1 Thessalonians chapter 5, it says, But the times and the
seasons, brethren, we have no need that I write unto you. For
yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh
as the thief in the night. For 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 the day should overtake
you as a thief. Ye are 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, love, and for a helmet,
the hope of salvation." Turn back again, if you will,
to that 1 Corinthians chapter 1. chapter 5, verse 9,
it says, For God hath not appointed us to wrath. Paul is speaking here to the church
of the Thessalonians. In the first chapter, verse 1,
he says, Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus unto the church of
the Thessalonians. And he says that this church
of the Thessalonians is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, Grace be unto you
and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus. And we give
thanks to God always for you all. making mention of you in
our prayers, remembering without seizing 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, knowing,
brethren, Beloved, your election of God. In this ninth verse, then, of
the fifth chapter of I Thessalonians, it says, For God hath not appointed
us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
the great end which the supreme God intended in the salvation of sinners, his primary reason for their
salvation is for his glory. for the glory of his wonderful
name, the glory of God. For God hath not appointed us
to riot, but to obtain the salvation of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us. So God, we can say, hath
appointed us to obtained salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ. That
is, He has chosen us through sanctification of the Spirit
and the belief of the truth. Now, the purpose, the intention
of God Almighty in election is immutable. That is, there can be no change. It's without change, immutable. God does not change, and his
election does not change. He says, My counsel shall stand. I will do all of my purpose. what his soul desire that he
doeth. He says, Who hath resisted his
will that the purpose of God according to election might stand? This election is infallibly connected
with eternal happiness as it appears in the book of Romans. Chapter 8. Turn there with me,
if you will. Romans, chapter 8. And verse 30. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified." Now, I'm talking about the salvation of sinners. And the object of all of this
is for the glory of God. Now, there's a lot of folks that
have some idea of what the Lord Jesus did, but they're fearful
that they may lose that. God may revoke the comfort and blessing and
the consciousness of his salvation in Christ. And the apostle here
says, Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he called. And whom he called, them he justified.
and whom he justified, them he also glorified." And then he
says this, all of this being true, what shall we say to these things? To predestination, to the calling,
to the justification, and to the glorification, these things. What shall we say to these things?
Well, he says, if God be for us, who can be against us? Now, that ought to settle the
question. If God is for us, who can be against us? So, those who are quickened and born of the Spirit
of God, they're as sure of heaven as if they had already been there
for 10,000 years. God will not go back on his word. His election of grace is immutable. It will not change. If God be
for us, who can be against us? God's sovereign election is necessary for our health in this life. It's to promote in us a humility
and destroy that proud spirit that we have by nature. It's for God's glory and it's
for our comfort. Now, let me talk to you in light
of what I've said and in light of what I read. Let me talk to
you for a few minutes here about the glory of God. God is essentially in himself
full of glory and needs nothing to make him glorious and holy.
He is essentially glory, and he always will be the glory of
God. What is the glory of God? Well,
the glory of God is as big as I am small. It's as infinite as I am finite. It is eternal as I am temporal,
the glory of God. It's as spiritual as I am fleshly,
the glory of God. It is incomprehensible as I am
ignorant, the glory of God. It is the exercise and the display
of what constitutes the distinctive excellence of the subject of
which it's spoken. That's the glory of God. It's the outshining of who He
is and what He is. That's the glory of God. of who
he is and what he is and what he does and what he's like. They tell me that the glory of
a king is his crown. He's the only one in his kingdom
that has a crown. There's just one crown, and that
belongs to the king. And there's just one crown, real
crown. And that belongs to the king
of kings. And that's his glory, that he
has this crown that none of his subjects have that crown. He
has that crown. He's the only one that's got
one in that kingdom. Now, the glory of the victor
is his trophy. I see every once in a while in
the paper there where the They have a five-mile race, or 5K
race, they call it, 10K. And there's hundreds of participants,
young and old. And they all run that race. And
I know over there on Fairmont Avenue, or Virginia Avenue, they
come across that bridge and go up Virginia Avenue. As you start
in Virginia Avenue, there's a hill like that. It goes right down. And then there's another one,
and it goes right down. And they say that's the hardest
part of that race. And they all run that race doing
their very best. But there's only one that gets
a trophy. It's the one that finishes first
in that race. Our Lord Jesus Christ has the
trophy. The glory of God is what He has
that nobody else has. That's the glory of God. Think
of that a little bit. What He has that no one else
has, that's the glory of God. This election business in the
Bible is true. It is absolutely true that God
has elected a people. We call it elective grace. We owe everything. Now, I'm not
setting aside the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
but say, apart from that, or alongside that. It's elective
grace that's got us where we are at this moment. The elective
grace of Almighty God that was given us in Him before the foundation
of the world. Well, His glory, then, is that
which sets him apart from everybody else. He's the only sovereign
ruler, just one, and that's the king, and that's his glory. There's
just one creator that has created all the seen and unseen. just one, and that's His glory. Well, His glory is that which
sets Him apart from everybody else. But some say, well, how
can I find that out? Well, you can't find it out by
going to the library. You can't learn anything of the
glory of God by reading the dictionary. You can go through all the books
of the college library, and you can't find anything out about
the glory of God. The only way that you'll ever
find out anything about the glory of God, it'll have to be revealed
to you. There's no other way. Moses said unto God, Show me thy glory. And God said, All right. He said,
This is my glory. He said, I'll harden some, and
I'll enlighten some. I'll hardeneth whom I will."
And that's God's glory. And you can't learn that in the
library. It has to be revealed. Well,
let me read that. I think in Exodus chapter 33, I believe,
maybe. No, that's not it. I don't think. Yes. Verse 17, the Lord said
unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken, for
thou hast found grace in my sight. I know thee by name. And he said,
that's Moses. He said, I beseech thee, show
me thy glory. He said, I will make all my goodness
to pass over thee, all my goodness to pass over thee, pass before
thee, and I'll proclaim the name of the Lord before thee. And
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show
mercy on whom I will show mercy. Now, you remember what Moses
asked for. He said, I beseech thee, show
me thy glory. Well, this is my glory, he said. I will make my goodness pass
before thee. I will proclaim the name of the
Lord before thee. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. and will show mercy on whom I
will show mercy." That's the glory of God. God must make himself known. Job said, can we by searching
find out God? No. You can't find out God by
searching. you can only find out who God
is by revelation. The scriptures say, No man knoweth
the Son, but the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father,
save the Son, and to whomsoever he revealeth himself, too. The glory of Almighty God. That's a big subject, isn't it?
We'll go back there to that verse, Thessalonians, chapter 5, I believe I said. Verse 9, this is for the glory of God.
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep
we shall live together with him. Whatever the outcome is, whether
we are awake or whether we sleep, we should live together with
the Lord Jesus. Wherefore, comfort yourselves
together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. And we beseech you, brethren,
to know them which labor among you, and over you in the Lord,
and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for
their worksake, and be at peace among yourselves. And we exhort
you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, disorderly, Comfort
the feeble-minded, support the weak, and be patient towards
all men. See that none render evil for
evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good, both among
yourselves and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without
ceasing. and everything give thanks, for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench
not the spirit, despise not prophesying, prove all things, hold fast that
which is good, abstain from all appearances 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 unto the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you,
which also will do it. Brethren, pray for us. Greet
all the brethren with a holy kiss. I charge you by the Lord
that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen." Well, what can we
say? Nothing we can say, nothing we
can add to it. I mean, I was wondering, and
I was coming up here, I had the radio on in the car, and I was
listening to some radio talk show, and the
big question was about the Episcopalian church up in Vermont, that they
needed a bishop. And so they, the other bishops,
got together and chose this one bishop to be the bishop of that
diocese, whether it was Vermont and part of New Hampshire, I
don't know, but I know it was Vermont. And all these bishops
knew that this bishop, or this reverend so-called, was going
to be the next bishop of that area there. They knew that he
was a homosexual. And they gloried in that fact,
that he was a homosexual. They didn't see anything wrong
with it. They didn't see a thing wrong with the fellow that was
supposed to be the spiritual leader of the flock, that he
was a homosexual, in light of what has taken place in the Roman
Catholic Church. There may be thousands of pedophiles
and homosexuals in the Episcopalian Church and in the Roman Catholic
Church, and no one, except you and I, believes it's wrong. The educated people, the leaders,
No one speaks out against it. Why is that? No one has a word to say about
it. You'd think that some of these
fellows and these preachers that have big television audiences
and big churches, you'd think they'd come out and say, well,
that's wrong. The Bible does not teach that. As a matter of fact, over here
where it's about the first chapter of the book of Romans, or the
second chapter. Let me read this while I'm thinking
about it. It says that these people changed the glory of the incorruptible
God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds,
and four-footed beasts, and creepy things. And God also gave them
up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts, to
dishonor their own bodies between themselves. Who changed the truth of God
into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than
the Creator, who is blessed forever? For this cause God gave them
up unto vile affections. For even their women did change
the natural use into that which is against nature. And likewise
also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their
lust one towards another. men with men working, that which
is unseemingly, and receiving in themselves that recompense
of their error which was meat. And even as they did not like
to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate
mind, to do those things which are not convenient. You mean
to tell me that there's not a Roman Catholic priest, there's not
a television evangelist that is afraid to read what I read
here on public television and lambast these deceivers who run
around in their long coats and funny hats? And even as they did not like
to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a repturbate
mind to do the things which are not convenient. Being filled
with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness,
full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, and whispers,
and backbiters, Haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters,
inventors of all things, disobedient to parents, without understanding
covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful,
who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such
things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure
in them that do them." God help the United States of America.
How far, how far are we going to go? Homosexuals approved by the churches. I don't know. Looks bad to me. Let's stand. We'll go.