wrath and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? And that he might
make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy,
which he had aforeprepared unto glory. Oh my. When did he aforeprepare us unto
glory? In eternity when he chose us
in Christ. A potter can do whatever he wants
with the clay. He can make it a vessel of honor, and this is
talking about God, or He can make it a vessel of dishonor.
Whatever He chooses. Whatever He chooses. And those who are vessels of
honor, we do not know who they are, but God again does. The Gospel comes to them, not
in word only. but in power, and it comes to
them. Now they could sit under the gospel for years and not
hear anything. But on the day that God is appointed, that word
comes with power. On the day that God is appointed
for their salvation, that word comes with power. And they believe. They believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. They believe the gospel. And
this wonders. And so we see that the Apostle
Paul brings forth that the gospel comes to the saint of God not
in word only but in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much
assurance. Therefore we see then that the
scripture just as the scripture proclaims the word of God is
quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. for
the born-again believer. In our natural state, we hear
the Word of God, but it has no impression upon us. No impression
on our minds and our heart. But when the Holy Spirit of God
regenerates a lost sinner, then the Word of God is quick and
powerful. It's quickening. It's illuminating
Word. It's a sanctifying Word. It's
a renewing Word. And the believer cries out with
David, he says, for I am become like a bottle in the smoke. Yet, I do not forget thy statutes. And Paul brings forth that those
who are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, through
the word of God, which again is for God's people, for God's
people, it's the word of grace, isn't it? And the Holy Spirit
applies it to our heart. And when he does, it brings great
conviction, doesn't it? We see our desperate need for
Christ. And then the balm of Gilead is applied through our
souls. And we have much assurance in Christ because we see him
as our Savior. And we look to the crucified
one. And we have confidence in Him
and Him alone. He's our hope. Therefore, the regenerated heart,
the born-again heart, the born-again believer is enabled to discern
God's faithful servants coming to them in the Lord's name. As
Paul brings forth in this verse, look what he says. He says, you
know, saith Paul, what manner of man we were among you. So
they're able to discern God's preachers and false preachers. And these enlightened saints
of God, these born-again believers, embraced the doctrine of God's
ministers. They recognized their authority
and received them as spiritual leaders sent from God. And they
were true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ and followed His
ministers as they followed Christ. We also see that the saints at
Thessalonica received the Word in much affliction, with joy
of the Holy Ghost. They faced much opposition, beloved,
for their faith in Christ. Yet these true followers of the Lord Jesus
Christ stood fast. Because God kept them, didn't
he? And they clung to the Lord Jesus Christ. They clung to his
glorious gospel. The gospel of God's free grace
that gives him all the glory and him alone. And they clung
to him. Just like we do today. We cling to Christ, don't we?
Where shall we go, Lord? Thou has the words of eternal
life. He's our only hope. He's our only hope. He's our
hope in good times. He's our hope in what we call
bad times. And he's our hope in all between.
When we're in trouble, he's our hope. When we're coming out of
trouble, he's our hope. When we're going into trouble,
he's our hope. He's our hope. It's amazing. And think of these believers,
they probably had family members. Who turned against them? Look
at verse six. And you became followers of us. And of the Lord. Having received
the word in what much affliction? With joy of the Holy Ghost. They
received the word, and this is another mark of those who are elected by God. They received
the word in much affliction and in joy of the Holy Ghost. They
probably had family members turn against them. We know this from
the words of our Master. He says this. If you want, turn
to Luke chapter 12, verses 51 to 53. Luke chapter 12. Look what our Lord says here. Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. verses 51 to 53. Suppose ye that I am come to
give peace on earth, I tell you, nay, but rather division. 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." Now look at this, verse 6, "...and
ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received
the word in much affliction." Now remember some of these folks
may have may have made their living by making false idols,
for all we know. We don't know. Or having something to do with
pagan gods. Well, they'd lose everything.
Because they wouldn't want to be doing that anymore. And then,
if you were a Jew and the Lord saved you, you were thrown out
by your family. Totally ostracized. Cut off. But you still had a hope in Christ, eh? Some today may be the only one in their
family saved and may be ostracized by their family. Maybe there's
two or three in the family that's saved and the rest of the family
ostracizes you. Our hope's in Christ, isn't it?
Our hope's in Him alone. Now, do we still pray for our
family members? Oh, all the time. We lift them
up, don't we? Praying that God would save them
if it's His will. But as we looked at last week
and Sunday, Sunday a.m. service, there's a difference
when the Lord saves us, when we're born again in the Holy
Spirit of God, when Christ in us is the hope of glory. We're
not the same. Now, outwardly, we appear the
same, but inwardly, we are new creatures in Christ, beloved,
with new desires. We love the Lord. We love his
gospel. And it speaks here that there,
what that text we just looked at in Luke, it speaks that there's
gonna be division amongst your unsaved family members and you.
So 1 Thessalonians 1.6 says here that they received the word,
they received the word of God, having their hearts open to receive
it, right? Being born again to the Holy Spirit of God. And then
they received the word in much affliction. Because we know from
reading this morning in Acts 17 that there were some Jews
who were saved. And a multitude of Gentiles, remember that? It
said Jews and a multitude of Gentiles. Well, I'm telling you
what, those Jews, they'd have been ostracized by their families
right away. They'd have been cut right off. And then those Gentiles, again,
if they were in any kind of work for a pagan god or doing anything,
they'd be tossed from the guild that they were in. So they received the word in
much affliction. But look, it says, with joy of the Holy Ghost.
With joy of the Holy Ghost. So not only did some of their
family members probably turn against them, but no doubt some
of their close friends turned against them. And we know that the Gentiles,
the Greeks, that it said a multitude of Greeks were saved, they were
idol worshipers, beloved. They were pagan idol worshippers.
But the Lord turned them from worshipping idols to worshipping
the Lord Jesus Christ. And they received the Word of
God in much affliction, but with joy of the Holy Ghost. Why were they being persecuted? Well, they were being persecuted
and suffered affliction because they believed what the Word of
God says. They had been given eyes to see
Christ, and ears to hear the voice of the shepherd through
the preaching of the word. They were his lost sheep, and
he found them. He found them. They were showing
their desperate need of being saved from their sins, and they'd
been shown by the Holy Spirit of God that Christ is the only
Savior of sinners, and they ran to him. They were made willing
in the day of God's power, beloved. And it's so for you and I, who
are born-again, blood-washed believers here tonight. Same
grace saved us. Same Holy Spirit regenerated
us. Same faith we have, beloved.
Same Savior. Same Father. Wonderful. Same Holy Spirit in us. It's
wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. And
so these true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ received the
Word in much affliction. And the Scripture says, Yea,
and all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
And they lived that verse, didn't they? They lived that verse. And we who are the born-again,
blood-washed saints of God know, as they know, that absolutely
no one is in Christ Jesus unless we were chosen in Him. before
the foundation of the world. And we who are the born-again,
blood-washed saints of God know, just as they knew, that absolutely
no one is in Christ unless we were in him when he honored God's
law for us. And by his perfect walk before
our Heavenly Father, establishing the perfect righteousness for
us. And we know, as they knew, that
absolutely no one is in Christ unless we were in Him as our
substitute when He endured the wrath of God in our room instead,
when He obtained eternal redemption for us. And we know that we were
in Him when He rose from the grave, too, don't we? And Scripture
says we're seated in the heavenlies right now. My, where is He? He's in the heavenlies. It's
amazing. Absolutely amazing. And we who
are the born-again, blood-washed saints of God know that, as the
Thessalonian believers know, that absolutely no one is in
Christ unless we're placed in His body, the Church, by the
sovereign, irresistible power of God the Holy Spirit. It is
He who has raised us from the state of spiritual darkness and
death that we were in. All who are in Christ by virtue
of the miracle of the new birth will live godly in Christ Jesus
and shall suffer persecution. There's no doubt. It'll happen. Again, all true followers of
the Lord Jesus Christ believe the same gospel. They had the
same gospel as we have. It came to them in power, and
it's come to us in power, hasn't it? And our Lord Jesus Christ separates
his sheep from the goats under the preaching of his gospel.
We know from what we read that he didn't come to bring peace
to the whole mass of fallen humanity, did he? No, he came to save his
people from their sins. He came to bring peace to the
hearts of his chosen blood-bought people. And he's done this by calling
us to himself under the preaching of the gospel. And all true followers
of the Lord Jesus Christ cling to him through affliction, with
joy in the Holy Ghost. And by God's grace, even when
we suffer affliction, much affliction, because of our faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, by God's grace, we continue to cling to him,
don't we? We continue to cling to him. even if the whole world turns
against us. Here's the words of the Master.
If the world hate 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, therefore the world hated you. 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. John 15 verses 18-20. Let's read verse 7 now. It says,
So that you are examples to all that believe in Macedonia and
Achaia. Look at verse 8 too. 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 indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, and
by His grace and power they continued in the faith. Even though they suffered much
affliction, They continued in the faith so
much so that they were examples, it says, to other believers in
different parts of the country. They didn't know that until Paul
told them this. Look at what the Word of God
proclaims in about them in verse eight, 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 were to spread abroad,
so that we need not to speak anything. These saints at Thessalonica
evidenced their faith, evidenced their election by their love
for the Lord Jesus Christ, their love for his gospel, and their
love for one another. and their love for His preachers.
And like the two on the road to Arimaeus, their hearts burned
within them. Burned within them when the Lord
Jesus Christ enlightened their minds to the meaning of the Holy
Scriptures. They heard the Gospel and by
God-given faith they believed what they heard. And then they
supported the Gospel with their attendance, with their prayers,
with their labor of love, with their monies, all for the furtherance
of the gospel. All for the furtherance of the
gospel. Pastor Henry Mahan said this
in his Bible class. They became witnesses, evangelists,
and missionaries. A person who has been chosen
to salvation and bought 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. It's true,
we do, don't we? We're here, beloved, we're gathered
together in this place for the furtherance of the gospel. It's
wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. We
get the blessing, the fellowship with one another. We who are
fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, purchased by the same
precious blood. And one day we're gonna spend
eternity together. It'll be marvelous, won't it? It'll be absolutely
marvelous. What'll be most marvelous is
we're gonna be beholding Christ together. That's what's most
marvelous. We'll be looking to Him. Oh my. And all saints who believe the
true gospel are overwhelmed with joy when they hear of others
who've been given faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And
we're all so excited about when we hear of others sounding out
the gospel. It's wonderful. Paul wrote these words about those who were true followers
of the Lord Jesus Christ. In every place your faith to
God were to spread abod so that we need not to speak anything. Do you know that, I'm not saying this to puff y'all
up, but your reputation preceded you before I got here. This church was well spoken of
and still is amongst the believers, amongst grace, folks. It's amazing. We who are sinners
saved by grace, trophies of the grace of God. It's amazing. Think that God
brought us all together to worship together, to gather together. And notice that others were talking
about what God had done for the saints. And this is key, this
is key, this is absolutely key. Others were talking about what
God had did for the saints at Thessalonica, not what they had
done for God. See the difference? When I was told about you all,
I was told you love the gospel. You love to hear it, you love
to support it, and you love for it to go out. And it's true. Everything I heard is even more
better. Because I've got the privilege
of seeing you all for the last four years and seeing your growth
and grace. It's amazing. Even if you don't
see it in yourself. But notice they didn't talk about
what they had done for God. Now, religious people love, love
to tell you what they've done for God. I know, I've experienced
that. I was one of those guys who used
to tell everybody what I was doing when I didn't know nothing
about God. When I was so religious as a
Pharisee, man, I'd be telling everybody, oh, I went out and
knocked on this many doors. I did this and I did that, just
boasting about what I'd done. Now you know what I do? I boast
in what Christ has done. And that's what we do. We boast
about what Christ has done, don't we? And again, we're here for
the furtherance of the gospel, beloved. We gather together for
the furtherance of the gospel. So this is one of the main things
between a grace believer and religionist. Grace folks will tell you what
God's done for them. A religionist will tell you what
they do for God. And they also keep an eye on
what you don't do. Not realizing that they're nothing
but self-righteous Pharisees. That's right. Oh my, we tell folks about what
Christ has done. This is the big difference in
the way that God's born-again, blood-washed saints talk, and
the way that the self-righteous religionist talks. Paul, what did Paul say? For
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. I'm not ashamed of
it. I'm not ashamed of it. For it
is what? The power of God, which means
the dynamite of God in the Greek. Unto salvation to every one that
believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. We saw that
in Acts 17 this morning. Jews and Greeks being saved by
the power of the Holy Spirit of God. And we know that there's
neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither barbarian, bond,
Scythian, nor free in the body of Christ. We're one in Christ.
And we're complete in Christ. Right? To the Jew first and also to
the Greek. For therein, being the preacher of the gospel, is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. For it is
written, the just shall live by faith. And who is that faith
in? The Lord Jesus Christ. the only
object of our faith. We do not talk about what we
have done for Christ because we have no merit before God on
our own. We cannot save ourselves, we
cannot hate ourselves. So we speak of the one who has
saved us from all our sins. We speak of the one who keeps
us by his amazing grace. And every true believer knows
this to be true, that our great majestic God is the one who has
delivered us from the power of darkness, beloved, and translated
us into the eternal kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every
born-again, blood-washed believer is taught that. And we'd love
to hear it again and again and again and again. Because that's
what we hear in the preaching of the Gospel, beloved. That's
what we hear. We could not have raised ourselves
from the state of spiritual deadness that we were in. We could not
have set ourselves free from the prison house of sin that
we were in. We could not have delivered ourselves
from the power of darkness that we were in. We could not deliver
ourselves from the power of Satan. We could not deliver ourselves
from the power of our sin. We were bound up. But praise
be to God, the Lord Jesus Christ is our deliverer. He set what? The captives free. Praise his
mighty name. That's what he's done. Let's
read verses 9 and 10. We see more evidence of the saints.
at Thessalonica's election by God. Look at verses 9 and 10.
For they themselves show us of 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. They turned from serving idols,
beloved. They turned from serving sin. And true repentance is turning
from that sinful lifestyle and turning to the Lord Jesus Christ,
the one true living God. And brethren, the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ was sprinkled on the minds of the saints by
the power of God the Holy Spirit. And it's the same blood that's
sprinkled upon our conscience, beloved, by the same almighty
power of God the Holy Spirit. And this is what purges our hearts
from dead works to serve the true and living God. And I'm pretty sure that none
of us have bowed down to graven images made with hands. God's a silver and gold and wood.
But we all, if we didn't do that, we all had idols in our minds.
We all had idols in our minds. It might have been money. We
might have had a love of money. It might have been pleasure.
It might have been ambition. It might have been a God created
from the idol factory of our hearts. Huh? And it might have been self.
It might have been self. But beloved praise be to our
great God. We who are the people of God
have turned away from those things as idols. We're born again by
God the Holy Spirit. We now serve the one true living
God. That's how we serve now. Who
has saved us from our sins and who keeps us from falling and
will one day present us faultless before the throne of God. That's
our Redeemer, beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate in
the flesh, who shed His precious, precious, precious blood to redeem
our eternal souls at Calvary. Look at verse 10, and this characterizes
all of God's enlightened children. And to wait for His Son from
heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered
us from the wrath of God. Christ delivered us from our
sins, and He is the great deliverer of His people. He delivers us
from spiritual blindness, revealing to us who He is. He purges us
from all our sins, delivering us from all our sins and trespasses. He delivers us from the wrath
of God. He delivers us from the justice
of God. He delivers us from the idols
which we may have manufactured in our minds, or that which we
bowed down to. He has delivered us. And He Himself is the true and
living God. The One who delivered us is God
incarnate in the flesh. The Word became flesh and dwelt
among us. Dwelt among us. And He came to
save His people from their sins. The Word of God did that. God
sent His darling Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to save His people
from their sins. And our Lord gave these saints
at Thessalonica preserving grace, just like He gives us preserving
grace. To what? To wait for His Son. We're going to see the Lord either
at our death, right? or at a second coming, we don't
know which, but we're gonna see him. And he gives every one of
his born-again, blood-washed saints preserving grace. And
he gives us preserving grace to wait, to wait for that appointed
time, either of our death or when he comes back again. If
we're alive when he comes back, he'll give us preserving grace.
And we wait for the Lord's return, don't we? Well, we say even so,
come quickly, Lord. Even so, come quickly, don't
we? Especially when we see what's going on. Even so, Lord, come
quickly. But he keeps us, doesn't he?
He keeps us. He preserves us. And do you know
this? I want to finish thinking about
this. In Christ, we have all been made fit for eternal glory.
Right now, we're made fit. We're qualified for heaven, Paul
wrote. the Book of Colossians, and all
who are bought to a saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are
made fit for glory. We just about have to pass through
that door called death. That's all. And when we do, the
Lord will be the one taking us through that, just like he's
taken us through our whole life. And I like what a dear brother
told me when his wife died. He said, well, brother, she's
gone from the land of the dead to the land of the living. We
live right now in the land of the dead. There's dead folks
all around us spiritually. But one day, by God's grace and
by God's mercy, we will arrive in the land of the living. Glory
to his name. Glory to his name.