Please be seated. Turn with me, if you would, to
1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5. And let's read verses 23 and
24. And the very God of peace. Sanctify you wholly. And I pray God your whole spirit
and soul and body. Be preserved blameless. Unto
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth
you who also will do it. God will do it. God will do it. Because he's faithful. He's faithful. Now I want to get to God's faithfulness
this morning. But I want us to enter into something
first that the Apostle Paul wrote in verse 23. He said in the middle
of the verse, I pray God, your whole spirit and soul and body
be preserved blameless. Your whole spirit, soul and body. He said, I pray God. Now this
is the absolute truth. This is the absolute truth. There
is only one God. One God, the very God. He said, I pray God. I pray to the one and only God. He said, God said, I am the Lord
and there is none else. There is no God beside me. There's only one God. And God
is three persons. Three distinct individual persons. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Spirit. And man naturally and wrongly
thinks of God in a vertical line. God the father. God the son. And God the spirit. As though there is God. And then God has a son. And the
two of them employ a helper. That is not the Godhead. That
is not the Godhead. Philippians 2 says, Christ thought
it not robbery to be equal with God. John 1 says, In the beginning
was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Hebrews chapter 1 the father
said to the son thy throne Oh God is forever and ever So the
Father of God the Son of God and the Spirit of God These three
are one These three are one when God made man he said I Let us
make man in our image. Now that's something that the
natural mind cannot understand. Just cannot understand. Three
distinct persons. We can understand that. But there's
only one God. There's only one God. That's
just too far above us to understand. But if we can enter into what
the apostle said about the three distinct characters of each one
of us, then maybe we can enter in just
a little bit to the three persons of the Godhead. He said, I pray
God, your whole spirit and soul and body. Man is born into this world with
a body and a soul. A body and a soul. The body houses
the soul. The soul lives in the body. The
soul animates the body. Two completely separate entities. Two completely separate entities.
If you cut off a piece of the body, it does not mean you have
cut off a piece of the soul. They are two completely separate
entities. But these two are one. I mean, these two are one. You
cannot separate them and still have life on this earth. You
can't separate them. They are and they must be one. They're one. All right. So man is born into this world
with a body and a soul. But that's all. That's all a body and a soul.
The soul and the body together create a natural life. Men and women live in this world
a natural animated life. They live life. But man is born
into this world spiritually dead. Spiritually dead, meaning the
spirit is not there. non-existent. When the soul is not in the body,
when the soul is non-existent, that body is physically dead. That's what happens when we die.
The soul leaves the body, the soul is non-existent in the body
and that person, that body is physically dead. Therefore to say that man is
born into this world Spiritually dead Is to say there is no spirit
in the body No spirit in the person When God comes to his own When
God quickens one of his own I who has all of his or her lifetime
been dead in trespasses and sins, came forth dead in trespasses
and sins. When he quickens that sinner
to eternal life, he does so by sending his spirit to that sinner. He puts his own spirit in that
sinner. He said, I will put my spirit
within you. The Spirit of Christ in a person
is the hope of glory. That is the hope of life. Christ
in you. Now, for every child of God who
has been quickened to eternal life, there is a body, a soul,
and a spirit in each one of us. Three distinct entities. One vital union. One vital union. They cannot be separated. They're
one. And it's the same with our God. Is there a father and a son? Yes. But he said, if you've seen
me, you have seen the father. You cannot separate us. Can't
separate us. Philip said to him, show us the
father. He said, have I been so long
time with you, Philip, and you have not known me? I'm right
here. Isaiah said unto us, a child
is born. Call his name the everlasting
father. Our salvation, it was signed,
it was sealed, and it was delivered by the collective work of our
God. the three persons of the Godhead. All the fullness of the Father,
all the fullness of the Son, and all the fullness of the Spirit
has been manifested to us in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. All the Godhead is seen right
there in Him. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. That's who the very God is. That's
who the very God is. That's who the faithful God is.
This morning, I want us to see something of his faithfulness
toward us in salvation. Verse 24 says, faithful is he
that calleth you who also will do it. His faithfulness to us. When God starts to reveal something
of a person's own sin to him or her, and we don't know anything
of our own sin. We don't know anything of our
own sin. We think every now and then we commit a little sin.
I shouldn't have done that. We don't know anything of our
own sin. But if God ever starts to reveal
something of the absolute vileness, the absolute Putrefying wickedness
of our sin and if we belong to him he will He will he will begin
to reveal Like he has to every other child of his before us. He will reveal something of our
sin to us Saul of Tarsus the man who penned this Saul of Tarsus spent his whole
life in religion and He was a religious man, a church going man, a representative
of the church. He went to a seminary college.
He studied to be a Pharisee of the Pharisees. One day on the
road to Damascus, God revealed to him something of what he was. And from that moment forward,
he spent the rest of his days on this earth crying, Oh, wretched
man that I am. Oh, wretched man that I am. I
tell you a good evidence, this is a good evidence that God has
not yet revealed himself to a person. That person has not yet gotten
hold of his sin, something of his sin. When God starts to reveal
something of a person's sin to him or her, from that moment
on, The greatest glory of the gospel is God's faithfulness. His faithfulness in spite of
us, in spite of our sin. All of God's people continually
say, why me? Why me? Why would he save me?
Oh, his faithfulness in spite of me. He said, I am the Lord,
I change not. And that's why you sons of Jacob,
sons of the sinner, trickster, supplanter, That's why you're
not consumed. Now, I want us to see five things
that he declares right here that he has been and he will be faithful
in. The first one is his faithfulness
in making peace for us. He made peace for us. Verse 23
says, and the very God of peace, the God of peace in our natural
state without his spirit, we were at such enmity against him
such enemies of his had no idea but we were enemies of his and
it took the faithful work of all three members of the godhead
to make peace for us look with me if you would at first peter
chapter one First Peter 1 verse 1 says, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ
to the strangers, not to every single person in
Pontus and Galatia and Cappadocia and Asia and Bithynia, to the
strangers scattered throughout those regions. Elect, verse 2
says. Who's he writing to specifically?
The elect. Scattered throughout elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the father That's the work of God
the father He chose God the father the father
of God chose who God would save That was the work of the father
verse 2 says through sanctification of the spirit That's the work
of the spirit setting apart each one of those people, immersing
them into Christ, quickening them to life. Verse two goes
on to say, unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ. That's the work of God, the son,
giving his life, giving his body, giving his blood to pay the debt
of all the sin of his people. The father chose him. The Spirit
quickened them, Son redeemed them. That's what it took. That
was the work of God. Look with me at 1 Thessalonians
1. 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 1 says, 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. Verse four says, knowing
brethren beloved your election of God. That was the work of
God the Father. God, he said, God chose you.
Verse five says, for our gospel came not unto you in word only,
but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance,
as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
That's the work of the Spirit. Notifying, convincing, quickening,
opening the eyes, opening the ears, opening the understanding
of the heart. Verse 9 says, For they themselves show of us what
manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you turned
to God from idols. The greatest idol that every
sinner has is his own self. He loves himself. He worships
himself. He praises himself. He glorifies
himself. And how amazing it is when God
turns us from our idols to the living and true God. Verse 10,
and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the
dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. That's
the work of the son paying that price. And he paid it in full. How do we know that? God raised
him from the dead, paid in full. Go with me over to Ephesians
1. Ephesians 1 verse 3 says, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
Now here's the work of the Father. Verses 4 and 5. according as
he hath chosen us in him. And did he do that after he saw
that we were worthy to be chosen? No, he did it before the foundation
of the world. that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good
pleasure of his will. All right, now here's the work
of the Son. Verses six and seven. To the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved, in
whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of his grace. The father chose,
the son redeemed, here's the work of the spirit, verse eight
and nine. Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
having made known unto us the mystery of his will according
to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself. Verse 13
says, in whom you also trusted after that you heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also that
you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
You notice how none of these verses say, this is your work. This is the work you do. None
of these verses give a work to us. Somebody will say, well,
that says after you believed, We'll go to Ephesians 2 verse
8. It says, For by grace are you saved through faith, believing
God, and that is not of yourselves. That is the gift of God. God's
gift. People naturally believe that
salvation is a cooperation. This is critical. Critical information. People naturally believe, and
it's so hard to get over this, even after people hear the truth,
it's still so hard to get over this. People naturally believe
that salvation is a cooperation between me and God. He offers it, I accept it. He takes the first step, I take
the second step. That is not so. That's not so. It was a cooperative
effort, but none of us were involved. It was the work of the Father,
the Son, and the Spirit alone. Alone. Salvation is of the Lord. It's of the Lord, the very God
of our peace. It was His faithful work alone.
All right, now go with me back to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Verse 23 says, and the very God
of peace sanctify you wholly, W-H-O-L-L-Y, wholly, completely,
completely. Sanctified means set apart. It means made holy. And the very
God was faithful in sanctifying His people wholly, completely. He left no work undone. What do I have to do? But wait
a minute now. What do I have to do? But I'm not understanding
something. What is my role? What do I have
to do? He left no work undone. He left no work undone. When he cried, it is finished,
it was finished. I mean, it was finished. We are not almost complete in
Him. We are complete in Him. Salvation is D-O-N-E, done. It is done. Turn with me to 1
Corinthians chapter 6. I think this is one of the most
encouraging portions of Scripture you could ever read. 1 Corinthians
6 verse 9 says, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of
themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of
God. None of them. Verse 11 says,
and such were some of you. I guess with the Corinthians,
some of them were some of those things, but for the Kingsportians,
it needs to be said, and such were all of you. But look what
it says next. But you are washed. But you are sanctified. But you
are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit
of our God. Had God not done that, you would
have never entered in. But you're washed. You're sanctified. You're justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Our God never
leaves a work undone. Never. He's faithful. He's faithful. He came here to wash us from
our sins in his own blood and that's what he did. You are washed. You're washed. Just rest in His
Word. I used to be so concerned when
I first started preaching. I used to be so concerned that
I was going to give somebody false hope. I used to think about
that saying, you are washed. But what if they're not washed?
Christ died for the elect. God chose a people. And I honestly,
for so long, I was concerned about giving somebody a false
hope, telling them, you're washed in the blood of Jesus Christ,
worried that somebody might believe it who was not one of the elect.
But then the Lord caused my heart to rest. If they are not one
of the elect, they can't believe it. They can't believe it. You will tell men and women,
you are washed. Christ put it away. It's complete. Rest. And if they're not one
of God's own, they'll say, I don't believe that. You got to do this,
and you got to do this, and you got to do this, and you got to
do this, and you got to do this. If a sinner says, oh, that's
wonderful. Rest. You're washed. You're sanctified. You are cleansed. Rest in His
Word. Somebody will say, I know, I
hear it, and I believe it, but I don't see it in myself. I don't
see this sanctified washing in myself. That's because you weren't
washed in yourself. You were washed in Him. And we'll
never see it in ourself. We see it in Him. We were washed
in Him. He is our sanctification before
God. He's our washing before God.
And in Him, that washing is complete. He started it. He finished it. Because He's faithful. Go back
to our text. 1 Thessalonians 5. Verse 23 says, and the very God
of peace sanctify you wholly. And I pray God, your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless. Our God was so faithful
in making peace for us. He was faithful in sanctifying
us wholly, completely. And He's faithful every single
day. You realize how far short we
come, how far we fall in this sin that has been revealed to
us every single day. But right now, day after day, He is preserving us blameless. We are being preserved blameless. We're being kept by the power
of God. The sin, this sin, it is so burdening. It brings us so far down. Oh,
it just brings us so far down. It really does cause us to say,
oh wretched man that I still am. It really does cause us to
say that. Still so prone to wander. Lord,
I still feel it. Still. But let me show you something
in Lamentations chapter 3. Lamentations chapter 3. Chapter Isaiah after Jeremiah. Lamentations Chapter 3. Verse 21 says. This I recall
to my mind. Therefore have I hope. It is
of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his
compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. That mercy, not getting what
we deserve, That mercy that we so desperately need in the blood
of the son. It is inexhaustible. It starts
over brand new every single morning and to every soul that the father
chose to receive that mercy. and to every soul that the spirit
plunged in that mercy. That fountain of mercy is faithfully,
not only filled up to the brim, but running over every single
morning, every morning. In his mercy, the very God is
faithfully preserving his people, blameless. Go with me back to
the text. First Thessalonians five, verse
24 says, faithful is he that calleth you who also will do
it. Faithful is he that calleth you. Every soul that he made peace
for, every soul that he sanctified wholly, every soul that he is
preserving blameless to every one of them, He will send His
call to every one of them. He will send His call. It's not
a call to action. It's not a call to a work. It's
a call to believe. It's a call to just hear His
voice, hear His words, and believe Him. It's a call to come to Him
in the heart. by faith, bow to him, believe
on him, rest in him. He said, all that the father
giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. He said, come unto me all ye
that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. I'll
give you rest from trying to work your way to pleasing God. I'll give you rest from all your
fear over sin. Samuel said, Speak, Lord, thy
servant here. Call me. Please call me. Please
speak to me. Faithful is he that calleth you
who also will do it. If God has chosen to do a work
in you, he'll call you. He will call you. And when you
hear his voice, you're gonna know you're hearing the voice
of the faithful one. Faithful is he that calleth you. Now let's close acknowledging
one more thing that our faithful God will do. You may have noticed
that I skipped the end of verse 23. Unto the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ. He was faithful in making peace
for us, He was faithful in sanctifying us wholly. He is faithful in
preserving us blameless. He will be faithful in calling
every soul of his to himself. And in his faithfulness, he will
come again and take us home. He will. He will. He said, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. Never. And he will remain faithful to
that promise. I'll never leave you. I'll never
forsake you. Never. Faithful is he that calleth
you who also will do it. He'll do it. Okay, let's all
stand together. Turn with me to hymn number 40.
Hymn number 40.