May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we meditate in his work. Let us turn to the
first epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians chapter five and
we'll read verse 24. The first epistle of Paul to
the Thessalonians chapter five and reading verse 24. Faithful is he that calleth you
who also will do it. Surely these were words of encouragement
to the church at Thessalonica when Paul wrote them. He wrote
many words of gracious exhortation and gracious words of encouragement. And so as we have these words
before us this evening, when we realize the wonderful My favour
is his to have a faithful God. Faithful is he that calleth you
who also will do it. Because God is faithful, he always
has been. He is a God who calls. He calls his people out of darkness
into the glorious light of the everlasting gospel. He calls
his people for various situations and occupations in this life. And then we have the confirmation
of this, who also will do it. We have a God who never fails
in those things which he speaks to us of. Those directions he
gives, they always come to pass. Not always, perhaps, in the way
that we expect and always perhaps in the ways that we want but
nonetheless God is faithful and how wonderful that is and if
we think of this word faithful you can think of it as trustworthy
and surely we can believe and we can know that our God is trustworthy
all that he says And all he does is trustworthy. God never makes
a mistake. God never leads us in a wrong
way. He never leaves his people nor
forsakes them. This is the faithful God that
we have. What a wonderful blessing it
is. Solomon in the Proverbs, he says
this, unto you O men I call, a blessing then to think that
God calls you and me because every one of God's people is
called and my voice is to the sons of men and through the grace
of God His people do hear the voice of Almighty God calling
them. This faithful God calls them
out of the darkness of nature into the glorious light of the
everlasting gospel. We have many encouraging statements
with regards to the faithfulness of God. and how we need to remember
that we have a God who does not change. What God says comes to
pass. The Prophet Jeremiah in his lamentation
speaks very wonderfully of God's faithfulness and let us not forget
that Jeremiah had a very hard life, a very difficult life,
he followed the leading and direction of God, he was not afraid to
follow the word that God gave to him and yet because he did
that He was sometimes thrown into the dungeon, which of course
was a very, very unpleasant experience. And he was left there for some
time. And if he hadn't been rescued,
he would have perished in that situation. So Jeremiah had a
very difficult life, but he was a faithful prophet of the Lord. And when he wrote the Lamentations,
he was able to tell the great truth It is the Lord's mercies
that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not. They
are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. And surely to have a statement
from a prophet of the Lord who has suffered greatly should be
a wonderful encouragement for us today. Great is thy faithfulness. Yes, God is a faithful God, he
always has been and he always will be. And may we therefore
have a humble confidence in our God that he indeed will be gracious
to us and he will lead us and then he will bless us as therefore
faithful. Faithful is he that calleth you
who also will do it. And the church of God have proved
that down through the ages. And in the second epistle to
the Thessalonians, and the third chapter, again, the apostle homes
in on this truth in the third verse. And he says, but the Lord
is faithful, who shall establish you and keep you from evil and
he brings that about having stated before that finally brethren
pray for us the law word of the lord may have free course and
be glorified even as it is with you and that we may be delivered
from unreasonable and wicked men for all men have not faith. And we can perhaps think of that
in regards to the present situation that we we find ourselves in
because we do live in a world today of unreasonable and wicked
men, those who follow their own views, are not concerned about
the will of God. But what a mercy if God enables
us to be concerned about the will of God in our own lives. And that may be a different course
to what we expect, but we can be sure the will of God is the
best. because it will work out well
and it will be for our encouragement and our strength and our blessing. So what a mercy it is then to
have this faithful God and in the epistle to the Galatians
We read an encouraging statement in the very first chapter of
that epistle, where the apostle tells us in this Galatians, the
first chapter, he says, when it pleased God, who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace. Well, that's the apostle writings
in the Galatians. We often refer to a call by grace. And it's a good statement. And
it's an important statement. And it's wonderful to know that
God has called us. And what a wonderful privilege
to think that as the Apostle Paul was able to make this statement
when he wrote to the Galatians, when it pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace. Well, as we mentioned this morning,
the Apostle was called by grace really on that Damascus road. And what a change it produced
in his life. Faithful is he that calleth you. And as we think of the life of
the apostle, how faithful was God to him. That doesn't mean
to say that the apostle had an easy life. In fact, we should
realize the apostle did not have an easy life. In fact, the apostle
had a very difficult life. but he had a life which was blessed
by his God. And we can read something of
that which he suffered in the second epistle of the Corinthians
in chapter 11. And it's sometimes good just
to remind ourselves of that which the Apostle passed through. And
the Apostle didn't write these things for any pride or any reason. It was to show the glory of God. upon him and show the mercy of
God to him and he tells us in the 11th chapter and the 18th
verse he says saying that many glory after the flesh I will
glory also for you suffer fools gladly seeing yourselves are
wise for you suffer if a man bring you into bondage if a man
devalue The man take of you, the man exhort himself, if a
man smite you on the face. I speak as concerning reproach,
as though we had been weak. Howbeit, whereinsoever any is
bold, I speak foolishly, I am bold also. And then he tells
us who he was. He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews.
He was a seed of Abraham. And he says, I am ministers of
Christ. I speak as a fool. I am more. And it's, I'm always encouraged
when we read the life of not only Paul, but the saints of
God, how in the accounts we read, we find that honest. There's
not any mock humility. Humility is a great danger, it's
a sin. We should be honest before God,
honest before our brethren, to testify of what God has done
for his honour and for his glory, and to prove his faithfulness,
to prove that he is totally trustworthy, even in the midst of difficulties,
even in the midst of opposition. And so he tells us this, In labours
more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent,
in deaths often reduced. Five times received I forty stripes,
save one. Thrice was I beaten in rods,
once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, and night and day
I've been in the deep. In journeyings often, in perils
of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen,
in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils
in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among forced
brethren, in weariness, in painfulness, in watchings, often, in hunger,
in thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness, beside
those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily,
the care of all the churches. Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is offended and I burn not? Well, we have there a catalogue
of some of the things that the apostle passed through. And yet
you see, he didn't complain. He accepted it as the path that
the Lord had called him to walk in and he was able to recognize
that it was God's will and purpose for him to walk in that way. Well what a mercy it is for us
today if we have the evidence that God has called us and sometimes
we might think if God calls us it's going to be a wonderful
experience, a wonderful life, and be able to give a wonderful
testimony of the Lord's grace and mercy toward us. Well, we
will be able to, but perhaps not in quite the way that we
anticipated, because we easily formulate a pattern for our own
lives. And perhaps as in where we almost
build castles in the air, thinking this and that's going to happen.
Well, it may be the very opposite. But nonetheless, the apostle
was blessed with this, And, you know, the Lord very graciously
balances. It's a balancing of the clouds
in the lives of the people of God. And God is faithful in this,
in bringing these things to pass. And in the next chapter, from
the twelfth chapter, we read of the apostles of favour and
blessing, where he tells us, he said, it is not expedient
for me, doubtless to glory, I will come to visit visions and revelations
of the Lord. Then he speaks about himself
in the third person. This is what he says, I knew
a man in Christ about 14 years ago, whether in the body, I cannot
tell. whether out of the body I cannot
tell. God knoweth such an one caught up to the
third heaven and I knew such a man whether in the body or
out of the body I cannot tell. God knoweth how that he was caught
up into paradise and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful
for a man to utter. Such an one would I glory yet
of myself I will not glory but in mine infirmities." So we have
a little view there of the Apostle's life, of the opposition that
he faced, and yet such a glorious revelation and blessing. And
God is faithful today to his church, to his people, to lead
them in the right way. How wonderful it is, we read
in the 107th Psalm, those wonderful words, he led them forth by the
right way that they might go to a city of habitation. It was true in Israel's case,
they were led safely through the wilderness and they arrived
safely at Canaan at last. And so it's true of the church
of God today, the Lord brings them safely through this life
and lands them safely in heaven at last. So faithful is he that
calleth you. Well may we know then something
in our own life and realize that the Lord is faithful. As we refer
to this now in this third chapter in the Thessalonians, the Lord
is faithful who shall establish you and keep you from evil. The Lord establishes his people
in the truth of God and he establishes the church of God, the people
of God, through trials, through oppositions, through difficulties. You see if we never had difficulties,
if we never had trials, if we never had opposition, we would
never know, never realize the comfort of the evidence of God's leading
and God's direction and God's blessing. So we should be very
thankful to know that here we have this God who is faithful,
he's trustworthy, he doesn't lead us in a wrong way, no he
leads us in a right way. We have a wonderful word in Timothy
that the Apostle Paul wrote and it speaks about the Lord Jesus
and it speaks about himself and in the first chapter in Timothy
And the first epistle of Timothy, the first chapter in verse 15,
it's a familiar verse, but it's very well worth repeating. This
is a faithful saying, right? This is a trustworthy saying
and worthy of all acceptation. It's worth receiving, it's worth
noting. And this is what it is, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And the Apostle
adds, of whom I am chief. And as the Holy Spirit may teach
and lead us into this glorious truth that the Lord Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners. I'm sure we may perhaps feel
we can argue with the Apostle Paul and claim that in actual
fact we're the chief of sinners. Well, it's good when the Holy
Spirit convinces us of our sin and brings us to that position
so that we don't think we're a little sinner, we don't think
we're a small sinner, Because if we realize the sins within
us, the sins which perplex us sometimes, the sins which cast
us down to realize, nonetheless we have a great and glorious
Savior. And this is a faithful saying. This is a saying of the Lord
God. This is God. This is a trustworthy
word. God is faithful. O faithful is he that calleth
you. What a mercy then to know this
great and glorious calling of almighty God. And there's many
references to the times when God has called his people in
the 2nd Thessalonians again, we read it in the 2nd chapter,
verses 14 and 15 is what we read. Whereunto he called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore brethren, stand fast
and hold the traditions which you have been taught whether
by word or epistle. There is a standing fast. There is a receiving the faithful
word of Almighty God. There is a calling, an individual
calling by God. And it's by the gospel of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And as the Apostle says here,
to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, because
if the Lord comes and graciously calls us, this faithful God calls
us from the darkness of nature, the darkness of our sinful condition
in which we were born, into the glorious light of the gospel,
we can indeed look forward to this great wonderful promise,
to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, one
day by his grace, to be found with him in glory. And that is true of all those
who are called, like the Apostle was. All the Church of God are
called. And the trustworthy word from
God is that there will be this obtaining of the glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ and he says with this wonderful prospect
before us we are then to stand fast and to hold traditions which
have been taught whether by word or our epistle. It was us today to stand fast
in the world in which we live. There are so many evil ways,
many evil things around and yet we have A faithful God who continues
to lead and continually guide and direct his people as they
travel on day by day. Well to know this wonderful favour
of calling. This is a great blessing. It's an essential blessing and
favour really. And the Apostle Paul knew it. He knew it so well. He wrote
it on a number of occasions, and in the first, sorry, in the
epistle of Paul to the Romans, and in the first chapter, and
we are told this in the sixth and seventh verses, the apostle
says, among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ, beloved of God, called to be
saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Well, this faithful God, he calls
his people, the called of Jesus Christ, the mercy it is to be
a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, a true follower of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let us never be like those who
follow afar off, like dear old Peter did, when it got a bit
hot, and therefore he didn't want to get too close, and he
followed afar off. And what was the result? He denied
his Lord and Master on three occasions. My friends, let us
not be found following afar off. We don't want the Saviour to
ignore us, do we? faith that is he that calleth
you. What a blessing then if we know
the power and calling of Almighty God, as he says to all that be
in Rome, beloved of God. We are beloved of God. The apostle
goes on and tells us we are called to be saints. That means that we are called
to walk in that path laid down for us in the Word of God, called
to be saints. He says to such, grace to you
and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, here we have evidences
for those who are called, those who are called by Almighty God
in this same epistle. the Romans and in the eighth
chapter we have some wonderful verses as I'm sure most of us
know and in the 28th verse of this eighth chapter we read and
we know that all things work together for good to them who
love God and to those and to them who are the called according
to his purpose. So those are called, God is faithful
to such, and this is what he says, all things work together
for good. Sometimes we may perhaps doubt
that. Sometimes you may think, well, is that really true? Well,
the answer is, yes, it is true. It is a trustworthy statement. And you and I, if we are, The
children of God will prove it. It may not appear to be working
out that way at the moment in our lives, but the Lord leads
us throughout our life. He leads us right through our
life, and therefore a blessing is when we come to the end of
our lives. But now we can say indeed that
we're the apostle and we know because we have experienced it,
because the Lord has shown it to us. And we know that all things,
that's a very comprehensive statement, isn't it? It doesn't say, well,
of course, some things will work out well, but perhaps not everything.
No, the apostle tells us, all things work together for good to them
that love God and to them who are the call according to his
purpose. And if God calls us, it's because he's loved us. That's the very humbling truth,
isn't it? God only calls those whom he
has loved, and those whom he's loved with an everlasting love,
and they are called according to his purpose. God has a purpose
for his people in this world. They're not born into this world
to live their life as they plan or as
they want. We are called to walk our life
in accordance with the purpose of Almighty God. And you see
what will that be? That will be a path which brings
forth glory to God and it will bring forth peace in our heart
because we will have the evidence the Lord is leading us The Lord
is directing us, the Lord isn't leaving us, although perhaps
it may seem so sometimes. No, he led them forth by the
right way. And then two verses further on,
verse 30, the Apostle says, 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. Well, that's a wonderful chain,
isn't it? As we think of it. And so the Lord graciously says,
moreover, whom he did predestinate. Yes, those who were predestinated
in eternity past, And they'd be predestinated to this purpose,
as the apostle says in the 29th verse, for whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate that he conformed to the image of
his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. This is a wonderful favor. And
it's not something that the unbeliever ponders upon at all. because
there is no attraction in it. But here we have this statement. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. To think that,
to be conformed to the blessed Saviour. Moreover, Who we did
predestinate them we also called, and whom we called them we also
justified, and whom we justified them we also glorified. It's a wonderful chain, it's
a wonderful truth, and we can come back to the beginning, faithful,
is he that calleth you. This is a trustworthy consideration,
therefore, that if the Lord has called us in this way, we can
believe that we shall, in God's time, when our course on this
earth is complete, that we shall be glorified. And we shall be
glorified to be with the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of
sinners and our Saviour, that one who so wonderfully came into
this world to redeem our souls. We've sung together tonight about
that redemption, how important it is, how necessary it is, how
wonderful it is to have the evidence that we are indeed amongst those
who are redeemed. Redeemed with what? What was
the price? It was pride, the precious blood
of Christ. Let us never underestimate, therefore,
the cost of our salvation. When the apostle then wrote to
the Corinthians, again we have this theme picked up and we should
never tire of such a glorious theme and in the in the eighth
verse of this first chapter in the first epistle of Corinthians
we read who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may
be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful
by whom you were called unto what? Unto the fellowship of
his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Well, the Lord calls us to this
fellowship with Christ. And that's not something which
is of the flesh. This is through the grace of
God, fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Well, what
a blessing then, if you and I know something of this fellowship
and union with the Lord, Jesus Christ. faithful is he that calleth
you. Yes, the Apostle when he wrote to
the Philippians, he tells us being confident in this very
thing, that he which has begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ. Therefore, if God has graciously
commenced his work in our hearts, That means that he has come to
us and called us. And that calling is the beginning
of that work of grace in our hearts. We can be confident that
he which has begun a good work in us will perform it until the
day of Jesus Christ. Yes, there are no failures with
God. There are none who make shipwreck
of God. God's work He is perfect. God works his perfect work in
the life of all his chosen church, and none make shipwreck. And
indeed, as the psalmist says in the 121st Psalm, he says,
the Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall preserve
thy soul to all those who prove the truth of this Word, faithful
is he that calleth us, we indeed know that the Lord shall and
does preserve our soul. That should be a comfort surely
to us, that should be an encouragement to us, as we battle on day by
day, month by month, year by year, in this wilderness journey,
to realise that here we have a gracious God who speaks such
wonderful words, I, the Lord, shall preserve thee, for more
evenly shall he preserve thy soul. No doubt about it, is it? You see, there are many shells
in the Word of God, and this is one of them. We should be
very thankful that we have shells like these. Faithful is he that
calleth you And then he comes on to say, who also will do it. Now then, the Lord has plans
for every one of us. And we can read some of the plans
in the word of God to his people. And he didn't fail them. Who
also will do it. And God was with his people.
You only have to think of some of the patriarchs, don't we? You can think of Moses in his
life. Yes, God called Moses to lead
the children of Israel out of Egypt. What a great operation
that was. Moses was very nervous himself,
but what he proved was the faithfulness of God. What it proved was the
trustworthiness of God. God didn't leave Moses, God was
with Moses all his life. Especially as we're able to trace
it out in the last 40 years. Of course the middle 40 years
was spent in the backside of the desert. God was doing that,
which he would do in order to free Israel from that Egyptian
bondage, who also will do it. Moses proved that God was faithful. He called him and he was with
him. And he did that, which he had
spoken to him of. And then we have Abraham, and
those who don't perhaps always realize Abraham did, he came
out of Ur of the Chaldees, left his homeland, a godless place,
and was directed by God, and he wandered about, and he was
directed for many years, he went from place to place, he didn't
build a big castle for himself, he lived in tents, but God was
with him, And God did that, which he had promised he would, in
the most wonderful way. As Isaac was eventually born
again, that wasn't immediate. Abraham's faith was tested in
that, and also tested when he was told to go and offer up his
son, his only son. Yes, but God was faithful. Faithful is he that calleth you
who also will do it. And so it came to pass. God's promises in the life of
Abraham came to pass. Now we can go through a whole
list and that's just very quickly. You think of Joseph, in his life,
what he had to pass through wasn't easy, was it? had those dreams, and then they
appeared to vanish away. All those years, 17 years before
there was the fulfillment of them. And then in really a very
amazing way, God's ways are higher than our ways. Don't be disappointed
when things appear to be going wrong. Don't think, well, I must have
mistaken the way. You may have mistaken the way.
But on the other hand, if you are walking in that way, the
faithful God has called you to walk in, then have confidence. The Lord would indeed do it.
The Lord would indeed be with you. He will not forsake you. He didn't forsake Joseph, although
it may have appeared he had. But in the set time, God has
set times. There was a wonderful deliverance. Then, of course, we have the
case of the apostle Paul, don't we? The Lord came and called
him on that Damascus road and revealed himself to him. I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. Well, that's a very humbling
experience, if perhaps we have opposed God, opposed the Lord
Jesus Christ. And the Lord has graciously turned
to us and called us and spoken perhaps, I am Jesus, who now
persecutes us. What a mercy then, if we then
walk in that right way. And what we find is the Lord
is with us. He's called us. who also will
do it. And in doing that, he leads us
into all truth as it is in Jesus. The Lord doesn't leave his people
outside of the promises of God. He doesn't leave his people without
revealing to them the glory and preciousness of the Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ. The people of God's religion
is not a Christ-less religion. It is a religion which is filled
with the blessing of the Saviour, the despised and crucified man,
a glorious Saviour who willingly died to redeem their souls. This is faithfulness of our God
who brings us into this communion and union with the Saviour who
has called us. Faithful is he that calleth you
who also will do it. He will do for us and to us all
that we need to bring us safely home to glory at last. And that will be in the right
way. That will be in the way that
will bring glory and honour to our God. You can think, can't
we, of David and his life. And a strange life David lived. But God was with him. God didn't
forsake him. You can think of Solomon. God
was with Solomon. He gained another strange life.
But God was faithful to Solomon in fulfilling the promise which
David had had. And also that he was given that
wonderful wisdom to build the temple in his own house and much
beside. God was faithful to Solomon. And we can think of perhaps as
Gideon in his day. Gideon was faced, he was fearful. And he was beating wheat behind
the wine press to hide, hide from the enemy. God came to him,
God knew where he was. God knows where we are. God knows
perhaps whether we are afraid. We may be fearful of the future. Gideon was fearful of the future,
but God came to him, and God blessed him, and God strengthened
him, and God granted a wonderful victory for just a handful of
men. God is able to do far more and
exceeding abundantly than we can ask or even think. Faithful is he that calleth you
who also will do it. This is the great God that we
have. The great God who speaks truth. The faithful God who gloriously
calls his people. The glorious God who leads his
people and performs that which he has determined to do on their
behalf. No one can stand in the way of
the plan of Almighty God. Yes, the Lord, in the history
we read in the word of God, there were those would appear to be
mountains, the Lord removed them. And in your life and my life,
even today, there may perhaps sometimes appear mountains, that
the Lord can and does remove them. But you know, in the removing
of it, in the removing of them, what does he do? He brings us into fellowship with the Lord
Jesus Christ, union with the Lamb, from condemnation free. Yes, it's part of the glorious
path the children of God, to fit them and prepare them for
their eternal home. It's the right way, it's the
good way, and it's the way which brings honour and glory to our
God. And so as we find ourselves in
this world today, perhaps with difficult things and strange
things, may we be able to examine ourselves in the light of scripture
and come to this great conclusion, as we read here in this verse
this evening, that God is faithful. Yes, he is trustworthy. We can trust him for everything. He is a faithful God. What a
mercy it is. And don't forget that which we
spoke of earlier on, with regard to the words from Jeremiah, great
is thy faithfulness. It's a great truth. It's a wonderful hymn that we
have on the faithfulness of God. Great is thy faithfulness. And
may that be a strength to us. And he also says that the mercy
of the Lord on you every morning, They are in our little lives.
The Lord does not deal with us as our sins deserve, but he deals
with us in that way which brings us closer to Christ. He leads us in that way which
prepares us for our eternal home. And so what a mercy to have a
God, a gracious God, a glorious God, a God who has loved us so
much and has given his life He shed his blood upon Calvary to
redeem our souls, so that one day, by his grace, we shall be
with him forever. Well, faithful is he that calleth
you who also will do it. Amen.