I have for you this evening a
message that I actually brought here according to what I've researched
in my notes back in 2008. And most of you will remember
this message. It's 1 Samuel chapter 21. 1 Samuel
chapter 21. And there's a statement here
that is made in this chapter, 1st Samuel 21. 1st Samuel 21. Now, if you have the Cambridge
that I have, it's page 410. Page 410. But there's a statement made
here that I just love this statement. In the last part of 1st Samuel
21, the last part of verse nine, you see that? David said, there's
none like that. Give it me. Give it me. Now, let's go back for just a
minute and refresh our memory here. Let's go back to verse
one, and we'll read down to verse nine. David is on the run here
for his life. Saul, King Saul, is determined
to kill David. David is the Lord's anointed.
He's God's king, and Saul knows it. Saul knows his days are numbered,
and he is out to kill David. David, now, is on the run. Then
came David to Nob, Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech was
afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou
alone, and no man with thee? Where's your army? He's traveling
with just a few men. Where's your army? And David
said unto Ahimelech the priest, the king hath commanded me a
business, and hath said unto me, let no man know anything
of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded
thee, and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.
Now therefore, what is under thy hand? Give me five loaves
of bread in my hand, or what is there present? Now, David
is on the run, he takes no provisions with him, has no bread, and he
sees the priest of God here with the showbread. And he said, my
man hungry. What few men we have, we're hungry.
And the priest answered David and said, this is no common bread
under my hand, but this is hallowed bread, it's the showbread. If
the young men have kept themselves at least from women, David answered
the priest and said to him of a truth, women have been kept
from us these three days since I came out, and the vessels of
the young men are holy, and the bread is a manner common, yea,
though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. Verse six,
so the priest gave him the hallowed bread, for there was no bread
there but to show bread that was taken from before the Lord
to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. Verse seven,
now a certain man A servant of Saul was there that day, detained
before the Lord, whose name was Doag the Edomite. And it's an
interesting study if you want to follow about what Doag did
to David, the Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged
to Saul. Verse 8, and David said unto
Himalek, and is there not under thy hand spear or sword? Now he left. In haste he took
no weapon with him, he took no spear and no sword, no bread,
no provision, or have neither brought my sword nor my weapons
with me because the king's business required haste. Verse nine, and
the priest said, the sword of Goliath, the Philistine whom
thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped
in a cloth behind the ephod, If thou will take that, take
it. For there is no other save that
here. And David said, oh, that sword? There's none like that sword.
There's none like that sword. You give me that one. I'll use
that one. David had used that sword before.
And remember, he killed Goliath with a stone in his sling. And
he ran up to old Goliath and took Goliath's own sword and
removed his head. You remember the story that is
given in 1 Samuel 17. Now, we ought to be able to turn
anywhere in the word of God upon any page of scripture and preach
the gospel. Because this book has one message,
and that one message is Christ. But a man used to say, find your
text and skedaddle to Christ, and that's what we do. We find
the text of scripture, and then we look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now that phrase, there's none like that, give it to me. Now
how would you make a gospel application using that phrase? Well, you
already know, don't you? There's none like that gospel.
Give that gospel to me. Give me the gospel. Now, by way
of introduction, the title then of the message is None Like That,
Give It Me. Give It Me. David being warned
by Jonathan, that was David's dear friend, of Saul's evil intentions
against him to put him to death, he flees for his life. Many times
he said, I feel like a hunted bird, a partridge. Another time
he said, there's a step between me and death. He flees for his
life, he flees in haste, he takes no food, he takes no weapon,
but he flees to a place of refuge, doesn't he? He flees to the priest
of God, a place of refuge. You see, even in this fleeing
to the priest is a picture of the gospel. Hemelech here is
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, our great high priest. And here
we have a picture of a sinner fleeing to the Lord Jesus Christ,
the only refuge of sinners. He said, come boldly unto the
throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to
help in time of need. David does receive bread. and
a sword from the priest of God, and we know even in this that
we have a shadow and type and picture of the gospel. The Lord
Jesus Christ referred to this very incident that's recorded
in Matthew chapter 12. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ,
that showbread is a picture of what? What's the picture of?
Christ, our bread. The Lord said, I'm the bread
of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger. He that believeth
on me shall never thirst. He's the bread of life. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
priest. who makes intercession for us,
who makes atonement for us. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
bread and he is our refuge, isn't he? He is our defense. A sword
is used for a defensive weapon as well as one that can be used
for an offensive weapon. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
our defense. He is our shield. He is our hiding
place. He is our refuge, isn't he? We
have a refuge in a time of storm, and that is Christ himself. He is our refuge. Psalm 62 said he's only, he is
only our refuge and our strength. When David inquired about a weapon,
he was told there was no weapon there but the sword of Goliath.
David used that sword to remove the head of Goliath when he killed
him with a stone, and then he used that very sword to remove
his head. He knew it was a good weapon.
He knew it had a sharp edge. He knew it was a sound weapon.
He said, give it to me. David said, there is none like
that. Give it me. Give it to me. I
can use that weapon. Now every believer of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ can respond with similar words because
there is no gospel like the gospel of God concerning Christ at the
power of God and the salvation. Can't you say regarding the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ there is none like that gospel Boy,
would you give that gospel to me? Preach it to me. Preach the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to me one more time. There is no message like the
gospel message of Jesus Christ and him crucified. Give me that
gospel. Preach it to me one more time. I'm determined, like Paul, I'm
determined not to know anything among you, but Jesus Christ and
him crucified. And again, he said, for as much
as in me is, I'm ready to preach the gospel to you who are at
Kingsport. He said Rome, but I can use Kingsport.
Be all right, won't it? And then he said to young Timothy,
be ready to preach the gospel. He said, I charge you before
God and the Lord Jesus Christ to preach the gospel. Be in season,
out of season, always ready to go and preach the gospel. And
we come preaching, not ourselves. Now I could tell you a lot of
wild stories about me, but it wouldn't do you any good. Wouldn't
do you one bit of good. Matter of fact, it would probably
hinder you from ever listening to me. If you actually knew how
sinful and ungodly I really am, you'd probably turn a deaf ear.
But you know what? You're just as sinful as I am.
So here's one sinner telling another sinner where bread is
found, and that's Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is all
in salvation. You know, over the years, I've
been trying to preach the gospel now over 30 years. I've never
heard a believer complain that we preached Christ too often,
that we exalted him too much, or we gave him too much honor
or too much glory. Now I've said I've never heard
a believer complain. Now I've heard some folks complain,
oh he preaches Christ. All you preach is Christ, His
person, His work. Now I've heard some people complain
that we exalt Christ too much. I'd like to be guilty of that,
exalting Him too much and giving Him all the honor and glory.
But I've never heard a believer complain that we preach Christ
too often, too high, or give Him too much honor and glory. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive all honor, glory, and blessing, both now and forever. God forbid, we should glory save
in the cross of our blessed Savior. Now let's take this phrase, there's
nothing like that, give it to me. Let's take that phrase here
and apply it to the gospel. And I want to use that phrase
in regard to five things, five different texts in the word of
God concerning the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I
won't wear you down. but turn to Ephesians chapter
six. I think I can get, you're used
to, Brother Gabe, you talk about me not being here, but maybe
once a year, but I'm often with you on Sunday night, whether
you, you can't see me, but I can see you. And I'm often with you
here on Sunday night, and I know that Brother Gabe does such a
good job about managing his time, and I've been trying to learn
that for a good number of years. But Ephesians chapter 6, Ephesians
chapter 6, I actually brought this message and the radio program
that we have, and it's a 15-minute broadcast. So I can get through
this. I practice 15 minutes. but it's
probably going to take me just a little bit longer okay Ephesians
chapter six verse thirteen wherefore take unto you the whole armor
of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day having
done all to stand stand therefore having your loins girt about
with the truth having on the breastplate of righteousness
and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace above
all taking the shield of faith wherewith you should be able
to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Take the helmet
of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word
of God. Now here's the first thing. In
regards to the holy inspired word of God, can't you say there
is none like his word? Don't tell me what you think.
Give me the word. Give me the scripture, the chapter
and verse. Give me the word of the Lord.
In regard to holy scripture, the inspired word of God, every
believer can say, well, there's nothing like that. Give me the
word. The word here in Ephesians chapter
six is called the sword of the spirit, which is the word of
God. We find in Hebrew chapter four
that the word of God is quick and powerful, sharper, sharper
than any. Two-edged sword. When a doctor
operates on you, you want him to use not a blunt instrument.
You don't want to be operated on with an axe. You want to be
operated on with a sharp sword so we can delicately and exactly
make that incision to get right to the heart of the matter. That's
what the Word of God does. He takes that sharp Word of God,
blessed of the Holy Spirit, and he operates upon the And he cuts
right to the quick. He gets right to the main problem.
And he operates on us. And he breaks our heart. And
he makes us a new creature in Christ. And he does that with
the word of God. It's quick and powerful, sharper
than any two-edged sword, dividing asunder soul and spirit. Now consider the word of God.
There's none like that. Give it to me. Consider who the
author of the word is. All scripture is God-breathed. All scripture is God-given. Holy men of old spake as they
were moved or driven by God the Holy Spirit. These words we read
are not the words of John, not the words of Peter, not the words
of Paul. They're the word of God, the
true and living God. So consider who the author is.
God Almighty, all scripture is God-given, God-inspired. Consider
who the subject of this book is. What is the subject of this
book? I mean, it's a big book. I've
been looking at it for a lot of years and I'm still learning
new things every day. And it's so exciting. I go to
work every day looking into the Word of God and to me it's like
going into a gold mine. You just go in there and you
start picking out these nuggets here and here and here. And there's
such a blessing. It's such a blessing to study
the Word of God. And the reason it's a blessing,
because in thy book revealed we see the beauty and glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider who the subject of this
book is. The Lord, preaching to those
two men on the road to Emmaus and beginning up Moses and all
the scripture, he expounded unto them the things in the word of
God concerning himself. It's all about Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ. To him, give all the prophets
witness. Our Lord said to those Jews in
that day, John chapter five, you are they which search the
scriptures but they are they which testify of me." The whole
word of God is all about the Lord Jesus Christ, his person
and his work. Now consider the effects of the
word preached when it's blessed with God the Holy Spirit. Jeremiah
said his word like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces. There's no heart too hard for
the Lord God Almighty to break. There's no rock that he cannot
break. The word is like a hammer that
breaks the hardened heart. We know from reading the scripture,
what it says of itself, that the word is soul quickening.
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth. It is heartwarming. Those two men on the road to
Emmaus in Luke 24, you remember what they said? Didn't our heart
burn within us while he opened to us the word of God? It is
soul-quickening. It is heart-warming. It's a guide
and light unto our feet. It is the children's bread. It is our milk. Desire the sincere
milk of the word that you might grow thereby. You see, the point
I'm trying to make is this. There is nothing to the believer
to the believer, now like the word of God. Every believer can
say, give me the word. Show me Christ in this book.
Give me the word that I may learn of the Lord Jesus Christ. Preach
the word. Preach Christ from the word.
Give me the word that I may have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. How does faith come? Well, we
know it's a gift of God. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the word. The word, Christ is that word,
isn't it? Give me the word that I may grow
in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul's
last words to those therein recorded in Acts chapter 20. Now brethren,
I commend you to God. and to the word of his grace,
the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to
give you inheritance among all them that are sanctified. So
you got point number one. If we went to school on this,
you could pass the test, right? If there's none like that, his
word, give me what thus saith the Lord. Give me the word of
God. Second thing is this, in regard
to salvation, now let's see what the word says. Turn to Acts chapter
4. This is one of my favorite stories
in Acts chapter 4. In regard to salvation, there
is none like that. Can't we say that in regard to
salvation? There's none like that. I mean, he's the only Savior. He said, I'm God. Beside me,
there is no other. He's the only just God and Savior. In regard to salvation, there
is none like Christ. Give him to me. You see, salvation's
in a person, in a person. Now, you remember the story here.
Peter and John had healed a man in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and these Pharisees wanted to know, Acts chapter 4, verse
9. You with me? Verse 9. If we this
day be examined of the good deed done to this infinite man, you
remember this cripple was made whole, by what means he is made
whole? Be it known unto you and all
the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by
him, doth this man stand here before you whole? This is that
stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become
The head of the corner, the Lord said, I will build my church
in the gates of hell, shall not prevail against it, neither,
now here's one of my favorite verses in the book of Acts, neither
is there salvation in any other. That tells us salvation's in
a person. For there is none other name. Know of the name, his name
is wonderful, Counselor of the mighty God, the everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. Then know of the name, God has
given him a name which is above every name, that that name every
knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord. For there's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby, if you're gonna be saved, we
must be saved by this name. the Lord Jesus Christ by this
one, by this person. He is the Lord and he is the
Christ of God. You see, there's just one gospel.
There's one Lord, one faith. and one way of salvation. There's no other name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved. Give me that salvation. I don't want another. I don't
want a refuge of lies. I want that salvation. I want
Christ who is our salvation. The whole of this salvation is
totally of the Lord Jesus Christ who is God our Savior. It's God who called us and saved
us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
God's own purpose and grace, given us in Christ before the
foundation of the world. The whole of this salvation is
totally of the Lord, is it not? Salvation is of the Lord. He purposed it from all eternity,
the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. He purchased it
with His own blood. We are bought with a price. What
was that price? We are redeemed with the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Purpose from eternity is a lamb
slain from the foundation of the world, purchased it with
his own blood, and he performs the applying of this by his will
and by his purpose. In other words, He'll have mercy
on whom he will have mercy. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but it's God that shows mercy. He will have mercy on whom he
will have mercy. He performs the applying of this
salvation. God who has begun a good work
in you. God, we're being confident of
this very thing, that God who has begun a good work in you,
well, you know, it might get done. Maybe if you let him, No,
God who has begun a good work in you, he will finish it, he
will perform it, he will perfect it unto the glory of God. You see, there's no other Savior
like that Savior. There's none like him. Give me
the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other sacrifice for
sin, the Lord Jesus Christ. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. The Lord
Jesus Christ, being our great high priest, did not bring the
typical animal sacrifice, did he? What did he bring? he brought
his own blood. He obtained eternal redemption
for us with his own blood. There was no other justifying
righteousness but by the faithfulness and obedience of the Lord Jesus
Christ and him crucified. Paul put it this way, blessed
is a man to whom the Lord imputed, imputed, imputed righteousness
without your works, without your contribution. That's a blessed
man in Christ. You see, it's all upon His performance,
upon His faithfulness, upon His obedience. Lord, give me that
redemption. There's nothing like that. Give
me that righteousness before God. He is the Lord, our righteousness. Give me that one. Give me Christ,
or else I die. There is no other righteousness,
no other redemption, no other sacrifice for sin. Give me Christ. There is no other way of reconciliation
between God and the sinner. but through that one advocate,
one mediator. Who is that? Well, there's one
God and one mediator between God and men, and that is the
God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. God was in Christ reconciling
his people unto himself. So we can conclude that there's
none like that salvation that's of the Lord. Give that to me,
and aren't you glad that it's the free gift of God? being justified
freely by his grace to the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's none like that. Give it to me. Give it to me
that I may be justified before God, being justified by faith
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Give that
salvation to me that I may win Christ and be found in him and
count all else dung and ruin, that I may be found in Christ. There's none like that salvation,
give it to me, that I may be accepted in the beloved. Accepted
in the Beloved, that's what we read a moment ago, isn't it?
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath accepted
us in the Beloved. He did not make us acceptable. We are accepted in the Beloved,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Thirdly is this, you with me?
Third thing is this, in regard to God's love revealed and made
known, revealed and made known in the scripture, there's none
like that love of God. The love of God. Give that to
me. Give that to me. Now turn to
John chapter 13. Remember the songwriter said
about the love of God, could we with ink the ocean fill? And
were the skies of parchment made, were every stock on earth a quill,
and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love of God above
would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain the
whole, though stretched from sky to sky. This love of God,
John chapter 13. Did you turn there? You're already
there, aren't you? John chapter 13. And we could
turn to many other scriptures. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we
should be called sons of God. But look right there in John
13, verse 1. Now before the feast of the Passover,
when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart
out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own. Whom does he love? He loves his
own. Having loved his own which are
in the world, he loved them right to the end. That doesn't mean
that there's an end of his love because his love is an everlasting
love, but he loved them in this life right to his last breath. In God, in regard to God's love
revealed and made known in Christ, there's none like that. Give
it to me. You see, his love is electing
love, electing love. We are bound to give thanks to
God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation. This love of God
is electing love. It is sacrificial love as well. Herein is love not that we love
God but that he loved us and that he sent his son to be this
sacrifice for our sin and it certainly when we talk about
the love of God it is sovereign love isn't it? Sovereign love.
Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated, His love is also drawing
love. He's loved his own with an everlasting
love, therefore with loving kindness, what does he do? He draws us. He draws us sweetly, irresistibly. You know how he draws us irresistibly?
How he draws us everlastingly? He makes himself irresistible.
He makes Himself so lovely and He shows us our need that we
skeedaddle and hug up to Christ and love Him in our heart. We
love Him because He first loved us. You see, His love is drawing
love. His love is glorifying love.
He gives Him all the honor and glory and His love is adopting
love. He's made us sons of God. He's adopted us into His family
by His sovereign will. by his sovereign choice, and
nobody's gonna change his will. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. Ephesians chapter one we read
just a moment ago. None, there is none like that
love in Christ, God's love in Christ. Give me that love of
which there's no separation from that love of God in Christ Jesus. I know this, none will perish
for whom Christ loves. And because they'll he said all
that the father giveth me shall come to me and those that come
to me I will I know wise cast out None will perish for whom
Christ loves he loved them with that ever lacked everlasting
love he died For them to put away their sin with a sacrificial
love and they'll all be brought to him in his loving kindness
now I don't want anything to do with a love that is a failure
and God loves me, some people say, but I'm gonna perish anyway
if I don't meet certain conditions. That's not any kind of love.
I don't want anything to have anything to do with it. And this love
of God that's revealed in scripture is totally different. God said,
I've loved them with an everlasting love, and I've bought them with
my blood, and I'm gonna take them home to glory, and I'll
not lose one of them. Not one of them. I will in no
wise cast them out. Nothing, nothing at all. The
love of Christ, 1 Corinthians 13 says, the love of Christ never
fails. It never fails. And that scripture
that I love in Isaiah 42, where it says that he cannot fail.
And everything he undertakes, he cannot fail. God, our God's
not a failure. He knows a lot about agony, but
doesn't know anything about agony or defeat. He won the victory
for us. He's the captain of our salvation.
that knows nothing of failure. He cannot fail because he's God.
Now, see there's none like that love. Give me that love. Give me that love by your grace. Here's the fourth thing. In regard
to saving faith, God honoring faith, there is none like that. Give it to me. Now, let's turn
and look at this reference and we could turn to many, many scriptures.
Romans chapter five, verse one. We could turn to many scriptures
when we talk about faith. Faith is a gift of God. Not of
worthless any man should boast. But Romans 5.1 says this, therefore
being justified by faith. Let's back up and read verse
25. Who was delivered for our offenses, raised again because
he justified us with his blood. Therefore being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We receive him by faith. That's
how we receive the Lord Jesus Christ, by God-given faith. There's none like God-honoring,
saving faith that's a gift of God. There's none like that faith,
the faith of God-delect. I want that faith, don't you?
I don't want a sham faith. I don't want a phony faith. I
want that real, genuine faith that's a gift of God that looks
totally only and solely, completely, eternally to the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the author and finisher of our faith. He said, look unto
me and be ye saved. For I am God and there is none
else. Without faith, it is most difficult
to please God. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. It is impossible to please God
without faith. Lord, give me that faith. You
see, a man without faith is a man without Christ. A man without
Christ is a man without salvation, without life. Lord, give me that
faith. Give it to me. Give it to me.
Give me faith that I may lay hold on Christ. A man without
faith is a man without Christ, without righteousness, without
redemption, without salvation. We know that faith Faith is not
something that's native to this heart, is it? What is native
to this heart? We know what it is. We love darkness
rather than the light. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. The natural man cannot receive
the things of God. Faith is a gift of God. Arthur
Pink, some of you read some of Arthur Pink's writings. Most
of it's pretty good, but read with caution. But one thing he
said, faith is something exotic. Exotic, that is, it doesn't bloom
in here naturally. It's something that comes from
outside of us that God implants as a gift of God in your heart
and he causes it to bloom. Faith is a gift of God. Faith
is obtained through the righteousness of Christ. Faith is obtained
through the gospel. Faith doesn't empower the gospel.
The gospel empowers faith. Faith has one object, looking
unto the Lord Jesus Christ, who's the author and finisher of our
faith. Faith believes, loves, and acknowledges the truth. The faith of God's elect loves
the truth. They can spot a lie. They can
spot a lie. Let God be true and every man
a liar. You see, faith is according to
the word of truth. Faith believes, loves, and acknowledges
the word of truth. The faith of God's elect loves
the true gospel of God that's glorifying to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, can't you say about this
saving faith, this God-honoring faith, there's none like that?
Lord, give me that faith. You know, faith is called this
precious gift of God. We are redeemed with his precious
blood, but faith is also called the precious gift of God. Lord, give me that saving faith. We read in John chapter 5, barely,
barely the Lord said, I send you that he that heareth my word
and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life, shall
not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. He that heareth my word and believeth
on him that sent me has eternal life. Give me that faith that
I may please God in Christ. Give me, Lord, by your grace,
give me that faith that I may lay hold upon the Lord Jesus
Christ. Give me that faith that I may
be justified in Christ. For we read in Acts 13, By him,
all that believe are justified from all things which you could
not be justified by the law of Moses. Give it to me. Give me
that faith, the faith of God's elect, that I may win Christ
and count all else done, lost, and ruined, that I may be found
in Christ, that I may win him and be found in him, not having
my own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is
through the faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by His faithfulness, not yours. You see, saving faith
doesn't look in here. Did you know that? Saving faith
looks to Christ alone. Now here's the last one. In regards
to our hope, can't you say, Lord, give me a good hope. There's
none like that hope we have in Christ, for it is a good hope. Now let's see if we can find
that in the scripture. Let's find 2 Thessalonians 2,
verse 16 is the verse I want. 2 Thessalonians 2.13. And we'll just read verse 16.
Verse 13 says, we are bound to give thanks always to God for
you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, brethren, stand fast, hold to the truth which you've
been taught, whether by word or by epistle, now, verse 16,
our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, even our Father, who
had loved us and given us an everlasting consolation and,
oh, a good hope through the law. I misread that. I want to see
if he's paying attention. A good hope through grace. We believe through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved, even as others,
the apostle put it that way. Every believer has a good hope,
but only through grace. Only through grace. Now stay
right here in 2 Thessalonians, chapter two, and if you have
the Cambridge, the authorized Cambridge, look right across
the page. to 1 Timothy 1, verse 1, Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior,
Lord Jesus Christ, our hope. He's our hope. We have a good
hope through grace. You know why? Because he's our
hope. We have a good hope in Christ. You see, Christ in you
What is that? The hope of glory, isn't it?
Christ in you, the hope of glory. Our hope of salvation is based
upon the eternal, unchanging promises of God. I'm persuaded
like Abraham of old. Abraham was strong in faith,
giving glory unto God, being fully persuaded. I'm of this
persuasion. Next time someone asks you, what
persuasion are you? Tell him this way. Answer him
this way. I'm persuaded of all that God has promised, not one
word will fail. Of all that is promised, he will
perform. That's a good hope. Give me that
hope. There's none like that. Give
it to me. This was David's hope of salvation
in Christ. For he says, Psalm 23, Some of
you young preachers, get this outline and work on it. Through
the Psalms where it says the Lord is, look up what he says,
the Lord is, and use that as an outline. I started to do that,
but didn't. Psalm 23 said the Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not want. My God shall supply all your
need according to his riches in glory. Psalm 27 one says,
the Lord is my light. Oh, and he's my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Now that's
a good hope. The Lord is my hope. He is all of my salvation. And
then Psalm 46 says, God is our refuge and strength of every
present help in trouble. Now our hope of salvation is
not a mere wish. It's not a shot in the dark. It's in a blessed person, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is our hope, and there's
no other hope as this hope. Lord, give me that hope. There's
nothing like that. David's last word, 2 Samuel 23. Although it be not so with my
house, he hath made with thee an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things, and is sure, this is all my salvation and all my
desire. What's he saying? It's all my
hope. Do you have any other hope of forgiveness but Christ? Do
you have any other hope of redemption and reconciliation but the Lord
Jesus Christ? Is there any other hope of resurrection
glory but the Lord Jesus Christ? He is our hope. There's none like that hope we
have in Christ. Lord, give that to me. Give that
to me. Bless me with it. In the Lord
Jesus Christ, We have, in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have endless
hope because our hope is eternal hope. With the Lord Jesus Christ,
there is endless hope. Without Christ, there is hopeless
end. Hopeless end without him. You
see, he is the God of hope. He is a God of all comfort. He's
a God of hope, Romans 15, 13. He's a God of all comfort and
he's a God of all grace. Our prayer. Let's make this our
prayer, each one of us. There is none like our God and
Savior. Lord, give me your grace to look
to Christ only and always in him. And this is the record that
God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his
son. He that hath the Son hath life, he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. Of His fullness have all we received
grace for grace. In Him dwells all the fullness
of a Godhead bodily, and we are complete in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, next time you read 1 Samuel
21, you look at verse 9 carefully, won't you? Oh, there's nothing
like Christ. There's nothing like that. Lord,
give me Christ.