For a scripture reading, turn
with me to 1 Thessalonians, Chapter 5. The bulk of my message will be
in Chapter 1, but I want to read Chapter 5, and this is where
I've taken my title from. 1 Thessalonians, Chapter 5. But of the times and the seasons,
brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night. Unexpected. It'll just suddenly
happen. Time will be gone forever. For when they shall say, Peace
and safety. I was thinking about this the
other day with some of the accomplishments of the new president and some
of the things that are going on. And people are sighing and
saying peace and safety. But when they shall say peace
and safety, Then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail
upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye,
brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake
you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light,
and the children of the day. We are not of the night, nor
of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as
do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep,
sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in
the night. But let us who are of the day
be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for in
him that the hope of salvation For God hath not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. This
is where I'm taking my title from, and the meat of it, the
reason for this hope, I want to use chapter 1. We're appointed to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us, that whither we
awake or sleep. We should live together with
Him. Wherefore, comfort yourselves together, and edify one another,
even as also you do. And we beseech you, brethren,
to know them which labor among you, and are over you in the
Lord, and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love
for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren,
warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the
weak, and be patient toward all men. See that none render evil
for evil unto any man. He had it coming. So do you. Maybe we ought to take that into
consideration. Despise not prophesies. Prove
all things. Hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of
evil and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly and I pray
God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless
under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. is he that calleth
you, who also will do it." If you will, turn back to the book
of 1 Thessalonians. This epistle, as well as all
the letters of Paul, was written to encourage, written to written to edify and establish
the children of God. That's its purpose. That's why
it's here. That's why we're encouraged to
read it and study it. In this book, he declares that
God has a people. What's that mean? That means
he has a people. Out from among Unnumbered people. God has chosen a people. He chose to save them. That's
what they're chosen for. He has chosen us from the beginning
to salvation by sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. And these people are blessed
beyond anything that they could imagine. I hear men talk about
blessings, talk about heaven as though they've been there.
I know very little about heaven. Very little. Even if I was to
read exactly what was there, I don't think I'd have the mind
to comprehend it. I don't think I could do it any
justice trying to describe it. But we're blessed. Blessed beyond
anything that we could ever imagine. Beloved of God. What a blessing
is that? These people that God chose,
He loved them. Still loves them. Will always
love them. They're blessed beyond anything
they can imagine. They're beloved of God. God made
full provision for us. Think about that, full provision.
You know, we try to make provision for our children. Most of the
time we laugh it up, just to put it mildly. But we try to
make provision. God, God, God Almighty made full
provision for all those He loves, all those He chose in Christ. We're chosen to be trophies of
His grace, trophies of His mercy. Chosen according to His purpose
to manifest God's glory and our salvation through His Son. Chosen
to be sons of God, heirs of eternal life. And these men and women, though
they do not seem so now, are special in the heart of God. Boy, when you see David on the
rooftop, he don't appear to be blessed of God, does he? But
boy, if you could see him in the valley, going out before
that great giant was nothing but a sling. No armor, no armor. Wow. These men and women, though
they do not seem so now, are special in the heart of God.
Peter said they're a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a peculiar people. How so? How so? Now, listen to this. That they should show forth the
praises of Him who hath called them out of darkness into His
marvelous light. Everything about their salvation,
everything about their reformation, everything about their conversion,
shows forth the praises of Him who called them out of darkness.
If it don't, you're probably not called of Him. Everything
He does, He does for His glory. Over in 1 Peter 2 and verse 10,
it says, which in time past were not a people. You're not a people, that is
concerning God. As to those around you, as to
you yourself, you weren't a people. You didn't act that way because
you didn't know it. But are now the people of God,
which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Everything about them shows forth
the praises of God, and everything about them seems so contrary
to their past and utterly impossible for them to obtain. Yet now they
have obtained it and have been confirmed. Maybe this should
have been the title to my message. They have been confirmed of God
as His own. Paul begins this letter of encouragement. Turn with me over to the first
chapter. He begins this letter of encouragement to this assembly
with these astonishing words. Verse 4, Knowing, brethren but
love, your election of God. Boy, that's something. That's
something. What a thing to say. What an
encouraging statement. I don't think you could tell
me anything that would bring more joy to my heart than for
somebody established, like the Apostle Paul, to look at me and
say, I know your election of God. Well, that made me want
to stand up and dance. It also made me want to ask this
question, how come you know that? Dare any man or woman say such
a thing? Dare any sinner, whose whole
life is nothing but a testimonial of his sin and rebellion to God,
entertain even the thought of being chosen of God to eternal
life? Yet here's God's apostle, a man
whose words are inspired of the Holy Ghost, and he's saying without
any reservation, I know your election of God. Every man and
woman chosen of God shall be confirmed of God as His elect. How? How? How could any man say that
of another man or woman? How are God's elect made known?
Well, there are six things. And it gives them to us right
here in chapter 1. First of all, 1 Thessalonians 1.5. Why don't
you look at that? This is the Word of God. It's
not some preacher on a soapbox talking about his favorite subject.
This is the Word of God. I want you to listen to it. If
you're interested at all, am I one of God? God's going to
save all His elect. God has put all His people in
union with His Son, all His elect. He chose them in Him before the
foundation of the world. He secured His love in His Son. He predestinated them unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to
the good... Are you interested in your election? Here's the first thing he said,
I know your election of God, for our gospel came not unto
you in word only. It didn't come as a point of
debate. It didn't come as somebody's
personal opinion. It didn't come by some personal
philosophy. It came in power, and it came
in the Holy Ghost, and it came with much assurance. Well, what's
he talking about there? How would I know if the gospel
came in power? Well, there's a power that God
accompanies His gospel with, and it's a power to convince.
It's a power to convict. You can talk about sin all day
long. I talk about sin every time I get up here. We're sinners. We need to be reminded of it
24-7. We're sinners. That's why we need to comfort
one another. That's why we don't need to render
evil for evil, because we're all sinners. And we're being
saved. You ain't plumb saved yet. We're
being saved. So when I'm talking about the
gospel coming in power, I'm talking about a power to convince, to
convict, and to persuade men of the truth. And then he says this, it not
only came in power, it came in the Holy Ghost. What's that mean? That means revealing with certainty
the Word of the truth of the Gospel. Where did you come? What convinced you that what
you're preaching is the Gospel? What convinced you that what
you believe is the gospel. You read somebody's book? You
just sat around in your closet and it suddenly appeared to you?
If that's your confession, you're a liar. I'll tell you how it
comes. It comes when the gospel is attended
with the power of God. That's when it comes. And that
power convinces, convicts, and persuades men of the truth. It
comes in the Holy Ghost, revealing with certainty. That's what that's
saying. Huh? That's what that's saying. Well, what makes you so dogmatic? I guess the Holy Spirit. Huh? I don't need to back up. I'm
convinced. This is the truth. It's revealing with certainty
the Word of the truth of the Gospel. And you can talk about
sin all you want to, You can read all the scriptures concerning
sin and consider all the arguments of men about sin. But when the
Holy Ghost convinces of sin, it cannot be ignored. You don't
bandy it about like some should, is aspirin good for you or not. There's a holy terror that attests
the reality of it. There's a spiritual desperation
that will not go unchecked. You won't leave here and say,
well, whatever. No, you won't. No, you won't. Not if this Gospel comes in the
Holy Ghost, you won't. It causes a keen hearing of the
Gospel from a desperate sinner. Seeing his sins put away in the
Savior, he's left with a strong assurance. That's what he's talking
about. This assurance ain't assurance in your assurance.
It's assurance in Christ. There are four words in our text
that are ignored by much of mainstream religion today. For our gospel
came. You're not going to be saved
apart from hearing the gospel. Go to church all you want to.
Pray all you want to. Fast all you want to. You're
not going to be saved apart from hearing the gospel. How can you
say that, preacher? Because that's what God said.
It pleased Him through the foolishness of preaching, now listen, to
save them. Huh? The gospel of God's means to
confirm our election. His election of the saints. That's
what it is. He arranges a hearing. And He
enables that sinner to hear. And hearing, He enables that
sinner to repent and believe. My sheep hear my voice. They
said, if thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told
you. Now I'm going to tell you why you don't hear me. You're
not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. God speaks to chosen sinners
by way of ambassadors. And you'll hear God's preachers
or die on your sins. They said, you go preach. Go
into all the world and preach. Anybody that'll gather and hear
you, preach to them. Preach to them. He that believeth, and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. You'll hear God's preachers who
die in your sins. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Now let me ask you something.
What is the gospel to you? What is the gospel to you? I can stand up here all day long
and tell you what the gospel is to me. What is the gospel
to you? Is it heavenly manner? Or do
you say with unbelieving issue, our soul loatheth this like bread?
You get tired of it? You get tired of the gospel? One man wrote a thing, and he
said going out of the church, he said two songs and a sermon,
never changes. You know what he's saying? My
soul loatheth this like bread. The gospel, he said, is the power
of God unto salvation. He tells us in the Bible that
faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of the Lord. Paul
knew their election of God because his gospel came, number one. Number two, it came in power.
Number three, it came in the Holy Ghost. It came with a revelation
to their heart and soul. And it came with much assurance.
I tell you what, when you know who Christ is, you'll have assurance. Not Dale. Not Dale. He can't fail. How could he fail?
He's God. Secondly, 1 Thessalonians 1.6. He knew their election of God
because they become followers of us and the Lord. Somebody
out there, somebody out there is a representative speaking
and teaching on the behalf of Christ. I want you to turn with
me to 1 John chapter 4. How do I know if the man I'm
listening to is a man sent of God? Because every preacher says
he is. All denominations confirm their
graduates with a confirmation of ordination. And I've got a
paper at the house, if you want to see it. It says where I was
ordained and who sent me out. It's not worth the paper it's
written on, as far as I'm concerned. If God called me, I don't need
to go here and meet with a bunch of men and get there OK. That's what policy is. He said,
I conferred not with flesh and blood. I conferred with God. God tells me I'm a preacher,
and I'm a preacher. And all the men in the world
can't do anything about it. I appreciate the ordination papers.
I appreciate that. I believe it's taught in the
Scripture. But it doesn't confirm my calling
from God. All preachers say they are. All
denominations confirm this. So how do chosen sinners know
the difference? Well, I'm going to tell you what
I told my nephew who asked me the same question. You never
will, apart from the grace of God. You never will. But here
in 1 John chapter 4, verse 4, he said, Ye are of God, little
children, and have overcome them. Who's he talking about? That's
these spirits out here in the world. That's what he calls these
preachers. What he's working up to is how
to distinguish between the spirits, which one's sin of God, which
one's not. And he said, you are of God,
little children, and I've overcome them, because greater is he that's
in you than he that's in the world. Who's in the world? Satan. How's he work? Antichrist religion. You can't
fight Him. He's smarter than you are. He's
more powerful than you are. He's more convincing than you
are. The only way you're ever going to avoid Him is exactly
what it says right here. Greater is He that's in you than
He that's in the world. They are of the world, therefore
speak they of the world. They all have the same message.
Now let me tell you something. You say all these churches are
different. No they're not. No, they differ in church government. They differ in how they conduct
their service. Some of them stand up and dance
around the room, pretend to talk in tongues. Some of them are
very formal, very quiet, distinguished. And some of them are somewhere
in between. They differ on that, but they don't differ on the
message. Saved by works, that's the message. They are of the world, therefore
speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. They'll
talk about everything unsung. Usually, though, they don't talk
about the husband's responsibility to the wife. It's always the
wife's duty to her husband. Saw a thing on Sermon Audio this
morning after that. They are of the world, therefore
speak ye of the world. We are of God. He that knoweth
God, heareth us. He that is not of God, heareth
not us. Now listen to this, verse 6.
Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
No other way to know. The spirit of God, through his
revelation of Christ, distinguishes. these spirits, helps you to identify
them and not to follow them. Discerning that man's sin of
God and his gospel is a power given only to God's elect and
their submission to him is the work of God demonstrated only
in his elect. And what a wonderful thing it
is to be persuaded in your heart and mind that God has sent a
man to you and given you the willingness to be taught and
led of Him. That's right. That's what Paul
said. I know your election of God.
You didn't rebel. You didn't run back out into
the world. You didn't go to the church down the street. You've
become followers of us. That didn't just mean Him. That means Him and every other
preacher sent of God. You've become followers of us.
and the Lord. You realize the only way you're
going to hear from God is through a man. And God gives you the
ability to distinguish which one's of God and which one's
ain't. Thirdly, verse 7. I know your
election of God because you've become examples to all that believe. Every converted soul is an example
of salvation by grace. Every one. Each one is a sinner
being saved by grace. Each one required a substitute. Each one required an eternal
covenant union. Each one required the Son of
God to come into the flesh and do for him what he could never
do for himself. Each one required a heavenly
king to order and arrange all things for them. Each one required
the means ordained of God to quicken them and give to them
the gift of faith. And each one of them were given
power to become sons of God and believe on Christ. They're all
the same. They're all the same. I know your election of God,
Paul said, because you become examples of all that believe. Now there's an ungodly rumor
going around in our day, that God is desperate to save sinners,
and so has decided to use whatever means the sinner may choose to
do the work. What he's doing is not working,
so he turned it over to them. But that's not what the Scripture
said. God says, All these gifts come down from the Father of
lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. You
reckon God's going to change His mind because of circumstance? No, He just changed the circumstance.
He's God. And all these things of His own
will, He said, begat He us with the Word of truth. And every
other believer will recognize your election when your conversion
becomes an example of the grace of God. Becomes an example. And then
fourthly, verse 8. He said, I know your election
of God, 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 speak anything. Now let me tell you something. Let me ask you something. If
you were dying of leprosy, and a man come along and spoke to
you, and all your disease and all that rotting flesh and all
that pus and polluted blood suddenly just melted away, do you think
you might be excited enough to tell somebody else? Huh? If you'd spent your life as a
blind beggar sitting helpless on a Filthy blanket. And one
day a man come along and gave you eyes to see. Do you think
you might be motivated to tell somebody else about that man? Paul said, I know your election
of God. He did a powerful work in you. He did a miraculous work in you. He cleansed you. He justified
you. He persuaded you that you're
one of his. He did for you what no other
man could do. And he said, I know your election
because you sounded that same gospel that saved your soul. Man, you've become a promoter
of it everywhere. And your whole life has changed,
and I'm hearing about it all over the country. Salvation by grace is an amazing
thing, that a willful, rotten sinner like me could be predestinated
to the adoption of children. It's almost unthinkable. Made
an heir of grace in Christ Jesus, declared justified before God. And my friend, this is a work
only God can do, and a work He has done in His Son, and now
demonstrates in the lives of chosen sinners. And I don't understand
folks who profess salvation by grace and have no interest in
promoting the gospel, have no interest to hear it, but claim that gospel saved their
soul. I don't believe it. The true election from God is
manifested as men being saved by any and all means available,
sound out the gospel. That's what they do. You can't
help it. And then 50, listen to this,
verse 9. I know your election of God because
you turn to God from your idols to serve the living and true
God. What's he talking about? An idol is anything the soul
substitutes for God. That's an idol. There are many
idols made of stone, wood, precious metals. He talks about it in
the book of Isaiah. He details it out. He said you
get this image of God and you go down to the lumber company
and pick out a piece of wood and you go over here and here's
a craftsman and you tell him what you want and he whittles
it out, carry it down here to the metallurgist and he goes
in there and he covers that thing with gold and silver and now
you've got an idol. Now you got an idol. Crosses,
past saints, prayer beads, gross images like that of Buddha. And
the same with others. But the worst idol of all are
vain imaginations. That's why God destroyed the
world the first time around. Vain imaginations. Every thought of the imagination
of men was only evil continually. Imaginations of a God who's willing
to compromise his name to save sinners. That's an idol. Who
loves men and women, yet sends them to hell. Our Lord said this. He said, To whom then were you
liking me, or shall I be equal, saith the Holy One? What kind of image are you going
to make like me? God can only be known in Christ. He, it says, He is the image
of the invisible God. And when God saves a sinner,
He begins a lifelong turning from his idols. He's constantly
turning from his vain imaginations concerning God to the God who
reveals Himself in Christ. And many women who don't know
God, Hang idolatrous ornaments all
over their bodies, tattoos, necklaces, rings. And this turning is a
reality. This turning is active. And this
turning is continual. And I'll tell you why you're
being turned. You're being turned to serve.
To serve. Believers serve God. Paul wrote
to the Corinthians, he said, For the love of Christ constraineth
us, because we thus judge. This is what we understand. That
if one died for all, then we're all dead. And that he died for all, that
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto
him which died for them and rose again. We're turned from our
idols to serve. the true and living God, not
just to know Him, but to serve Him. And then he says sixthly,
and lastly, I know your election of God, because you patiently
wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead,
even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. Do you believe that God's Son
put away your sins? Put them away. Your sins are
no longer an issue. Do you believe that? That's what
the gospel declares. He put away your sins by His
death on the cross. Do you believe that He died the
just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being
put to death in the flesh, but quickened in the Spirit? that
He was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. Do you believe that He, as our
sovereign Savior and Lord, ascended into glory, stepped onto a cloud
accompanied by angels and ascended out of sight into glory? That
He presently sits at our Father's right hand, having all power
given unto Him to save them, given to Him by God the Father. Do you believe that He's at the
helm of all things, arranging all things, working all things
together for our good and His glory? Do you really believe
that? If you do, if you do, then it
stands to reason that you're anxiously awaiting His return. Huh? If salvation's in you, If to know Him is eternal life.
And I believe right now, He's up there arranging all things,
working all things together for our good and His glory. He that
spared not His own Son, how shall He also with Him... What's He going to hold back? He's going to give you... He'll
hold back anything. Anything. Oh, His return is called the
day of God. It's called the day of Christ,
and it's called the last day. A day is the work of time. In the last day, He says He shall
put one foot on the sea and one on the land and say, Time shall
be no more. Everything purposed to do in
time is done. No more anything concerning time. Everything God determined to
do in time, He did in His Son. And nothing else remains but
eternity. His coming is the culmination
of eternal salvation. Paul writes in the fifth chapter
of this book that the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with
a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trump
of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Coming out
of the tomb. Huh? Then we which are alive
and remain should be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Now listen to this. Wherefore
comfort ye one another with these words. He's coming back. Now, he came
into this world as a tiny babe. No room for him in the inn. He
was born in a cow stable and laid in a manger, wrapped in
swaddling clothes. But he ain't coming back that
way. When he comes back, he's coming back in all the glory
of his Father's house. And we're going to know him as
Lord. I mean absolute Lord. May the
Lord himself enable us to look for him and be comforted, knowing
that one day soon he's going to appear. Oh, how careful we
ought to be with how we live, knowing that it's already been
2,025 years. Boy, we ought to be on the tiptoes.
Brother Don said, on the tiptoes of faith, looking for it. Looking
for it. Oh, my, how we need to look for
it. All right. Thank you.