Thank you, Robin and John. I
want you to go with me first to Acts chapter 17. Acts 17,
this tells a little bit of the story behind the church at Thessalonica
to whom this was written. Acts chapter 17, this was written
from Athens, Greece, where Paul waited for Silas and Timothy
to come to him. They had just left Thessalonica.
And Timothy and Silas were not with him. He was waiting on them
to join him. Verse 1, look at Acts 17, verse
10 verses or so. When they passed through Amphipolis
and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica where was a synagogue of Jews. And Paul, as his manner was,
went in unto them and three Sabbath days, that is three weeks, reasoned
with them out of the Scriptures. opening and alleging that, and
this is what the scriptures are written concerning, that Christ
must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead. This
Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. And some of them believe,
and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks, a great
multitude, the chief women, not a few, but the Jews. Those who had a righteousness,
you know. They believed not. They moved with envy. They took
unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort and gathered
a company and set all the city on an uproar. Assaulted the house
of Jason, who was a believer, and sought to bring them out
to the people. They found them not. That is,
Paul and Silas and Timothy. The Lord hid them. They drew
Jason. And certain brethren under the
rulers of the city cry, these have turned the world upside
down, or come hither also, whom Jason hath received. So this
man, Jason, who housed the brethren, took them in. He suffered greatly.
And they said, these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying
there's another king, one Jesus. And they troubled the people,
the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. And
when they had taken security of Jason and the others, they
let them go. And the brethren immediately
sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea, who coming thither
went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now, down to verse 15.
And they that conducted Paul brought him into Athens, and
received a commandment unto Silas, that is, he sent word to Silas
and Timothy. come to him with all his feet.
So they left to tell Silas and Timothy. Now while Paul waited
for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him. And he saw
the city wholly given to idolatry. And that's another wonderful
story right there, Paul preaching at Athens. But while he was waiting
on, now go to 2 Thessalonians. While he was waiting on Silas
and Timothy, it says he was stirred up sitting there in that city
where he wrote this letter to the church at Thessalonica. He
heard about all the persecution. And I remember the first letter,
we looked at the first letter, it began that way. But while
he was waiting, he was stirred up. He was upset. moved because of all the idolatry
that he saw around him. And all of God's people are when
they look. These so-called church signs
that you ride by, do they upset you? They ought to. How to grieve
you greatly. Well, Paul was, and he sort of
stirred up, but he began to think about the brethren at Thessalonica
who laid down their lives who stuck out their neck, that is,
like he said of Priscilla and Aquila and so many in Rome. And those people were suffering.
They got Paul out of there. Paul was always an object of
wrath and suffering for the truth. He began to think about the brothers
and sisters in Thessalonica who received the love of the truth.
heathen, pagan city like any other, no believers there, just
a bunch of Jews, but God. But God sent this little preacher
named Paul, and the Lord, He did turn their world upside down. And there was a lot, not a few,
but a lot of believers there. Religious people renounced their
religion, and this is such proof. of the truth and those that preach
it. And Paul was just thankful. He was so thankful. Thinking
of, you know, looking around, seeing all the idolatry around
him and yet, and people, everybody doing just fine in idolatry,
nobody persecuting them. They get along with the government,
they get along with each other, everybody getting along just
fine. But those that believe the truth, Nobody likes them. And he began to think about them,
so he wrote this letter to them. Okay? He wrote this letter to
comfort them. All right, look at it. Paul and
Silas and Timothy. Now, they weren't with him yet.
Silas and Timothy weren't with him yet. He's writing this letter.
He's alone. But he included them because
they were his partners, his fellow laborers. They were in it together. They went through persecution
and tribulation just like Him. You remember Paul and Silas at
Philippi, putting jail together? And they say misery loves company.
Well, the misery that God puts His people through, He gives
them company, companions, not to dwell on their misery, but
to comfort one another. You remember the story of Paul
and Silas at Philippi. Man, they were beaten up bad.
They were wounded and bruised and bleeding and lying in that
dank jail cell. They said, let's just start singing.
How many times are we told to do that? And none of us have
laid in a prison like that. Well, and the Lord sprung them,
and their hearts were lifted up. Something you need to see here,
Paul, he begins Paul, he doesn't say Reverend Paul, does he? He
never says that. He never says that. Because Psalm
111 verse 9 says holy and reverend is his name. A reverend doesn't
belong in front of a man's name. But it belongs in front of Reverend
Jesus. Paul. Not the Apostle Paul. That's never in front of his
name. He puts himself on a par, the
same par as Silas and Timothy. Neither one of them were apostles.
Neither one of them performed any miracle. And yet, he says,
we're the same, we're equal. He's my brother. That's a man
you can hear and follow, you know? A man who's not interested
in his own glory, or his own name, or his own credentials,
but interested in God's glory. That's God's man and he's worth
following. Well, he said he wrote to the church, to the church
of the Thessalonians, and you could take that name out and
put in Franklin Countians, or what county is Fairmont in? Fairmontians, or the Sillicogians,
or whoever. You could put the name of any
church in there because this is all written It's written to
all the churches. Under the church of the Thessalonians
or Franklin Countians, in God. In God the Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. In Him. In Christ. In the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, he says that quite a bit. That's in the Scriptures quite
a bit. And I was going to turn, I won't do it for the sake of
time. In God. Paul said this in Philippians. He said, Oh that I might know
Him and the power of His resurrection. Oh that I might win Christ and
be found in Him. You know the verses in Ephesians
1. How many times it talks about being in Him. The church is in
God. Saying about mystic sweet communion. Mystic sweet communion. Scripture
said Paul in Acts 17, in his message there, he said, in Him
we live and move and have our being. Remember 1 Corinthians
1.30? If I asked one of you to stand
up and quote it, could you? Of God are you in Him. What does this mean? I wish I
could preach it. I wish we could understand it.
What this means, to be in Him, it means to be in His love. Contrary to what most are saying,
God does not love everybody. The wrath of God abides upon
the ungodly. That's just a fact. But God's
people are in His love. Do you have anyone you love?
Are they in your love? Are they in your thoughts? Huh? Are they in your mind? Are they
in your heart? Huh? Always? All the time? Almost always? All the time?
How much more, God? In God, our Father. He's not
the Father of all, but whoever He's the Father of, you've got
a good Father. I had a good earthly father.
I still do. But I had an even better heavenly
father. Oh my. He said that. Our Lord said that, didn't He?
If you've been evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more? In fact, everything the Lord
does for His people is good. Everything. Why? Because they're
in Him. They're in His heart. They're
in His mind. They're in His love. They're in His thoughts. They're
in union with Him. Mystic, sweet communion. We don't
understand that. We just don't know, we can't
see Him, we can't feel Him all the time. Sometimes we feel His
presence, sometimes we don't. But, He's always with us. Because
we're in Him. And that's the best I can do
with that. In Him. In Him. In God. In God. Do you remember when our Lord
said this to His disciples in John 14? He said this. Let me
turn. He said, Believest thou not. Do you not believe Believest
thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? Do you
remember that? Do you not believe that I am
the Father, and the Father is in me, I am in Him, and He is
in me? Do you believe it? Do you? Well,
you know John said, As He is, so are we now in this world.
Do you not know that you are in God, and He is in you? Now
John, who wrote that, said also, it doth not yet appear what we
shall do. But beloved, behold what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of
God. In it, in it, in it. In God our Father. Oh, look at our text. It says,
In God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him. God is
Spirit. No man hath seen or can see,
and yet God was manifest in the flesh. And His name is Jesus,
Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Father. He
said to Philip, didn't He? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. Few people believe that. Few
people believe that Jesus Christ is God, the Maker of this planet.
Few people believe that Jesus Christ is very God of very God.
Must you believe that to be saved? Well, Christ said, if you believe
not that I am, you'll die in your sin. He that hath seen me
hath seen the Father. I am that I am. Remember, He
told the Pharisees that time. He said, if you be the Christ,
tell us plainly. He said, I told you, but you
believe not. My sheep hear my voice. They know me. They know
who I am. Ask Thomas. Who is he, Thomas? He's my Lord
and he's my God. This is life eternal, that they
might know Thee, the only true God. Who is it? Well, nobody's ever seen Him.
And yet Job said, I'm going to see Him. Didn't he? Job said,
I'm going to see Him. In my flesh, with these eyes,
I'm going to see God. Who is it? Jesus Christ. The
only God we'll ever see. And I don't understand that. Three persons, and yet one. And
all equal. All right, the church is in God,
our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is one with the Father
and with His people. Grace unto you and peace from
God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace, all grace.
The thing we need most, along with mercy, is grace, don't we? The grace of repentance. Grace
means gift. We need the grace of repentance.
It's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. The grace
of the gift of faith, it's a gift, it's not of yourself, it's a
gift of God. The grace of assurance, the grace of knowledge, the grace
of understanding, the grace of all things, we need all grace.
And every good and perfect gift, James wrote, coming down from
the Father. Where is it? What's the channel?
Jesus Christ. Through the Lord Jesus Christ,
like that oil on the head of the... Psalm 133, it went down
the head to the garments. Jacob's ladder, you know that?
The angels, the blessings of God descended on Jacob. That's Christ. It's all through
Him. The grace of God is in our Lord
Jesus Christ. Through the Lord Jesus Christ.
To everyone that honors a son and honors a father, God honors
them. They have all grace. And peace. Grace and peace from God our
Father. Grace and peace. Peace with God. We have peace
with God. We have peace with God. Where
did we get this peace with God? I just quoted John 3.36. It says,
the wrath of God abides upon unbelievers. God is angry with
the wicked every day, but not his people. He's not angry with
his people. Why? They have peace. How did
they get this peace? Christ was made peace. He made
peace by the blood of his cross. The chastisement or the whipping
or the punishment for our peace, to obtain peace, was laid on
Him. You know that, don't you? How
many people know that? Not many. You hear people say
all the time, when somebody gets to their deathbed, he made his
peace with God. If they say that, then that man
does not have peace with God. But you mark the perfect man,
the end of that man is peace. The man in Christ has peace. Why? Because Christ made peace
for him. To His disciples. To His disciples. He didn't say it to the world.
He didn't offer it to the world. He said to His disciples, My
peace I give unto you. Peace I give unto you. My peace
I leave unto you. I am your peace. He is our peace. Peace from God our Father. Peace. Father ordained it. Christ obtained
it. The Holy Spirit instills it and
implants it. Christ made peace and the Holy
Spirit makes His people peacemakers. We looked at that verse, the
King of Heaven suffereth violence and the violent taketh by force.
And I hope no one heard me even think that I was implying
that God's people are violent people. Oh no, it's just the
opposite. They're peacemakers. Like David,
even David said, they're for war and I'm for peace. The story of Joshua. Now Joshua
went everywhere and destroyed everybody in his path, didn't
he? It was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. But he didn't destroy
innocent people. He didn't make war. These were
people that hated God and hated Him and wanted them dead. Read
it for yourselves. He didn't go through slaying
innocent people. They were people that wanted
them dead and He was just protecting God's people. There are no innocent
people. There are no innocent victims. Mercy means not getting what
we deserve. And God's tender mercies are
over all His people. Well, God's people are peacemakers,
and the violent one who obtained it, the kingdom, was Jesus Christ. It took a violent act by Him,
upon Him, to obtain peace for them. God's people are not violent
people. They turn you to cheat. They're peacemakers. The Holy
Spirit does that. Well, the world is full of violence,
not God's people. No, no. They were children of
wrath. They were children of wrath, even as others. But God. Verse 3 says, Now we are bound
to give thanks, bound to thank God always for you, brethren,
as it is me, as fitting, because your faith groweth exceedingly,
and the charity of every one of you all toward each other
abounded. Now he says this in so many epistles,
and again, Five or six written down for you to turn to. I did it for you. But each one,
he begins this way, bound to thank God for you. Let me just
read you a couple of them, okay? 1 Corinthians 1 begins this way. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God
always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you
by Jesus Christ. Same thing. Same thing to every
church. Listen to Ephesians. If you're
not already familiar with it, listen to it. To the Ephesians,
he writes, Ephesians 1, After I heard of your faith in the
Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints, I cease not to give
thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayer. Listen to
Philippians. Philippians chapter 1 verses
2. Grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God
on every remembrance of you. Colossians chapter 1 verse 2. To the saints and faithful brethren
in Christ, grace be unto you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God And the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ praying always for you. It's
a broken record, isn't it? Yeah, because this is the record.
This is the testimony. That we have grace and peace
from God our Father. So he says, we're bound to thank
God always for you, brethren. The preacher and the people of
God give thanks to God. For choosing them, for calling
them, for sparing them, for being merciful to them, for being gracious
to them, for loving them. Not vice versa. False prophets,
false religion thanks men for doing things for God. Thanks
people for coming to worship God. Can you imagine? I even saw a sign one time that
said, God thanks you. I saw another sign that said,
God believes in you. Do you think I'm being too hard
on religion? Religion doesn't know hard. But we're bound. We're bound and determined to
thank God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
it's meat. It's fitting. Shouldn't the children thank
the parents for everything? Shouldn't the children be the
ones thankful to the parents that gave them birth, that provided
for them, that cared for them, that protected them, that did
all these things for them all their life? We'll never make
up for what our parents did for us, will we? It doesn't even
come close. We owe this great debt to God
our Father. And the Lord Jesus Christ, a
debt we'll never repay. It's our reasonable service.
It's not repayment anyway. Children thank the parents. And
that's what all the children of God are bound and determined
to do. That's what they do. They thank
Him always for all things. God's not beholding to us. We're
beholding to Him. It's not becoming, it's not fit,
it's not meet for a preacher or a people to thank sinners
for God's mercy. It's the other way around. So
that's what Paul does, and that's what he does in every epistle,
throughout every epistle, and that's what we do. That's the
difference. That's the difference between God's true people and
those who say they are. God's people are bad, always.
to thank God. It's fitting because your faith
groweth exceedingly. Now, where does faith come from? I'll tell you where mine came
from. From heaven. It didn't come from here. It
didn't come from here. This rebel, this prodigal son,
this sinner never gave God a thought. You know what I'm going to say
next. This is my salvation. But God, Almighty Love, arrest that man.
Almighty Spirit, convict that man. Holy Spirit, give that man
faith. Open his blind eyes. Break his
proud heart. Open his deaf ears. Bend his
proud neck. Wash his eyes with tears so he
can see clearly that he ought to be in hell right now. But
God is bound to give thanks for faith,
if anybody believes. I heard when there was this so-called
church, it happens all the time, this young boy was going to be
baptized and everybody had t-shirts made with this boy, Billy Bob
or whatever his name was, is confessing Jesus. Man, oh man, this place is a
mess. But now we are bound to give
thanks always to God for you brethren, because if you believe,
God gave it to you. And this faith groweth exceedingly. What is this faith? How does
faith grow? It's faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Groweth exceedingly. Grows stronger. Faith in Him
grows stronger. You know, the more you know of
yourself, The more you see your need of Christ, that's faith
growing. Faith growing exceedingly. Faith is belief and trust and
understanding and love even for God, for Christ. And faith, true
faith grows. Faith is just another word for
life. And God gives this life of faith, life of God in the
soul of a man. It grows. If there's life, it's
growth. If there's no growth, it's not
life. Right? And the faith that God gives,
it grows. How does it grow? It grows stronger in dependence,
in belief, in trust, in confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith
is not in faith, faith is in Him. Faith is to grow less and less
dependent on yourself and less and less thoughtful of yourself
and more on Him. That's faith growing exceedingly.
Now, he said of the Thessalonians, Faith growth exceedingly. I mean,
it was really growing. You know what? You just read
with me what they went through. Now, if you would believe to
where your life's in danger, somebody's got a sword pointed
at you. You either renounce this. Huh, Mike? Somebody's got a sword
at your throat. Now, you tell me, do you believe this Jesus
Christ or not? If Mike says, I do, go ahead.
That's faith given by God. Skin for skin, a man will save
his life over things he doesn't really believe in. And now if
it's faith of God's elect, Scripture says, they love not
their lives even unto death. And you wouldn't either if you're
faced with that. And there's other ways we're
faced with, other choices we're faced with. To where all of God's
people say, Christ is all there. Family, friends, world, so forth. This is the persecution he's
going to talk about. He said, it grows exceedingly. Charity of every one of you all
toward each other aboundeth. Love, charity. I like the word
charity. Some men don't, I do. I think smarter men than those
men wrote it. Charity, you think of giving,
don't you? When you think of charity, you
think of giving, don't you? That's what love is. That's the
greatest definition of love. When it speaks of Christ loving
us, how does it describe His love for us? He gave Himself
for us. Isn't that the greatest description
of love? Love that gives, not love that
just says so, love that does so. Love that gives what? All. He says the charity. All of you, every one of you, toward each other aboundeth.
Growing closer, less affection for the world and the things
of the world, the people of the world, more affection for Christ,
His Church, His people. I was just talking to Brother
Donnie Bell today, a dear precious saint, a woman named Ruby Elmore,
was in the church at Crossfield. Some of you knew her. Ruby, an
old man. Her husband died several years
ago, Ed. Dear man, dear man, you know. And she was, oh, Donnie was saying
it was just the greatest joy to send her home when she died
recently. She was in every service until
she got to where she couldn't. And she was just a testimony.
He said she was, he was just bragging on her like, Verse 4
here, we ourselves glory in you and the churches of God. He said
she was such a testimony not only to the world, to the church,
her family. He said nobody could say anything
negative about her personally. And yet she told everybody she
came into contact with about her Lord. She was just a testimony. She died in faith. Christ truly
was her all. The charity of every one of you
toward each other aboundeth. That means less affection for
the world, the things, and the people, and more affection for
Christ and His people. You can't separate. Become more
and more united to join to God's people, because they're His body.
Now again, the opposite scares me. Some
grow distant to the brethren, go distant, go apart. It's like
a marriage, divorce is next. And you don't love somebody if
you divorce them, if you leave them. You don't love somebody.
So that scares me. But, he said he was thankful
to God for the charity of these people toward each other. Verse
4, we glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and
faith and all your tribulation, persecution, tribulation. We
glory in you. Paul wasn't taking glory for
them. He was just glorying in them, glorying in the grace of
God upon them, the mercy of God, the work of God in them. That's what He's glorying in.
You see? And I glory in. And you, I look around and see
the real grace of God. That's what Paul and Barnabas,
they went to the churches. Paul and Barnabas preached to
the Gentiles, the heathen, you know, went all over and it was
pagan. through what is now Turkey and just wild, Islamic. That goes way back. They went
in and preached the gospel. You know, some of those who died
in the war, heathens, believed. And he sent word back, he was
glorying, not in himself, not in his preaching, but in the
grace of God that does such a work in wild men. And here, look at
one. We are says, glory in you in
the churches of God. That is, He sent word back to
the churches. For your patience and faith,
the Thessalonians were patiently enduring persecution and tribulation. They were going through it. And
they believed in spite of the persecution. Because of it. They believed because of it. In 1 Thessalonians he said, our
gospel came to you, not in word only, but in power, and you received
the word in much affliction. You see, here it says in verse
5, it's a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that
you're counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which you
suffer. It's persecution and tribulation. He said they were
suffering for the Kingdom of God, like David, the cause. That's what they were suffering.
Our Lord spoke of that. He said that to His disciples,
all of His disciples. He said, you shall be hated,
all men, by My namesake. If you take up the cause of Christ,
His glory, His name, His honor, men are not going to love you
for it. They didn't love Him. He said the disciples are not
above His master. They hated me, they hated you. Except they
received my word. And again, there was not a more
loving, kind, merciful, gracious, tender, spoke with compassion
than the Lord Jesus Christ. They hated him. Why? How? Because man doesn't love
God like people think. Because man's not a good fellow
like people think. It's the opposite. If you can hate the Lord Jesus
Christ... Well, and the apostles were just like him. Paul. One
time they had beaten him to a pulp. He wasn't a mean man, he wasn't
a violent man, he was just preaching truth. And they'd beaten him
within an inch of his life, and he stood there on the stairs
with blood running down his face, both eyes swollen shut, and he
said, He said to the centurion who saved him from them, for
they would have ripped him apart, he said, can I say something? He didn't say, y'all going to
hell? He said, brethren, listen to me, you're fighting against
God. Yeah, it's persecution, tribulation. Speaking to my daughter on the
phone, heard Gabe go through it. And we were talking how that
we don't, we don't receive so much open
outward persecution today, opposition today, open outward persecution.
Number one, because most people don't care. They don't care what
you believe. They don't care what you believe. Everybody's okay and you can't
upset them. You can't upset them with anything you say. They just
go on their way. But we were talking how some
of this persecution is hidden. It's private where people get
together and talk about you and slander you and say things about
you to others in the community. And you feel it and you get it
by way of various things that happen. later on, where they
won't have anything to do with you, or businesses won't do business
with you, or won't return your calls, and so on and so forth.
There's lots of ways. The people don't care. They're
not going to fight you over it. They don't know enough scripture
to fight you. But they just don't care. But there's other ways
that they'll blackball you. They'll talk about you, and they'll
say things about you so that you're going to suffer whatever. You don't need that whatever
it is that nobody will business they won't give you, you don't
need it anyway. It may come to this, I don't
know, I don't know. But the church, up until a few
hundred years ago, and even now in some foreign
countries, if you dare to say publicly that you believe Jesus
to be the Christ, your life's in danger. Now we need to thank God. This
country is under the protection of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The ones who deny him are under
his protection. And we thank God for that. But
it may come to it. And I've said before it might
be the best thing to ever happen to the church. But I know for
a fact it will be good if this open outward Persecution happens
to the church. It will be good. Always was. For the furtherance of the gospel.
Paul said, the things that have fallen out to me have fallen
out for the furtherance of the gospel. The church at Jerusalem,
when it was persecuted, you know why it was persecuted? They came
in, the Romans, they came in and dispersed that place. And
killed people left and right. And people fled. You know what
they did when they fled? It was like seed. Have you ever taken a milkweed
pod? and broke it open, crushed it,
and blown on it. That's exactly what the Holy
Spirit did with the church at Jerusalem. Crushed it under the
hand of Roman and Jewish persecution, and those seeds went all over
the world. And we're the result of that.
We have this church right here as a result of Rome and the Jews
coming down and killing our brothers. always falls out to the furthest
of the gospel, just like Jesus Christ dying on the cross. That's
the ultimate example of it. Well, he said it's a manifest
token, a clear, evident token of the righteous judgment of
God. Now, that is His persecution
and tribulation. Judgment, when you think of judgment
of God's people by God, it's not bad, it's good. When it speaks
of the servant of God in Isaiah 42, it says he'll bring forth
judgment unto truth. Judgment, the judgment of God,
is the Word of God that judges us and convicts us and convinces
us, and we say, guilty! And you know what God says about
the guilty? There's mercy. Everybody says
guilty. As charged, whose mouth is stopped,
God says, Open your mouth wide, you're going to receive mercy. Judgment of God, you see, righteous
judgment of God is the justice that fell on Jesus Christ. Because
God cannot, will not, justice won't allow God to punish you
for what Jesus Christ was punished for. That's the judgment of God. The soul that sinned shall surely
die. That's what God said. God can't
lie. He will by no means clear the
guilty of God. Are you in Christ Jesus? Who
of God is made unto wisdom and righteousness. Say unto the righteous,
who's that? Those who patched up a little,
made themselves, quit this, quit that. God sees right through
them. Say unto those who are righteous
in my Son. Say unto those that Christ shed
His blood for, covered them, like Adam and Eve with that skin.
Say unto them, it's well. It is well with your soul. You're
righteous, covered. Righteous judgment of God. It's
a manifest token, a clear evidence, God is with a people when the
world is against them. It's a clear evidence God is
not with the people when everybody is to have no trouble. Our Lord said, Woe is unto you
if men speak well of you. You must not be speaking very
well of God. Because no one spoke more well
than our Lord did, and they killed him for it. And the apostles
and the prophets. And our Lord said, they'll do
the same to you. But rejoice, he said. Rejoice. That's what
he said. Blessed are you when men shall
revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil falsely
against you. For my name says it. For they
did that to the prophets. You're in good company. Rejoice. So that's a token of evidence. It's evidence clear who God chose
because their testimony is of God, of His will, His choice. It's clear who God chose because
they say, He chose me. I didn't choose Him. It's clear
who God chose, their testimony, and how the world treats them.
It's always been the same. It's clear who are God's people
because of their testimony and because of what the world says
about them. what God says about him, what they say about God,
and what the world says about him. A man moved to Ashland, Kentucky
years ago and started working at the steel mill where many
of the men at the church there attended, worked, I mean. And this man went up to one of
the brethren and said, Where do you go to church? And the
man said 13th Street. He said, oh. So they started referring to
it as the, oh, church. Whenever people say, oh, that's
where you probably need to go. Where do you go to church? First
Methodist. Oh, that's a nice block. First Baptist. Oh, that's a good
one. I love their preaching. First Presbyterian. Oh, yeah, that's
good. They've done so much for the community. I go where sovereign
grace is owed. Owed. Verse 5 says, this is a manifest,
a clear evidence or token of the righteous judgment of God
that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which
you suffer. It's a righteous thing with God
to recompense tribulation, to never trouble you. God recompenses
tribulation to those that trouble His people. He pays it back in
ways that men don't see. They don't understand it. They
don't see it. The wrath of God is clearly seen
from heaven by whom? Not the world. Like Egypt, they
didn't see it as a hand of God. God's people clearly saw it.
And they do now. They see the wrath of God from
heaven. And if you dare say it's the wrath of God, they'll accuse
you of being... But it isn't. And yet God in other ways withholds
things from men and women. People are looking for happiness,
looking for peace, looking for comfort, and can't find it. Right? That's why drug use is
on the rise, alcoholism so-called. That's why, you know, therapy,
even Christian counselors and all that are just, the woods
are full of them. Why? Because people have no peace,
no comfort, no happiness they're looking for. They can't find
it. There's only one place it's found. So God recompenses tribulation. He withholds these things that
men are looking for. He withholds it from them. While
He gives His people peace in the midst of these things. Right
in the midst of them. Peace which passeth understanding. So He says in verse 7, you that
are troubled, rest with us. Rest with us. Do you know how
Noah was persecuted for 120 years? Just think about it. Think about
how they laughed and mocked him. Now he's talking about God, not
God's love, he's talking about God's judgment and wrath the
whole time. That's because that's what God
said. That's what God said. God said, I'm going to destroy
this world. Didn't he? God takes no pleasure in the
death of the wicked. He didn't say that with relish,
but he said it with a matter of fact, I'm going to destroy
this world. Because it's full of violence, not full of good
people, it's full of violence. The whole earth, he says, corrupted
my way. Nobody's listening to God. They
don't care what God says. So God said, I'm going to destroy
this world. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And
God's so merciful and gracious. He said, build an ark, Noah.
Build an ark with rooms, lots of rooms. So for 120 years, this
was the message of Noah, wasn't it? Judgment's coming. Judgment's
coming. But in the midst of wrath, he
made known mercy. But there's mercy. Where is it?
One place. One place. It's not for the good.
It's not for the righteous. It's not if you do better. It's
not if you go this place, go that place. Get in the heart.
Get in the heart. Mercy's in Christ. We preach
Christ, Him crucified. The mercy of God, the grace of
God, the love of God, the salvation of God, it's only in one place,
in one person. Jesus Christ, come to Christ.
Not interested. I'm good enough. I'm okay, you're
okay, you believe that way. Islam, you know, Muslims, Buddhists
and Hindus, everybody's okay. There are many faiths, we're
all going to one place. No, we're not. Get in the ark.
Get in the ark. Oh, no, nobody believes like
you. Get in the ark. 120 years. Brother, 120 years. Then finally, it's over. It's
finished. Work is done. We're in the last
days. I could go seven days at Noah
when the ark was finished. Seven days. Seven days. Sun was shining. Everything's
fine. Everybody was eating and drinking
and being merry and marrying and giving and marrying and building
and buying and selling and all that. And Noah and his family
are sitting in the ark. The sun's shining. They're sitting
in the ark. What are they waiting on? The
judgment to follow. And the whole world laughed. And then that door closed. And then God laughed. Then God
laughed. That's what Proverbs 1 said.
Doesn't it? Doesn't it, Darryl? He said,
they'll call, and I'll laugh. God's not mocked. God's not mocked. So you know why I'm bound to
give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved Lord,
and you for me, and us for us, and we for us? Because God chose
us to salvation through sanctification. I'm quoting the next chapter. God chose us. and put us in the ark, like those
animals. He went and got us. He went and
got us a mule. There were two mules in there.
You can't tell a mule, come on now, can you? He got to bring
him. Like that wild ass is cold. The
Lord said, go get him. Nobody's ever rode him, Lord.
I'll ride him. He'll bring him to me. I'll ride
him. Look at this now. Look at this. How many people
have read that? That you who are troubled, rest
with us. Rest in Christ. When the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,
taking vengeance on them that are murderers and rapists. No! That know not God, and that obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus. Have you ever read it like that? He said the publicans and the
harlots are getting away. He's talking about just people
that don't know God. Well, everybody ought to know
God. The heavens declare His glory. The firmament show it's
His handiwork. The things that are His eternal power and Godhead,
Romans 1, are clearly seen. They're without excuse. Really. But He says, but they became
vain in their imagination, so they made idols. He's talking
about religion. Didn't glorify God, but worshiped
and served the creature rather than the creator. That's what
he's talking about. You know this Lord, don't you?
You know this Lord Jesus Christ, and you fear Him, don't you?
You fear Him, but you love Him. Explain that. You don't have
to explain it to a believer. You fear Him, yet you love Him,
don't you? You fear Him, yet you're not afraid of Him. Does
that make sense? You fear Him, but you're not
afraid of Him. You have such a respect for His holiness and
His power. But you can't tell that to somebody.
But it says He's going to come and they'll be punished, verse
9, with an everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.
Get out of my presence. Cast them out. Who's going to
do that? Jesus Christ. Do you see why I said we're bound
to thank God? You were right in the midst of
that, weren't you sister? We were just in this Methodist play.
I told you about it. Brother Gabe and I were looking
around. Piano recital where his daughters were in. It was nauseating. But that's what most people are
in. We couldn't wait to get out. And some of you were in there.
That's right, by God. And when He comes, verse 10,
you're going to be glorified in the saints and admired in
all them that believe. And you know why? Because that's
what they're doing now. That's what they're doing now.
You know why we gather together, Brother John? It's to glorify
Him. Why? Because we admire Him. I
can't think of a human being on earth that I do admire. Can
you? Name me one world leader or one
government official. It might be one local politician. It's not a political office. But you name somebody you have
any admiration for. Now, God's people admire the
Lord Jesus Christ. Unlike him, fairest among ten
thousand. That's what the people said about
David. They said, you're worth ten thousand less. And he says, oh, he comes to
be admired and glorified, glorified and admired. All them that believe
in our testimony among you was believed. I do believe, don't you mind?
I do believe. When the Lord asked His disciple,
whom do men say that I am? And they said, they say this,
say that. Who do you say? Peter said, we believe. No, we're
sure that thou art the Christ. And I am too, aren't you brother?
I know he is. Where did you get that? There
was a time when you didn't care about it, just like me, didn't
you? You do now, don't you? They didn't believe. Faith is a gift of God. Wherefore
we pray always for you that our God would count you worthy. We
all feel so unworthy, don't we? Worthy of the vocation wherein
you're called, Paul said. We all feel so unworthy. Lord,
make me worthy. Make me a worthy recipient of
this grace. To whom much is given, much is
required. Make me worthy of it. Make me thankful. Make me a good
witness and a good testimony. Don't let me be a murmur or a
complainer like the rest of the world, because I have received
mercy every day. Mercy, mercy, mercy all day,
every day. Let everybody hear that from
my lips. Let everybody hear my testimony that God is good. Not
life is good, LG. God is good. The Lord is good. Oh, count me worthy, Lord. Make
me worthy of this calling. Fulfill all the good pleasure
of His goodness. Oh, brethren, it is the goodness
of God. And as God did work at the end, I spoke the will and
do of His good pleasure. So we pray. Paul prayed and we
pray. And I pray for you and I pray
for myself that God would Do this work in me. Cause it to grow. Work of faith
with power. Not in word only, but in power. Lord, let me know the power of
his resurrection. Let me know something about being
quickened together with him. that the name, and here's what
it's all about, that the name of the Lord Jesus Christ might
be glorified in you. Does it make you sick and make
you ill what men are saying about the Lord's name? Does it make
you sick? Everything you see on TV, everything
you hear out of people's mouth is, oh God, does that make you
sick? Does it? If you fear God, if you know
His name, it does. Pictures, images, Mary holding
that body, I hate that. She wasn't holding his body. He was holding hers. that the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, do you notice how that nearly every verse in this chapter
he says, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ, not just Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ. We glorify
His name, what is it? The Lord Jesus Christ. He said,
you call me Lord and Master, you say well for, so I am. And
that's what God's people call Him. I would have a hard time calling
some of our leaders by their titles, like President. I just
do. But I would. I get it. I don't
know. But I don't have a hard time
calling Jesus Lord. I can't possibly think of calling
him any other thing. Lord. And that he may be glorified
us glorified in Him. Oh, we are. Christ said this,
He said it about His sheep, didn't He? In that prayer to the Father,
He said, Father, I will, that they be with Me where I am, that
they might behold My glory. The marriage supper of the Lamb.
If you admire Him now, wait until you see Him then. If you love
Him now, wait until you Hear His voice then. If you feel one
with Him now, you feel like you're His bride now, you just wait
till He takes you on His arm and walks you down the aisle
then, then you're going to be glorified
in Him like Homer and Hosea. Would you look at her? She's
not what she used to be, is she? Why? And we will not be. Why? were made beautiful through His
covenant. And all according to the grace,
to the gift of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen? And that's just one little
chapter. It's a small book. Oh, it's big
on glory. The next chapter talks about
when Christ comes back. Just like the first letter. All
right, stand with me. Our Lord, thank You. Thank You
for Your Word. Thank You for Your people. Thank
You for Your grace. Thank You for Your mercy. Thank
You for Your peace, blood, righteousness. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, thank
You, thank You. Bound to give thanks always to You, our God,
for everything, every good and perfect, all things, for of You,
to You, through you, by you, and for you are all things. Amen. You're dismissed.