May it please almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in his holy word. Let's turn to the first epistle
of Paul to the Thessalonians and the fifth chapter and we'll
read verse 24. The first epistle of Paul to
the Thessalonians and chapter 5 and reading verse 24. Faithful is he that calleth you who also
will do it. It should be a wonderful consolation
and strength and encouragement to us to realize that you and
I have to deal with a faithful God, a God who doesn't change
his mind. where he doesn't think that something
else is better. Because he tells us very clearly
in Malachi, I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. So although that's a glorious
comfort for us, we should also recognize that it's a solemn
truth, because what that means is that those things that he
has recorded in his word are true. And those things which
are there speak of those things that will come to pass. And we cannot claim, well, of
course, I didn't think that would happen. I didn't think the Lord
really meant such things. Well, take it and be clear what
God says comes to pass. in this chapter we read in the
beginning of this fifth chapter but the times and seasons brethren
you have no need that i write unto you and he gives a reason
for that for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the
lord so cometh as a thief in the night But when they shall
say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them,
as trouble upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. So we should recognize that these
are true words of God, confirming to us that there will be a time
when time, as you and I know it, will be no more, and it will
come In this way it comes suddenly and like a thief in the night. Well what a blessing if we're
not amongst those who are just resting and taking it easy just
think that everything is going to carry on as it is and In actual
fact, we're not too worried about what's going to happen to us
when we die but what a blessing if the Holy Spirit comes and
touches our hearts and causes us to consider our ways now you
and I can Respond to God We don't have to respond to men, but we
do have to respond to God, to know whether we are amongst those
who are recognizing, as he says, for yourselves know perfectly
the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. We won't
go through those various texts in the word of God, but there
are, you can search them out. The Lord has spoken himself telling
us, he said, be also ready For ye know not what a day nor an
hour may bring forth. So we mustn't just carry on aimlessly
through this world. And as I said this morning, remembering
this world in which you and I live is not the rest for the people
of God. We're not at home here. We shouldn't
be at home here. We should be as pilgrims and
strangers and foreigners travelling through this world. We're on
this world for just a short time and that should be to prepare
us for our eternal home in glory. Well, it's good. Again, we're
encouraged by the word of God to examine ourselves whether
this is so. And we all stand before God as
individuals. We all have to answer before
God. as to whether we are pilgrims and strangers on this earth and
therefore it means that if the Lord should come and call us
out of this world we wouldn't then have to say oh I haven't
done this or oh I haven't done that because we'll be looking
forward to our eternal habitation. Well these are the commencing
words in this fifth chapter and we should recognize the importance
of them and the apostle goes on to say But ye, brethren, are
not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. The reality is that all of us
here tonight are without excuse. We can never stand before God
and say, well, I never knew anything about this. I really didn't,
and therefore I've got an excuse. none of us will have an excuse
before God because God looks at our heart and God knows what
we've heard and God knows how we've reacted whether we reacted
in conformity in agreement to God's word or whether we've ignored
it and turned against it and so the apostle goes on but ye
brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake
you as a thief. Well God knows whether you are
still in darkness or whether the light of the glorious gospel
has shone into your hearts so that you realize there is an
end to the things of this life, there is an end to our lives,
each one of us. and then to realize that we must
pass out of time into eternity. And so says the Apostle, ye are
all the children of light and the children of the day. We are
not of the night nor of darkness. Well, I hope that's true of us.
I hope we are children of the light and not children of darkness. And so he says then, therefore,
Let us not sleep as to others, but let us watch and be sober. You know, I wonder whether when
we go to sleep at night, whether we wonder whether we shall wake
up in the morning or whether the Lord will come in the night,
because we know he will come in a very solemn way. a way that
most people will not be expecting. They all think it's peaceful
and everything's safe. And there's indications in the
Word of God that when the end of all things occurs, it will
be a time of peace. And we don't know how quickly
that may come. It may come very suddenly. There
may be a cessation of wars and there may be peace. And everybody
then may settle down and think, this is fine, everything's gonna
continue. And it may be just then the Lord returns. And so
we must recognize the word of God. For they that sleep, sleep
in the night, and they that be drunken, are drunken in the night. And then he says, but let us,
you and me, let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on
the breastplate of faith and love, and from Helmut, the hope
of salvation. But God has not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us. Whether we wake or sleep, we
should live together with him. That's a wonderful prospect,
isn't it? To think that there is this glorious
scene of heaven at last, And to look here, as we read, for
God hath not appointed us to wrath. Well, to mercy, that's
true. And it's true if God has come
and called us out of the situation we were born into of darkness,
but brought us into the marvelous light. And then to think that
this is so true with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ, who died
for us. who died for us. What a great
and glorious and solemn truth that is. To think that God, the
Almighty God, the Ruler of the Universe, the Creator of all
things, was willing to die for unworthy people like you and
me. We don't deserve it, do we? We
often turn our back upon God, and yet to think that this Word
is true who died for us, all those for whom the Lord gave
his life upon that cross at Calvary, that we should live together
with him. And it is important that we look
ahead to the time of our death, the
time of our decease, we shouldn't consider it as a morbid thing,
You young people might think, I don't want to think about that,
I've got my life before me. I'm going to enjoy myself in
this life. Well, let me tell you this, the enjoyment of heaven
will be far, far greater than any enjoyment on this earth. So, it'll be a great blessing
if you and I, by grace, set our hearts and our affections on
things above and not on things on the earth. Now this is only
through and by the grace of God. What a blessing if it is so.
If we can look and see how God has turned us round, turned us
really in an opposite direction. The way we were going was to
the pit of destruction, and God's turned us around to seek his
face and to have that true desire after heavenly realities. And the apostle then tells us,
wherefore, comfort yourselves together and edify one another
even as also ye do. Now the apostles not speaking
about things that he doesn't know, things that he doesn't
understand. You may remember that in the
earlier parts of the Word of God we have an account of the
Apostle who tells us he was caught up to the third heaven and saw
things which it wasn't possible for him to speak about. So it's not as though he didn't
know anything. God in his great goodness had
brought him there so he was able to really see the Saviour in
his sealing glory. A wonderful blessing and a wonderful
favour. And quite clearly, you see, that
revelation, that great blessing, influenced the Apostle as he
wrote the many epistles which he did to direct and instruct
us. And that's why we have such words
as this, wherefore comfort yourselves together and edify one another
as also ye do. It would be good if We speak
about these things one to another and it's not for old people to
speak about. Young people should also be found
looking ahead, looking forward to such a wonderful time and
a wonderful blessing to have that grace to set our hearts
and our affections upon things above. not on things on the earth
now I know that is in opposition to our nature but it's a glorious
consideration to know God's grace that means his unmerited favor
has come into our hearts and turned us to eternal realities
away from the poor things of this world. And the Apostle goes
on, And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour 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, be patient toward 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 well that's good words of instruction
isn't it from the Apostle and it should be good words for us
tonight to realize here we have the gracious words example of
the Apostle Paul direct to us and we should be concerned and
desire us to closely follow such example that we have here in
the Word of God. We've got the Bible to read.
It's not just to pass through and just read a few verses to
satisfy our conscience. It's the Word of God which speaks
to our heart to direct us in the right way. And so what a
blessing if we're able to acknowledge this is God's direction to me,
not to someone else. The Word of God is always personal. It's always direct. It always
speaks to each one and may it speak to us. And then the Apostle
moves on. Rejoice evermore. You may think
that's a bit strange to suddenly come to a statement like that.
Well, as you and I may be encouraged by the words of the Apostle to
realize that these words are necessary and they are true and
therefore we should rejoice in them. Rejoice in the glorious
prospect for the people of God that there is a heaven before
us, a time when we shall be with Christ. It's wonderful to think
of that isn't it and I hope it is to think of that that time
to be in heaven and you know in heaven the great blessing
is there's no sin there's nothing bad in heaven everything will
be perfect everything will be for God's honor and glory it'll
be happiness eternal happiness no night there an eternal day. It's a completely different situation
to what you and I walk in now on the earth. And God has given
us views of that in the Word of God to encourage us and to
strengthen us. And so there is cause for us
to rejoice. He doesn't say, well, just rejoice
for five minutes. He says rejoice evermore, evermore. And then he tells us to pray
without ceasing. To pray without ceasing. How
often do we pray? How often do we pray? It's a
good question, isn't it? Well, the apostles' word here
to us is to pray without ceasing. Constantly, really. As we go
about our work, as we go about our studies, to, as it were,
pray our way along. and desire that God will enable
us to walk rightly in accordance with his word and to not follow
those things which are wrong. And so he tells us then, in everything,
give thanks. Well, we have a lot to give thanks
for. We're pretty poor, aren't we, at giving thanks. You young
people, you have much to be thankful for. Try and compare yourself. with many people in this world
who don't have any of the comforts that we have. Many don't have
the freedom that we have. So we have much to be thankful
for. And it's good if we do thank
God every day for His mercies, and perhaps many times, yes,
to give thanks, pray without ceasing. In everything, give
thanks. And that's a clear statement,
isn't it? In everything. For this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. It's not something that the apostle
Paul concocted. No, it is the will of God. in Christ Jesus, concerning you,
concerning me. It's not something which is unusual,
something which is not right. It's that which the apostle tells
us very clearly. And then he says, quench not
the spirit. Again, that's good words, that
is. It's very easy for us to quench the spirit. someone who
is seeking the truth they may not perhaps use what we might
consider to be the right phraseology but nonetheless if they are seeking
the truth and desiring to know what is right and what is wrong
we should encourage them and not quench the spirit It's a
very straight direction, isn't it? Quench not the spirit. And then despise not prophesying. That means don't despise the
preaching of the gospel. It's very easy, isn't it, to
despise it and think, well, I don't agree with what's being said. And anyway, that's my view and
I can have my view. Well, you have to follow the
view of the word of God. And if the preacher is following
the Word of God, you must accept it as the truth of God, and desire
to follow it, even if our attitudes are contrary to that which we
thought, and we're having to change our direction, we're having
to change our views, we're having to go in a different direction.
It's a good thing if it's a direction from Almighty God. We don't have
to be... set in our ways if it's a wrong
way and sometimes it's a great blessing if God shows us in accordance
with the word of God which tells us there is a way that seemeth
right unto a man but the ends are off for the ways of death
and destruction you see we're easily taken in by the devil
and follow a way which to our understanding seems right especially
if it's an attractive way And we get it all planned out, what
we're going to do, may not be God's way. May not be God's way. Sometimes we find there's obstacles
put in the way. We don't like it. We think, why
can't things go more smoothly? Why have I got to face this difficulty
and face that difficulty? It may be that God's directing
us in a different way. And we shouldn't therefore object.
But we should recognise the goodness and kindness and mercy of God
toward us. So the word of God tells us here. So very clearly, quench not the
spirit, despise not prophesying, prove all things, pray over your
life and my life, pray over it that God will direct us in a
right way and not leave us to our own understanding, not leave
us to the advice of the devil who would always show us the
wrong way. But what a mercy it is to have a tender conscience,
a God-given tender conscience to seek that which is right and
therefore to prove all things and then He tells us to hold
fast that which is good. Hold it fast. And God gives us
a conscience. And you and I know what's good
and what's right. We may not want to hold it fast
because it may not agree with our plans. It may not go in accordance
with what we want to do. But what a blessing it is if
God gives us grace. Therefore, remember, there's
a statement here, it says, hold fast, and it's qualified. That
which is good, we can analyze, can't we? Where it's good, and
it's good to come to God with an open mind, to desire to know
what is good, And then to follow that way. To follow that way. Hold fast that which is good. Be sure of this. If you and I
follow in that way which is good, it won't be easy. The reason,
the devil doesn't want you to. He wants you to follow that way
which is wrong. the false way, which leads to destruction. And therefore we have such a
gracious encouragement, hold fast these things, hold fast
that which is good. And then he tells us, abstain
from all, not just some things, abstain from all appearance of
evil. That'd be good, wouldn't it?
Again, sometimes, especially young people in this difficult
age in which we live with the devil bringing so many wrong
things before us, to just pause, just sit down, just consider
and just pray to God that he will give you strength and grace
to not follow Those things which is not a question of being evil,
but just appear to be evil. Just the appearance. Turn away
from it. Abstain. Abstain from all appearance
of evil. And then we have a glorious statement
from Almighty God. And the very God of peace, Sanctify
you holy. That means to make us more like
Christ. To sanctify us holy, not half-heartedly,
but holy. Yes, it's not anything less than
that. And then he comes and says, and
I pray God, your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved
blameless until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Well,
what a wonderful statement that is. What a wonderful desire the
Apostle had. And I'm sure godly people will
have exactly the same desire. Because we need God to be with
us, to be round about us, to strengthen us and support us. And then we come down to this
24th verse. Well, it's been a long introduction,
but I hope it's been a benefit. Faithful is he that calleth you
who also will do it. Well, the great question I suppose
is, has God called us? What does that mean? It means
we've been made aware of our situation in this world, aware
that we are on a pilgrimage, aware that there is good and
there is bad. And what a blessing, therefore,
if God has called us, and there we were in darkness. We were
born in darkness, remember that, born in darkness. Yes, it hadn't
got any desire after light. And what a blessing if the light
of the gospel glorious light of the gospel has shone into
your heart and my heart so that we have the evidence that God
has called us out of darkness into the marvelous light of the
gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now there's only
one person that knows whether that's true and that's you. You
know As you look into your heart as
to whether this has occurred, whether God has called you, called
you out of darkness, that means there's been a change. That means
God's put in your heart desires after blessings, desires after
spiritual things, It's God's work. And what a blessing
it is that Almighty God is faithful to us, faithful to us, which
he is. It's quite amazing, isn't it?
If again, we think of that. And it's always important, I
think, to recognize how great God is, the greatness of God,
the power of God, the might of God, how he inhabits everywhere. and knows everything that is
happening, and knows the smallest thing which is occurring in your
life and my life, and not in a physical way, but also in our
minds. God knows what you're thinking. God knows what you've been thinking
here this evening, as you sat here in chapel. What have you
been thinking about tonight? God knows. He knows every detail. And are you ashamed if you had
to stand up and say what you've been thinking? You might be very
embarrassed. Well it would be good if you
were, if it was wrong. But what a blessing if you have
been setting your hearts and affection on things above. If
you've been thinking about eternal realities. And surely if that
is so, it's because God has called you. Put it another way, God's
given you that life that spiritual life so that you understand perhaps
the words of the Apostle when he wrote to the Ephesians and
that really wonderful words in the second chapter to the Ephesians
he says this he says and you and you hath he quickened or
hath he made alive who were dead trespasses and sins you see a
change an amazing change you might say an earthquake in our
lives and you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins and then he elucidates it a little
he says wherein I in time past what a blessing if you and i
have a time past wherein in time past ye walked according to the
course of this world according to the prince of the
power of this air the air the devil the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience and then he's honest and he says
among whom also we all had our conversations in times past. You weren't there to throw stones
at people and think, well, they're worse than me. We have many evidences
in the word of God, especially the apostle Peter, Paul rather,
who tells us he was less than the least of all saints. He was
the greatest sinner. What a good place it is when
God calls us and shows us what we are. not a very great wonderful
person but an evil wicked person and we thank God if that light
has shone among whom also we all had our conversation in times
past in the lusts of our flesh fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature
the children of wrath even as others. That's where we were.
Now we're either still there or we've been blessed by Almighty
God as the Apostle Paul tells us here. But God who is rich
in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were
dead in sins and hath quickened us together, made us spiritually
alive, with Christ. By grace are ye saved. A free,
unmerited favour. This is the truth of the glorious
Gospel. And how wonderful it is to realise such a great and glorious truth. Hath quickened us together with
Christ. By grace ye are saved. And hath
raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the
exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus. You see, there is the secret.
It's through Christ Jesus. And as we read together this
morning in that first chapter of Peter, Peter knew the value
of it because he was able to declare that we are redeemed. That means the price for our
sin is paid, redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. That means the same here really,
exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved, the
free and merited favour of God. We never deserved it, we never
will. Through faith, God-given faith. What a blessing to receive God-given
faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. You see, it all emanates from
the greatness and kindness and mercy of our God. Not of works,
lest any man should boast. You won't be able to boast about
your salvation, not of what you've done. You will be able to boast
about what God has done. And that's a good thing. And
again, I wonder tonight, if you were able to say, well, I can
boast of what God has done. In my heart, He's brought me
out of darkness into the marvellous light. I now see the need of
a Saviour. I now see what the Lord Jesus
Christ came into this world to do, to die upon that cross at
Calvary in order to pay the price for my sin. Well, that'll be
wonderful revelation, that'll be wonderful sight, and you'll
rejoice in that you'll praise God for it and you'll be able
to recognize the grand truth of this word. Faithful is he
that calleth you who also will do it. My dear friends, God is
faithful. He always has been and he always
will be. I like sometimes to refer to
God's faithfulness in the lamentations of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a godly
man, a godly prophet, but he had a very difficult life. And we should realize sometimes
God does bring us into situations where we have a very difficult
life indeed to lead. And in the Lamentations and the
third chapter, the apostle tells us this, I'm the man that has
seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. Now just remember,
here was a prophet, a godly prophet, and yet he is telling us here
his spiritual experience. And he's telling us what he had
to endure. And he tells us this, things
that perhaps we might think, I don't understand that. Well,
if God brings you into it, you will understand it. He has led
me and brought me into darkness, but not into light. This is the
faithful dealing of God to one of his children. Faithful dealings. Because it turns him away from
the things of this world. Surely, against me as he turned,
he turneth his hand against me all the day. My flesh and my
skin hath he made old. He hath broken my bones, he hath
builded against me, encompassed me with gore and trouble. He
hath set me in dark places, as though that be dead of old. He
hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out. He hath made my chain
heavy. Also, when I cry and shout, he
shutteth out my prayer. And that's pretty tough when
that happens, but it does. We try to pray, and it's shut out. He hath enclosed
my ways with hewn stones. He hath made my paths crooked. He was unto me as a bear lying
in wait and as a lion in secret places. He turned aside my ways,
pulled me in pieces. He hath made me desolate. And
don't forget this is a man of God and he's recalling God's
dealings with him. He hath caused the arrows of
his quiver to enter into my reins. I was a derision to all my people,
and their song all the day. He hath filled me with bitterness.
He hath made me drunken with wormwood. He hath also broken
my teeth with gravel stones. He hath covered me with ashes.
And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace. I forget. prosperity. And I said, my strength
and my hope is perished from the Lord. Well, we're thankful
that God has recorded such statements to encourage us in the day and
age in which we live. And so he comes and he says,
remembering my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the
gall, my soul hath been still in remembrance, and is humbled
in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore
have I hope. He looks back and then he comes
and he changes. He tells us, it is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great
is thy faithfulness. That's why I read this passage.
Now, I knew every morning, great is thy faithfulness. See, God
is faithful. He deals with us in love to our souls. No doubt, Jeremiah,
in the midst of these troubles, wouldn't have recognized that.
But the Lord brought him through it, brought him out of it. And
therefore he says, the Lord is my portion, saith my soul. Therefore will I hope in him. That's where he ended up. And what a blessing it is for
us today if we end up there with our hope in him. Faithful is
he that calleth you who also will do it. We have many occasions,
many instances of God's calling and directing. We can think of
perhaps just an example in Abraham. You remember Abraham? He was
in Ur of the Chaldeas. That wasn't a godly place. And
God called him. He called him to go out, to leave
the place of his birth. and to go to a far country where
God would be with him. Well, Abraham was given faith
to believe that it was true and that it was right. And as you
and I can follow the life of Abraham, we'll observe how wonderfully
that was brought about. God was with him. He gave him
strength to leave that worldly environment and to follow the
directions that God would lead him in. And we have to conclude
with him and really all the patriarchs, those glorious words in the 107th
Psalm, where the Psalmist tells us, he, that means God, led them
forth by the right way that they might go to a city of habitation. And that hasn't changed today.
He takes his people, he leads them in the right way, that they
might go to heaven at last. That's a great, wonderful blessing.
And how good it is for you and me, as we look at our own lives,
to realize that God's hand is upon us. He's in control, and
He is. Let us not fight with God. Let
us submit ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may
exhort us in due time, casting all our care upon Him. believing
He cares for us. It's a place of great safety. It's a place of great blessing.
Well, there's many examples in the Word of God, and you can
look them up and follow them. Moses, Gideon, Paul, Daniel,
they were all directed very clearly by Almighty God. They were all
brought safely through. And so what a blessing if you
and I can follow the examples. And remember what the Apostle
said here and also what he said when he wrote to the Church of
Philippi and he says being confident. It's good also when we're confident. Being confident of this very
thing that he which hath begun good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ so if you have that good hope
in your heart that God is dealing with you
don't turn it away we're told not to despise the day of small
things yes to have the evidence of God's work in our hearts that
he's calling us and you know if he is God's faithful, he won't
leave us. No, he will bring us safely through
and he'll be with us in all our difficulties because we can come
and commit all our way unto the Lord. Trust also in him. believing
that he will indeed bring it to pass. God is faithful. That
means God is trustworthy. We can trust God. You can't trust
people. They might change their mind.
God doesn't. God is faithful, and he will
execute his promises. If God has given you a word,
a promise, it will come to pass, perhaps not in the way you expected,
not in accordance with your timescale, But it will come to pass, because
God doesn't promise in vain. He is faithful. Faithful is He
that calleth you, who also will do it. Well, there's
a lot to think about, isn't there? A lot to ponder. But it's a great
blessing if God comes and touches our heart, so that we desire
to walk in that right way, which leads to eternal life. Amen.