Now turn, if you would, to the
book of 1 Thessalonians. Now Thessalonica was a very large
and populous and flourishing city. And the Apostle Paul comes
to this city after he had been at Philippi. He stayed about
three weeks and preached every Sabbath day. And his ministry
was blessed to the conversion of some Jews and a multitude
of devout Greeks and many of the chief women of the place
which that laid the foundation for a gospel church, beloved. And it is these saints that the
apostle Paul is writing to, and he wrote this first epistle to,
the first of two epistles that are in scripture. And the occasion
of it was this, the unbelieving Jews were vexed when they saw
the apostle's success and they had raised a mob of baser sorts
of people and assaulted the house of Jason, where the apostle and
his companions were, and Paul and Silas were sent away by night
to Berea. And Timothy was sent back to
Thessalonica to establish and comfort the young church, the
young converts, and he was returning to Paul with good news, with
good news. news of their faith and of their
charity, and he writes this epistle to
them in light of that. And the design of this epistle
is to encourage them under their afflictions and sufferings, and
to exhort them to stand fast in the Lord, to stand fast in
the Lord, to abide by his truths and his ordinances, And also
in this book, he instructs the Thessalonians concerning the
resurrection of the dead and the coming of Christ. So it's
a general epistle for the whole church. In that sense, it's for
the church in every age, beloved. It's written specifically to
the Thessalonian believers, but all of God's elect, like all
the letters and all the scriptures, we can profit from the word of
God. It's for us. It's instruction for us. So let's
read this first chapter of this book, 1 Thessalonians. And we'll
stop and go through each verse here as a whole. We'll read the
whole chapter. It's only 10 verses long, but
we see here a greeting by Paul in the first verse. Paul and
Sivanus and Timotheus unto the church of the 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. Note that we are in Christ. We're
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the head and we are the
body. And we see Paul gives thanks
for the saints at Thessalonica. He's thanking God for them. He
speaks of their love for the gospel and their desire to further
the gospel. And he brings forth that their
faith, which is a gift from God, and he brings forth that the
faith is a fruit we'll see later on in the next verse. He'll bring
forth that this faith, this faith is from the Holy Spirit. We'll
see that further down actually in the text. But note this, Paul
and Silvanus unto the church of the Thessalonians, which is
in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ, grace, grace
always precedes peace. Note again, grace. unto you and
peace from God our father we have no peace with God but for
the grace of God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ that is
the only way that a sinner can have peace with God is in and
through the Lord Jesus Christ in him alone grace and peace
from God our father the giver and the the the fountain of grace
the father and the Lord Jesus Christ, the conduit in which
it comes to us. Jesus Christ, the God-man. The
God-man. Look at verse 2. We see that
Paul gives thanks for them. He speaks of their love. Look
at this. We give thanks to God always for you, making mention
of you in our prayers. Verse 3. Remembering without
ceasing your work of faith and your labor of love and patience
of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father. And take note in verse 3, the
three marks of those who are the elect of God. And again,
this is all the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We cannot muster
any of this up. It's fruit of the Holy Spirit
of God working in them. Paul brings forth three reasons
that he knows for their election. Note the first reason he gives
for his knowledge of their election is the work of faith. The work
of faith, which is done by our Almighty God. Faith is a gift
from God. We cannot obtain it. It's a gift given to us by our
Great and Almighty Father. And He speaks of their faith. And Paul knows that these works
which he speaks of in no way justify them. They prove that
the believer has been given faith by our Great God. Look at this.
He speaks of the work of faith and the labor of love. Their
labor of love. Now in no works can these labors
justify them before God. They are again fruit of the Holy
Spirit of God working in them. Working in them. And patience
of hope. Hope. Oh no, what a hope the
believer has in the Lord Jesus Christ. And our beloved brother Paul
knows that the gift of faith results in good works. Good works
are the consequence of God-given faith. And they are ordained
of grace, listen to this, Galatians chapter 5 verse 6, for in Jesus
Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision,
but faith with worketh by love. And in Ephesians 2, 10 it says,
for we are his workmanship, God's workmanship. We're his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them. That we should walk
in them. We are His workmanship, beloved,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works. And the spirit that
lives in us is the spirit of love, joy, faith, humility, and
truth. And all these are bought forth
by the working of the Holy Spirit of God. We cannot muster up joy. We cannot muster up faith. We
cannot muster up humility. God must work those things in
us. The minute you think you're humble, you're proud. The minute you think you've done
something good, there's no good. And think of this. I had someone
ask me this week, well, you're telling me that all the works
that I do that are good are tainted by sin. Well, yeah, because the
works that you do, you do them before man. And man might say,
well, that's a good work. But before God, they will gain
you absolutely no merits, no merits, no merits. None. The only way we are accepted
by God, the holy and righteous God of the universe, is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. No other place. And by no other
work, the work that he done, the work that he accomplished
as our substitute in his life, fulfilling the law of God perfectly,
which we could never do, and then dying on the cross, our
sins imputed to him, dying on the cross, and bearing the full
wrath of God that was due our sin, it fell upon him. Again, greater love hath no man
than this, than the man lay down his life for his friends. God's
people are his friends. We've looked at that before.
He gave his life for his bride. for his people. It's absolutely
wondrous. It's absolutely wondrous. We
are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. The spirit that
lives in us is the spirit, again, of love, joy, faith, humility,
and truth. Our calling is a holy calling,
and our Father is a merciful and holy Father. And faith causes
the believer to rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith causes the
believer to cease from their labors. To cease from their labors. Christ did it all. Praise be
to God. He did it all. I don't have to
work my way to heaven. I am accepted fully. And if you're
a believer, you're accepted fully in Christ Jesus. The scripture
says it's not me. You are complete in Christ. Hallelujah. Right? That makes a believer
shout for joy, doesn't it? It doesn't say, well, you're
incomplete and now you have to do this and this and this. No,
you are complete in Christ. What did he cry on the cross?
He didn't say it's almost finished, did he? He didn't say, well,
my part's done, now the rest is up to you. He didn't say that. Oh, praise
be to God, our great merciful Redeemer Christ, it is finished!
The work of redemption is complete. He has saved his people from
their sins. And at the appointed time we
are granted faith. We are born again of the Holy
Spirit of God and we are granted faith to believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and we run to him. We run as fast as we can to him
and we beg for mercy, don't we? We beg for mercy. It's all work
of God. We're his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works. And secondly, Paul here declares
by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God that election results
in labors of love. Look at verse three there, remembering
without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love. So the
election of God results in labors of love. The believer never tires
and never ceases, and this love Never considers itself, it's
completely involved with, enamored with Christ. He's everything
the believer cries out. He's everything to me. Everything. Everything to me. One commentator
said, it's not concerned with being loved, only with loving. And we see that in how the elect
love the brethren. 1 John 3.14 says, we know that
we have passed from death into life because we love the brethren. We love the brethren. And he
that loveth not his brother abideth in death. That's pretty clear,
isn't it? That's pretty clear. And Paul
pens this truth also to the Colossians. He says, put on therefore as
the elective. Let's turn there, Colossians
3. Look what he says, just a couple books over there. Colossians
3, look what he says. to the believers in chapter three
here. Colossians chapter three, next book over. Look at this,
Colossians chapter three, look at verses 12 to 14, look what
he writes to them. Put on therefore as the elect
of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercies, kindness, humbleness
of mind, meekness, longsuffering. These are all things that the
Holy Spirit works in us, beloved, for bearing one another and forgiving
one another. We don't hold grudges. Because
when we consider how much God's forgiven us, it's easy for us
to forgive others. It's easy for us to forgive others. Forbearing one another and forgiving
one another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as
Christ forgave you, so also do ye. If you have a quarrel with
someone, with your brother, forgive them. Go and talk to them. Go
and talk to them. Forgive them though, because
when we consider again how much Christ has forgiven us, it's
easy for us to forgive others. And above all these things put
on charity, that's love. Remember Paul speaks in the Thessalonians
there, but their labor of love, love, which is the bond of perfectness. And we know from our study in
1 John that this love is not human love. It's the love of God shed abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit of God. A love that we never
had before for God's people. A love that we never had before
for our Savior. A love that we never had before
for the Word of God. I know how I was. And I know
what I am now. And I am what I am by the grace
of God. Every believer can say that, can't we? I did not have a love for God.
at one time. I did not have it. Brother Newell,
you and I have talked about that many times. We did not have a
love for God. We did not have a love for his
gospel. We did not have a love for his people. But oh, what
a change. What a change the Holy Spirit of God wrought in the
believer by his almighty power. All by his power. He gets all
the glory and all the honor and all the praise. Look what he's
done. Look at the wondrous things he's
done, my dear brother. Oh, my. Wondrous things. Saved our souls. Did that for
us which we could never do. And now we love Him. The third
mark of the elect that Paul brings forth in verse 3 is that they
are patient in hope. Patient in hope. Let's look at
that again. Verse 3. Verse 3. We are bound to thank God always
for you, brethren, as is meet, because at your faith, first
of all, the faith groweth exceedingly, I'm in the wrong book. I flipped
over the wrong book there. Verse three. Remembering without
ceasing your work of faith, the work of faith which God the Holy
Spirit works in us, and labor of love, the love of God shed
abroad in our hearts, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ
in sight of God and our Father. We have a patience and hope now,
beloved. His eyes on the sparrow. We know
He watches every sparrow. We know that there's not even
a sparrow that falls to the ground without Him knowing. Oh, how
much more does He value we who are His people? Oh, my. Oh, we have a hope. We look to
He who cannot be seen and we find our hope in He who cannot
be seen. Our hope is not in anyone or
anything on this earth. If your hope is in anyone, or
anything on this earth, you have a false hope. You know why? Because it's all going to perish.
It's all temporary. But he's eternal. Our hope, the
believer's hope, is in the one who's eternal. The Lord Jesus
Christ, the God-man, the God-man who left the glories and splendors
of heaven to save his people from their sins. So we do not look at the things
of this world, people, places, or things. They're not our hope,
because again, they're all temporary. But our hope is in the blessed
Redeemer. And we wait with patience, don't
we? We wait with patience and hope for the coming of our great
Savior. We wait just like the saints
of old. We wait in patience and hope. with expectation and joy to the
eternal joy and bliss that we will experience in the presence
of God our Father. And this is what the elect of
God do, these three things. Romans 8 says this, for we are
saved by hope. Hope. But hope that is seen is not
hope. If you see something, you're
not hoping for it, you see it. Again, we are saved by hope,
and our hope is in Christ. But hope that is seen is not
hope for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for it? But if we hope for that we see
not, we look to Christ, then we deal with patience, wait for
it. Oh my, what a hope the believer has in Christ. I ask all who
will hear this message, what is your hope for eternity? What is your hope for eternity?
If you are hoping in anything or anyone else other than the
Lord Jesus Christ, then your hope is a refuge of lies. Your hope is a refuge of lies.
Because there's no salvation for the eternal soul. Yours or
mine outside of Christ. None at all. So we see then that
Paul sets forth these marks that attend salvation by grace in
verse three, and this is by no means a list of qualifications
for election because no such qualifications exist. We are
undeserving sinners whom God has had mercy upon. These things
declared are the results of salvation by the grace of God. and therefore
are marks that assure Paul that these believers have been elected
unto salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ. And they are regenerated
by the almighty power of God, the Holy Spirit. Next we see
in verse four that Paul brings forth the truth of their election
of God. He does not shy away from this
wonderful doctrine. Now this doctrine is a biblical
doctrine. The people who deny the doctrine
of election are denying what the scripture says, because it
is in the Bible. It's right there. And Paul does not. And remember, he's only been
teaching them for three weeks. He was only there establishing
that church for three weeks, and then they fled. And now he's
got news from Timothy that they are they love the Lord. Their
faith is strong in him by the grace of God again. And note
here, he does not shy away from this wonderful doctrine of God's
distinguishing sovereign grace. That his people were chosen in
Christ before the foundation of the world. We know that from
Ephesians 1, 4. And look what he writes here.
Knowing, brethren and beloved, your election of God. And that's choosing
in the Greek. Did God choose Israel? Did God
choose Israel and leave all the other nations in darkness? Yeah,
he did, didn't he? Did God choose some angels to
not fall and others to fall? Yeah, because the angels who
didn't fall are called the elect angels, right? Did God choose to save Noah and
his family and let everyone else perish? Yes, he did. Because Noah found grace in the
eyes of the Lord. See, no one has a problem. No one has a problem
with God choosing Israel. No one has a problem with God
choosing Noah and his family. No one has a problem with that
when it comes to election. The problem is when it hits home. Someone asked me recently, too.
They said, well, if I cry out to the God, what if he doesn't
accept me because I'm not one of the elect? I said, listen,
if you cry out to God, It's because you're wanting to be alive. He
will not turn away anyone who cries out to Him, beloved. No
one. No one. My goodness. Our God is a God of mercy and
grace. We have no clue who he chose. I don't have any idea.
Therefore, I preach the gospel to everyone. And God does the
saving, beloved. He does the saving. He's the
one. Salvation, what does the scripture
declare? Salvation is of the Lord. It doesn't say salvation
is of the preacher, because I can't even save myself. Salvation is of the Lord. Therefore,
the gospel is proclaimed to all. That's called the general call.
And God, the scripture says, God saves whom he wills when
he wills. And there's none in the armies
of heaven and all the inhabitants of the earth who can stay his
almighty hand. And see, this is what makes this
doctrine absolutely wonderful in the eyes of the believer.
It's undeserving. It's undeserving. I did nothing.
to deserve this mercy, and neither did you, Hubo. Nothing. Oh, it's wondrous. It's absolutely,
absolutely wondrous. So Paul doesn't shy away from
from from preaching on election. He doesn't shy away. Look at
verses. Let's read four and five together. No one, brethren, beloved
your election of God. Look at this in verse five. For
our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power. There's the name of our sermon,
in power, in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance,
as you know what manner of man we were among you for your sake. Oh, what wonderful words the
Holy Scriptures bring forth here. And remember, they're from God
himself, because Paul is moved by the Holy Spirit of God to
pen these words. God's the author of these words. God is the one who had Paul write,
knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. God, the Holy Spirit, is the
author of these words, not Paul. He's but an instrument in the
hands of our almighty God. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power, beloved, and in the Holy
Ghost, and in much assurance, as you know what manner of man
we were among you for your sake. Paul was moved by the Holy Spirit
of God to pen these wonderful, magnificent words. And these
two verses here teach us that God does have an elect people,
a chosen people. He chose Israel out of all those
other nations. And Scripture just declares He
has a chosen people among the people of the world. An election
we see is of God in verse 4, and it teaches us that there's
one true gospel that must be preached in verse 5. And it teaches
us that the gospel is the power of God and the salvation, verse
five. And it teaches us that the gospel brings much assurance
to the born again believer, verse five. My, and it teaches us that
God's preachers are men of God who are ordained and equipped
and sent from God to preach his gospel for the sake of his elect. And teach us here, we see that
God's elect are identified by and made known to us by the miracle
of the new birth. Regeneration, they're born again.
All by the power of God. All by the power, we have no
power to save ourselves. We have no ability. We're dead
in trespasses and sins, the scriptures say. I asked somebody a couple
weeks ago, can a dead man make a decision? Seriously. They can't, can they? They can't
walk an aisle. They can't make a decision. They
have no ability to do anything. They are lifeless. And that's
what the Greek word means in Ephesians 2 when it says, we
were dead in trespasses and sins. We had no life. But verse four,
but God, who's rich in mercy, he quickened us. By his power
we see here in verse five of 1 Thessalonians chapter one,
by his almighty power, beloved. This is what the scripture, this
is not my opinion. I believe it because God has
saved me, but this is not my, this is what the word of God
says and I believe it. The problem is, folks don't believe what
the word of God says. Oh my, let's read verses 6 to
10 together. 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 in Achaia. 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 Godward is spread abroad,
so that we need not speak to We need not to speak anything,
for they themselves show 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, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He
raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath
to come. And we see Paul continues to
bring forth in these verses evidences of the Thessalonian believers'
election of God. He continues to bring this evidence
forth. Look in verse 6, the fact that
they had received the gospel and became followers of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And note in verse 7, Paul brings
forth further evidence of their election, that by their faith,
works, and love, they became examples and patterns for all
believers. So that you were examples to
all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. They were young in faith. They
were young in faith, and yet they set an example for others. in their worship, in their faithfulness,
in their holiness, in their conversations, in their conduct. And we see
in verse 8 that the word went forth. They couldn't contain
it. Like Brother Scott Richardson said, when you're saved, he used
to say, it'll leak out. Well, it leaked out. It leaked
out. Look at verse 8. For from you
sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and in
Archaea, but also in every place your faith to God is spread abroad,
so that we need not speak anything. They'd already been telling others
about Christ. They'd already been telling others
about the wondrous things that He's done for them. They couldn't
contain the glorious news of salvation in Christ and Christ
alone. They had to tell others about
it. A person who's been chosen to salvation and brought to a
live and vital union with Christ will carry a great burden for
all people. For all people. We don't know
who God's people are. We have burdens for our families,
our friends, loved ones, close loved ones. We have burdens for them. And
we continuously lift them up, don't we? And pray, Lord, if
it be thy will, save them. If it be thy will, O Lord. Because
he's the one who has all power. He's the one who has all power. And what do we do? We tell people
of the wondrous things that Christ has done for us. When the Lord
opens the door, when he opens the door, we don't shove the
door open ourselves. But when he opens the door, we
tell them, don't we? Of the wondrous things that Christ
has done for us. All by his mercy and all by his
grace. And we praise God when he gives
us the opportunity to speak to others about him. We give God
all the glory. Oh, and Not only do we proclaim
to others, but we cheerfully support the gospel where it's
being preached and proclaimed, don't we? We're here for the
furtherance of the gospel, beloved. That's why we gather together
for the furtherance of the gospel. Oh, we see another evidence of
the election of the Thessalonians in verse nine and the fact that
they had turned from idols to serve the living God to love
and to serve the living God to remember in our natural state,
we have enmity with God. We do not desire to serve him.
We do not desire to follow him right in our natural state. We
are dead in trespasses and sins. Look at this wonderful verse
here. For they themselves show us of what manner of entering
we head unto you, how ye turn to God from idols, to serve the
living and true God." Now, there was Jews who were converted and
there was also Greeks or Gentiles, right? Who the Jews considered
Gentile dogs. And most of them were idol worshippers.
Most of them were idol worshippers. We Gentiles, we worshipped idols
back then. People still do today, do you
know that? You know that? People still do today. Oh, my. But by God's almighty power,
beloved of God, we turn from internal idols. We turn from
our internal idols, pride, self-love, lust, ambition, rebellion before
God, and we submit to God's will, don't we? By his almighty power
and his power, we turn from external idols, too, false ideas of who
God is, religious ceremonies, materialism, family, and earthly
ties, and all things and persons that will hinder our walk with
him. And we look right to Christ. He becomes our all in all. Do
you know what the greatest idol in this world is? Self. Self. That's the greatest idol in this
world. Self. It is. Oh my. We used to be all about ourselves
before the Lord saved us, weren't we? And don't we still struggle
with selfishness? Let's be honest. We're all sinners. Even we who are saved, we're
still sinners. And we still struggle with self, don't we? We still
struggle. Spurgeon used to say, I'm my
own worst enemy. That's a saved man. I say amen, brother. Amen. I'm just a saved sinner. Oh my,
I struggle with sin every day, do you? Struggle with self every
day, do you? My goodness. Oh, but for the
mercy and grace of God, isn't it wonderful? Isn't it wonderful
that despite our sinfulness, and we still cry out to God,
don't we? We still confess, we still say, Lord, oh Lord. Oh
my. I'm such a sinner. And that's
not a false humility either. That's genuine. That's like Paul
at the end of his ministry. He didn't see himself as getting
better at the end of his ministry. I'm the chief of sinners. Every
believer says, Amen. That's me. But oh, for the mercy
of God, we are complete in him, beloved. It's finished. The work of redemption, it's
not based upon us. My salvation, and if you're a
believer, your salvation, is not dependent upon anything you
do. That's wonderful. Now that doesn't
give me a license to walk out that door and to go crazy. It doesn't give you a license
either. None of us. Because again, as I've said many
times, the love of Christ constrains us from sin, doesn't it? Constrains
us. And we become convicted of our
sin. But we, instead of, we don't see ourselves growing in holiness,
do we? we see ourselves more and more as sinners as we go
in grace. Oh my. And in that mercy of God that
he's had upon us, that forgiveness that we have in Christ becomes
so glorious, so magnificent. Because not only do we remember
the sins which we committed before we were saved, and praise God
they're all forgiven, but we know what we are now even. And
our sins are forgiven. Isn't that wonderful? What a
great Redeemer. What a glorious God we have.
What a Savior. Oh my. And so we see here that their hope is in God. They
turn from the idol of self. They've turned from the idols
they used to bow before. And they worship the one true
God. Their hope and their faith is
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And in verse 10, Paul brings
forth that the believer in Christ looks forward to and awaits the
return of our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and was
raised again from the dead and is seated at the right hand of
the Father. We know he's coming again. We know he's coming again. And we await his return, whether
it be at our death or whether it be at his second coming. We
await patiently. Acts chapter one says this. And
while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up,
behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also
said, ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, so shall
come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. He's
coming back. We don't know. We don't know
when. We have no clue. That's in his hands, just like our salvation.
Any man tells you he knows the date or sees things, we don't
have a clue. We don't have a clue. But he
knows. He knows. Let's read verse five again.
This is where we're gonna key on for the rest of the message.
Verse five, won't be too long on this. But verse five, look
at this. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power. and in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance, as you know what manner of man we were
among you for your sake. Now we see here that the gospel
comes to the Thessalonian believers in power, not just in word, but
in power. And this is true of every single
born-again believer. The word of God comes to us in
power, in power. And note what is brought forth
in this wonderful verse. Paul calls the gospel our gospel. This does not mean that it originated
with men, because it didn't. We know it's the everlasting
gospel, and it comes from our great God. It's good news from
a far country, the scriptures declare. But what Paul's bringing
forth here is that one must be saved before we can preach salvation
in Christ alone. Turn, if you would, to Ezekiel.
Ezekiel had to eat the roll of his prophecy, which is but a
picture. The roll is a picture of the
scriptures, and one cannot preach, and one does not know Christ unless they have been saved by
Christ. And the preacher, like all the
saints of God, hungers and thirsts after righteousness. And we feast
on the scriptures. Turn, if you would, to Ezekiel
chapter 2. Ezekiel chapter 2. We feast on the scriptures. And
then what do we do? We tell others of the wondrous
things that Christ has done for us. Just like every other believer.
Just like every other believer. John bought forth in the study
in Joseph about the interpreter. that Joseph, the brothers had to go through
an interpreter to speak to Joseph. And he said, that was marvelous,
brother. He said, the preachers are like an interpreter. We study
the word of God, we preach and we proclaim the word of God to
we who are sinners. And our Heavenly Father, our
Heavenly Joseph, he's the one who makes it effectual. But he
knows even what I'm saying. And he knows what you're saying.
It's amazing. It's so plain and clear, isn't
it? It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. But in light of that, too, look
at Ezekiel 2 here. Look at this. We'll read to the
end of verse, we'll read to verse 7, the end of the chapter, then
we'll read verses 1 to 4 of Ezekiel chapter 3. Ezekiel chapter 2,
starting at verse 7. And thou shalt speak my words
unto them, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear,
for they are most rebellious. But thou, son of man, hear what
I say unto thee. Be not thou rebellious like that
rebellious house. Open thy mouth and eat that I
give thee. And when I looked, behold, and
hand was set unto me, and lo, a roll of a book was therein. And he spread it before me, and
it was written within and without, and there was written therein
lamentations, and mourning, and woe. Moreover, he said unto me,
Son of man, eat that thou findest. Eat this roll, and go speak to
the house of Israel. So in verse 2 of chapter 3, so
I opened my mouth and he caused me to eat that roll. Oh, he caused
me to eat it. Yeah. And he said unto me, son
of man, cause thy belly to eat and fill thy bowels with this
roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it and it was
in my mouth as honey for sweetness. And he said unto me, son of man,
go get thee into the house of Israel and speak with my words
unto them. My goodness. My goodness. One cannot tell of a place unless
you've been to that place, right? One cannot speak of salvation
in and through Christ alone unless you've experienced that salvation
in and through Christ alone by the power of God alone. Now,
I was in religion. And I thought my decision had
saved me. But I found out I had a refuge
of lies. I found out that salvation's
not by a decision. Salvation's not by anything man
does. Salvation's of the Lord. It's of the Lord and Him alone. And we see Paul here, look at
this. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also
in power. Paul says it's our gospel. He's
eating the roll. Oh my, and now he proclaims the
words. He proclaims the words. The preacher, like every believer,
is one who has tasted that the Lord is gracious. Tasted that
the Lord is gracious. And one would never, think of
this, one would never think of sending an ambassador to another
country without your country's authority, right? Somebody can't just say, well,
I'm gonna go be an ambassador to, from the US, not to the Ukraine. I'm just gonna do that, without
being sent. They have no authority to do
that, do they? They have no authority. Oh, the preacher is one who has
experienced the power of God unto salvation and his scent
of God and Paul spake of salvation in and through Christ alone,
beloved, by the free grace of God alone. And he had experienced
this. He had experienced this. And
it was the gospel of his salvation, wasn't it? And it was in Christ.
It was in Christ. And you who believe, the gospel
came to you in power. And it's the gospel of your salvation,
isn't it? It's all in Christ, but he saved your soul. He saved your soul. You've experienced
it. And it's only in and through
Christ Jesus, our Lord. So when the gospel is preached,
it comes to all who hear it, to the unregenerate and to the
regenerate. It's preached to all. The same gospel comes in,
some it comes to in word only, and some it comes to in power. Some it comes to in word only,
and some it comes into power. Some it has no effect on them,
they're indifferent, and they're on care, and they're like, nah.
Oh, but the some. Others hear it, and they understand.
Some even hear. Some hear, and they're totally
indifferent to it. They don't care about it. Some
hear, and they have a understanding of certain things, which are
said things that are pleasing to them, but some of the things
aren't pleasing to them. So they just kind of put those things
aside. But the things that are pleasing to them, they're like,
oh, yeah. I like those things. if it suits their taste. If it
suits their taste. But the gospel remains to them
like a drug in a pharmacy. They're there but they have no,
they produce no effect because they haven't tasted of it. One
commentator said it's like an unloaded cannon or a barrel of
gunpowder. It has no force because the fire of God's spirit is absent. There's no power behind it. They
have an understanding and they like certain things but it's
not, there are other things they just say no, no. They really
care for those things. And others are, some are really
affected by it. They seem to be, they weep, and
they resolve to amend certain things, and I'm going to get
better, and I'm going to do this, and I'm going to do that. And
they become alarmed, but what they feel is fleeting. Men and
women weep watching a movie. And some folks, they weep, they
seem to be affected by the preaching of the gospel, but it's just
fleeting. Times get better and, you know,
I don't really believe that. And sometimes those who hear
the gospel will even give assent to certain things, certain doctrines
that are preached and proclaimed. They have a head knowledge, but
they don't have a heart knowledge. Oh, they know things of Scripture,
they can talk with you about them, but they don't have a heart
knowledge, but they have a head knowledge of things. They may
even be convinced, like Felix, when he heard of the righteousness
of God and the judgment of God, and he trembled, and he said,
go thy way for this time, when I have a convenient season, I
will call for thee, when he said that to Paul. They may even be
like King Agrippa, when he said, almost thou persuadest me to
be a Christian. And he'd be that kind of hearer. And Paul's response
to Agrippa was, I would to God that not only thou, but also
all that hear me this day were both almost and altogether such
as I accept these bonds. He said, and isn't this true,
the believer? Paul said, I wish that you were
all saved like I am by God's grace, except with these bonds
that I have on, when he appeared before Agrippa. But note here in verse 5 that
the Thessalonians weren't mere hearers of the word of God. Look
at this. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only. So they're not just hearers.
The word only is they just hear it. If my voice is the only voice
you hear, that won't help you at all. If you hear the shepherd's
voice in the preaching of the gospel, which A.W. Pink says,
God's people hear the voice of the shepherd through the preaching
of the gospel, it'll profit you then. By the power of God, look
what it says here, right? For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost.
And in much assurance, as you know what manner of man we were
among you for your sake. So these Thessalonians weren't
just mere hearers of the word of God as natural men and women
are. No, the gospel comes to God's people with power. And it's the power of the Holy
Spirit of God, beloved. And God's power is invincible,
beloved. It's invincible. God's people
are unwilling to come to Christ before regeneration. Before we're
born again, we are totally unwilling to come to Christ. And then by
the power of God, right, what comes first, faith or regeneration?
Regeneration, you must be born again and in your granted faith
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So when we are regenerated
by the power of God, we're made willing, aren't we? In the day
of whose power? His power. Oh, my oh my, and
then you're thankful for the rest of your days on this earth
and you'll be, we'll be thankful when heaven's singing worthy
is the lamb with the saints, God and glory forever. Worthy
is the lamb, made willing in the day of his power. It's wonderful,
it's absolutely wonderful. At the time that's appointed
of God, God's people are made willing. And here is the reason
that the believer knows his election of God The Lord Jesus Christ,
he or she knows when they heard the gospel. They know that it
wasn't a religious experience. See, I had a religious experience,
and then the Lord saved me. They know it's not just a religious
experience. They hear not with just their ears, but they're
born again. They don't hear with the ears
that they're born with. No, they hear with spiritual
ears that are given to them. And they look with spiritual
eyes to behold Christ. And just as the scripture says,
and here's an exhortation, look and live. Look to the Savior
and live. There is no life outside of Christ,
just eternal death. But oh, there's eternal life
in Christ in Him alone. And so we know. We know when
the Holy Spirit has saved us. And we're born again by His almighty
power. We have a new heart now, don't we? We have a new heart. The things we once hated, now
we love. And the things we once loved, sin and self, now we hate. I ask you, even though we know
we're sinners, do you hate sin? Do you wish that you didn't sin
as much as you do? I sure do. Oh my, I long for
that day. when I will be in glory with
my Savior, and I know you do too, and we will never sin again."
Oh, my. Oh, it's wondrous. It's absolutely
wondrous. Turn, if you would, to Galatians
1. Galatians 1. We have a new heart, and it receives
the Word of God, and it loves the things of Christ. And we
saw there in our text that Paul speaks of it as our gospel. It's
the gospel of our salvation. And Paul brings it forth, Paul
brings forth that when he says this, for our gospel, the gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ Jesus alone, for our
gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in
the Holy Ghost and in much assurance as you know what manner of man
we were among you for your sake. Now look at the contrast here.
Because Paul is distinguishing the true gospel that comes by
the power of God. And look at this, here distinguish
it in Galatians 1 here, right? Against the false gospels, the
pretenders and manifold inventions of man, which he speaks of over
here in Galatians 1. Look at verses 6 to 9. I marvel
that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the
grace of Christ unto another gospel. You study this book in
Galatians, it's all about being set free in Christ, beloved,
and the freedom that the believer has in Christ. But look at this,
he says about this gospel, it's not the true gospel. It says,
which is not another, but there will be some that trouble you
and would pervert the gospel of Christ. How? By adding works,
by adding something you have to do. By adding something, you have
to do. I was telling the folks in Sunday school here, I had
a picture there. I sent it to Brother Norm Wells.
And on this picture, it's the Steps to Salvation, according
to, it was some, I don't even know
who put it. I found it on the internet. The
Steps to Salvation, though. And this is, again, what's being
proclaimed in religious churches all around. And it had three
little steps at first, and it said, God's part. God's part. It had about six steps that said,
man's apart. And it was keeping yourself and
doing all this. You know what? That's just a blatant lie. That's
another gospel below. Because the gospel of salvation
in Christ is all of the Lord. From Alpha, what is he in our
salvation? He's the Alpha, which means the
beginning, And He's the Omega, which means the end, and He's
everything in between, beloved. That's our God. And that's what
Paul's bringing forth here in verse 5. It says, For our gospel
came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the
Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as you know what manner of man
we were among you for your sake. Oh, the gospel comes to the believer
in power and the Holy Ghost. It's a quickening power. We're
born again. The one who was dead and unable to do anything is
made alive and made willing and flees to Christ. And flees to
Christ. All by the power of God. And
this is an illuminating power because what does it do too?
It shows us our sinfulness, doesn't it? Did you know you were a sinner
before you were saved? I knew a whole lot of other sinners. I knew a whole lot of people
who were worse than me. You remember saying that? I do. But I found out that I'm the
chief of sinners. And I found out God had mercy
on me. It's wonderful, isn't it? It's absolutely wonderful. So it's an illuminating power.
We're showing our sins, and then we're showing our need for the
Savior, aren't we? And we run to Him. We flee to
Him. And this is comfort and power,
beloved, because all the burdens of our sins are removed. As He
opens up, God opens up the promises of God to us, which are in Christ,
yea and amen! They're all fulfilled in Him. And this is also rejoicing power,
isn't it? Because the believer then, we
see in the scripture here, has much assurance, much assurance
in Jesus Christ. They're fully persuaded of the
truth of the gospel. No, they don't have staggering
or blinding doubts. No, we just come to Christ. We
believe the record, don't we? You know when we don't have the
much assurance is when we get our eyes off Christ. I'll appreciate
what Brother John mentioned, that Lord, just for this time,
have us take our minds off the cares of this world. For this
time we're here, and just focus on you. Because when we get our
minds off of Christ, that assurance wanes a bit, doesn't it? And we can get ourselves pretty
worked up. But oh, what assurance we have in Christ, beloved. What
assurance we have in Him. And then through the preaching
of the word of the gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ, we learn we
are taught by the Holy Spirit of God. We who we who are we
who who the gospel has come to empower by the Holy Ghost and
we learn of God's distinguishing grace. We learn of God's distinguishing
grace, his his sovereign mercy and power, and we bless the Lord,
don't we? We bless the Lord that he's had
mercy on us because this is undeserved grace, undeserved grace. It's been given to us, the mercy
and the grace that we have been received, that we have received,
that's been shown us all comes to us by the power of God. By the power And so the gospel comes to us
not only in word, we don't just hear, but in power. See the difference? Some just
hear, but the gospel comes to the believer Oh, comes to the
believer in power, in power of the Holy Spirit of God. And it's
God who's made us to differ one from another. Never forget that. Never forget that. That the only
one who's made you to differ from anyone is God. Is God? And it comes not only in word.
This does not discount the necessity of preaching, but it removes
the results from the preacher. When it says here, our gospel
came not unto you in word only, but also in power. It does not
discount the necessity of preaching because we must preach the gospel,
but it removes the results of the preaching from the preacher. We're just seed sowers pouring
water on. And who gives the increase? God. God gives the increase. God gives the increase, beloved.
In power. It's Him who's prepared the ground
to receive that seed, too. Let's read this wonderful verse
one more time. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance, as you know what manner of man we were
among you for your sake. When we look to Christ, beloved,
our assurance is present. When we look to ourselves or
the circumstances of this world, We will not have full assurance.
But we walk in this world, looking to Christ, don't we? Looking
to Him and Him alone. And He continually just brings
us back to Himself, doesn't He? Just continuously does that.
We may wander off, but He just continuously keeps bringing us
back. Just bringing us back. Simply trust. Simply trust our
great and glorious God in all things. All things are in His
control. Rest and trust in Him as we journey
through this world of woe, beloved. And He is with every single believer. Every single one. Every one.
Every one of His sheep, He's with them. Every single one.
He watches over us. He loves us and cares for us
so much. His eye is upon us. His eye is
upon that sparrow that falls to the ground. We know even more
so His eye is upon us. Oh, what assurance we find in
Him. We find assurance in Him for today, tomorrow, and forever,
don't we? Glory to His name.