service tonight by singing together
hymn number 952. The tune is Stockport 419. Beloved, saviour, faithful friend,
the joy of all thy blood bought train, in mercy to our aid descend,
or else we worship thee in vain. Hymn 952. tune Stockport 419. God's favoured angel friend,
The joy of all life now portrayed, In mercy, too, have faithly served,
? For us with passion be in vain
? ? In vain we meet to sing and pray
? ? When Christ is dead ? True and true is love. Hearts remain as pure as clay. Till we learn all life needs
be told. Here manifest Thyself in me,
Thy tender message proclaim Thou. O bring on us the day of grace,
and send the weary blessed dead. even before thy coming day. Sing hymns to know thee as Thou
art. We bow as sinners bow thy I pity
Calv'n, to Calv'n I do. Do not allow to be divine, Thou say'dst to join us, O ye
God, To love and praise Thy gracious name, Until we Let us read together from the
holy word of God in the first epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians
and chapters one and two. Chapters one and two. of the
First Epistle to the Thessalonians. Paul and Silvanus and 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 all, 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, your election
of God. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance, as ye know what manner of men we were
among you for your sake. And ye became followers of us
and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction,
with joy of the Holy Ghost, so that ye were in samples 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 to God, Lord, is spread
abroad, so that we need not to speak anything. For they themselves
show of us what manner of entry in we had unto you, and how ye
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. For yourselves,
brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in
vain. But even after that, we had suffered
before and were shamefully entreated. As you know, at Philippi, we
were bold in our God to speak unto the gospel of God with much
contention, for our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness,
nor in guile, but as we were allowed of God to be put in trust
with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God,
which trieth our hearts. For neither at any time used
we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloak of covetousness.
God is witness. Nor of men sought we glory, neither
of you nor yet others, when we might have been burdensome as
the apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you,
even as a nurse cherished her children. So being affectionate,
desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not
the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because you were
dear unto us. For you remember, brethren, our
labour and travel, for labouring night and day, because we would
not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the
gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also,
how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you
that believe. As ye know, how we exhorted and
comforted and charged every one of you as a father doth his children,
that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto
his kingdom and glory. For this cause also thank we
God, without ceasing, Because when ye received the word of
God, which ye heard of us, ye 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 belief. For ye, brethren, became followers
of the churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus. For ye also suffered like things
of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews, who
both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have
persecuted us, and they please not God, and are contrary to
all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might
be saved, to fill up their sins always, for the wrath has come
upon them to the uttermost. But we, brethren, being taken
from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured
the more abundantly to see your face with great desire. Wherefore,
we would have come unto you, even I, Paul, once and again,
but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope? or joy,
or crown of rejoicing, honour even ye in the presence of our
Lord Jesus Christ at his coming. For ye are our glory and joy. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word, grant to us a spirit of real prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, we desire to bow before Thee,
the only true God, and to worship Thee in Thy Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ. We pray that tonight, as we gather
together, we may be favoured to touch the hem of His garment
and to draw from that sacred fullness that is in Him And we
pray that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of
God and the communion of the Holy Ghost may rest and abide
upon us. That we may have a sense of thy
presence, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, just as it was as we've
read together with the brethren at Thessalonica. For our gospel
came unto you not in word only, but in power, in the Holy Ghost,
and with much assurance. We pray, O Lord, that it may
be so. Tonight, we are a little company gathered together in
the sanctuary, and we desire to worship Thee. We desire, O
Lord, to claim Thee as our Heavenly Father, as our Eternal Father,
that has loved us with an everlasting but therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. And Lord we have known those
sacred spiritual drawings unto Christ and Christ has been made
precious and none come except the Father draw. So may we tonight
again know that divine drawing and the divine leading and teaching
of the Holy Ghost that the word of truth may enter into our hearts
and the sweet savour and power of it into our souls, that we
may know the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. O most
gracious Lord, we do pray. Make us more spiritually minded.
Set our affections on things above. Draw my soul to Thee,
my Lord. Let me love Thy precious Word.
Deliver us from temptation. Deliver us from the power and
dominion of sin. that deliver us from the allurements
of the wicked one, deliver us chiefly from ourselves. For,
Lord, we prove daily that we have a heart which is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. And is it not thy testimony
in thy word? For I know that the imagination
of the heart of man is evil continually. O Lord God, we come to bow before
thy glorious majesty, thou art God over all and blessed for
evermore. We come to worship our Lord Jesus
Christ, who himself has said, all power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. O gracious God, we do pray that
thou wouldst condescend to come and stand in our midst at this
evening hour and come and speak to our heart and open our ears
and our eyes and our hearts to receive thy precious word. We think that Lord of thine handmaiden
Lydia and she was in that place where prayer was wont to be made
in Philippi and it is said of her whose heart
the Lord opened. Come and open our hearts to Come
and bless us, Lord, as we gather. Come, we do pray then, remember
us for good. Remember our brethren, the deacons.
Graciously bless them and be with them in all their concerns
and all their burdens, in their many responsibilities here and
among the churches of God. Be with our brother and sister
away from us at this time. Grant rest and change and refreshment
and renewal not only Lord naturally but spiritually. We think of
thy servant there in Guernsey in his great affliction and we
pray that thou would be gracious unto him and draw near to him
and bless him. And that little cause of truth
there, may thy word have free course, may thy name be honoured
and glorified May the power that brings salvation be exerted in
the world, O Lord, we do beseech of Thee. We pray, most gracious
God, that Thou, in Thy precious mercy, would remember each one
of our brethren and sisters in Christ Jesus and favour them
each, O Lord, we pray Thee, with that renewal and replenishing
in their souls we do humbly beseech of thee. May Christ be made more
precious, more real, as the hymn writer says, made unto us a living
bright reality. Lord, may that be so tonight,
as we gather round thy word, that living bright reality of
Christ in you, the hope of glory. Lord, we pray that they always
remember the dear children that gather with us, and that thy
blessing may rest upon them, that the fear of the Lord, which
is the beginning of wisdom, may be given unto them. And our dear
young friends, be gracious unto them, guide and direct them. Lord, any in education, give
them wisdom and understanding. We do humbly beseech them, and
guidance and direction on what they should study, and employment
granted. Lord, hear us and remember each
one, Lord, that would long to have a partner in life's journey.
Lord, we lovingly commend each one to Thee. Thou indeed art
that great God that did bring Rebecca to Isaac. and thou didst
bring Ruth unto Beles, and thou art able to do abundantly more
than we can even ask or think. Lord, we do pray that thou didst
take Jacob to Rachel, his beloved Rachel. Lord, we do pray that
thou would remember our young friends, remember parents, give
wisdom, give grace, give help to bring up their children in
the nurture and admonition of the Lord, that all things may
be done in the spirit of love, in the fear of the Lord, that
we may love each other, and in our families we may love each
other. By this shall they know that ye are my disciples, because
ye have love one to another. Lord, may that love be prevalent
among us, that we may love each other, serve each other, and
bear each other's burdens, thereby fulfilling the law of Christ. Lord, we pray that we may see
something of the loveliness of Christ, that we may see him as
the altogether lovely one, as the chiefest among 10,000. And
Lord, we do pray that thou, in thy precious mercy, would graciously
remember those of us in the evening time of life journey and prepare
us for that great change which must come. And in those intervening
months and years, as the outward man perishes, may the inward
man be renewed day by day. We do humbly beseech of thee
for thy great namesake. We know not what a day may bring
forth. And O Lord God, we pray that
thou wouldst cause the prodigals to return. There are those that
have wandered away, Lord, we pray that thou wouldst work mightily,
as thou didst with the prodigal son, and cause them to be wont
and to return unto their father's house. Lord, do hear us, we pray. Yea, we beseech thee. Have mercy
upon us for thy great namesake, that we may see thy wonderful
grace in this. May the wonderful light, glory
and power of the gospel shine into this village and the surrounding
villages and hamlets. We may see the fulfilling of
those gospel promises among us. I will bring thy sons from far
and thy daughters from the ends of the earth and they shall come
from the north and from the south, from the east and from the west.
Lord, let it be. We humbly beseech you that this
little house of prayer may be filled with hungry, longing souls
pressing into the kingdom of heaven. Remember the little causes of
truth up and down our land. Remember thy servants as they
labour in word and doctrine among the churches, and remember those
that have taken up pastorates and go before them in this. O
Lord, we do beseech thee. Grant thy divine guidance. May
thy word be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We think of our dear brother
as he goes to Grand Rapids. Pray that thou would send before
him a convoy of thine everlasting love, that it may be to the great
profit of their souls and the renewing of that church and congregation. Lord, do hear us, we humbly beseech
thee Lord, we do pray that thou, in thy great mercy, would remember
our nation, remember our King and the Princess of Wales in
their time of affliction. And Lord, remember us as a nation
and raise up among us those that govern us, men of God, men that
fear the Lord, men that love thy word. Lord, there was a time
when in high places there were many that feared thy great name
and loved thy holy word. There's nothing too hard for
thee, O Lord, and thou art able to do it again. We lovingly commend
to thee our leaders and that, Lord, we pray for truly thankful
hearts, thankful for Jesus Christ. Thankful for the fullness of
his grace. Thankful that all power is given
unto him in heaven and in earth. Thankful that we're coming to
a king and therefore loud petitions would we bring. Thankful, most
gracious Lord, for the incarnation of the Son of God, for the holy
life he lived as a man here upon earth and bringing in everlasting
righteousness for his people. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. We thank thee for the Lord Jesus
Christ, for the everlasting robe of his righteousness, a glorious
dress covering our nakedness. We thank thee for the sacred,
holy sacrifice of Calvary, where sin has been put away in Jesus,
the Son of God. We thank Thee that He poured
out His soul unto death. He shed every drop of His precious
blood to cleanse us from all sin. We thank Thee that in Him
God and sinners are reconciled and peace is made between God
and man. O gracious God, we thank Thee
that He has risen again. He swallowed up death in victory.
He brought life and immortality to life through the gospel. We
thank thee that he's ascended up on high and led captivity
captive, and now sitteth at thy right hand for such an high priest
have we, who is passed into the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God,
gracious God, we do thank thee for that eternal foundation that
thou hast laid in the church, in the glorious person of thy
Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, we thank Thee for the eternal love
of our Heavenly Father and we thank Thee for the wonderful
gift of the divine person, power and grace of the Holy Ghost.
Come, Lord, and touch one's lips with a live coal from off the
heavenly altar. Come and open Thy word to our
heart and to our understanding. Come and grant that we may delve
into the deep that couches beneath. We ask for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 33. The tune is Abbeydale, 274. Blessed be the Father and his
love, to whose celestial source we
owe, rivers of endless joy above and reels of comfort here below. Hymn number 33, tune Abbeydale,
274. ? Is he ever like Israel ? ? Is
he ever like Israel ? ? Is he ever like Israel ? ? Bless our native land ? ? Our
home and our home ? ? Our lands of gold and silver ? He brings the life of God from
earth to heaven and back again. ? The precious gift of God is so
proud ? ? More than life, more than life, more than life, more
than life ? ? In this sacred place ? ? Who
in a mortal sin hath won ? ? I give this praise of thee ? ? Christ the Lord is born in Bethlehem
? ? Christ the Lord is born in Bethlehem
? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the first epistle
of Paul to the Thessalonians, chapter one, and read in verse
one for our text. First epistle of the Thessalonians,
chapter one, and read in verse one. Paul and Silvanus and 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. This epistle, in fact these two
epistles are made up of many exhortations. We note first off
that he says here, Paul, Silvanus, and Timotheus, often in the beginning
of an epistle, he introduced himself as the apostle, either
to the Gentiles or the apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ. But
there was no need to do that to the Thessalonians, and you
might say, why? because if you look into the
Acts of the Apostles it was Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus that
brought the Gospel to them and preached the Gospel to them and
that the word of truth had great effect or as it says it had free
course and that the name of the Lord was glorified and many believed
and as it says here that they turned from idols to serve the
living God What a wonderful thing that must have been, these men
and women that were serving idols and they turn away from those
idols and they become followers and worshippers of Jesus Christ,
the only true God. There is one God and one mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus who gave himself
a ransom for all to be testified in due time, one God. One mediator. There's only one God. We read
several times in Isaiah that He is God and there is none else. I am God and there is none else.
And there is no God beside me. Or, as some have pointed out,
when we read of other gods in the Holy Scriptures, they're
always written with a small g. But the only true God is always
written with a capital G because he is the only true God. He is
the Lord Jehovah. He is the creator of the heavens
and the earth. And the Apostle Paul, he says
in the Acts, in him we live and move and have our being in this
glorious and this almighty God whom the Apostle loved to preach
and to set forth. in all his glory. See he says
unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Wonderful thing, in God the Father
and in the Lord Jesus Christ. He says here in the fourth verse,
knowing brethren your beloved your election of God? How did
they know they were elect of God? And how does anyone know
that they are elect of God? There's only one evidence, my
beloved friends, that I can find in Scripture, and it's to be
called, called by Divine Grace. your soul to be quickened and
brought from spiritual death into spiritual life. This may
be quite a dramatic work like it was with the apostle, or it
may be a very gentle work, which I think it always seems to intimate
in the Acts when we read of Lydia, the seller of purple, whose heart
the Lord opened. I get the feeling there that
it was something very gentle. whose heart the Lord opened. What a mercy. And this is how
she knew her election of God. Because the Lord opened her heart. The Lord opened her heart. Behold
I stand at the door and knock. Lovely words, aren't they, in
the book of the Revelation. How the Lord stood at the door
and knocked. Of course it's speaking there
of the door of the church. But Dr. Gill, he feels that we could
also interpret it in a very personal way as well. The Lord standing
at the door. And it says it in Revelation
3, chapter 3, verse 20. Behold, these are the words of
Christ. I stand at the door and If any
man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and
will sup with him and he with me. And there does seem to me
to be a very personal sense there. He stands at the door and knocks. If any man hear my voice, This spouse in Solomon's Song,
she says, it is the voice of my beloved, behold he cometh.
Before he'd even got there. The voice of my beloved, behold
he cometh, skipping on the mountains. You think of those mountains
of impossibility, those mountains of sin, of unrighteousness. The
mountains of a broken law, of the curse of God. He comes skipping
over the mountains. Behold, I stand at the door and
knock. If any man hear my voice and
open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and
he with me. And you know, if we compare those
wonderful words with the words of our Lord Jesus Christ when
he was here upon earth, and the teachings of the apostles. How
that the Lord, He speaks to His people. We just think of those
lovely words and we think of them in the light of that beautiful
word in the Revelation, Behold I stand at the door and knock.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is John chapter 10, He that
entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up
some other way, the same as a thief and a robber, But he that entereth
in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter
openeth, and the sheep hear his voice. And he calleth his own
sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth
his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him,
for they know his voice. You think of that in the light.
of what we read. Behold, I stand at the door and
knock, if any man will hear my voice, for they know his voice,
and a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him,
for they know not the voice of strangers. What a mercy if you
and I know the voice of our Lord Jesus Now the other thing here that
seems to stand out in this epistle, he speaks of the work of Satan. And these things seem to rest
much on my spirit when I was reading this morning and I was actually sitting up in
the night reading as well. And these two chapters seem to,
my attention seemed to be drawn to them. Not long ago we spoke
of Joshua the high priest and the prophet Zechariah and how
the Lord called him in his sin, in his iniquity,
in his unrighteousness. That's where he finds every one
of us. And he said to Joshua, Didn't
he take away, or he said to them that stood by, take away his
filthy garments. Take away his filthy garments.
Those filthy garments of self-righteousness, take them away. He'd just come out of Babylon.
Maybe, we don't want to be left to speculate, but there were
many in Babylon that were bound up with wrong marriages. They'd
married the people over there, the foreign people. A Jew was
forbidden to marry anyone but a Jew. And we don't know what Joshua may
have got, but it does appear that the man knew his filthiness,
his unrighteousness. But then the lovely gospel of
Jesus Christ, take away his filthy garb. and give him change of
raiment, the glorious everlasting robe of the righteousness of
Christ. And then it goes on, it says,
I've caused his iniquity to pass away. There's only one way that
can be done, the precious blood and righteousness of Christ.
That's the only way iniquity can be taken away in the glorious
sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But then What do
we read there when all that was going on? Joshua was being brought
in. Joshua was being stripped of
his own righteousness. Joshua was being clothed in the
everlasting robe of the righteousness of Christ. And Joshua was being
washed in the blood of the Lamb. I've caused thy iniquity to pass
away. But what do we read? And Satan stood at his right
hand. to resist him. You know, sometimes
I think we can have rather superstitious ideas. You might say, whatever
do you mean? Well, because I'm at chapel,
then the devil won't get me. Because I'm in the house of God,
then the devil won't come near to me. You've only got to look
at the word of God to see that this is just not the case. In
actual fact, friends, it's more likely that he will get at you. We read in the book of Job and
we know of the great trial that Job had and he was a man that
eschewed evil, the Lord says of him and that man was perfect
and upright and one that feared God and eschewed evil and it
speaks of his sons and his daughters Now, but what I wanted to draw
your attention to in Job 1 verse 6, now there was a day when the
sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord. There is no
doubt what that means. It means they came to worship
the Lord, a collective worship. And Job was written long before
Moses, probably before Abraham, or around that time. And Satan came also among them. So
we're given some instruction here, friends. And Satan came
also among them, just as the apostle here in Thessalonica,
he said, and Satan hindered him from coming back to them. And then if you just look again
in the second chapter of Job and again there was a day when
the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and
Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. You see we shouldn't expect that
if we're in the house of God we won't get tempted. In actual
fact, it's just the opposite. We should expect the temptations
of Satan. When we desire to worship the
Lord, but we notice, as we've often
pointed out with Legion, it says in Job 1, verse 12, and the Lord
said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power.
Only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth
in the presence of the Lord. The Lord permitted him to touch
everything that he had, and he did touch everything he had.
But notice, he couldn't do it until the Lord gave him permission. You see, my beloved friends,
these things are written for our instruction. It says in chapter two and verse
six, and the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand,
but save his life. So he could touch everything,
it would afflict him, but it couldn't cause him to
die. And what we see from this, my beloved friends, is that God
is in control. God is in control. Hallelujah. The Lord God omnipotent reigneth,
and he does. Our Lord Jesus sits king forever. We read of our Lord Jesus Christ
in Psalm number two. Yet have I set my king upon my
holy hill of Zion. My king. And as the word says,
he sitteth king forever. And when Christ is revealed to
his people here on earth, it says, thine eyes shall see the
king and his beauty. And behold, the land that is
a very far off, eternal glory, where Christ sit is at the right
hand of the father, the advocate, the mediator of his people. You know, the apostle, when he
writes to the Thessalonians bearing in mind that they were surrounded
with persecutions and trials. But how does he deal with that?
And look at verse nine and 10 here in this chapter. For they
themselves show us what manner of entry in we had unto you,
and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and
true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven. How many of
us in this chapel are waiting for his son from heaven. Looking
forward to that great day when Jesus comes a second time without
sin unto salvation. It's a reoccurring theme in the
letters to Thessalonica. If we look at the first chapter
of the second epistle to the Thessalonians and he says there
In verse seven, and to you who are troubled, there were those
that were given false teachings, said that the resurrection is
already past. And to you who are troubled,
rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them
that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction.
from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power,
when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired
in all them that believe, because our testimony among you was believed
in that day. See, that is where he points
us to. We're to Christ. That is where
The Word of God continually points us to. You know, the Apostle,
when he writes to the Hebrews and the great trials and troubles
and perplexities that they had, what does he do? He says to them,
for such a high priest have we who's passed into the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God. He says, let us therefore hold
fast our profession. Why? Because we have a glorious
Mediator, we have an Almighty Saviour, we have One, it's Heaven
and Earth that is His command. He waits to answer prayer. It
doesn't matter how small, nor does it matter how great, the
things that trouble you and perplex you. He waits to answer prayer. Oh my dear beloved friends, these
things are written for our instruction. and Silvanus and Timotheus unto
the church of the Thessalonians, which is in God the Father."
Some great confidence that the dear apostle had, which is in
God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle writes into Colossians,
he says, you are complete in him. We're accepted in the beloved. in the Lord Jesus Christ. These
wonderful truths, my beloved friends, are set before us for
our instruction. Just think of the words of our
Lord Jesus Christ concerning the disciples in John chapter
14, and he speaks of going away from them. Thomas said unto him, verse 5,
Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the
way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me,
ye should have known my Father also. And from henceforth ye
know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto the Lord, show
us the Father, and it sufficeth us. He didn't understand. Jesus
saith unto him, have I been so long time with you? And yet hast
thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. And how sayest thou then, show
us the Father? Believest thou not that I am
in the Father, and the Father in me? And the words that I speak
unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth
in me, he doeth the works. Believe me, that I am in the
Father. and the Father in me, or else
believe me for the very work's sake. Verily, verily, I say unto
you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he
do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I
go unto my Father. Whatsoever ye ask in my name,
that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the same.
When he says that, Whatsoever ye ask in my name. Who are we
asking? The Father. The Father. Our Heavenly Father. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. You see, if ye shall ask anything
in my name, I will do it. What a wonderful thing. You know,
because we have a heavenly Father, our eternal Father, we're brothers and sisters in
Christ. Naturally speaking, if you have
the same Father, you're brothers and sisters. That's natural,
isn't it? And this is exactly what the
Lord is setting before us here, in this wonderful doctrine of
truth. In that lovely prayer in John
17. And the Lord Jesus says, so much
precious doctrine there in that prayer. Father, the hour has come, glorify
thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee, as thou has given
him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou has given him. This is life eternal, that they
might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou
hast sent. You see, my beloved friends,
in this lovely prayer, the Lord Jesus, He says in verse 20, Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe
on me through their that they all may be one. As thou, Father,
art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that
the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which
thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, even as
we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. What a beautiful prayer, isn't
it? Just look at verse 24. Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given may be with me where I am, that they may
behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me
before the foundation of the world." Loved with an everlasting
love. Loved with an eternal love. Loved
with an unchanging love. Now you may say, and we do, don't
we? We consider these things and
we We say with the hymn writer, it truly makes us feel it. Why me? Oh blessed God, why me? Why such a wretch as me that
must forever lie in hell were not salvation free? Why? You know we can't answer
that, can we? Well we can. It's because the
Lord would love us. It's an everlasting love. It's
a love before all time began. I think we had that last hymn
on Lord's Day morning about God's love, God's unchanging love. But my mind, it just goes to
the Deuteronomy chapter seven. And the Lord says there from
verse six, for thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God,
the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto
himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth
the Lord did not set his love upon you nor choose you because
you were more in number than any people for you were the fewest
of all people but because he loved you that's the reason because
he loved you and because he would keep the oath which is sworn
unto your fathers, and hath brought you out with a mighty hand and
redeemed you out of the house of bondmen from the hand of Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is
God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant mercy with them
that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations. We love him. because he first
loved us, which is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you and peace.
Now notice the change. He's speaking firstly the church,
which is in God the Father, and then he says, grace be unto you
and peace from God our Father, from God our Father. and the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's our Father in Christ. We were chosen in Christ. Grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where Christ is
the fountain, the deep sweet well of love. So it's in, I can't
quote it exactly, but it's in those verses of Rutherford, based
on his last words. Oh Christ, thou art the fountain,
the deep sweet well of love, the streams on earth I've tasted,
more deep I'll taste above, there to an ocean fullness. Have you tasted those streams
of mercy? That precious living water that
flows from the Father and the Son? I've often explained to
you that that precious living water is the Holy Ghost that
was poured forth on the day of Pentecost. And look at the wonderful
effect when he was poured forth. That short, simple sermon of
Peter, 3,000 souls were converted, pricked in their hearts, brought
to living faith in Jesus Christ. You see, knowing brethren, beloved,
your election of God, for our gospel came unto you, not in
word only. This is how they knew their election
of God. For our gospel came unto you,
not 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, have received the word in much affliction with
joy of the Holy Ghost." Much affliction, many trials, many
perplexities, the temptations of Satan. We read in scripture,
do we not, of Satan? How that he goeth about as a
roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Satan does. The ones that he goes after are
the Lord's people. He hates them, same as he hates
the Lord. But the Lord has said there shall
no temptation overtake you but that which is common to man and
he will make a way of escape out of those temptations. And those temptations, my beloved
friends, sometimes can be very intense. They can. Very powerful. Shake you to the
very core. See, we just quoted from Peter
about the devil going about as a roaring lion, seeking who he
may devour. But the Apostle Peter He deals
with these things in his epistle. And he says there about the great
trial which will try you in 1 Peter chapter four. And we read in
verse 12, beloved, think it not strange. We do though, don't
we? Think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial which is to try you. as though some strange thing
happened unto you. We shouldn't think that, but
rejoice in as much as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings,
that when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also
with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name
of Christ, happy are ye, for the spirit of glory and of God
resteth upon you. On their part he is evil spoken
of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as
a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a biddybody
in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian,
let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment
must begin at the house of God. And if it first begin at us,
What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely
be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore,
let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the
keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing, as unto a faithful
Creator." A faithful Creator. and Silvanus and 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. You know we've spoken
of how the Apostle here he speaks of the second coming of Christ,
we've pointed it out to you in the second epistle, but you know
here in the first epistle, but there were those in the church
at Thessalonica. The apostle had obviously preached
these things when he was among them, concerning the second coming
of Christ and the resurrection of the dead, but they'd all got
jumbled up. Now the old devil is a separator
of the brethren, he divides, and he causes confusion, and
so introducing errors in among the brethren. Now the apostle
to clear things up in the fourth chapter of this first epistle
he says there verse 13 but i would not have you to be ignorant brethren
concerning them which are asleep that is believers that have died
them which are asleep when the believer dies he's asleep the
grave is but a downy bed that's lined with love and blood and
in the great day when Christ comes a second time the archangels
trump shall sound and the dead in Christ shall rise first I would not have you to be ignorant
concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow not even as others
which have no hope for if we believe that Jesus died and rose
again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring
with him when Jesus comes he'll bring them with him If you remember,
and I often point it out to you, the very first act of our Lord
Jesus Christ, when he comes to judgment, he will send his angels
to the four corners of the earth and he will gather his elect
unto himself. So when he comes and sits on
that throne of judgment, surrounded by the church, by those that
are in Christ Jesus, If we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with
him. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the
coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with
the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the
Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words. What a wonderful thing, my beloved
friends, if you and I have that little evidence that you've been
born again, you're a changed person, you've been converted,
you've been brought from death into life, from bondage into
liberty, from darkness into light. Indeed here in this epistle,
the apostle in the last chapter, in chapter 5, he calls the brethren,
he says here in verse 4 of chapter 5, but ye brethren are not in
darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief that's
a great day when christ comes you're all the children of light
and the children of the day which are not of the night nor of the
dark darkness therefore let us not sleep as do others but let
us watch and be sober for they that sleep sleep in the night
but they that be drunken are drunken in the night but let
us who are of the day be sober, put it on the breastplate of
faith and love. And from Helmut, the hope of
salvation, for God has 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 should live together with him. Wherefore,
comfort yourselves together and edify one another, even as ye
do. Paul and Silvanus and 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. May the Lord add his
blessings. Let us now sing together hymn
number 921. The tune is Unity, number 80. In union with the Lamb, from
condemnation free, the saints from everlasting were and shall
forever be. 921 tune unity number 80. Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave? ? And shall forever live ? ? In
the land of the free and the home of the brave ? Jesus, where is Jesus now? Jesus, where is Jesus now? Jesus, where is Jesus now? God is good, God is good. He is strong, he is tender, and
we are loved in Jesus' name. ? When storms of terror strike
? ? O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ? ? O'er the
land of the free and the home of the brave ? It's just within
the plan. If I'd known it'd be thus, ? Word of our Savior's name ? ?
All witness, retain joy and rest ? ? His commandments stand firm
? Now may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each, both now
and forevermore. Amen.