Is this just something that man
has done or is this something that God has done? Over this
last some little time I've been very much sort of exercised by
that word confess and I've given you a sheet there and in fact
all of the words on that sheet of confession, there are some
earlier in the scriptures and there are some Words like confesses,
rather than confess and confession. But these have some serious words,
isn't it? If you look down that sheet,
you'll see on Matthew 10, 32, whoever therefore shall confess
me before men, him I will confess also before my Father, which
is in heaven, down in Romans 10, 9. It says, that if you shall
confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine
heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved. Then in verse 10 of that same
chapter, for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. So there is both a serious warning
and a serious promise and a serious exhortation. So what does this
word confession, every single one of them on the sheet, is
just made up of two Greek words. One is the word word, And the
other one is the word, the prefix, which is where we get our words
like homosexuality and others from. It means the same word. It means to say the same. It means to agree with, to acknowledge
fully It means the acknowledgement of an agreement with a standard. And it does imply, of course,
that there was a time prior to that where there was a disagreement. It simply is that you say the
same. And in the scriptures it means
that you say the same as God. You say the same as God about
yourself, you say the same as God about God, you say the same
as God about His Son, about the work of His Holy Spirit, you
say the same as God, as the Apostles did. So in the Scriptures it
is just to believe God's testimony, God's testimony about His Son,
God's testimony in the Old Testament. In Isaiah there is a serious
warning, isn't it, that says that if they don't speak according
to this word, you can see it in Isaiah 8 verse 20, if they
speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light
in them. to the law and the testimony,
to what God has written, to the testimony of God about God. If they don't speak according
to that word, there is no light in them." In 1 John, We are encouraged in chapter
4 to test the spirits. You people are encouraged as
I am by God. Beloved, believe not every spirit,
don't believe all the spirits, but test the spirits, try the
spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets
are gone out into the world. Hereby we know the Spirit of
God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh is of God." And of course you would say then that
that means that anyone who who believes the Encyclopædia Britannica
about Jesus would believe that this man, Jesus Christ, came
in the flesh. The Roman Catholics would say
Jesus Christ came in the flesh. The Mormons would say Jesus,
everyone other than those who are willfully ignorant of history
would say that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. But you see what it says. Every
spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. You actually
have to have the confession. You have to say the same about
Jesus Christ as whom. as the apostles. Let's just read
on. Every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ has come
in the flesh is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist
where have you heard that he should come even now as already
in the world. You are of God, little children,
and have overcome them, because greater is He, the Lord Jesus,
who is in you than he that is in the world, Satan. They are
of the world, therefore speak they of the world, and the world
hears them. We are of God, he that knows
God hears us. He that is not of God doesn't
hear us. Hereby we know the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error." You have to confess what the
apostles confessed about the Lord Jesus Christ. Simply, if
you do not confess what they confess about Him in its entirety,
if you disagree with the apostles, you disagree with God. To disagree
with the Apostles is to be lost altogether to the law and the
testimonies. They do not agree with this word.
There is no light in them. I'd like you to turn in your
Bibles just briefly to Acts chapter 17 because in the book of Thessalonians
there actually We are told in verse 7 of the Thessalonians,
this letter to the Thessalonians, that they are actually examples,
examples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. In fact the word, one of the
reasons is that the word that came to them went out from them. So let's just read this very,
very brief description. nine and a half verses long of
Paul's activity with the Thessalonians. And then we'll have a look and
see what this confession is and how it worked in the lives of
these people. Chapter 17 of Acts. Now when they had passed through
Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, which is
modern day Salonica. It's in, still a Greek town today,
where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his manner
was, went in under them and three Sabbath days, just three days,
maybe two weeks and a little bit, no more than three weeks
he was there. And he reasoned with them out
of the Scriptures, opening and alleging. It means explaining
and demonstrating, explaining and proving that Christ must
needs have suffered and risen again from the dead and that
this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ. And some of them believed and
consorted with Paul and Silas and the devout Greeks, a great
multitude, and of the chief women not a few, but the Jews which
believed not. moved with envy, took under them
certain lewd fellows of a baser sort, some ruffians out of the
marketplace, you can imagine what they had to do, and gathered
a company and set all the city in uproar and assaulted the house
of Jason and sought to bring them out to the people. And when
they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren under
the rulers of the city, crying, that these have turned the world
upside down, and have come here also, whom Jason has received,
and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying
that there is another king. one Jesus. And they troubled
the people and the rules of the city when they heard these things. Then they had, and when they
had taken security of Jason and of the other, they let them go.
And the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas by night
unto Berea." So just a short brief, at the most three week
preaching of the Gospel. So he reasoned with them. What
was Paul's preaching? We have in this brief summary
some things that he did. He reasoned with them out of
the Scriptures. What Scriptures is he talking
about? He reasoned with them out of the Old Testament Scriptures.
He went to the Jewish synagogue and he opened the Old Testament
Scriptures and said, this is all about the Lord Jesus. This
is all fulfilled before you. This Jesus, this Jesus whom I
preach to you is the Christ. And this Jesus must have suffered
and risen again from the dead. He must have suffered. Why must
he have suffered? He must have suffered because
the Old Testament scriptures said that he must suffer. He must suffer and die. for the wages of sin is death. He must suffer and die, otherwise
there is no resurrection from the dead. He must suffer and
die. It wasn't an accident. It wasn't
something that happened in a corner. It was something that God had
planned from all eternity. And the scriptures, wherever
you go in the Old Testament, wherever they talk about a sacrifice,
wherever they talk about a Passover, wherever it talks about Noah,
wherever it talks about deliverance, wherever it talks about redemption,
It's always talking about the Lord Jesus. All of those streams
of the Old Testament come to one person at one time in one
place outside of one city that had maybe a million witnesses
around at that time. And that one event, in that one
event, the Lord Jesus, that man, who was born in Bethlehem, that
man who lived 30 years in Nazareth, that man is proved by these things
in history and in the Old Testament to be the Christ. And the Jews and the other people
in Thessalonica knew about it. They knew what he was saying
because there they were saying something that had been heard
in Jerusalem not too many years ago. We have a king already. He sits on a throne in Rome. He's the most powerful king that
this world has ever seen. And you are saying that this
carpenter from Nazareth is a king, a rival king? Not even a rival
king. This king is the king who allows
Caesar to breathe and controls Caesar's empire. with absolute
and perfect authority. And the result of course was
that some believed, some of the Jews believed, and a great multitude
of devout Greeks, and women, important women, not a few, believed. So there was this response to
this simple preaching of a simple Gospel. about a saviour, the
Lord Jesus, who fulfilled the Old Testament in history and
in everything he did. Others believed not. They were
moved with envy. They took unto them certain lewd
fellows and they gathered his company. They set the city in
uproar and they said, Caesar is our king, get rid of these
men. And what was the impact? Let's just read as we look through
this some of the things. Some of the things that are to
be confessed. I'll just read this opening passage
down to verse 10. Paul in Silvanus and Timotheus,
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. We
give thanks to God always for you, making mention of you in
our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and
labour of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ,
in the sight of God and our Father. Knowing, brethren, beloved, beloved
brethren, knowing your election of God, 4. Because 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 men
we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us. and of the Lord." That's what
it is to be a Christian, isn't it? To be followers of the apostolic
witness, to confess what they are confessing. To do that, according
to 1 John, is to fellowship with the apostles, and with the apostles
in their fellowship is the only way you fellowship with God.
Having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy
Ghost, so that you were examples to all that believe in Macedonia
and Achaia. For from you sounded out the
word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also
in every place your faith Godward is spread abroad, so that we
need not to speak anything. For they themselves show us what
manner of entering we had unto you, and how you turned 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." He goes on in those opening 12 verses of the next
chapter to talk about his own personal testimony amongst them
and his love for them. And in verse 13, He says, for
this cause, he wants them to walk worthy of the Lord who has
called you into his kingdom and glory. For this cause also thank
we God without ceasing, because when you received the word of
God, when you heard of us, you received it not as the word of
men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually
worketh also in you that believe. For you brethren became followers
of the churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus. For you also have suffered like
things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews."
He goes on to talk about the Jews. So there are some fundamental
things. that are revealed in this letter,
fundamental things that we as a church, I pray, will stand
on. The first one is that this book,
what you have before you is the Word of God. It's a holy book. It's written by the hand of God. It's an inspired book. It's an
inerrant Word of God. It is as these people saw. It's not just the Word of men,
but as it is in truth, verse 13, it's the Word of God. We've had a bunch of young men
coming down and reliving some of their youth at our place in
this last little while and most of them have come from Christian
backgrounds and they love to talk. They love to have discussions
and I'm getting old and wrinkly and tired and I find it more
and more difficult And I don't ever now try to persuade and
to convince people, but it's just unbelievable the gymnastics
that unbelief requires. It's just remarkable that they
want to say that this book is not an inspired Word of God.
What they have to do is say that we have actually no basis whatsoever
for history. Because you can't prove it to
me. You can't prove history to me. How do you prove that Captain
Cook sailed a boat along here 230 years ago? How do you prove,
days, that Bombardier exists? You can tell me all sorts of
things. You can show me pictures and I can say, yep, that's been
photoshopped beautifully. Norm, you're a clever, clever
man on these computers. prove to me anything exists. And so now in this wonderful
world of philosophy and sociology that one of my friends got into,
of course these days everything is illusion. The Hindus have
a word for it. They call it Maya. Nothing exists. It's just an illusion. Everything
is just illusory. We actually create reality by
our experiences of reality. There is no longer Indian reality. There is no history. There is
no reality. And one of the things that was
really interesting for one of these guys that's been on this
journey for the last few years now, before we left he actually
confessed that now for him there is nothing but darkness. He has
no hope and he has no one to trust. He doesn't trust his philosophers
who taught him all sorts of remarkable things at university. And it
was fascinating to talk to him because the things that I was
taught at university, 40 years ago nearly, are exactly the same
things that he was taught. These brilliant people say that
this book is only a tiny fraction of the real Bible that was written
and men got to work and then chopped it and chopped it and
chopped it and burnt and buried all the stuff that they didn't
like and they ended up with this little bit here. It is just extraordinary
rubbish. I was told the same all those
years ago. And remarkably and maybe hopefully
He now says that he doesn't even trust himself. Such is this world
of doubt that he has gone into. They don't believe history, they
don't believe themselves, they don't and cannot unless God gives
light. They cannot believe the words
of God. You see, it comes as a revelation,
doesn't it? This book, in Ezekiel, he says
that Israel was set, he set this beautiful country, he set it
at the centre of the nations. And so the history of Israel
is the history linked to the history of Egypt, it's linked
to the history of Babylon, it's linked to the history of Greece,
it's linked to the history of Rome. It's linked to the Assyrian
history and the Hittite history and the history of all of those
nations, Roman history. It's all linked together. And yet, without God taking those
words and making them what they were in the hearts of these people,
it is just words on a page. You see, the Gospel came not
unto you in word only, verse 5, but in power. and in the Holy Spirit and in
much assurance. Is that how the Word of God has
come into the lives of you in this church? That this Word suddenly,
at a time of God's appointing, in response to hearing the Gospel,
did this Word, this Word here, take on a life and a life with
power all of its own? The Gospel comes, it says, not
only in word but also in power. This Bible is holy, it is inspired,
it's inherent. Not once in all of man's efforts
in this last 2,000 years has one historic fact been disproved
in the Bible. Not one. People say it's full
of contradictions. Will someone come and please
show me one? I haven't found one yet. It's
extraordinary, isn't it? But as much as we want to hold
to the fact that this is God's holy word, this is God's inspired
word, we want to acknowledge that unless God brings light,
then this word is a dead word to us. But this word is the truth,
and it is the truth of God. And this word reveals a God who
is absolutely sovereign. Absolutely sovereign. If he's
not absolutely sovereign, then we have now God. If there is
the tiniest particle hovering around the tiniest atom at the
furthest edge of the universe which is not perfectly in God's
control, then we have to find another word for Him. He says
in verse 12 of chapter 2, He's called you into His kingdom and
glory. This God sits as verse 10 says,
this son is now in heaven. He sits as one who has reigned
and reigns and he has delivered us. He doesn't say he's tried. He has in sovereignty delivered
us from the wrath to come. And He's turned us, He's turned
us from idols, and the worst idols are the ones that wear
the name Jesus and call themselves church. He's turned us from idolatry to the living God, to serve the
living and true God. He comes with His own power. This Bible is the Word of God
and we stand on its authority. And to deny what the apostles
said is to no longer confess what the apostles said about
this Word. To deny that God is sovereign
is to no longer confess the God that these people confess. It
also reveals the truth about us, this sad truth, the truth
about us. We see in Thessalonica what we
are is left to ourselves. The Jews believe not. What happens
to unbelievers? They are moved with envy, they
take these certain fellows and they set the place in uproar
against God. In verse 15 of chapter 2, the
Jews, they killed the Lord Jesus, they killed their own prophets,
they persecuted us, and they pleased not God and are contrary
to all men. Who wrote those words? Paul wrote those words. What
happened to Paul? What happened to Saul? What a
remarkable thing it must have been for him. What shudders of
conscience he must have had. What thoughts of the wonder of
redeeming love. What a remarkable thing for him
to say. He killed the Lord Jesus. If
he hadn't got his hands on Him, he would have, and so would all
of us. He killed the prophets. There
he was at the stoning of Stephen, persecuting the Church, enraged
against the Church. contrary to all men, and in verse
16, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles. They want to shut
us down. They want to shut this word of
the Gospel down. They aren't saved. and they don't
want others to be saved. And then that remarkable statement,
they fill up, verse 16 of chapter 2, they fill up their sins always,
as if their cup is full and it's just overflowing. And they are
contrary to all men. and the wrath of God will come
upon them to the uttermost. Man is depraved. Man is dead. And without a saviour
these Thessalonians would have been like the others, without
a saviour coming in power. And why did he come? Why did
he come to these particular ones? If you turn over in Acts 13,
we have a great description of why he came. In Acts 13.48, Paul proclaimed
the Lord Jesus, and when the Gentiles heard this, They were
glad and glorified the word of the Lord and as many as were
ordained to eternal life believed. When the word of God in the Gospel
comes, as verse 4 of 1 Thessalonians says, knowing therefore, beloved
brethren, knowing your election of God. What caused them to know
their election of God? What had happened? The same message
that Paul preached for those three Sabbaths was preached to
all sorts of other people there, Jews and Gentiles alike. Knowing therefore, brethren,
beloved brethren, why? Their election is proved because
the Gospel came not only in words. The others heard the same words,
but also in power and the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. God brought that word of power
with assurance to them. So God's people are not ashamed
of a sovereign God and they say the same about a God who calls
them. Verse 12 of chapter 2, who has
called you into his kingdom and glory. I was in church in Wollongong
a few years ago and the man was preaching through Acts chapter
13 and talking about it all and then he just completely skipped
over verse 48 that we read When the Gentiles heard this, they
were glad and glorified the word of the Lord." They glorified
what they'd heard. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life belief. And I asked him, I knew the fellow,
I went to Bible college with him, I said, why didn't you,
this verse explains all of what sort of happened in Philippi
at this time, why didn't you? And he said, well look, last
week we had a discussion time after church. And it was contentious
and people were really, really upset. And so I didn't want to
raise a contentious issue again before these people. It was nice
to actually preach through Acts Chapter 13 and not mention the
very thing that would have solved the contention. Were these Thessalonians
contentious about God's sovereign election in Pauline? Of course
they were contentious. In fact the Thessalonians suffered
as the others did. God has chosen some to salvation
and without that there is no salvation. Look how he describes
them in chapter 1. He calls them the church of the
Thessalonians and then he describes this church, the church which
is in God the Father. When did the church get in God
the Father? The Church was always in God
the Father and in the Lord Jesus. When did the Church and the Lord
Jesus become one? In eternity. These are the recipients
of the grace of God. Grace unto you, the Church, and
peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus. Grace and peace
comes to the elect ones. knowing, brethren, your election
of God." In verse 9 of chapter 5, he says, God did not appoint
us to wrath. He appointed His people to something
else. When was that appointment made?
It was made before the foundation of the world. He did not appoint
us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. And to describe the Lord Jesus
and to confess the Lord Jesus is to say with the apostles,
to say with God and to say with Himself, to say the same thing
about Him. The Lord Jesus redeemed all for
whom He came to die for. He redeemed this church that
was in Him. They were in God the Father,
they were given to Him. Just read verse 10. They wait
for His Son. They have this patience of hope
in our Lord Jesus and they wait for Him from Heaven, whom He
raised from the earth, even Jesus which has, which delivered us
from the wrath to come. Just go through this letter and
mark the personal pronouns and you will be stunned at how the
Lord Jesus describes His own. Brethren, brethren, brethren
they are called. Brothers and sisters with the
apostles. Brothers with the Lord Jesus. He describes his people as those
who sleep in Jesus. What a beautiful description
of God's children. They sleep in Jesus. They don't sleep on their own. They sleep in Jesus. In chapter 5 verse 10, God has
not appointed us to wrath, verse 9, but to obtain salvation. How
is this salvation obtained? by Christ, who died for us, that
whether we wake or we sleep, whether we're here or whether
we're, as he calls it, asleep, with Him in glory, we should
live together with Him. He cannot be separated from His
own. He says that they are in Him.
And this grace, this grace comes because of God's irresistible
call. He calls them. Chapter 2, verse
12. We know the Gospel came to them
in verse 5 of chapter 1 in power. This power of God brought this
Gospel to them. And this one who calls them,
in verse 24 of chapter 5, is a faithful one. Faithful is he
that calls you. He will also do it. We long to see people enjoy the
liberty of the freedom from the law. It's a common thing in churches,
isn't it, to apply the sermon. You take the message of the Bible
and then you have to add the application. The application
is to be 30% or 60% of the message, it is. You actually say, well,
this is what Jesus has done. Now you must and you must and
you must and you must do all these things. How are God's people
taught? We are delivered from the wrath
of God. Verse 9 of chapter 4, we are
taught of God to love one another. We're taught of God. How successful
is this work of God in sanctifying us? Verse 23 of chapter 5, turn
over to it. May the very God of peace sanctify
you. How is he going to sanctify you?
How well is he going to do this work of sanctification? He's
going to sanctify you wholly, wholly, completely, perfectly. He looks to the Lord, if you
go back to chapter 3, Paul looks to God. He looks to God to direct His
way to them in verse 11. He looks to God to make you increase
and abound in love towards one another. He looks to God to establish
their hearts. He looks to God in 3 verse 8. He looks to God to cause them
to stand fast amongst all the opposition. Not a moment does
he mention the law to these people. He doesn't want them to go back
to Mount Sinai. They've come to a better city. They've come to the Lord Jesus. And this coming to the Lord Jesus
is complete and perfect. He just calls on us to come,
in verse 10, we wait. God will save His people perfectly
and completely. It is His power that works in
us. continuously works in us. Let's
just read the last few verses and we'll see how effective our
God is. He says in verse 16, Rejoice
evermore. Pray without ceasing. Always
look to God and seek God in all things. In everything give thanks,
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Quench not the spirit. Despise not the prophesying.
Don't despise what God has written. Prove all things. Test everything. Hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of
evil." And then he says what God's going to do. The very God
of peace, sanctify you wholly. I pray that God, your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless until the coming of
our Lord Jesus. Who's doing that? This next verse. Faithful is
he that calleth you, who 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, and how does he describe his brethren? All the holy brethren. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you. Amen. This is the gospel that
we confess here. Let's pray.