Turn back to 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians. I want to pick up in verse 4. And the title of the message
is, Chosen and Changed. Chosen and changed. Or, the evidence
of your election. The evidence of your election.
But chosen and changed is the one that was on my mind as I
looked at this. Now he says in verse 4, Knowing
brethren, beloved, your election of God. The doctrine of election
is a very clear Bible doctrine. It is very clear. You cannot read the Word of God,
or I don't know how one can read the Word of God, and not say
that the Word of God teaches that God chose a people. It's
all through the Word of God. It's a Bible doctrine. It is
one of the foundational doctrines of the gospel. It's one of the
very foundational doctrines of the gospel. And therefore we
preach it as from the Word of God. We do not hold back. We
do not hold back at all, telling men and women that God chose
a people. If God had not chosen a people,
we would be like the fallen angels. No hope. There would be no hope. There would be no Savior. If
God had not chosen a people, no one would be saved at all.
The doctrine of election gives God all the glory. in salvation. That's why lost men and women
hate it. It's because it gives God all
the glory. It takes salvation out of my
hands and puts it into the hands of God. Do you know anyone? Do you know any hands better
for it to be in than His? I don't. I would much rather
God make the choice than me, because I know how fickle I am,
I know how fickle we are. Today we choose, tomorrow we're
tired of it, the next day we discard it. That's us. But now
if God chooses, He never changes. If God has chosen me in Christ,
before the foundation of the world, that will never change. There's
nothing I will ever do in my lifetime on this earth that God
doesn't know before He created the heavens and the earth. And
He chose me. He chose me. In Romans 11.5 it says, Even
so then, at this present time also there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. Election is according to the
grace of God. God did not choose me or choose
you because you were smarter, there was something about your
character that was just outstanding. No. No. None good, no not one. I have
written out by that verse, even me. Even me. We have all come
short of the glory of God. Everyone. Everyone. It's an election of grace. Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians
2.13, But 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. The doctrine of election is also
a doctrine of praise. It gives God all the glory. It's
a doctrine in which we give thanks. We give thanks to God that He
chose us in Christ, loved us in Christ, and called us in Christ. He didn't leave us alone. When
you think about the fallen angels, they have no hope. They have
no Savior. Now there is a whole host of
elect angels that didn't fall. God chose them. I think it's
interesting that no one ever gets upset. I've never talked
to anyone that was upset over the fact that God chose some
angels to keep their first estate and let others fall. I've never
heard anyone get upset about that. But when you talk about
God exercising His sovereign right over me, over you, over
the human race, men and women get... lost men and women, not
saved now. Lost men and women hate that.
It's like he can be sovereign at your house but not mine. You
know, He can be sovereign and create the world. He can create
the world however big He wants to create it. He can create a
tree just like He wants to create it, just like He wills to create
it. He can create animals, or cows, or horses. He can do all
of that. But when it comes to salvation,
let me have a say-so in it. I don't think so. I tell you
what, I read someone said, or someone said one time, when you
create a world, you make the choices. When you create one,
you go ahead and run it like you want to. But this one's God's.
The earth is the Lord's, the fullness thereof, and they who
dwell therein. It's His. And He'll run it just like it
pleases Him to do so. Simply put, We cannot preach
the gospel and not preach the doctrine of election. It's a
foundational doctrine. It is. You can't preach Jesus
Christ and not preach Him as the elect. He says in Isaiah
42, Behold mine, what? Mine elect, whom my soul delights. And Paul, he mentions this. He
mentions it twice to them here in this epistle and then in 2
Thessalonians. He mentions it as I read it to
you here a minute ago. And the way Paul knew that the
Thessalonians were the elect, he said, knowing brethren, and
he's talking here about himself. I know you're one of God's elect.
This is what he's writing to them. I know you're one of God's
elect. And the reason I know this is the same way that we
know it today. Changed lives. Changed lives. Now he says here in verse 5, For our gospel, our gospel, you
know the gospel is of God. The Gospels of God. The Gospel
is about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. You know that. It's about
His person. God manifests in the flesh. It's
about Himself as a man. He's bone of our bone and flesh
of our flesh. God became a man. The older I
get and the more I study the Scriptures, that to me is astounding. It's astounding that God, in
all His greatness, in all His glory, became one of us. He became one of us. God, the
universe can't contain Him. The heaven of heavens cannot
contain God. And yet, in that man, Jesus Christ,
it says, the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily. That's God. That Nazarene walking
around is God. That man from Galilee is God. That man sitting down there and
bringing that child over and sitting that child on his knee
and blesses that child, that's God. The one saying, come to me all
ye that labor and heavy laden, I'll give you rest, that's God.
That's God. The gospel is about Jesus Christ,
the Son of God. It's about His manhood. It's
about His substitutionary work. He bore our sins in His body
on the tree. He was made to be sin for us
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He who knew no
sin was made to be sin. God took upon Him flesh and made
Himself to be sin for us. who knew no sin, that you and
I might be made the righteousness of God in Him." The gospel is
about Jesus Christ as the Mediator. He's the only Mediator between
God and man. There is no going to God apart
from Jesus Christ. There is no knowing God apart
from Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the gospel. The gospel is not just a list
of morals and good sayings and the way you ought to live. The
gospel is a person. It's Jesus Christ. He's the gospel. If a person misses Christ, they
have missed the good news. They've missed the gospel. They've
missed it. If you miss Him. Now Paul calls
the gospel, he says, you're our gospel. And he calls it our gospel
so to distinguish the one he preached from the other ones,
the false gospels that were being preached. Remember over in Galatians
1, he said they come bringing another gospel? And in Corinthians,
he speaks of them preaching another gospel and another Jesus? So
he's distinguishing the gospel he preached, the apostles, from
all those false so-called, so-called gospels. He said, which is not
another, but so-called gospels. And then Paul called the gospel
our gospel because God had entrusted it to him, and to Peter, and
John, and now me, and us, us here. Spring Lake, 2,000 years
later. He said in 1 Timothy 1.11, according
to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed
to my trust. Committed to my trust. And then he called it, he called
it our gospel because he experienced the power of it. On the road
to Damascus, the Lord stopped him. struck him down, revealed
himself to him. And Paul experienced the gospel
there that day. He experienced the power of it.
He knew what he was talking about. You know, it's hard to talk about
something you haven't experienced, isn't it? You can tell the difference. You can tell the difference.
When someone is telling you a story they have experienced or a story
they have heard, that's the difference. There's a real difference. Now
he says here, For our gospel came not unto you in word only,
but also in power. That word power there is dunamis.
It means dynamite. That's how powerful, dynamite,
came to you in power. But notice here, he says it came
not unto you in word only, but in saying that, he's implying
this. It came to you. The gospel came to you. You weren't
looking for it. I wasn't looking for it when
it came to me. You weren't looking for it when it came to you. It
came to you. And that's why he's saying to those Thessalonians,
he says, our gospel came to you. And when it came to you, it came
not in word only. You didn't hear just a bunch
of words. It came to you in power. And we're talking about the power
of God now. We're talking about, you know,
it takes the power, the same power it took for God to create
the world, that same power it takes for God to command life
in you. Same power. Isaiah said this. Paul wrote
this in Romans 10.20, but he's quoting Isaiah. He's saying,
Isaiah is very bold and saith, I was found of them that sought
me not. I was found of them that wasn't
looking for me. Well, that seems like a mystery. I was found of them that wasn't
looking for me. I was made manifest unto them
that ask not after me." You know, Paul was not looking for
Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. He was not inquiring about Jesus
Christ. He was going to destroy the church.
And he ran into Jesus Christ. And the Lord manifested Himself
to Paul. And that's what happened to every
person in here whom the Lord has saved. He crossed your path
and made Himself known to you. Now here's the evidence. This is the evidence of your
election. First of all, the Word, the Gospel, came to you. It came
to you and it didn't come in Word only. It came in power. If the Gospel comes in Word only,
it will not save. If all you, listen, if all you
If all you hear is the gospel in word only, you'll go out just
as lost as you came in. You'll go out just as lost as
you came in. Men may be moved by the power of truth. This is
sobering. This is sobering right here.
Now listen. Men and women may be moved by the power of truth,
yet never experience the saving power of God. Herod heard John gladly, it says,
and did many things. But Herod perished. Felix, what
happened when he heard Paul preach of righteousness and judgment
and temperance? It says Felix trembled. It says
he trembled. He was shaking under the power
of that truth. There's power just in truth being
told. But he perished. The man perished. Many heard and followed the Lord
Jesus Christ. Never a man spake like this man. One day he spoke of eating his
flesh and drinking his blood and it said many of his disciples,
those who called themselves disciples and followed after him, it said
many of his disciples walked away and followed him no more.
Went back and followed him no more. There is a power that goes with
truth that men and women can hear and be shaken. In fact, Lord willing, Sunday
I'm going to deal with the parable of the sower. You know, there were some who
received it with joy, and there were others who sprung up real
quick, and they looked promising, but they weren't good ground.
They weren't plowed ground. The Holy Spirit did not work
on them, work in them, do a work in them. The gospel can have
a profound effect on people and people still be lost. still be
lost. Simon Magus, it says in Acts,
believed and was baptized. And then later on, Peter said,
your heart is not right with God. If it comes in word only, you'll
leave just as lost as you came. But here's the key. It said,
Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power. Listen, and in the Holy Ghost.
Here it is. Here it is. When the gospel comes in power,
it has nothing to do with me. Me speaking loudly and shouting
is not power. It's not, don't be fooled if
you think somebody's got the power of God must be on me speaking
loud and boisterous. No, that's not so. That's not
so. You know when it was at Elijah? It was in that cave and
there was a whirlwind and God wasn't in the whirlwind and there
was an earthquake. He wasn't in the earthquake. And then what
was it? God spoke to him, it says, in
a still, small voice. When the gospel comes in power,
it comes in the power of the Holy Spirit, who is God. When He takes the Gospel, the
Word being preached right now, when He takes it and He applies
it to the heart, when He speaks to your heart, when He brings
it in power, that's when life happens. That's when salvation
happens, when He does it. The Holy Spirit takes the gospel,
which is the seed. We know that. It's the seed.
The Word of God is the seed. And He quickens the dead sinner
with it. He gives life with it. It says in James 1.18, "...of
His own will begat He us with the word of truth." Now He doesn't
save a part from the gospel. He doesn't do it now. But with
the word of truth, He does. He convicts of sin, of righteousness,
and judgment. And notice here, notice the process
here. Here's a process here. He said,
Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power,
and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. Much assurance. What's he saying? In much assurance.
What he's saying, I believe he's saying this. I don't know all
that he's saying, but I believe he's saying this. The sinner
is absolutely convinced that Jesus is the Christ. Whatever God does with me, you
know, if He sent me to hell, if He sent me to hell. I can
tell you this, I'm convinced that Jesus Christ is the Son
of God. I'm convinced He's the Messiah.
I'm convinced of that. I'm convinced there is no other
gospel. And I'm convinced that God saves sinners chosen by Him
in Christ. And Christ redeemed them. And
He's the only hope a sinner has. He's the only hope this sinner
has. And I am convinced Now there's times I know you and I have our
doubts about ourselves because of sin, because of unbelief that's
in us, and sin's in us. But I tell you, I don't have
any doubts about Him. I do not have any doubts about Jesus Christ.
He's the Son of God. He's the Savior. And He can save.
And He can put away sin. They were that sure of it. You
know, just like that eunuch, Philip said, that eunuch said,
what hinders me from being baptized? He said, if you believe in...
And he said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And
he stopped that chariot and said, alright, let's go down to the
water. That's all I need to hear. I'm convinced. I am convinced. that there is no other name given
under heaven whereby we must be saved. I'm convinced. There
is no other gospel. There is no other name. I'm convinced.
I'm assured of that. I'm assured of that as I am standing
here. Listen to David. Listen to David. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. Does that sound like assurance
or doubting? That's assurance, isn't it? I hope the Lord's my
shepherd. If He is, then I won't know.
He says the Lord is my shepherd. He's my shepherd. I shall not
want. He's provided everything I need.
Listen to Paul in 2 Timothy 1.12. For the which cause I also suffer
these things, nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom
I have believed. Now brethren, that kind of assurance,
that kind of knowledge is not just for apostles. That's for
you, and that's for me. I say, if I don't have that kind
of assurance, it's shame on me. I have the Word of God. What
do I have to doubt? What part of this do I have to
doubt? None of it. Just take God at His Word. Don't
take my feelings, but take God at His Word. It's what I do. It's what we do. For I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed
unto Him against that day." What have you committed unto Him?
Everything. Everything that concerns me and
my relationship to God. Everything that concerns me and
standing before God in that day, I trust Jesus Christ for. I'm persuaded He's able to enable
me to stand before God and you, spotless. Spotless. And I think he's also saying
this. This is also the assurance Paul had concerning their salvation. He said, I am fully assured that
the gospel came to you in power and that you're God's people.
God has raised a church up here in Thessalonica. He said, I am
just absolutely assured of that because of what's happened. of
what's happened, the change that was made. These were Greeks.
They were steeped in Greek mythology and idolatry. Paul came preaching
the gospel to them and they put that stuff away. And boy, when
they did, that's when they began to suffer. Lord willing, we go
over in the 2nd Thessalonians and he mentions about their sufferings
and their persecution over there. And he says here, "...as you
know what manner of men we were among you for your sakes." Paul
reminds them of their conduct. Him, Timothy, Silas, whoever
was with him at that time. But he reminds them of their
conduct when they were among them preaching the gospel. Not
using the wisdom of man's words or philosophy. He said, you know
our conduct among you. Paul wouldn't take anything from
them. He preached there for three weeks.
They knew by his conduct that he was not a shyster. They knew
that. They knew that Paul was sincere.
They sought not their wealth, but Paul sought their souls.
They sought their souls. Though I thought about this.
Preachers must live up to their message. We must live up to the
message we preach. But here's another evidence of
their election and your election. That which applied to them applies
to you and me now. And you became followers of us
and of the Lord. You became imitators. You became
imitators. You became followers of us and
of the Lord. You became imitators of faith,
or in faith, hope, and love. You became imitators of us. Learners, that's what he said.
You became learners. You followed us and you learned
from us. And you followed, you know, Paul said in Corinthians,
follow us as we follow the Lord. Follow him as he followed the
Lord. Someone said to me one time,
you're just following Henry. I said, well what's your point?
What's your point? That's what Paul said. Follow
me as I follow the Lord. If a man is of God, if God is
with him, if God's hand is on him, if he's given you a man,
follow him as he follows the Lord. No pastor, no preacher
is perfect. We know that. But Jesus Christ
is. He is the perfect example to
follow. In faith, He believed God perfectly. In love, He loved God perfectly.
He loved His neighbors as Himself. He loved His enemies. He's the
perfect example. Faith is evidenced not just by
what it believes, but by who it follows. We follow a person,
the Lord Jesus Christ. When He called His disciples,
what did He say? Come, follow me. Follow me. The believer follows the Lord
and does so by seeking out, listen, He does so, he or she does so
by seeking out God's servant and God's people and unites with
them. That's how we follow the Lord.
We follow Him. Listen. We follow the Lord in His Word.
And we follow the Lord sitting under the preaching of His Word.
And we follow the Lord in association with His people, which is the
body of Christ. You say, well, I can just settle
at home. Well, go ahead. Go right ahead
if that's what you want to do. You can go to hell from there
as anywhere else. But if a person is going to follow the Lord,
they're going to find out where he's at. Where two or three are
gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst. Well,
if you know that as a believer, you're going to want to be there,
aren't you? You're going to want to be there, if you know that. Before salvation, you followed
the world. You followed the lust of your
flesh. And you followed after the world and all those old cronies
that you had growing up with, you followed them. But now you
follow the Lord and His people. And you follow Him in faith,
hope, and love. And here's another evidence of
their and your election. "...having received the word
in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost." The true gospel
brings affliction. The first affliction it brings
is inward affliction, soul affliction, a real conviction of sin. Now brethren, when God truly
convicts of sin, It's not a pleasant experience.
Recognizing, acknowledging what a wretch you are is not a pleasant
experience. When you look in the mirror and
you see, you see what you really are, God makes it known to you. When I say look in the mirror,
Let's talk about the Word of God, this mirror right here.
When you look into the perfect law of liberty, when you look
into the Word of God and you see by the power and work of
the Holy Spirit what you are, that's a painful experience.
That's a painful experience. you receive the word of God in
much affliction." And then there's outward affliction. These Thessalonians,
many of them lost their homes. They were kicked out of the synagogue.
They lost their jobs. They just fell into poverty.
Many of them fell into poverty over this, over the gospel, over
the gospel. But like Moses, They chose to
suffer the affliction of the gospel and to enjoy the riches
of Thessalonica. And it was a very rich, wealthy
place at that time. And listen here. And you did
this. You received the word, the gospel, in much affliction
with joy of the Holy Ghost. There was joy mingled with this. The joy of forgiveness. There's a real joy in knowing
you've been forgiven. To hear the Lord say, Son or
Daughter, thy sins be forgiven. That's the one thing keeps me
from God. That's the one thing that keeps me from being able
to communicate with God, to commune with God, is sin. It's sin. That's got to be taken care of. There's a joy of cleansing. Oh,
to have a clear conscience, a clean, clear conscience. Not an accusing
conscience, but one that's been cleansed by the blood of Christ.
There's joy in knowing that you've been chosen of God. That your
salvation is that God chose you. God chose
me. There's a real joy in understanding
that. And then there's a real joy that
comes with suffering for Christ's sake. You know, one time the
apostles were beaten, the disciples, who became the apostles, they
were beaten. And they rejoiced that they were
counted worthy to suffer for Christ's sake. They counted it
a joy. And here's another example, or
another evidence of their and your election. He said, "...having received
the word and much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost, so
that you were examples." Now listen, this is interesting. They started out as imitators,
followers. Paul said, you became followers
of us and of the Lord. You became imitators of us in
faith, hope, and love, and patience. and patience and suffering, you
became, and now, not only you've gone from being imitators, learners,
to examples. Examples. You became a, that
word example means model. You actually, they became a model
church. Paul would use them wherever
he went. They were a model church. It
also means this. You are an imprint. It's like,
you know, you take a stamp and you stamp an imprint of that
stamp upon it. He said, you're an imprint. When people talk about you, when
they think about you, they associate you, listen, with Jesus Christ. Wouldn't that be wonderful? They
associate you with the Lord Jesus Christ. They associate you with
the Gospel. You became examples. You were a walking epistle. You became a walking epistle.
A walking epistle. You became a good pattern for
others to follow. I thought about that today when
I was going, the last few days, going over this. Would we be
a good pattern to follow? He said, you became a good pattern
for others to follow, so that you were examples to
all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. You smell of the gospel. You
smell of the gospel. Spurgeon was telling about a
home where there was a, that's a lilac bush. It's the one that
smells like lavender, lilac, yeah. He had a lilac bush there. And he said, you could shut the
doors and the windows. He said, but when anyone opened
that door and walked in, the smell of lavender just filled
the room. And that's what he's saying. When you come to mind, when people
talk to me about you, the first thing they do, the first thing
that happens is the smell of the gospel is on you. The smell
of Christ is on you. Remember Isaac, when Jacob went
to him and he was dressed in Esau's clothes, and Isaac said,
you smell like Esau, my firstborn. You smell of the gospel. Wouldn't
that be great that when anyone spoke of Spring Lake, that they
just get a whiff of the gospel. It just smells like the gospel. Listen, it's one thing to be
an example among unbelievers. It's one thing to be an example
among unbelievers. But it is a high honor to be
an example among believers. It's a high honor to be an example
among believers. They became the imitated. They became the example. They
became the imitated. And listen here, in verse 8. For from you sounded out the
word of the Lord. You became a sounding board.
You became a sounding board of the gospel. From you sounded
out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but also in every place. Your faith to God is spread abroad. Everybody knows about it. Everywhere
Paul went, he didn't have to say, now there's a church in
Thessalonica that I preach to. I know they told Paul about the
people in Thessalonica. They told Paul about them and
about their faith and their work and their work of love and their
conduct. He said that your faith to God
were to spread abroad so that we need to speak nothing. You
sent the gospel out? You were so convinced. This is a thought you need to
really think about. You were so convinced of the
gospel. You're so assured, so assured
of the gospel, that you put forth real effort to see that somebody
else heard it. Other sinners like you heard
it. You really put forth the effort to get the gospel out
to other sinners just like you. It's like someone who goes to
a doctor and they find a real cure and they tell others about
it. They tell others about that doctor. They say, man, let me
tell you about somebody. In fact, Todd Nybert, when I
was talking to him about Jeremy, and his blood problem and stuff
going on right now, and he called me the other day, he said, look,
he said if he wants a really good doctor, he said my doctor's
a good one. Because you know Todd's had a
lot of trouble with that stuff. And he gave me, he sent me his
name and number. He said tell him to go see him. When you're so convinced, and
so assured that Jesus Christ is the Savior and what He's done
for you, you're going to tell others. You're going to tell
others about it. You want to get the gospel out.
You want to. Because you know why? There's
people out there just like me and you. I believe there's other
sheep out there. There's other sheep that the
Lord has out there that need to hear this gospel. You became a sounding board,"
he said, of the gospel. So that we need to speak nothing.
He said, we don't need to speak anything, but also in every place
your faith to God were to spread abroad. They talk about your
faith, your conduct, the way you give, the way you help, the
way you suffer patiently. You suffer patiently, willingly. Everywhere I go, people are telling
me about you. I don't need to say anything. Brother, I'm talking
about, you know, people say, am I one of the elect? Well,
He's given us right here the evidence of it. Here's the evidence
of election. If you're interested, really
dig into this. Here's evidence of it. He says in verse 9, For they
themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you,
God was in it. God was in it. And how you turn
to God from idols. Idols. I heard someone today,
I was listening to someone, and they said that they were steeped
in Greek mythology, like Zeus had this long, flowing, curly,
blonde hair, and when he shook his hair, the mountains quaked,
and they believed that to be true. And that's what they were
saved from. They're idols. They're idols. All that foolishness. You watch some of these people
on television, and you think, how in the world can they be
so foolish? And then you realize, but by
the grace of God, I'd be foolish too. I'd be foolish too. But here, you turn from your
idols. You threw them away. You cut
them up. You burn them up. You got rid
of them. You turn from them. You turn
from them. You turn to the living God. You turn to God from idols to
serve, to serve, to serve, to serve. Most people look at this matter
of the gospel and what the Armenians call getting saved as just like
a life insurance policy that keeps you from going to hell.
No, He says, you turn from your idols to serve God. I'm His. I'm not mine. It's not, what
do I want to do? What kind of career do I want
to pursue? It's, Lord, what would you have
me to do? Lord, direct my steps. Direct
my thoughts. You are the sovereign. I'm the
subject. to serve, to serve, to serve
the living and true God. You are God's true servants.
And to wait, to wait. You know, most people are waiting
on retirement. Seriously, most people I've talked to, especially
as they get older, they're waiting on retirement. And they've got
things they want to do. You know, I want to retire. This
is what I want to do after I retire. I want to do something different.
This, blah, blah, blah. Nah, he says, you're waiting
for his son. You're waiting for his son. To wait for his son from heaven. Because he's not in the grave.
He's in heaven, seated at God's right hand. "...whom He raised
from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to
come." I tell you what, that right there, which delivered
us from the wrath to come, to even get some kind of glimpse
of the wrath of God. If we can look at Calvary and
see something of the wrath of God that we've been delivered
from, I think, how can I ever grow cold when I have been delivered
from such wrath? God Himself hung on the cross
in the person of His Son to deliver me from Himself. Isn't that something? That's amazing. That's amazing
grace. We are waiting on a person, Jesus
Christ, to come and get us. Are we? I'm not, I don't want to have
the attitude. You know, attitude, I'm telling
you, attitude is everything. You can go to work and it can
be a terrible job or a great job, depending on your attitude.
Really, attitude's everything. And I'm not waiting to die. I'm not waiting to die. I'm waiting for the Lord Jesus
Christ to come and get me. There's a difference. There's
a difference. Now I may die tomorrow, and this
world may go on another 10,000 years, but if I die tomorrow,
the Lord is coming to get me. We're waiting for Him. We're
waiting for a person. to come and get us. And if we
are truly waiting on a person, that means He's very real to
us. You're not waiting on somebody you don't know. You're not waiting
on a fairy tale. If you're really waiting on Jesus
Christ, and you know and I know if we are or not, if you're really
waiting, He's very real to you. He must be very real to you. It also shows a readiness. If
I'm actually waiting on a person, it shows a readiness for that
person to come. A readiness for him to come. Here are the evidence of your
election. And I'll close. The gospel came to you in power.
It didn't come in word only, but in power and in demonstration
of the Holy Spirit. And when that happened, you received
the Word of God in much affliction, inwardly and outwardly. And you
became followers. You became followers of God's
servants. You became followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because
God's servants come and go. You know, the Lord used Rupert
here for many years. And now I'm here. And someday
He's going to remove me. And there'll be another one.
But I tell you what, if you're following Christ, it won't change. He doesn't change. He may change
the guards, but He doesn't change. And you received the Word of
God and you became examples. You became examples in faith,
hope, and love. You're hoping Christ was so strong
that you're just plowing through the afflictions. You're just
plowing right through them because you have such a strong hope and
assurance in Jesus Christ. And such a love, you have such
a love for Christ and the brethren and sinners that you're sending
the gospel out. And from you sounded out the
gospel. They were sending it out. They wanted people to hear
it. And you're waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ to return. Am I one of the elect? Are we?
This church, are we? Are we the elect? Well, the evidence of it is given
to us right here in 1 Thessalonians 1. If these can describe us in
a measure, yes we are. Yes we are.