If you take your Bibles and turn
with me to 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians, my text will be found in verses
one through three. And I've entitled this message,
Confirmed Faith, Confirmed Faith and Appointed Afflictions. Confirmed
Faith and Appointed Afflictions. The apostle says, wherefore,
when we could no longer forebear, We thought it good to be left
at Athens alone and sent Timotheus, our brother and minister of God
and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ. Notice what
he's going to do for this purpose to establish you. That word would
be translated, confirm, confirm you and to comfort you concerning
what? Concerning your faith, that their
faith be confirmed. that they be comforted concerning
their faith. Now, why was the need for this?
That no man should be moved by these afflictions. For yourselves know that we are
appointed, thereunto, appointed afflictions, confirmed faith,
and appointed afflictions. Now, before we get into the fullness
of this text, I want us to understand the context in which this letter
was written. Paul was there in Athens, but
before this, he had preached the gospel to them. Paul had went to this church
in Thessalonica after he had preached at Philippi. You remember,
he was in spitefully being treated there at Philippi, and then he
went to Thessalonica, and what a blessing here. Many believed. He preached the gospel to them
and many believed. In Acts chapter 17, verse four,
it says, some of them believed, speaking the Jews. Some of the
Jews believed. And it says, of devout Greeks,
these were proselytes to the Jewish religion, of devout Greeks,
a great multitude and of the chief women, not a few. What a wonderful scene this is.
The apostle comes in from persecution, from great difficulty and trial
at Philippi, and God opens the door, and these people in Thessalonica,
they just flock to the gospel. Multitudes, great multitudes
of people believed on Christ. Now, is that not the heart of
every one of us, especially God's preachers? This should be the
heart of every preacher, is that many should believe on Christ.
That's my heart. I want many to believe on Christ. I want many to come. As Paul
desired the salvation even of his kinsmen, you know, those
who persecuted him the most, he said, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. This was
Paul's heart when he came to Thessalonica and God blessed
it. God blessed that and many were
saved. Now when Paul came to Thessalonica,
what did he do? He simply preached the gospel
of Jesus Christ. That's what pastors are sent
to do. Preach the Word. He told Timothy that. He said,
Preach the Word. In season, out of season, reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering. Preach what? Sound doctrine.
Preach the Word. And we don't use tricks and we
don't use gimmicks. Paul didn't. If you look at chapter
2 of Thessalonians here, And look at verse five. He said, for neither at any time
usually flattering words, as you know, nor cloak of covetousness
God has witnessed, nor of men sought we glory, neither of you,
nor yet others, when we might have been burdensome as the apostles
of Christ. He said, look, we didn't use
tricks. We didn't use gimmicks. We didn't care what people thought.
You know, friends, I just don't care what people think about
this gospel. That's what I'm going to preach. I have determined
not to know anything among you save this, Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. This is the means God uses to
save sinners by the foolishness of preaching. Not that preaching
is foolishness to God, but it is to man. And what man thinks
is foolish, God says, I'm gonna use that. I'm gonna use that
to call my people. You know, tricks and gimmicks,
that doesn't produce faith. They may acknowledge, they may
give consent to the gospel, but that's not true saving faith.
But these people, they believed. They believed, they had faith.
True faith is a gift of God's grace. Faith in Christ is then
the result and evidence of the new birth, which is by the power
of God, the Holy Spirit. Go back to chapter one and see
this. Paul tells us in verse, Five,
verse three, he said, remember without ceasing your work of
faith and labor of love and patience of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ,
in the sight of God our Father. He said, look, I acknowledge
this, when I was with you, I noticed this, you believed, you believed. This is the power of God. And
notice he said, knowing your brethren, beloved of the Lord,
your election for our gospel came not in you word only, but
also in power and in the Holy Spirit. You see, faith comes
by preaching. And it is the Holy Spirit that
takes that in power and makes it effectual to the hearts of
men. And therefore, anyone who believes
in Christ, we know this, that our election is of God. That's what Paul says in verse
four. He said, look, I know something about you. I know your election
of God. You beloved, I know your election
of God. Everyone who's saved knows that
salvation did not begin with our faith. We experienced it when we believed,
but salvation began much, much, much earlier than that. It began
in eternity when God chose us. God elected us. Our salvation
begins with God's electing grace. That took place in eternity,
friends. That didn't take place in time. There was no time when
he chose. It was before the world began.
How blessed then is this truth to us who believe? To us who
know this, the truth of God's eternal electing grace, that the Father himself chose
us, particular redemption, chose us on purpose, named us in a
covenant of grace, and gave us, purposed our salvation, and gave
us to the Son. And it was the Son of God, Jesus
Christ, who from eternity was then our surety, our high priest,
our representative. And by His one offering, when
He came into the world and He has now come, He has already
come into the world. What did He do? He accomplished
our salvation. He finished it by His own righteous
obedience to the law and by His one offering, of himself to God
for our sins. He accomplished that salvation. You remember what Daniel wrote
many, many hundreds and hundreds of years before Christ came into
the world as a man. He said this, 70 weeks are determined,
that time is determined, that he's going to put an end to sin,
bring in everlasting righteousness, put an end to sin, iniquity,
and transgression, all of it, gonna make an end of it. How? He shall be cut off. That's how? By his death. By his death, he
would make an end. And what did the apostle say
in Hebrews? He said he did it. Our surety
by the offering of himself brought in everlasting redemption. Hebrews 9, 12. And in Hebrews
10, in verse 12, it says, but this man, after he'd offered
one sacrifice for sin, sat down, done, finished, expecting till
his enemies be made his footstool. Why? For he hath perfected forever
them that are sanctified. He's done the work. Christ came
and it was by God, the Holy Spirit, who came to us in power in our
dead spiritual condition and quickened us. It's what Paul
is talking about in verse five. He says, our gospel came not
in word only. Now listen, if this gospel this
morning comes in word only, it's not going to do anything but
condemn you. It's not going to help you. If
that's all it is, is words and words. If that's all it is, if
it doesn't come in power of the Spirit of God, then it's not
going to be effectual. But to us who believe, it is
effectual. It is effectual to us. The Word
came in power and demonstration of His Spirit. and in much assurance. You know what the evidence of
election is? I wasn't there. I was there, but I wasn't there.
I wasn't there. I didn't see him put my name
down, did you? What's the evidence of my election? How can I be
so bold as to say God chose me? Out of all the people in the
world, God chose and loved me. That's a bold statement, isn't
it? I know this, God didn't choose everybody. For Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I, what? Hated. God didn't love everybody. God doesn't love everybody. That
is a lie. That is a lie. It's a blasphemy
against the Word of God. God loves his elect. God loves
those he loved from eternity and his love doesn't change.
How do I know God loves me? Do you believe on the Son of
God? You see, faith is the evidence, just as breath is the evidence
of life, faith is the evidence of our electing and redeeming
grace. Scripture says, as many as received
Him. There it is. Who are the elect?
As many as received Him. To them, God gave the right to
be called the sons of... I've got a right. I've got the
privilege of being called a son of God. Why? I receive him. I believe him, trusting in Christ
alone. Now, was this a work of my power?
No. Was it a work of my will? No. It was a work of God, which were
born, the scripture says. not of blood, not of the will
of the flesh, nor of man, but of God. So the evidence of that
is what? Faith, faith in Christ. We received this and we were
born again to receive Christ. Is this word effectual to you?
Does it have any meaning to you? Does the Word of God cause you
to, and move you to confess your sins before God? Confess that
you are not, sin is not just what you do, it's who you are. You sin, listen, because you're
a sinner. And because you're a sinner,
you sin. Does this expose you? Does this
cause you to flee from all your self-righteousness? And I tell you, look to Christ.
Look to Christ. You got nothing? You know, that's
the best place to be, is to have nothing. That's not what the
world thinks, but that's what the scripture tells us. If you
have nothing to offer, that's exactly where you need to be
to receive everything. Look to Christ, flee to Christ,
embrace Christ, flee to Christ as the manslayer fled to the
city of refuge. Now, how did you suppose that
man fled? You suppose he hung around? You
suppose he debated whether he should go or not? No, his life
was in peril and he ran. And when he got there, what'd
he find? He found safety. As Noah fled to the ark, when
God said, get in, you suppose he tarried a little while. No,
he got in and God shut the door. And he was safe. Listen, you
free to flee to Christ, he'll save you. He will save you. I don't care who you are. He
will save you. That's what he does. He saves
sinners. You know, all of his elect are
in one category, sinners. All of his elect understand their
need and all his elect find it in Christ. Is Christ all your
salvation? Did he suffer for your sins?
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Cast all your soul upon him in
this very moment, he will save you. Even as he saved us who
believe. by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Now notice this, go back to chapter one in verse five, and look at
this, this gospel came not only in power, but look at this word,
much assurance. When he preached that gospel
and they believed, there was much assurance, much assurance. Now, every believer in Christ,
do you need assurance? The Word of God has for us much
assurance, much assurance. This assurance was given to those
in Thessalonica and it's given to every believer because our
assurance is based on the successful offering and suffering of Jesus
Christ. Now listen to this word alone.
My assurance of heaven and eternal life is solely based on Jesus
Christ's success. This is the only assurance the
believer has of ever being accepted, is the absolute complete accomplishment
of our salvation by Jesus Christ. When you are a believer, let
us never seek assurance in our faith. Faith is necessary, repentance
is necessary, but never look for assurance in your faith or
your repentance. Why? You will never believe enough
and you will never repent enough. You will never love enough, you
will never do enough. There is no assurance in anything,
not even the graces of God that are given us. That is not our
assurance. Our assurance is in the object
of our faith, Jesus Christ. There's the rock, there's the
foundation on which we stand, Jesus Christ and him crucified.
The scripture says being justified by faith, not your faith, his
faith. He were justified by his faith. And listen, you have peace with
God based on his faith, based on his justification of you. I like this quote. I take it
for myself, but you know, I'm not that smart. Brother Tim James
said this at a conference one time, and it stuck with me, because
I was always looking for assurance. Now, listen, you can be saved
and not have assurance. You know that? A lot of believers
doubt. A lot of us doubt. We get into
trouble and we doubt. These people in Thessalonica
were doubting. That's why Paul was sending Timothy
to confirm their faith, to comfort them in their faith. Because
they didn't, they lost that assurance that they had. You can lose your
assurance. One thing you can't do is lose
your salvation because it's not based on your assurance of it.
It's based on Christ. But if you want assurance, then
stop looking for assurance. Tim said this, the moment you
look for assurance, you've lost it. You've lost it because you're
not looking to Christ. And if you're looking to Christ,
you've got assurance. just as sure as he is seated on that
throne, I'm going to glory. That's sure. The apostle John wrote this in
1 John 5, verse 13. He said, these things I have
written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know. that you have eternal life. That
you may know. Well, how do you know? Because
you believe on the name, the authority of the Son of God.
You believe on Him. There's my knowledge of my life,
of my eternal life. And that you may continually
believe. And that's what assurance, doesn't
that generate more faith? If we are sure of Him, our faith
then grows We cling more to Him. He's the only source and foundation
and hope of our faith. Is there anyone who believes
on the name of the Son of God? Do you believe? Have you received Him by faith
and rest upon Him alone? Then this Word is for you. This
Word that Paul is talking about is here to confirm your faith. to confirm your faith, to establish
you, to settle you. Why? Because everything is working
to unsettle you. You figure that out yet? Have
you seen that? That everything in the world
is working together seemingly against you, seemingly trying
to pull you away from Christ. And the only thing that confirms
us is our faith in Him, in Him. This confirms our faith, confirms
that we are His elect, confirms that He has redeemed us, confirms
that we have called us, and confirms that our faith is real. This
Word of God is for our confirmation. This is the will and testament
of God. You hold in your hands God's
will. Look at it. You hold in your
hand the will of God. You know, when a person dies,
they leave a will, don't they? They leave a will. You know who's
interested in that? Those people whose names in it. Those are the people. If you
said so-and-so died and you didn't know so-and-so and they didn't
know you, you would have no interest in that will. Many people have
no interest in this will because they don't see their name anywhere
in it. You know, I see my name all the way through it. You know
what that name is? Sinner. This is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the
world to save who? Sinners. See, I found my name. I know that's me. I know they
came to save me. This word is for me. The word
of God is for God's children. Who are his children? Those who
believe on the son of God. Those whose names are written
in the eternal covenant of grace, those who are represented and
redeemed by Christ are even those who are called to believe on
Him and not one of them shall fail to believe on Him. This
is the comfort of God's will, is everything God wills, He does.
Everything God wills, He does. And this is His will. Jesus said,
this is the will of Him that sent me, that of all He hath
given me, all He hath given me. I should lose nothing, but raise
it up again. That's the will of God. And this is the will of God.
Everyone that seeth the Son and believeth on Him have everlasting
life. That's the will of God. This word is for us. We have
faith in Him whose blood cleanses us from all our sin. We believe
on Him and His righteousness that shines brighter than the
sun. And He has clothed us in this righteousness. We are robed
in His righteousness so that God sees me, He sees Christ. He sees Christ's righteousness. He sees Christ's blood when He
sees me. So our salvation believer then
is not assured by the strength of our faith, nor is it unsecured
by the weakness of our faith. Our salvation is founded completely
and absolutely on the perfect work of Christ alone. Therefore,
we have what? Full assurance of faith. So long as you look to him You
will have full assurance of faith because nothing depends on you. Remember, the government shall
rest upon whose shoulders? His shoulders. And you know what
God says? The zeal of the Lord will perform
it. The zeal of the Lord will do
it. These were the saints Paul was
writing to. These were the saints Paul was
concerned about. These were the ones he desired
to confirm their faith. I desire this morning, if you
are a believer in Christ, to confirm your faith. Your faith
is that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God. It is a
miracle of grace that you believe on Christ at all. It's a gift
because knowing, brethren, your election of God. You were chosen
of God. You were redeemed by the Son.
You were therefore called by the Spirit to life. And the evidence
is faith. And faith never looks to itself.
Faith always looks to its object, Jesus Christ. And from him, you
have full assurance. Full assurance. that God will
perform what He promised and give you eternal life. Even so,
this letter then, it's for you. It's for you as much as it was
then. We are of like precious faith. This has been given to
us by the power of the Spirit of God and it's preached to us
by His servants. And what is the result of this?
Look at chapter one in verse six. He says, and you became
followers of us and of the Lord. having received by faith the
word in much affliction." And notice, Paul says this, that
believers, they became something. As a result, as a result of that
power of the Spirit is you became followers. That word followers
doesn't mean like, exactly like you follow Christ by faith. That's
not, you're not trusting the preacher for your salvation.
It means imitator. Be ye imitators of God as dear
children. And so he says, you became imitators
of us and of the Lord, having received
by faith. As it was true of these believers,
even so it is true of all the saints of God. Those that believe
on Christ know our need of love and fellowship of the saints,
don't we? We know our need. This morning,
you are here. You are here because you have
a need. You need to be fed. You know it. And we need each
other. This is one thing that makes
it so difficult being on a camera, is that we are not together.
I know this is the only way we can do this, but I'm praying
soon we can be together because it's a special thing to be together. And hopefully this makes us anticipate
it more and long for it more, appreciate it. But we need this
fellowship around the gospel. You know, fellowship is just
not going to eat hamburgers together. Is it? Fellowship is when we
come together around Christ. That's fellowship. That's what
we need. We need to hear and believe the
gospel of Christ. And these believers were not
mere believers as those that our Lord called
stony or thorny ground hearers. What kind of hearer is that?
That's a person who really doesn't need the gospel. You know, he
hears it, he likes it, he stays for a little while, and then
when trouble comes or difficulties come, they don't stick around,
they go. Their faith is nothing more than
a, nothing like a firecracker, just it lights up for a second,
it pops and it's gone. That's what false believers are. Thorny ground here is those that
only believe on Christ so long as they can keep their sin. So
long as they can keep this, as long as they don't have any trouble
in this world. So long as they can lay hold on the true gospel
and the false gospel at the same time and say, oh, we're just
all gonna get along and let's all go to heaven together. No,
that's a false believer. That's somebody you can't serve
to, masters. Say, as long as I can continue
my sin, as long as I can do what I want to in the flesh, As long as I don't have to spend
so much time going to service. I don't need to go to church. You heard that? I don't need
to go to church to be saved. Somebody say that. You know what? No,
you don't, but more than likely you're not saved. If that's your
feeling about it, you don't wanna go. You don't wanna fellowship
around this gospel. Something's wrong with that.
As people say, well, I'll pray when it's convenient. I'll come
when it's convenient. I'll give when I've spent all
my money on myself. And after I got a little leftover,
I'll throw it at you. They're like that pliable in
Pilgrim's Progress. You remember him? He was all
excited about getting to see the streets of gold and seeing
the celestial city, and he was excited about seeing Jesus and
about living forever. He was excited about all those
good things, but the moment he fell in the slum to spawn, he
ran back the other way as quick as he could. Well, see, that's
not these people. Look what Paul says. He said,
being followers of us and the Lord, in much, what, affliction. They were in affliction. And
yet they still were imitators of Paul. They were followers,
imitators of God's men. Over in 1 Corinthians 4, Paul
says this in verse 16. He says, Wherefore I beseech
you, be ye followers of me. this mean? Be followers of imitators
of God's men. Preachers are not men raised
up by their own desires or ambitions. Now you, all of you understand
that I didn't come here for the money. Scott, is that right? I didn't come here for the money?
That's right. If so, Scott's hiding it. No,
I didn't. I don't have ambition. We don't
have ambitions for ourselves or glory for ourselves. Any man
put themselves in the ministry, don't follow him. Don't follow
him. But God's given the church pastors
after his own heart, and God's saints should be subject to their
leadership and rule Even as God has given them this authority,
as God has given me the authority of the church, you should be
imitators of me. Paul says this to those elders
at Ephesus, he said, take heed to yourselves. It's a great responsibility,
isn't it? To be a pastor, it's a great
responsibility. Take heed to yourselves. and
to the whole flock of God over which he had made you overseers. That flock, that church which
he purchased with his own blood, God has made you overseers. Take heed to yourselves. What
a responsibility given to us. But yet, what are we? We are
nothing but like you. We are sinners saved by grace
the same as you are. We're here simply for your edification
and growth. We are simply here to confirm
your faith, to comfort you and instruct you in the things of
God. Hebrews, it says, obey them that
have the rule over you because they take care for your souls.
Robert Harker said, be affectionate and attentive to love your pastor. and know the stress that is placed
on them, how they are to constantly live out their faith as examples
to you. Now, friends, you don't know
that burden, but it is a burden. There are many things that I
have liberty to do, but it's not feasible for me because I
am to be an example for you. Pastors are to rule not as lords,
not for their own gain, but as servants. We serve you so that
you should grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Matter of fact, Paul says this in Ephesians chapter four, He says that our Lord gave some
apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastor and
teachers for the perfecting, the maturing of the saints, for
the work of the ministry, for the edifying the body till he
comes. That's what we're here for. We have one purpose, one
goal, preach the word. Be instant in season, out of
season. Now, what are you to do as believers?
Be followers of me, preach the word. Spread the word. Isn't that what you're supposed
to be doing out there? I'm preaching here. Yes. It's
my purpose to use encouraging to you, comfort you in the scriptures,
teach you, but then you should be imitators. Now, what did it
cost me to do this? Everything. You know, when the Lord asked,
you know, he said, except you leave all and follow me, you
cannot be my disciple. And, you know, Peter said, did
we leave all? He said, look, you have plenty of reward for
that. I've taken care of you, haven't I? Well, of course he
has. Look at me, I'm telling you what, he has taken care of
me. He has taken care of me. He has taken care of my family.
He has supported me. as I have followed him. Be you
therefore imitators of me and him." That's what believers do. We forsake all and follow Christ. We do not neglect the worship.
Do I neglect the worship of God? Be you imitators of me then.
That's what Paul said, be you imitators of me. I'm not neglecting
the word. Are we persecuted? Yes. Are we
hated? Yes. Be imitators of me. Was
not our Lord the same way? Be imitators of Him. I hope and
pray that God give me the grace to live like Him in front of you. The church is to forsake all
and not neglect the worship of Christ. Paul in this letter then
tells these saints to take heart. Take heart. He was separated
from them for a while. He says this in chapter two,
verse 17. He tells them, he said, I've
been separated from you. Being taken from you for a short
time. What a great difficulty that was. They were being persecuted. The apostle Paul had to actually
flee in the middle of the night being persecuted. It was painful
for them. Paul was separated from these
and he desired to know their faith. And so he sent Timothy to them.
I desire to preach the word to you, not only because it's necessary
for your growth and good, because I love you. I love you. I desire to be with you. I desire
that Christ be magnified. I desire to be found in Him,
not having mine own righteousness without the law. I desire and
want to know Him and love Him and serve Him. Therefore, be
ye imitators of me. Now notice why these saints needed
to hear this letter. even the same reason we need
to preach it. Go back to your text. Look, not
only do you need to hear it to confirm or establish you, look
at verse two. He said he sent Timothy to preach
this word to find out, and he's gonna establish you in the faith,
comfort you in the faith. Isn't that what the gospel just
did? I hope that you found comfort in that. I hope you found comfort
in the know that your election, knowing your elections of God
through faith in Christ. I hope you found assurance by
looking to faith in Christ. That should comfort you and settle
you. But there's something else here.
Paul said, and that no man should be moved by these afflictions. How easily are we tossed about
by afflictions? Afflictions. Because you follow Christ, because
you believe in Christ, and if you follow me as I follow Christ,
let me tell you what's gonna happen. You will suffer afflictions. I'll tell you before you get
them. We will suffer afflictions. My desire as your pastor is that
no man be moved from Christ. No man should be moved in their
faith, regardless of what happens in this world. It doesn't matter
if the mountains crumble, if the nation dissolves away, if
this world is totally burned, don't be moved. Don't be moved. No man should be moved by these
afflictions. Why? Paul said this, listen.
For you yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. Appointed afflictions. These
saints that believe the gospel, after they believed, were immediately
persecuted by those Jews. Those Jews who were envious took
those baser sort of men and they began to riot. You watch on television,
it was something like that. It was just a riot, that's all
you can say. They were after these men who
believed on Christ. They suffered persecution and
affliction. Now listen, you who think faith in Christ will yield
a trouble-free life are horribly deceived. Horribly deceived. In fact, the moment you believe affliction starts. And listen, it's not by accident,
it's by design. Just as your faith was appointed,
so are your afflictions appointed of God. Look over just a few pages in
Philippians. Philippians chapter one, look
at this. This is important. Philippians chapter one, look
at verse 29. Just to show you what I just said is true. Here's
the word. For unto you it is given on behalf
of Christ, not only to believe. So it's given to you to believe,
right? But what else? But also to suffer for his sake. Now, three things, believer and
affliction. Three things concerning affliction. First of all, the
affliction within. The moment we believe, there
begins a warfare. A warfare within. Paul said,
the spirit lusteth against the flesh, and the flesh against
the spirit, and these two are contrary one to another so that
you could not do what you would. What would the spirit do? The
spirit would be holy. What would the flesh do? Only
sin. And yet we are pulled in both
directions, constantly opposing ourselves. There's a mark, you
mark this down. If you don't have a warfare within,
it's because you don't have any life. If you do not have a warfare
within, there is no life. If you're content to let the
flesh reign and be at peace with your old nature, then you are
lost and deceived. Paul had that warfare, didn't
he? Paul had that in Romans chapter seven, Romans chapter seven,
verse 14. He said, let me get back. We
know the law is spiritual, but what? I'm carnal, sold under
sin. For that which I do, I allow
not. For what I would do, I do not. But what I hate, that I do. If
then I do that which I would not, I consent to the law, it
is good. Now then, it is no more I that
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know in me, that
is in my flesh, what? Dwelleth, no good thing. There's
a warfare, oh wretched man that I am. Believer, don't let this
move you. Doesn't that move you? Doesn't
that cause you to stagger sometimes? Because of the sin of your flesh,
you begin to doubt whether you have any hope at all. Listen,
don't let that move you. That was appointed of you. Yes, struggle, yes, sin not brethren,
that's what John says, sin not, but when you sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Don't
be moved from Christ because of the affliction of the flesh,
rather stand firm on Christ. Have full assurance of faith,
looking to the object of your faith, Christ. And remember that
our Lord knoweth our frame. He remembers we are dust. And
so then reliever, remember to confess your sins because then
he is what? Faithful and just to forgive
us our sins. Remember your affliction in the
flesh is appointed in order to draw you closer to Christ. Doesn't
it? Let me ask you that, doesn't
it? Does that warfare not draw you
closer? Does that not show you more of
your need of Christ? Every day, I tell you this, I
feel more of my sin today than I did when I first believed.
Not that I was any better then or any worse now. It was always there. But God
allows us to see more and more of it, and the more we see of
it, the more we need, need Him to cleanse us of all our sins. So don't let you be moved by
that warfare that's within. Secondly, the affliction and
warfare with the world. The affliction of the world.
Believer, our Lord tells us that He came not to bring peace, but
what? A sword. Sword. What does a sword do? It divides. You chop someone in half with
a sword, you've got a division. You chop an apple in half, it's
a division. That's what a sword does. It doesn't do anything
else. It divides. It divides. Jesus said in John chapter nine,
verse 39, he said, for judgment I am come into the world. that the blind should see, and
they which see should be made blind." Judgment for two distinct
purposes. Those that are blind, he came
to satisfy judgment so that they should see him and believe on
him. The other people who say they
see, he says, I came for judgment to execute judgment on them so
that they should be made blind. Those of us who are the sheep,
God says, I'll divide all men into sheep and goats, tares from
the wheat, those who are loved of God and those who are hated
of God. And those sheep of Christ, those who are naturally blind,
destitute of hope, by satisfying justice, he gave us sight. He
gave us sight. But those goats he divides, they
say, we see, they're self-righteous. Those who think they know God
are ignorant of God's righteousness, going about to establish their
own righteousness. God will execute judgment on
them as he makes them blind. I tell you all, and what this
does is it causes division, friends, division. When I tell people
that we are the elect of God, do you not think that causes
the world to be angry? It will. We say that God doesn't love
everybody. He loves His elect. What does
that do? That causes the lost to be angry. Friends, the world will hate
you. Don't try to make friends with the world. In order to do
that, we have to compromise the gospel. Don't compromise the
gospel, friends. God's made a sort of division. Therefore, stand in Christ. Stand
and hold fast to Christ. And when the world sees it, they
will persecute you. Jesus said, they hated me before
they hated you. Servant is not greater than his
Lord. If they hated me, they'll hate you too. Why? Because we
call sin, sin. Isn't that right? Sin is sin. Whether I find it
in me or I find it in you, sin is sin. And all men need Christ
and Christ alone can save. Not you plus Christ, but Christ
alone. And that divides, friends. You
think that'd be the greatest thing in the world is to have
to do nothing. See, man always wants to do something.
Our gospel divides and the world will hate you. And the third
enemy is Satan. Satan, the prince of the dark
power of the air, spirit that now worketh in children of disobedience,
they are under his power and he will use every circumstance
to try to destroy your faith and love for Christ. He will
afflict your soul by accusations and condemnations. You remember
the high priest Joshua. He stood before the Lord in those
filthy garments without a word to say. Remember, the priest
was supposed to have holy garments, righteous garments, white garments.
But he stood in those filthy garments and Satan stood ready
to accuse him. Doesn't Satan always stand ready
to accuse you? If your conscience don't do it,
he will. He will. He's the accuser of
the brethren. But this is our hope that you
can stand fast in his affliction. He's been cast out. The scripture
says he's been cast out of heaven. I'll read it for you in Revelation
chapter 12. Revelation chapter 12, it says
this, Now is salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God and
the power of Christ. For the accuser of the brethren
is cast down, which accused them before God day and night. He's
cast down. Where's he gone? In the earth.
That's where he's at right now. He's in the earth. You see, he
cannot accuse you before God, but before your conscience he
will. And surely he does. But stand fast in this. that
God will not hear a word. In fact, when Joshua stood with
those filthy garments on, it was the Lord himself that said
to Satan, is this not a brand plucked from the burning? Of
course he's burned. Of course he stinks. He's plucked
from the burning. Take off the filthy garments,
put on the righteous garments, put a crown on his head, and
I'm gonna stand by to make sure it's done. Isn't that what happened
to you and me? So don't let his accusations
move you, friends. His accusations have no power
against you. It may hurt you, your conscience. It may cause you to feel guilt,
but know this, your guilt was removed when Christ bore it in
his own body on the tree. And God cannot demand twice payment
for sin. Stand in that, stand fast and
be confirmed in your faith. This affliction is appointed
to you. It's appointed to us. Therefore,
trust His love, trust His grace, trust His power to deliver us
from all our troubles. Isn't this why we're here? I
mean, do you not? We need this. We have enemies,
friends. We have afflictions. We have pains. We have sorrow.
We have grief. We have sickness. We have death.
And what is it that confirms our faith but the gospel of Christ? It confirms that everything we
believe to be true. And so all I'm saying, if you
believe the gospel, all you can say is, yeah, yes, that's right. That's what it says. That's what
he told me. That's my heart. I'm not telling
you anything new that you don't know, but this is stuff to confirm
your faith, to comfort you in your faith while you're in affliction. Are you tried? Are you troubled? I am. I find myself in so much
sorrow and grief. I'm afflicted on every side, but I'm not cast out. I can't be cast out because I'm
in Christ. And the only way to cast me out
is to cast him out. That's the rock that keeps me
That's the rock that protects me. That's the rock that is my
refuge in all my afflictions and all my sorrows and grief. I like what Peter said, and I'll
close with this over in 1 Peter 4. 1 Peter 4 in verse 12. Beloved, you elect of God, chosen
of God, redeemed by Christ, called by the Spirit. Beloved, think
it not strange concerning the fiery trials, which is to try
you as though some strange thing. Isn't that what you think affliction
is? Some strange thing. Whoa, where'd this, how did this,
whoa, this is strange. He said, no, that's not strange.
These afflictions were appointed for you. I tell you, they're different.
They're different, aren't they? I like old Peter, I imagine he
learned that lesson, don't you, when the Lord told him how he's
gonna die. And then he said, well, what
about John? He said, you don't worry about John. If I want him
to live forever, don't worry about John. They don't worry
about John. I told you, worry about you. Your afflictions are
appointed. My afflictions are appointed,
but don't be moved by them. They're appointed of God. May
God now confirm our faith in Christ. May we find full assurance
in him. Then we'll be comforted.