Katy, West Virginia, where the
Lord was pleased back in the mid-fifties to raise up a faithful
pastor, as I was telling you, Brother Scott Richardson, dear,
dear, precious friend to me and to many, and was pleased to raise
up a church in Katy, West Virginia. I don't know how big a mule is,
but I guarantee you it's bigger than Katy. Katie is a hole in
the wall. It's a bump in the road. I mean
it's nowhere. It's nowhere. A little spot in
the middle of the hills of West Virginia, northern West Virginia. To look at it, you'd think, what
in the world? would ever come out of this place.
Well, the Lord was pleased to raise up a faithful preacher. And I was
thankful for him. And I learned from him. I hope
I did. And I got to thinking about how
Moole, California, And I think, what a miracle of God's grace.
I mean, this is not San Francisco or, you know, Los Angeles or
something. Hamul, California. But God was
pleased to put a pastor here and raise up some people. And
they're here this morning. Well, there was a place in a town called
Thessalonica. And the Scripture declares that
the Spirit moved upon the Apostle Paul, who was with a couple of
other preachers, Silas and Timothy. And the Spirit of God moved upon
Paul to write to this church. Not there anymore. It's like
the church at Ephesus. I don't know how long the assembly
here in Hamul will be here. I don't know. You know, as a
general rule, you look at some churches that were there at one
time. That one in Ephesus I just mentioned,
Tyre, Tyre, and all these different places where the Lord moved upon
John to write seven letters to churches and they're not there
anymore. I don't know how long Katie will be there if the Lord
is pleased to allow the candlestick or to hear, but we have today. And so just like Paul wrote,
it 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. Oh, God's favor. God's favor. Grace be unto you
and peace. Peace established before God
in the person of our Savior. Peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here was a group of of believers
that were just knit together and they just they were knit
together in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ now he's
speaking of covenant mercy here God the Father God the Son who
in covenant mercy had willingly according to the covenant of
God's grace, would come into this world, and as the servant
of Jehovah, as God, He's one with the Father, one with the
Spirit, God. I don't understand. I don't understand. People, you know, sometimes you
try to start explaining things, and you just, you mess them up. We talk about the Trinity. God
the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. The tri-unity of the Godhead. One God declared in three persons
at the baptism of our Lord. He would be baptized and the
Spirit descended in the form of a dove and lit upon Him. A voice out of heaven said, My
beloved Son, whom I'm well pleased." You hear Him. How do you explain
that which is unexplainable? Just declare it. This is what
it is. So here was a group of believers
knit together. And just here we are today. Just all over the place. Me and Andre from Louisiana.
My wife from West Virginia. I don't know where y'all are
from, but we're here. Here we are, knit together as
spiritual branches, who've been grafted into the vine himself. He said, I'm the vine, you're
the branch. All of our life, we derive totally from Him. You know what happens, you cut
a limb off the trunk? Yeah, you know what happens.
Trunk don't die, but that limb will. It won't be there long.
regenerated Paul, Silvanus, Timotheus unto the church just regenerated
sinners chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world and
now visibly grafted in by the Father into unity, spiritual
unity in Christ but here in union just sinners that thankfully,
gladly admit. I had an uncle, my dad's family,
my dad's from Mississippi, and one of my dad's brothers was
telling me something that just grieved my heart. He was attending
where the gospel was faithfully being preached. One day he told
me, he said, I'm not coming back here anymore. And I said, why? He said, that preacher told me
I was a sinner. He said, I'm not a sinner. I'm not coming back. I thought,
you've just openly admitted, you just negated what Scripture
says. Christ Jesus came to this world
to save sinners. Paul said, of whom I'm chief.
You know what a believer will say when he hears that? Being
a sinner. He's the first one to raise his
hand. He says, you got it. That's me. That's what I am. Just regenerated sinners. Recipients of the mercy and compassion
of Almighty God. Grace, Paul said, grace be unto
you. Well, some good news there. Remember
what Moses asked, show me your glory. I'll be gracious, merciful,
compassionate. Grace and peace from God our
Father. Because of the grace that's been
shown, now God's people are at peace with God, reconciled us
to Himself. through the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. You know, the Lord told Moses,
He said, on that night that the Lord was going to come through
Egypt, and He said, I want you to take a lamb and kill the lamb,
take the blood, apply it on the two side posts, lintel. And get inside, get in the house,
shut the door, and don't come out. Don't come out. He said,
I'm going to come through tonight. And here's the only hope. Here's
the only hope. And when I see the blood, when I see the blood, Brother
Scott wrote an article one time. I thought, man, I'm telling you,
I wish I'd said that. So true. He said, when God sees
the blood, he said, I don't see it. But he said, when he sees
it. And he said, his sight's on the
sight that matters. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. He said, verse 2, he said, we
give thanks to God always for you all. making mention of you
in our prayers. By the grace of God, when I tried to start remembering,
and this is just a confession, I'll tell you the weakness of
myself. Old Don Fortner, y'all know Brother
Don. Old Don, dear friend of mine,
and you. And Old Don was telling me one
day, he said, you know Marvin, I don't know anything about prayer.
And I thought, oh Don, I'm so glad you said that, because I,
you know, I didn't want to admit it, but I don't either. But you
know, coming from somebody that you love and trust, he said,
I just, He said, I try to pray. He said, my mind just wanders.
He said, I find myself so forgetful. And He said, I just, I don't
know, but He said, when I try to pray, and I think, that's
right. When I try to pray, the Spirit
of God was the one that told us. He said, we don't know what
to pray. I don't know what to pray, but He helpeth our infirmities. But as I try to remember, Try
to remember the assemblies where I know where they are. And my
mind comes to this little assembly right here. And I thought, I
knew Kevin, but I'd never met you. But I can tell you this,
as the Lord is my witness, and I'm thinking, I know He hears.
But as this little assembly that I had never been to, but everything
I knew about Him, was good, that the Lord raised up an assembly
there. He said, we give thanks to God
always for you, all, making mention of you in our prayers. You know, we give thanks. We're
grateful. Paul said, we're grateful to
God always for you. We don't give thanks to ourselves,
our decision, our ability, our remembrance, but for the Lord's
loving kindness. We thank God for His mercy that
He's shown, and He's shown us and shown others, making mention
of you, calling your names. Calling your names. Before the
Lord, Paul says, as often as the Spirit of God brings you
to my memory. He said, I call you before our Father's throne.
Remembering in verse 3, he said, without ceasing, your work of
faith, labor of love, patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ,
in the sight of God, and our Father. Remembering without ceasing. Mindful. Always mindful. Remembering. Without intermission. What do
you say? Without intermission. You know
how you used to go to the show? When I was a kid, we'd go to
the picture show. You would too, you know. And
you'd have an intermission, you know. You'd go get something
to eat and stuff. Have a little break right there.
Paul says, remembering without ceasing. Your work of faith. Your work of faith. Faith works. Faith works. Now, let me be careful here.
Not for salvation. It's not for it. But because
of it. Your work of faith. And then
Paul was moved to qualify what he said. Without remembering,
without ceasing, your work, your labor of faith. Labor of love. Love for the Lord first. We love Him because He loved
us first. Sometimes you hear somebody say,
I've always loved the Lord. Her brother Henry Mahan said,
that's just too long. You hadn't always loved Him.
If you love Him now, you hadn't always loved Him. But remembering
without ceasing your work of faith, your labor of love. Love, obviously, has a labor
to it. Your labor of love. Labor of
love. It's a grace that truly labors. How? How? Well, number one, against
the old man. The old man. Your labor of love. Turn over to Romans 7. You know
where I'm going. Labor of love. The Apostle Paul, speaking of
himself, He said in verse 15, Romans 7,
that which I do, I allow not. What was he saying? I don't know
why I do this. I don't know why I do what I
do. I don't know why I think what I think. I'm so disappointed
in myself. That which I do, I allow not
for what I would. That do I not. Now you think
about labor. Now he's getting ready to tell
us about some struggles. that He's God. Your labor of
love. What I hate, that I do. I heard somebody say or read
it or something, they said, well that was before Paul was converted.
No he wasn't, he's talking right now to the inspiration of God's
Spirit and he was telling us concerning himself. If then I
do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that's good." He
said, I'm admitting that there is a good and I don't see myself
doing it. Now then, it's no more I that
do it, what is it? The new man. But sin that dwelleth
in me. You know there's two men in a
believer? Two men. Old man and new man. And Paul said, I see them both.
I see them both. For I know that in me that is
in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, but to will is present
with me." Look how he's going back and forth. You're talking
about labor. Here's a struggle. But how to perform that which
is good I find not, for the good that I would I do not. Oh, but
the evil which I would not, that I do. Now, if I do that I would
not, it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
I find then a law, a governing principle, let me say it like
that, that when I would do good, evil is present with me. I delight
in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in
my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me
into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O
wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? You that believe, you can enter
into this. You know the struggles. You know
something of the struggles. You think times when nobody knows
But the Lord, He knows. And yourself, what you thought. Oh, especially what I think. Oh, he said, Oh, wretched man
that I am. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Then in that 25th verse, I thank God through Jesus Christ our
Lord, so then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with
the flesh the law of sin." Now you say, wait a minute, he was
thanking the Lord with the mind he serves the law of God, but
with the flesh the law of sin, he thanked the Lord that God
revealed it to him. The struggle that goes on, he
says, I thank God that He's shown me what I really am. He's shown
me the wretchedness of my old self and the struggles that I
go on. We give thanks back in 1 Thessalonians. We give thanks to God always
for you, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without
ceasing your work of faith, your labor of love, your patience
of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God our Father. Your patience, your steadfastness,
your endurance of a good hope of eternal life. Knowing that
if we're kept, if we're found enduring, how was that? Through our ability and power? No, no, no. Turn over to 1 Peter. Thank God, he said, for your
labor of love, your patience of hope, your patience, your
endurance, your endurance. Thank God for your endurance.
How'd that come about? 1 Peter 1. Verse 3, Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant
mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, a living
Constance, a living hope in Christ. By the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and
that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. Now listen,
before I read this next verse, Paul said, I thank God remembering
without ceasing your work of faith, your labor of love, your
patience of hope, your patience, your endurance, How? Verse 5, 1 Peter 1 verse 5, who
are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time. Brethren, if there's a
hope, if there's an endurance, if there's a steadfastness, if
we're kept, it was God that kept us, and not us. Tell you what I'd do, I'd quit. I'd quit. I'd quit right now.
I'd just go ahead and sit down right now, just stop. If God
leaves me to myself or if He leaves you to yourself, that's
what you're going to do. You won't remain. You'll leave. Paul said they went out from
us. John said this, they went out
from us. Why? Because they were not of us.
Or had they been of us, surely, surely, surely they would have
remained. Why? Because God would have kept them.
God would have kept them. Back in 1 Thessalonians 1.4,
Knowing brethren, beloved, your election of God. Now here's a
revelation of mercy. You know, we talk about God's
electing grace, that the Lord was pleased to set His affection
on a people from before the foundation of the world. Chosen, chosen
people. Paul the Apostle was moved by
the Spirit of God to say, knowing, brethren, beloved, beloved of
God, your election of God. You know, I just want to hear
what He has to say again. I've read this passage before.
You have too. But I just want to hear it one
more time. That's why we forget. We're so prone to forget. So
prone. I was talking to one of the brethren
this morning, thinking about when the Apostle Paul says to
say the same things to you. Do you know I've not said anything
to you that you haven't heard before? You've heard every bit
of this before. But you know it's like when you
hear it, you want to hear it again. Tell me one more time. Tell me
one more time. Tell me how the Lord has put
away my guilt. I just want to hear it. And when
you tell me, show me. Show me in the Scriptures. I
want you to do that. Knowing, beloved, your election
of God, tell me again how God has has elected a people. Turn to 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians. A couple of
pages over. Chapter 2. Tell me one more time. 2 Thessalonians 2.13. But we're bound to give thanks
all way to God. We give thanks all way to God. We give thanks all way to God
for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit, set apart by God's Spirit, set apart for God, and belief
for the truth, whereunto He calls you by our gospel to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren,
stand fast. Hold the traditions which you've
been taught, whether by word or epistle." Paul said, I'm so
thankful. We're bound to give thanks to
God because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation,
laid down His life," that's what we read in John 10, 15, "...and
all that the Father has given the Son," what does John 6, 37
say? "...all that the Father giveth
Me," so we know He's given Him a people, "...shall come to Me, Now let me ask you this, is this
coming to Christ? Is it sure? It's as sure as God's
Word is sure. That Word that will not return
unto him void, but shall accomplish the purpose for which it was
sent. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. All that the Father giveth me.
I'll tell you something else you've heard too. That ETH on
the end of all these words that we see, cometh, cometh, you know,
it's that present progressive. It's that He that cometh. You
know, I understand when somebody says, Al, I came to the Lord,
you know, it's always in a past tense. You know when a believer
comes, Right now. Right now. That's when He comes.
Comes in His heart. Comes as a center. Comes as a
needy center. Him that cometh and cometh and
cometh and cometh. A believer's ever wanting to
come. You come this morning. Lord, would you speak to me today? Lord, would you bless the Word
to my heart? Paul says, knowing, brethren,
verse 4, beloved, your election of God. Okay. Lord, tell me again through your
apostle, tell me again how our election can be known. Paul says
in verse 5, 4, because our gospel That gospel is taught of God's
people. Gospel of God from God to God's
people. Our gospel came not unto you
in word only. It wasn't just an empty sound. I mean, I can tell you, I can
teach you I can teach you the, you know, we talk about the five
points of Calvinism, which John Calvin didn't come up with them,
he just, it was the five, those points that, it's the scriptures,
it's what the scriptures teach us. Man is totally depraved,
what does that mean? When I say totally depraved,
well I read it in Isaiah chapter 1 verse 5 and 6, the soul of
the foot, the crown of the head, there's no, that's total, that's
total depravity. That means that there's nothing
in us that's good. There's nothing in us worthy,
worthy of acceptance with God. What does that mean? That means
that there's nothing there that's good. That's total depravity.
Unconditional election. What does that mean, unconditional
election? That means that God Almighty looked down in John
14, 2. Turn there. John 14, 2. I've heard people, you've heard
this before, they say, well, the Lord looked down from heaven
to see, you know, who would choose Him. He saw who would choose
Him, so He chose them. He elected them, you know. You know what I did? I think
I said the wrong scripture. No? I know it's got to be John
14 too. Alright, well, I'll just prove
it. Alright, where's the scripture where it says, "...and the Lord
looked to see if there were any that did good, that seek Him,
and there were none, no, not one. The Lord looked down from
heaven to see if there were any and did seek Him. Y'all have
read that? My mind has just gone blank there
all of a sudden. What is it? Psalm. There it is. There it is. I'm telling you,
Psalm. There you go. Psalm 14. You know the Lord knows how to
humble His people, don't He? He'll bring you down. Don't worry.
When you think you got it together, there we go. Thank you, brother.
Psalm 14. The Lord looked down from heaven
upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand
and seek God. They're all gone aside. They're
all together become filthy. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. So did God look down to see if
there were any that were going to choose Him and so therefore
He chose them? Nope. He looked down, okay. But there were none. So when
our gospel came unto you, back in 1 Thessalonians, for when
our gospel came to you, Paul said, our gospel came unto you,
not in word only, but it came in power. It came in power, in
the dynamos of God, the power of Almighty God. The Lord sends
His gospel. to his own, and he does so for
the accomplishment of his purpose. Paul said in Romans 1, verse
16, he said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I'm not ashamed
of the gospel. It, it. Is there any other message
that God blesses to the salvation of His people? No. One message. The message of the
Gospel. When I read 2 Thessalonians 2.13,
if you just turn back a few pages, 2 Thessalonians 2.14, Paul said,
we're bound to give thanks. That's what verse 13 says. God
has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Verse 14, whereunto He
called you by our Gospel. to the obtaining of the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ. How does the Lord call His people
out? He calls them out. He puts them
under the sound of the gospel. And that gospel comes to them
in power, God's power. He shines the light of the glory
of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ into their hearts.
He said in Jeremiah 23, 29, "...It is not My word, like as a fire,
saith the Lord, and like a hammer, that breaketh the rock in pieces. If God's going to call out one
of His own, is He going to do it? He's going to do it. I just want to say, don't come
back void. It accomplishes the purpose for
which it was sent. He sends that gospel, graves
power, gives faith to believe. All men have no faith. It's given
unto you to believe. ears to hear, eyes to see our
need of Christ. He said, knowing, beloved, first
Thessalonians 1, your election of God for our gospel came not
unto you in word only, but also in power and the Holy Ghost,
much assurance as you know what manner of man we were among you
for your sakes. Came in the demonstration of
the Spirit of God by His power. Ezekiel. Turn over to Ezekiel
36. Amazing passage of Scripture. Ezekiel 36, verse 26. A new heart also will I give
you, a new spirit Well, I put within you. Brother
Henry said something one day I thought that was so wonderful. He said, the Spirit of God comes
and that old stony heart, He removes it. That heart that had
dominion. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. That old heart, the Lord said, I take that out. He said,
I'm going to give you a new heart. I'm going to put a new spirit.
He said, you're going to have a new attitude, new spirit. You know, when you
said, eh, he's just got a spirit about him that just, you know,
got an attitude about him and just, I'm going to give you a
new heart. I'll put my spirit within you
and cause you to walk in my statutes and you shall keep my judgments
and do them. Whenever the Lord comes, empower. Paul said back in, our gospel
came in not word only but in power and in the Holy Ghost and
much assurance. You know what manner of men we
were among you for your sakes. The Spirit of God comes to a
believer, a sinner, He's going to save them by grace. He removes
the heart of stone. I just have to believe this. Somebody said, well, how does
God? Well, He's God. He that spoke this world into
existence. Let there be light. And there
was light. The earth was void and without
form. And God, the Spirit, hovered
And God said, and God spoke, and it was. He said, I'll remove
a heart of stone, and I'm going to give you a new heart. A heart
that's soft, pliable toward Him. He said, He came to you in power
and the Holy Ghost and much assurance, much conviction, convinced by
the Spirit of God. Do you know why somebody can't
talk you out of believing the Gospel? because the Lord has
come to you in power and much assurance and kept you there. You can come to a believer and
try as hard as you want to trying to talk them out of this right
here. It ain't going to happen. The Lord will keep them. And
he said then in verse 6, and you became followers of us. and
of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with
joy of the Holy Ghost." You became followers of us, you imitators
is actually what he's talking about, but here's what he said,
we became followers of us. We believe the same thing. The
same truth. We walk in the same light. we're like-minded, those things
that the Lord's taught us concerning Himself, we believe God. Came followers of us, having
received the Word in much affliction, the Scripture sets forth that
there's affliction. There's affliction for the people
of God. In this world you're going to
have tribulation. In this world people are going
to despise you for what you believe. He said, and I'm going to deal
with this a little bit more in this 8th verse, but he's making
a point and I'll just go on from where he's at. You became followers
of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction
with joy in the Holy Ghost, colon, so that you were examples to
all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. He said you became
followers of us, examples to all that believe. A pattern,
there was a pattern of God's electing power and patterns of
good works. And as I've said before, you
know every time we talk about good works, I always find myself
having to qualify this. The Scripture speaks of the good
works of God's people. Faith, that labor of love, love
to the brethren, a submissiveness unto the Lord, a meekness. They
were found to be patterns. He said, because in verse 8 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
so that we need not to speak anything. You were found to be
bold. in your profession of the Lord
Jesus Christ, you weren't ashamed to proclaim the truth as it is
in Christ Jesus, you were witnesses. So that we need not to speak
anything. I don't need to establish the
Lord's faithfulness that was imparted to you, that you turn
to the Lord and the character that you exhibited. He said,
for they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we
had unto you and how you turn to God from idols to serve the
living and true God. He said, you turn from number
one, the idol of yourself. If you want to know the biggest
idol that man worships, It's Him. Himself. Himself. You remember when the Lord gave
this parable of two men went into the temple and prayed, one
was a Pharisee and the other was a Republican? And the Pharisee
lifted up his eyes into heaven and he said, God, I thank you
that I'm not like other men are. I fast twice in a week. All these
wonderful things that he thought himself to be doing. We are our
biggest idol. Ourselves. You turn to God from
idols to serve the living and true God. You change the pursuits
of your carnality, these idols of self and idols of the world,
to serve or render yourself a bond slave to the true and living
God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says, verse 10, to
wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead,
even Jesus with which delivered us from the wrath of come. He
said, you're found In evidence of your election, God's elect
in grace, He said, the word, the gospel came to you in power
and much assurance. And you became followers or imitators
with us. And you were witnesses of the
faithfulness of Almighty God waiting upon the Lord. And this
is the heart, this is a believer. He sees Himself. He knows Himself.
He knows something of Himself. But He knows this, the Lord who's
promised to come back to get Him. I go to prepare a place
for you that where I am there you may be also. And if I go
and prepare a place for you, here's the word, I will come
again and receive you unto Myself. And you know what a believer
says? Even so, Lord Jesus, come. I pray that almighty God who
has raised up my assembly in Hamel, California. I know just
a little bit more about Hamel, California than I did yesterday.
But I tell you what I know about this place. Of all of the things
that could be said about this, and I don't know anything, this
is one thing I know. God's been pleased to raise up
a witness of the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus
Christ, just like He did in Thessalonica. And Paul said, I'm writing this
letter to you to tell you I thank God for you. Thank God for the
mercy that He's shown this place, that there's a light, there's
a light, there's a light of hope in a very, very, very dark place
just like West Virginia. California is no darker than
West Virginia. I'm telling you, may the Lord
be pleased to bless this little assembly right here. That the
evidence of the electing grace of the Lord towards you has been
made evident. The gospel didn't come to you
in word only, but it came in power and much assurance. May God bless His Word to this
little place for His glory and the good of His people.