Not easy rising twice in the
same day, same morning, let alone the same day. Turn
to, back to 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians. Let me get myself ready here. I titled this message, What Happens When the Gospel Comes in Power? When God Visits a Man or a Woman
or a Congregation. What happens when God sends the
gospel there in power? When you hear the gospel in power,
in the power of the Holy Spirit, I can assure you this, you will never be the same. If God visits you in power, if
he visits me in power with the gospel, and this happens, you know, don't
think this is a one-time thing, one-time event. God visits his
children in power with the gospel all the time, all the time. You cannot be born of God and
remain the same. You can't be born of God. You
cannot meet God and remain the same. Can't do it. And Paul goes to Thessalonica. And you can read that over in
the book of Acts where he's there preaching. And they all come
out to hear him and then a great stir is made over this. But God
in all that, brings a people, an idolatrous people, and we
all are. Every one of us are idolatrous
before God saves us. We idol something. We worship
something or someone. No one goes through this life
without worshiping something or someone. And God brought a people out
of Thessalonica. and adulterous people. And he
made a world of difference in them. Their witness went throughout the world.
Paul said, I don't even have to tell people about you, they
tell me about you. Isn't that wonderful? That you'd be such a witness
that others talk about you. Isn't that an example? Now he says here, and he introduces
himself as Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, they were with him,
unto the church of the Thessalonians, which is in God the Father and
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Does that church exist anymore? In God the Father it does. That
congregation is with us this morning. Look at this congregation. What we got here, 40, 50 people? Don't ever look at this congregation
and say, we have a small congregation. No, you don't. We are not gathered
with a small congregation. Now, this may be locally a small
congregation, but you got to, as I used to run a business for
a man, he used to say, John, you need to see the big picture.
He's always telling me to see the big picture. And you and
I quit, we forget the big picture. Do you have any idea how many
are worshiping God with us this morning in spirit and in truth?
It's an innumerable company of angels and saints. We're not
a small congregation this morning. Do you realize how many, I mean,
I can't even grasp this, how many angels are around us and
listening to me stand here and preach? And us sing. We are hedged about by them. Well, we're not here by ourselves.
What was Elijah did to that young man? He said, Lord, open his
eyes, let him see. And that whole hill was full
of flaming cherries, full of angels. And he said, there's
more with us than there are with them. You know, heaven is spoken
of as, God is spoken of as a God of host. Not a God of a little
company, a God of host. Host, an innumerable, innumerable,
thousands, 10,000 upon thousands and thousands. The church is gathered this morning
in heaven and earth in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's worship Him with that
in mind. Let's worship with that in mind. You cannot separate the Lord
and His people. Our Lord cried on the cross,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That will never happen again. When the Lord comes, it says
in His second coming, when He comes, He's going to come how?
With ten thousands and thousands. They'll never be separated. There'll
never be a time that the Lord goes somewhere that they're not
with Him. He never, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. There's
never a time that God is not with you. Is God in you? Is Christ in you? Then where
you are, He is. They're never separated. You
can't separate the Lord and His people. It's impossible. No more
than you can separate the head from the body. It's one body,
one person. And he said, we give thanks to
God always for you. And remember, when we remember
you in prayer, we thank God for you. We don't thank you. I remember
hearing Henry say this one time in a message I've never forgotten.
I don't thank you for being here. I thank God for you being here. I thank God for you. God is the reason you and I believe
the gospel. God is the reason you and I are
not sitting in darkness. God is the reason you and I didn't
go to one of those sunrise services this morning. I told Vicki, I said, there's
a lot of people, they went to sunrise service this morning. They get
there early, get there before dark, get there before the sunrise
comes up, and they've missed the sun. They've still missed
him. They missed him. Paul, he thanked
God for him. God's the reason why you believe
the gospel. He's the one to be thanked. He's
the one to be thanked. We don't thank each other for
believing, we thank God. We thank God. I thank God. I
thank God that He made us accepted in the Beloved. I don't thank
God that anyone accepted Jesus Christ. I thank God He accepted
us. And he says here, here's evidence.
Now he's going to give the evidence of salvation. These are, and
the things they, these things are, are life changers. These
are life changers. He says, remember Him without
ceasing, your work of faith, and your labor of love, and your
patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the center
of it. He's the subject of it. He's
the object of it. He's the object of our faith.
He's the object of our love. He's the object of our hope.
Paul says right in the temple, Jesus Christ, our hope. I have one hope, one hope, and His name is Jesus Christ.
That's the only hope I've got. That's the only hope I've got. These are marks of grace in the
soul. He speaks of the work of faith. What they did, they did
because they believed God. They believed God. They didn't
believe in God, they believed God. Everybody believes in a God or
there is a God, but there's a huge difference in believing that
and believing God. Abraham, it says, believed God. And what
did he do? Exactly what God said to do.
That's faith. That's faith. Faith is doing
what God said to do. It's doing it. And it's a labor
of love. Supporting your pastor here.
You don't look at that as an obligation. That's a labor of
love. Sending out the gospel. That's
a labor of love. You know, I don't look at the
world and think, I don't look at the world and say, I'll just
shoot them. I look at the world and I would to God I could preach
the gospel to them. Paul said it, I think it was
to Agrippa. He said, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
Paul said, I would to God you are almost, not only almost,
but altogether such as I am, except for these bonds. He said,
I would to God you knew Christ. I could say that, I could say
that to anyone on this earth. I would to God you knew Christ. I could look into the face of
a serial killer. Now, I know you say, well, you
didn't have anybody go through that. I believe I could look
in the face of one and say, I wouldn't have, God, you knew Jesus Christ.
Because by God's grace, I'd be you. Now, how in the world can you
say, by God's grace, if it weren't for the grace of God, I'd be
you? If it weren't for God's grace, I'd be you? Then turn
around and hate him. Turn around and say, I just despise
him. I know that justice has to be
served in this life and people have to deal with their sins.
But I look at them and I say, I've seen on television, I've
seen these people going to be executed. People standing out
there holding signs, you know, execute them, kill them. And
even though I understand that that has to happen. But I have
to say, my heart is my soul. If it weren't for God's grace,
I'd be in there. And I mean that. If it weren't for God's grace, I'd
be there. You know, there was two men in
the Scriptures named Judas. Jude, who wrote the book of Jude,
his name was Judas, and there was Judas Iscariot. What made
the difference between the two Judases? Grace. Grace made the
difference. Paul recognized their faith and
their labor of love. Real faith works by love. It's
how it works. Preaching the gospel. I want
to preach the gospel in love. I want to preach the gospel in
love. Faith, it says, without works
is dead. It's dead. And so is love. It's dead, too. Just formality. And he recognizes there are patients
of hope in Jesus Christ, waiting on Him. Waiting on Him. A person who
has been born of God patiently waits for the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Patiently waits. Knowing, brethren,
beloved, Your election of God. Salvation. Let's never forget
this. Salvation always, always, always begins with God first.
It does not begin with us. It begins with God first. Knowing,
brethren, beloved, God chose you. God chose you. Your election of God. Salvation always begins with
what God has done for us in Christ. It's God's electing love that
caused our conversion. It was God's electing love that
sent Paul to Thessalonica. It was God's electing love that
sent a man here to preach the gospel to you. I have a people. God said to Paul concerning the
Corinthians, I have much people in this city. Well, how do you
know? They may not accept you. Wouldn't
that be a loss? There ain't much wisdom in that,
is there? No wisdom in that at all. You and I wouldn't even
do that. God said to Paul, you stay in
this city. I have much people here. I know every one of them
by name. He knoweth every one of them,
but trust in Him. He knows every one of His children. Not one
of them shall perish. And He will send the gospel their
way in His time. When it's time to be born, there's
a time to be born and time to die. And when it's time to be
born of God, the gospel will cross your path. It'll cross your path. Knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election of God. It's not natural for us to come
to God, no more than it is natural for darkness to want to be where
light is, or evil to want to be where righteousness is. If
God did not choose us, we'd have nothing to do with God. I well
remember a time that I wanted nothing to do with God. I know what I wanted to do. I
know what I wanted to do. Exactly what it says in Ephesians
2, fulfilling the lust of your flesh and of your mind. That's
what I wanted to do. Then he says, for our gospel,
it's ours because God gave it to us. It's our gospel. It's our gospel. It identifies
us. It identifies us. It's our gospel. It came not
unto you in word only. In word only. You know, there
are people who sit and hear the gospel for years and die. And all they've heard of it is
in word only. But then there's someone who
hears it in power. Someone who hears it in power.
He said, The gospel came not unto you in word only, but also
in power, in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. And you
know what manner of men we were among you for your sakes. A man
who hears the gospel in power, a woman who hears the gospel
in power, cannot, cannot remain the same. You can't. A thief is a thief no more. That thief that the Lord said
today, shalt thou be with me in paradise. If he was, if he
was taken down from that cross, he'd have been an honest man
from that day on. He would not have been a thief anymore. He
would not have lived the thief no more. I might be a wretch,
but I don't live like one. If I live like one, I've never
been saved. I've never been born of God.
Never. A liar now tells the truth. A mean man becomes a gracious
man. It makes, and I've heard pastors
say this over the years, it makes a husband a better husband. It
makes a wife a better wife. It makes children better children. If not, if you're just as mean
as you ever were, you're just as lost as you ever were. Now listen, it's different feeling
your meanness than actually being mean. There's a difference. Over in Matthew 5, the Lord said
in Matthew 5, I'm not going to turn over there because there's
too much reading, but He said over in Matthew 5, Love your
enemies. Pray for them that despitefully
use you. Now God will have to do something
for me and in me for that to happen. For me to genuinely love
my enemies. For me to pray for them. Realizing
if God saved them, they wouldn't be my enemy no more. They'd not
be an enemy of grace no more. They'd not be an enemy of God
no more. They'd be reconciled to God and reconciled to me. Those who compel you to go a
mile, He said, go two miles with them. It takes grace to do that. It takes the grace of God to
do what He's telling us to do there in the Sermon on the Mount.
Over in 1 Corinthians, Paul gives this list of sins. 1 Corinthians
chapter 6. Let's go over there. Let me look
at this. You need to see it. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Now look at verse 7. Now therefore
there is utterly a fault among you because you go to law one
with another. Why do you not rather take wrong?
Why do you not do that? Why do you not rather suffer
yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, you do wrong and defraud,
and that to your brethren. Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the
kingdom of God. And such were some of you." Such
were some of you, but you're washed. You're sanctified. You're
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit
of our God. You're not that way no more. Grace made a difference. God
has made a difference. The gospel came to you in power. You're not that way no more. The tenor of your life now is
after godliness. It's after godliness. Over in Acts, in Acts chapter
9, we read of Saul of Tarsus, who hated the church, despised
it, made havoc of it, and then became the great apostle
to the church, to the Gentiles, to us. At one time, nobody on
this earth hated Jesus Christ more than the apostle Paul. But God struck him down that
road to Damascus. He didn't ask him, Paul, why
don't you accept me as your personal Savior? He said, Paul, why are
you kicking against the pricks? It's hard for you to do that
now. He's not getting anywhere. You know, you just... And saved that man. And when Paul first went out
to preach, they said, we heard of you. We heard of you. They
were afraid of him. We heard it. You're that one
who made havoc of the church. You're the one who was taking
men and women and putting them in the prison. At first they
were afraid of Paul. And then they fell in love with
him. Because God made a difference. God made a difference. What a difference God makes.
In the book of Mark, there was a demoniac. They chained him, they put fetters
on him, they said. He'd break him. He's running
in the tombs naked and cutting himself. And I mean, nobody go
around this man. And you know what happened when
they came back the next time they saw him? He was sitting
at the feet of Christ in his right mind. Life changers. You cannot meet
God and be the same. You cannot hear the gospel in
power and remain the same. Can't do it. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
it says in 2 Corinthians 5.18, he's a new creature. You are a new creature. You are
a new creation. You're not a renovation, you're
a new creation. God's not in the business of
renovating. He's in the business of creating. He creates. You and I like to take old houses
and renovate them, don't we? Oh, we like that old stuff, don't
we? Antique stuff. Oh, we like that antique stuff.
God said, behold, I'll make all things new. You can have the
antique stuff. You can keep the old stuff. He said, I'll have
new stuff. I make all things new. Behold,
I make all things new. He's going to destroy all the
old stuff. It's going to be gone. Therefore, if any man be in Jesus
Christ, He is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. You are a new person. New. Our walk becomes new. It's after
godliness. You desire righteousness. You
hunger and thirst after righteousness. Our walk is new. Our talk is
new. Our attitude is new. We rejoice
in the Lord. Our goals are new. Our aims are
new. Our ambitions are new. We're
new! Now we think heavenly. We're heavenly-minded and not
earthly-minded. If you're earthly-minded, that's
because you're of the earth, earthy. God gave us a real interest in
Jesus Christ, His Son. It's a real interest in Him.
It's a real union in Christ. It's like the branch and the
vine. They're connected. We are genuinely
united to God in Christ. We are united to Him. The convictions
of sin we have and the thirst for righteousness we have are
real. They're of God. And now you're light in the Lord.
You're no more darkness. You're light. You're children
of light. Walk in the light. And our gospel came to you in
the power of the Holy Ghost. Brethren, the Holy Ghost is a
real person. The Holy Spirit is God Almighty. And He's the one that indwells
us. He's the one who reveals Christ to us. He's the one who
leads and guides us. He's the one who takes the Word
and applies it in power. This is the living Word. You
know, Paul says over in chapter 2, he says, the Word of God which
works in you effectually. You ever been sitting down and
the Word of God come to your mind, Scripture come to your
mind, and you think of it, and you ponder over it, and it really
blesses you and it helps you? That's the Word of God working
in you. In fact, I've never had another book do that to me. I
can't even remember the other books I've read. I've read a
lot of books. Read a lot of books on management.
Didn't really help, but I did. But this is one book that works
on you. This is the Word of God here,
works in you affectionately. The Word of God in the hands
of the Holy Spirit guides you and directs you. This is the
way. This is the way. Don't go there. Shun every appearance of evil.
You know that, don't you? You know that. You're standing
there and you say, that Word comes to you, shun every appearance
of evil. You know, just turn and go the other way. Leave it
alone. Leave it alone. At one time we lived in the lust
of the flesh. We walked after the flesh. But God, who is rich in mercy, did something for us, didn't
He? Did something for us. Stopped us on our road to hell
and made us a new creation in Jesus Christ. He quickened us
together with Christ. Made us alive in Christ. He gave us life, eternal life.
It's a mysterious operation. I can't explain it. But it happens. It happens when He comes in power.
When He comes in power. And you became followers of us
and of the Lord. You became followers of us. Someone said to me one time,
years ago, sometime years ago. They said, you follow Henry.
I said, and so? What are you saying? Paul said,
you follow us as we follow the Lord. I said, this man following
the Lord, and I follow him. And following him, I'm following
the Lord. Following your pastor, Now listen, God gives you a faithful
pastor. Following your pastor is following
the Lord. And you became followers of us
and of the Lord having received the word in much affliction. Now they really received the
word in much affliction. They really did. But we receive
it, and some here may have received it with much affliction in their
home, but we receive it with much affliction in the soul.
There's a fight, there's a war. I never had a warfare in me until
then. I didn't struggle with sin. I didn't struggle with...
I just tried to figure out how to do it. I didn't struggle with sin. My
struggle was finding a way to get it done. The gospel never comes without
affliction, not in this flesh, not in this life. Oh, you became His disciple.
Am I really a disciple? Think about it, a disciple, a
learner, a follower of Jesus Christ. You became a willing bond slave
of Jesus Christ. even though you received it with
much affliction. And so much so that you were examples to
all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. It's one thing to
be an example when you're among unbelievers,
but it is a great honor when you are held up as an example
among those who believe. What a great honor that you're
held up as an example among those who believe. And I assure you,
I assure you, every one of us, we are an example to somebody.
You got children? You're an example to them. Neighbors? You're an example
to them. Example. You became examples
of gospel. A gospel that does not cause
you to tell someone or to send a gospel out, it didn't come
to you in power. You can't help but tell. How
many times did the Lord say, go and tell no one, and what
did they do? They went and told someone. They couldn't keep it
quiet. They couldn't keep it quiet. That woman at the well, she went
back to that city. She went back to that city and
told that whole city. She went throughout that whole
city, this woman did. And that whole city came out
to hear Him. They said, now we believe, not because of what
she said, not because of your word, but because we've heard
Him ourselves. That demonic, he wanted to go
with the Lord. He didn't want to go back to those people. But
the Lord said, you go back, you go back there. Now you go back
there and you tell them what great things the Lord's done
for you. I wish I didn't have to go to
work in that place. Now you go back to that place where the
Lord has given you and you be an example. And when the opportunity
arises, tell them about the Christ. Tell them about Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ. When that opportunity arises,
You don't have to try to just grab people by the shirt collar
and tell them. The Lord opens doors. He'll open
doors and you tell them. Tell them what great things God's
done for you, not what you're doing for Him. You wouldn't do
that if you believed the gospel. You wouldn't do that. You're
not going to stand up like Donald Trump and say, I'm a good Christian.
You're not going to do that. You're not going to go around
and say, I'm a good Christian. You're going to go around and
say, let me tell you about Christ. I want to tell you about Christ. That
young man said, good master, he said, what are you calling
me good for? There's none good but God. And if I'm good, I'm God. If you want to talk about good,
you have to talk about God. We used to say a prayer when I was
in elementary school, right before lunch, God is great! God is good. I started to bring that message
this morning. I started to bring that one. God is great and God
is good. He is, isn't he? He is. He's always good. My bad
days, what I call bad days, are really days of blessing, probably.
I just couldn't see it. But my so-called bad days never
changes the nature of God. It never changes God. God, He
is who He is. Whether I'm having a good day
or a bad day, He's God. And from you sounded out the
word of the Lord. Not only in Macedonia, but in
Asia and every place, your faith to God was spread abroad. We
don't need to tell anybody about you, they tell us about you.
And they show us what manner of entertainment we had. When
we came to you, we see what manner, the effect the gospel had when
we were there preaching it. He said, we see it. It's demonstrated. It's demonstrated in your walk,
your talk, your lives. What a difference God makes. And to wait for His Son from
heaven whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus which delivered
us from the wrath to come. I ask you a question. This is called Easter Sunday. Are you waiting on an event to
happen or are you waiting on a person to show up? Huh? What are you waiting on, an event
or a person? All those people this morning
who got up early before the sunrise and had that service, waiting
on an event. They talk about the rapture.
I was in the hospital visiting someone some time ago and a man,
a gentleman walked in the room and he said, well I guess the
rapture hadn't happened. I said, why, because you're here?
I said, you think because you're still here the rapture hasn't
happened? Waiting on an event. I promise you. You wait on the
event, you'll miss the person. You'll miss Jesus Christ. Waiting
on His Son from heaven. Even Jesus, the one who was despised
and rejected of men, crucified on a cross, risen from the dead,
ascended back to the Father, that's who we're waiting on.
That's who I'm waiting on. I don't know how it's all going
to happen. I don't know. I don't know anything about the millennium
and Armageddon. I don't know anything about that.
Don't ask me about it. I'll just muddy the water in
it. I used to think I knew something about it. I'm dumb as a box of
rocks concerning those things now. But I'm not ignorant about
Jesus Christ. And when I see Him, and you who
believe, when you see Him, You're not going to be surprised. That's
going to be the one you're looking for. That's going to be the one
you were looking for. Looking for Him. Waiting on Him. Jesus Christ. Listen, which delivered us from
the wrath to come. It's coming. Listen, the wrath
of God is on its way. It's on its way. It's headed
in this direction. And He has saved us from that.
And not till then, as Bridget Harding sings, not till then
shall we know how much we owe. Not till we stand in His presence.
Well, I've enjoyed myself being with you today. I thank God for
you. All right.