Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. The Spirit of God moved upon the Apostle Paul, who was
with two other preachers, Silas and Timothy, fellow servants
of the Lord, to write a letter to the church at Thessalonica. And it starts in verse 1. I'd
like to look at all 10 verses of 1 Thessalonians. It starts
off And it says, Paul and Silvanus, Silas, and Timotheus, Timothy,
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. Now here was a group
of believers. who were knit together in God
the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what a place, what
a place to be in the Father and in the Son. Here they were, they
were spiritual branches that had been engrafted, eternally
engrafted in God's everlasting covenant of grace, and engrafted
into the Son, into the vine himself by the Father. And they were now regenerated
in time. The Spirit of God called them
out of darkness and revealed to them the truth. of who they
are in Christ. They were chosen before the foundation
of the world, but now visibly placed in there and watched over
by the husbandman himself, the father, the one that oversees
the garden of the Lord. And then being found to be recipients
of God's mercy and compassion, he says, Paul says to the church,
he says, grace, that is unmerited favor. Favor that you didn't
earn. Favor that wasn't due you because
of who you were. Grace be unto you. That is, God
has eternally shown you grace and peace from God our Father
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of the grace that's been
shown, you now are at peace with God. God has reconciled you to
Himself because He's been pleased to have mercy and compassion
on you according to his covenant. And he did this through the shed
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, and your priest,
and your king, and your husband. And then Paul acknowledges the
source of that grace that was shown to God's church and the
resulting peace and grace. He says in verse 2, we give thanks
to God always for you all. You know, no believer ever gives
thanks to any other, especially to himself, especially to his
will, or especially to his decision, or especially to his ability. No believer ever gives himself
thanks, you know. I mean, he'd never openly say
that, but that's what he thinks, you know. Remember the publican
and the Pharisee. He said, I thank God that I'm
not as other men are. Well, really, he was just thanking
himself. I'm just so glad that I'm not like all these other
sinners around here. You know, I fast twice a week,
and I tithe, and I, you know, all of those things, you know.
But we give thanks to God always for you all. You know, we thank
God for the mercy that He's shown us. That mercy that He's shown
others, we're thankful that the Lord would show mercy to a congregation. I never cease to be amazed how
I can travel places and go, and as far as I know, and I don't
know where the Lord has all of His people, I don't know. but
where I'm aware of where the Lord has raised up a people.
I'm amazed that when he raises up an assembly, that though there
may be many places, that obviously the Lord has not
raised up a church. But then where He does raise
up, in that community, He just providentially put them there,
put His elect there. Look at how many. people that
God would call out of darkness. And so Paul said, we thank God
for that. We thank God for you all. And then he says, making mention
of you in our prayers. Paul is saying that, he said,
every time the Spirit of God causes you to come to my memory,
he said, I call your name before the Father's throne. I thank
God for you. I pray for you. I make thanksgiving
for you all." Then the apostle gives God's thanks for the tokens
that the Lord had shown his people. In verse 3 he said, "...remembering
without ceasing your work of faith." and labor of love and
patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of
God and our Father. He said, I'm thankful to the
Lord every time you're brought to my memory, remembering without
ceasing your work of faith. Now, listen, you that know what
we believe here. We know that faith works. Faith works. It evidences that
we don't work for salvation. But where you find true, saving
faith, the faith of God's elect, there's going to be an evidence
of it. A cat Acts like a cat. Why? Because it's a cat. You put a dog and a cat together
and they're out there and you know what, that dog's gonna act
just like a dog. And the cat's gonna act just
like a cat. A believer acts, he responds. It's not that he
is without sin. You know that. Paul said, I see
in me that is in my flesh there dwells no good thing. But I'm
telling you where the Spirit of God has imparted, put within
a new heart, a new life, there's a change, there's a new creation
here. Galatians 5, hold your place
right there. in Thessalonians, and look over
at Galatians chapter 5, verse 22-23. And here's what the Apostle Paul,
and remember this, how did Paul know this? How did Paul know
to write this? The Spirit of God moved on him,
and the Spirit of God taught him this. He says, the fruit
of the Spirit is love. That's the fruit of the Spirit.
The fruit, fruit of the Spirit is love. Love for God as He's
revealed in His Word. Everybody claims to love God. But you look at how He's revealed
in this Word and this is who God's people love. They love
the God of this Bible. Who is He? He's God that rules
in heaven and earth. He's a God that has mercy and
compassion on whomsoever He will. He's a God of electing grace. He's sovereign. That's who He
is. Love. Love for God as He's revealed,
and love for His people. By this. That verse of Scripture
always, it just amazes me every time I read it and consider it.
By this. You're going to say, now what's
the evidence of a believer? Here it is. By this shall all
men know you're my disciples. What is it? You have love one
for another. You love each other. That's the evidence. Well, I
believe the doctrines of grace. That's great. Well, I tell you
what. By this shall all men know you're
my disciples. You love each other. You defend
each other. You got each other's back. God's
people love God's people. But then that love from Galatians
5, he goes on to relate the characteristics of love. He says, love is this
joy. Joy in the Lord for God's pardon. I'm so thankful that the Lord
would do something for me. And peace, being reconciled to
God by the blood of Christ. Long-suffering. Long-suffering
in affliction, in trial, or when injured by others. Long-suffering. And gentleness, the same word
translated in 2 Corinthians 6, 6. Kindness. It's a word that
means mildness of temper, calmness of spirit. an unruffled disposition,
and a disposition that treats others with politeness, gentleness,
gentleness, and goodness, of benevolent. They're just not
selfish. God's people, they give. Not in the support of the ministry
here, but others. I mean, it just amazes me. The generosity of God's people. They're just not selfish. They're not stingy. They're just
benevolent. And faith. Not the grace of faith by which
we believe God, which God's people do. They believe Him. But this
word here, it's a word that means they're faithful. faithful to
their word, faithful to their promise, a man that you can trust. If you tell somebody something,
a believer, he's going to be truthful with you. If he's just
a bald-faced liar, There's something wrong. What did you lie to me
for? Why didn't you just tell me the
truth? Faith and meekness. It is calmness
under provocations. They hold their passions. They war against it. I mean,
I'm not saying that they don't ever get mad. They do, but they're
put in check. You know what? I mean, they just
come back and they say, you know, I'm sorry. Would you forgive
me? I'm sorry. Temperance. A word that reveals a believer
to be one that possesses a spirit of self-control and moderation,
whether he eats or drinks, but especially against the temptations
of the old nature. Sin doesn't have dominion over
him. And then Paul says, "...against
such there is no law." That is, against these fruits right here,
the law of God has no condemnation for these. These are the fruit,
this is the fruit of God's Spirit. So Paul, back in 1 Thessalonians,
he said, verse 3, "...remembering without ceasing your work of
faith." And then he says, "...and your labor of love." Your labor
of love. Now, love is a grace that truly
labors. Well, first of all, it labors
against the old man. There's a new man, an old man,
and they're contrary one to another. But it labors in bearing all
things toward others for the honor of Christ and the good
of His people. It forebears. for the brethren,
giving their offenses, you know, a forgiving attitude and covering
their faults. Why? For the sake of the gospel.
For the sake of the gospel, for the glory of Christ, for the
unity of the body. And then he says, and your patience
of hope. in our Lord Jesus Christ, in
the sight of God and our Father. It's that endurance that is founded
and established in Christ. And you're kept by the Spirit
of God through faith that doesn't let go. They that endure to the
end, your patience of assurance, in Christ. I'm thankful that
we're still here. Why are we still here? Because
we're kept by the power of God. And we know that by faith. We
know that. I'm not that strong. I'm not
that consistent. I'm telling you I'd quit if God
didn't keep me, didn't keep you. We'd leave. And then the apostle,
and this is where I want to stay for a few minutes here as I just
go through the remainder of these, he said he was moved by the Spirit
of God to reveal something that was of great comfort and assurance
to God's people, something they really want to know. I want to
know something of the assurance of life eternal. I want to know
that. Can there be any assurance, can
I know for sure that I am one of God's own? Well, the Spirit
of God moved on the Apostle Paul to write this verse, verse 4,
knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. your election
of God, knowing your election of God. I thought about that
verse of scripture over in Exodus 33. When Moses asked the Lord,
he said, would you show me your glory? And you know what, the Lord,
I kept thinking on that passage of scripture. Show me your glory. And you know what the Lord's
answer actually was when it comes right down to it. Show me your
glory. He says that I am the God of
election. Now think about what He said. Show me your glory. And God said I will have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy. And I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. Now let me ask you this. Does
that not come down to election? Does that not come down to God
Almighty who has the right to show mercy and compassion on
whomsoever He will? And I know, I know the carnal
mind, I know the carnal heart's reaction to that. That's not
fair. That's just not fair. Then my answer would be according
to the scriptures. Who are thou? Who are we? Who
are we, O men, to reply against God? Who are we? I've often thought to myself,
fair. God was fair. He left us all
to ourselves. We all fell in Adam. What if
God left us to ourselves? You know, just going to be fair
now. And we'd all perish. All of us would have perished.
But Paul says here, knowing. Now again, this is a revelation
by the Spirit of God. Paul the Apostle was saying,
I know, brethren, your election of God. There is a book of life. I've read about it, you've read
about it. There is what's called the Lamb's Book of Life. Is it an actual book? Is it the
Son himself? The Book of Life himself? I don't
know, but I can tell you this. All of the entries are in that
book from before the foundation of the world. I know that by
scripture. It was written from before the
foundation of the world. All the names there. Now if I
could see that book, if I could look at that book, I would, I
tell you what I'd do. I'd be just like when we were
in college and all the grades are posted. You know they're
posted and then they're, you know. When I walked up to that
sheet, Let me tell you what I did. I didn't start with the A's.
I'll tell you what I did. I went immediately to the S's.
That's all I was interested in. If I could see the Book of Life,
if I could look into the Lamb's Book of Life to see whether or
not my name is written there, that's what I'd do. I'd go straight
to the S's. And you'd go to whatever your
name is. That's what you'd do. But I can't
see it. But I'm in this world. But Paul
says, knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. And he
gives about five. You can break them down. But
there's five. sure fire truths that the Spirit
of God has set forth. Not the Apostle Paul. Paul penned
it. God wrote it. But God said, this
is how you can know your election of God. Knowing, right here,
knowing that God has an elect, That's what Ephesians 1.4 says.
Knowing that His people have been chosen to salvation. That's
what 2 Thessalonians 2.13 says. Knowing that Christ laid down
His life for the sheep. That's what John 10.15 says.
Knowing that all those given to the Son shall surely come
to Him. That's what John 6.37 says. Knowing that God has an
elect. How can I know? that I'm one of them. That's
what I want to know. Well, here's the first, verse
5. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power. You know, we preach the gospel. We preach the gospel, the gospel
of God's saving grace, electing grace, redeeming grace, regenerating
grace in Christ. Sovereign grace, we preach it.
And man, by nature, can just hear it. He just hears it. He may hear it with a critical
ear, he may hear it with an inquiring ear, he may hear it, you know,
find fault with it, but he, I mean, he hears it. He hears it. But
he doesn't hear it in power. I kept thinking, I didn't put
this in my notes, what I'm about to tell you. I'm going to say
it, but I didn't put it there. I thought it would just fill
up too much, but I'm going to just summarize what I was going
to put. Before the Lord of Glory was crucified, there were many
that were at his crucifixion. They wagged their heads, and
you remember, I brought this up last week, and the Lord prayed
from the cross, and He said, Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do. And there was a lot of them there,
obviously, when the Lord was praying, Father, forgive them,
there was some elect there. He wouldn't have been praying
for the world. I know that from John 17, 9.
I pray not for the world, but for those you've given me out
of the world. But here he was, he said, Father, forgive them.
They don't know what they're doing. They had heard him preach. They heard him preach the gospel.
They wagged their heads, you know, he saved others. Can't
save himself. If you're the son of God, come
down. Mocked him, made fun of him. Father, forgive them. Forgive
them. They don't know what they're
doing. They heard the gospel. Heard the gospel. Well, about
50 days later, on the day of Pentecost. Many of them that
were there at the crucifixion, that had heard with this ear,
right here, they heard it. But they didn't hear it in power.
And the Spirit of God fell on that place in Jerusalem where
there was 120 preachers, and they were preaching. And the
Spirit of God fell and they began to preach, and preach in languages
that they'd never heard before. And they were from Cappadocia
and Bithynia and all these other places. And what happened was
the Spirit of God moved in power. And Peter was preaching to them
and he said, you know, God raised up. His son, His prophet, the
Messiah, sent Him up. And you, with wicked hands, took
Him and you crucified Him. And He preached the gospel to
them again. And the Spirit of God says, they
were pricked in their hearts. And they said, men and brethren,
men and brethren. They'd been mocking them before.
They're drunk, they're drunk. And now, all of a sudden, it's
men and brethren. What shall we do? You know what
happened? They heard the gospel, not in
word only, but they heard it in power. When God sends the
gospel to His own, He sends it for the accomplishment of His
purpose. To save His people. And He sends
it in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 23,
29, is not my word like as a fire? Sayeth the Lord like a hammer
that breaketh the rock in pieces. It's not just time filled anymore. When the Spirit of God sends
the gospel to His people, they hear it. They hear it in their
heart. And that word does not return
to the Lord void. It accomplishes the purpose for
which it was sent. He sends that gospel in grace
and faith is given to those that hear and they believe. They believe
it. Why? Because the Lord has given
them a new heart. They hear that truth. They hear it in power and in
the Holy Ghost by His power. removing that heart of stone
and giving them a new heart of flesh, one that's made sensitive
to the gospel, and now they know something. We're God's people. He gave me a heart for this truth.
They hear it in power, in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. What does that mean? The assurance
of their salvation? Yes, they're assured of that,
but that's not what it's talking about right here. They hear it
with much assurance, meaning this is the truth of this book. They're assured of it. What I
used to believe, what I used to hear, I don't believe that
anymore. What I used to sit under and
what I found so much pride and arrogance in, I don't believe
that anymore. It comes to them in much assurance.
And then it says, as you know what manner of men we were among
you for your sake. You have confidence that the
preachers that are preaching this gospel are the gospel preachers
that God Almighty has sent, and called, and blessed, and taught.
You know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. You know that God has sent us
to preach the gospel to you. So there's the first sign. Knowing
your election of God. Why? Because the gospel is just
not another message. It is the message. It is the
power of God unto salvation. And when you read in Romans 1.16
where Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, it is the power
of God unto salvation. The believer says, that's the
power of God unto salvation. That's the message that God blesses.
Secondly, here's the second evidence, verse 6. It says, and you became
followers of us. and of the Lord, having received
the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost." You became
followers. It means you became imitators
of us. This is what he was saying. You
believe what we believe. You walk the way we walk. in being led of God's Spirit
and trusting in Him alone. You're mindful of the same things. Knowing that the truth that we're
preaching is from God. You know that. You became follower,
imitators. Having received the Word in much
affliction. Affliction from those that don't
believe this truth. That's what he's saying. All
of a sudden, all of the fellowship that you had with those at one
time when you sat under a false gospel, they don't want to be
around you anymore. They don't want to listen to
you anymore. As long as you don't bring up this right here, you
know, you talk to them all day long. But if you're going to
talk about a sovereign God, If you're going to talk about God
that chooses, elects, Christ that redeems in particular, His
people, you know, well, you're going to have a problem. You receive the Word in much
affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost, having received the Gospel
with happiness that is produced by the Spirit of God. Though you were afflicted, though
you were persecuted, But you're joyful in the Lord. You're thankful
that God has shown you mercy and pardoned your sin. And you've
got a hope, you've got a confidence in God's Word. What you believe,
you believe it based on what God has to say. So, you know,
the gospel comes in power. And you become imitators. God's
people walk like God's people. They walk by faith. They know
what they are in themselves. They don't put any confidence
in their flesh. They know this is the truth and
I'm going to believe it. Thirdly, verse 7, so that you
were in samples or examples to all that believe in Macedonia
and Achaia. Here's another evidence of election. You were patterns of good works. Again, not for salvation, but
because of salvation. You know, you were examples of
faithfulness in your conduct. You adorned the gospel that you
believed. You loved the brethren with meekness
and submissiveness. Meekness, that is, under God's
providential dealings with you. question, you don't accuse God,
you don't, you know, you bow. Lord, it's the Lord. Whenever
Aaron's two boys, you know, when they took that strange fire,
they were supposed to have gotten the fire for the for the altar
there. They were supposed to have gotten
it from the brazen altar. That's where the sacrifice, the
burnt offering was. Get the fire, get the coals from
the brazen altar. That's where you get it. I don't
know where they got it, but it wasn't from the brazen altar.
It was a strange fire. And they came to, they were going
to approach God in a way that God wasn't going to be approached. And God killed God killed him. That was Aaron's boys. They were
two priests. And what did Moses say to Aaron? Don't you say anything. Don't
you say a word. You know Eli's two boys? Hophni
and Phinehas? Disrespectful. Disrespectful. Disrespectful. And God killed
them. What did Eli say? It's the Lord.
It's the Lord. He said you are examples to all
that believe in Macedonia, in submissiveness to God's providential
dealings with you. When you are found to be in trial,
you bow, you bow, bow. And then fourthly, look at verse
8. He said, and from you sounded
out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but also in every place your faith to God is spread abroad
so that we need not to speak anything. He said you were found
bold in your profession. He said you sounded out like
a trumpet. That's what it means. You sounded
out like a trumpet. It was clear. It was clear. It was clear. I want to be clear
when I preach. You men have stood in this pulpit
to speak. That's what you want to, isn't
it? I don't want to be wishy-washy. I don't want people to walk out
and say, what in the world was he talking about? I want you to understand.
He said, you were bold in your profession of Christ, you weren't
ashamed to proclaim the truth, it was taught you and you witnessed
from the heart what God had done for you. That's what he said.
He sounded out the Word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and
Achaia, but in every place Your faith to God's Word is spread
abroad so that we need not to speak anything. That is, wherever
we go, we don't need to say anything about the fact that the Lord
has done something for you. He said your speech and your
conduct is known by all those that you came in contact with
who visit you because of your zeal and consistency to this
Word. Verse 9, for they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you
turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. You
turned or you changed course from your carnal pursuits and
loves and those idols of the world, but especially the idol
of false religion, which is actually making me the idol. False religion. makes man to be the idol that
man worships. The idol of self. And he says, they themselves show of us what
manner of entering in we had to do and how you turned to God. When a man or woman by the grace
of God turns to God, they turn from their idols. No, he didn't
say he turned from their idol first to God. You turn to God
by a new heart and from idols to serve, to render yourself
a bond slave. A bond slave. That's a title that every believer
wants. Who are you? I'm a servant of
the Lord Jesus Christ. What do you do? Whatever he providentially
leads me to do. Whatever he does. Whatever he
moves upon me to do. That's what I do. Knowing your
election. The gospel came to you in power.
Much assurance. And you became imitators of God's
people. You walked like God's people.
You talk like God's people. Examples. All that believe Macedonia. You sound out, you got a message
in your heart, you're consistent with it, consistent with it.
You're not wishy-washy, you're not too faced about it. And then
lastly, and to wait. Here's a mark of a believer.
To wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead,
even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. You're found waiting on the one
in whom you believe. What do you believe about Him,
the One that you're waiting on? Well, first of all, He came from
heaven. That's what I believe. According
to God's everlasting covenant of grace, He came to wait for
His Son from heaven. You call His name Jesus, for
He shall save His people from their sins. That's the One that
came from heaven. The One that came to save His people, whom
God raised up, He raised from the dead. Why? Why did He raise
Him from the dead? Because He accepted all that
the Son did. This is my beloved Son. He died
under the judgment of God Almighty as a substitute of His people,
His people in Him. And He died, He died the wages
of sin's death. And He was made sin. And He died
and was buried and three days later God raised Him up from
the dead and ascended Him. And He was the first fruit from
the dead. And as He was raised from the
dead, we're going to be raised from the dead. As He was. Even Jesus, which delivered us
from the wrath to come. We didn't deliver ourselves.
He bore our guilt in His own body. And Almighty God, through the
preaching of that gospel, this gospel, When it pleases Him,
the gospel is going to come in power and in much assurance. And you're going to walk as a
believer, trusted, and you're going to be waiting for Him.
The One who's coming, you anxiously anticipate whether He comes to
us in death, physical death, or whether He comes at the second
coming. And all those that died in the
faith are raised from the dead, and we that are alive meet Him
in the air. John said in Revelation 22, 20,
Even so, come, Lord Jesus. You know what a believer wants?
I want to know that I know Him. I want to be found in Him. I want to be found believing
what He preached. I want to be found resting in
Him. And I look forward to seeing
Him. May the Lord bless these words to our heart for Christ's
sake. Amen.