Through the rain and the rain
we have come At least this year children are home Some through
the water, some through the flood Some through the fire, but all
through the flood Some see great sorrow that God gives us all
In the night season and all the day of all You have the grace that we might
ever long. For I am holy, blessed to say
that we might ever long. That's a good song. Good songs should drive some
comfort from that. The first verse says, In shady
green pastures, so rich and so sweet, God leads his dear children
along, where the water's cool flow bathes the weary one's feet. That, I'm sure, has reference
to Psalm 23, where he maketh us to lie down in the green pastures. and beside the still waters of
his word. May he make us lie down and be
still and know that he is God and be comforted by the waters
of his word. All right. 1 Thessalonians 3. 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. As I
say so often, Most of God's Word is written
to believers. Unbelievers—there's only warnings
to unbelievers. They will not receive the Word
anyway unless they are God's elect, and then the promises
will apply to them. But most of the Scriptures are
to believers, especially these letters or these epistles. Chapter
1 of 1 Thessalonians, and I said last Sunday that 1 Peter was
one of my favorites. Well, this is too, along with
2 Thessalonians, and congratulations Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians,
and on and on. But this is the most precious
portion of Scripture. Verse 4 of 1 Thessalonians 1
chapter 1 verse 4 says, Knowing, brethren beloved, your election
of God. And it's a blessed thing to know
your election. It's a comforting thing to know
your election. I don't see how anybody could
rest without knowing their election, without giving diligence to make
their calling and election sure. But it's a comforting thing to
know our election because that entitles us to all the promises
of God. And they're innumerable. And
they're unspeakable. And they're higher than the heavens
are above the earth. Our election entitles us to all
the promises of God. And he says we may know our election
because, verse 5, the gospel came. Our gospel, our gospel,
not another. Paul said there's another going
around, but it's not the gospel. It's a purr-version. It's not
a version, it's a purr-version about a God who can't, about
a Christ who didn't, about a man who must. That's all that amounts
to in it. But Paul said the gospel in Romans
1. The gospel, our gospel, the gospel
is the gospel of God. It's God's gospel. It's about
God. It's from God. It's by God. It's for God. And it glorifies
God. It's the gospel, he said, which
was promised before in the scriptures. It's the old gospel. It's the
gospel of the Old Testament. We're Old Testament believers
around here. That's all the Bible the apostles
had, wasn't it? And he said, the gospel according
to the scriptures. We are Old Testament believers
here, as well as new. It's the old gospel. It's the
old paths wherein is the good way, like Jeremiah said, the
only way, the way, That's the old path, the good
way, the gospel of grace, sovereign grace. It's been sovereign grace
from the beginning, hasn't it? It's the gospel, he said, concerning
his Son, concerning God's Son, Jesus Christ. It's the gospel
that talks about Christ, what he did, who he is, where he is
now. That's the only gospel there
is. Any gospel that dwells on man is not the gospel. Any gospel
that calls on man to do anything is not the gospel. But that gospel
which simply declares what Christ has done, who he is, where he
is now, that's a gospel concerning God's Son, our Lord. The gospel
is person. It's a person. It's about Christ,
what the gospel is, his righteousness, Christ's life, Christ's death,
Christ's blood, Christ's prayers, Christ's power. It's Christ's
gospel. It's the gospel of Christ, the
doctrine of Christ. And Paul went on to say that
gospel is the one that declares him to be the Son of God with
power, not the one who tries and fails, that pitiful little
Jesus that everybody's feeling sorry for, but the gospel of
the Son of God who has all authority given unto him in heaven and
earth. Even the keys of hell and death are dangling from his
side. The gospel of Christ who has
all power, the one who created all things by his power and one
who sustains all things by his power and one who must save us
by his power. And that's that gospel. Paul
said, Our gospel came to you. Is that gospel here? Did it come
here? You're elect. Or at least somebody
is in here that believes it. And I believe it brought it to
you. That's our gospel. That's the gospel. And he said
it came to us, not in just word only, not just letter, not doctrine
only, dead, dry doctrine, but in power. Verse 5, I'm reading
verse 5. But in power, heart-piercing
power. Heart-piercing power, soul-saving
power, life-changing power. And the Holy Ghost, it said,
The gospel came in the Holy Ghost, who teaches, who leads, who guides
into all truth. The Holy Ghost, who bears witness
with our spirit and gives us much assurance, he said. Came
in much assurance. Why do we have much assurance
of our salvation? Because we've got a surety. You can have much assurance.
Yea, all assurance if you've got a surety. your assurance. The extent of your assurance
is based on how big your surety is, how powerful your surety
is. Now, if your surety has all power,
then you should have all assurance, all assurance. Chapter 2, now.
1 Thessalonians chapter 2, he says in verse 4, Now we were
allowed of God to be put in trust with his gospel, the gospel. We were allowed of God. This
is a blessed privilege, the highest honor on earth for a man, for
a woman to receive the gospel. I'm not just talking about preaching
it. I'm talking about people hearing it. We were allowed,
God allowed us to sit in on the mysteries that have been kept
hid from the foundation of the world, but are now revealed unto
us by His Spirit. God allowed us to sit in on what
even the prophets desire to look into, what angels right now desire
to look into. He has revealed them unto us.
God has allowed us to sit in on this gospel and to believe
it, and preachers to preach it. Entrusted men with the jewel,
the crowning jewel of God's crown, the gospel. That crowning Jew,
he has entrusted men, given them this blessed privilege of preaching
the gospel, the gospel. So what must we preach? The issues of the day? Social
issues, political issues? Oh, those things fade into insignificance,
don't they, when you think about the gospel? the greatest story
ever told of the greatest man who ever lived, who performed
the greatest work ever performed, so great a salvation. We don't
talk about the next election. No, let's talk about this election.
It's far greater. The next one won't mount the
hill of beans anymore, will it? Get some dude in there, he won't
be indifferent to the last one. No, he won't. Now, I know what
I've said in the past. He says in verse four, we were
allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, so that's what
we're going to speak. He said the same thing over in
2 Corinthians 2. He said, insincerity as of God. Talk about a preacher now, or
those who witness the gospel, those who declare it out there. Insincerity. We're sincere about
this thing, as of God, as though God did beseech you by us in
the sight of God. God's listening. God's watching
what we're doing, listening to what we're saying. So what are
we going to talk about? What are we going to meet together
and do tonight? That which the angels and cherubs and seraphs
and the multitude of heavenly hosts and the saints that have
gone before us are doing right at this very moment. What? praising
the Lamb. That's what this is all about.
So that's what Paul said. We're going to speak of Christ.
We're going to speak of Christ. It's that which, as I said, angels
desire to look into. It's that which sinners need
desperately. Sinners need to hear it over
and over again. Tell me once again the old, old
story, because I forget so soon. Tell me. Sinners need this over
and over again, don't you? It's their comfort, it's their
bread, and it's that which God Almighty just smiles upon. You'd
like to hear about your children, to hear your children spoken
of, don't you? Huh? Yeah, you do. Don't deny it. As a matter
of fact, when I'm around you, I hate for somebody to bring
them up. Because you'll just go on and on. I mean, that's
what God Almighty insists that we do, doesn't it? That's what
he insists that we do. Just go on and on about my son.
You can't tell enough about my son. Why? Because he is all. He is all. And he says there
in verse 4, he says, We don't speak as pleasing men, true preachers,
or God's disciples, Christ's disciples, his followers, his
witnesses. They're not out to please people.
If I yet seek to please men, he said, I'm not the servant
of Christ. But who does a servant seek to please? His master. Who is our master? Christ is
our master. So we're not seeking to be men
pleasers or appeasers. Pleasers or appeasers. But God
declares and heralds of the truth. Heralds of the truth. And it's
a fact, though, if you do declare the truth, the gospel of God's
sovereign mercy, grace, effectual redemption, that won't please
them. That will not please men. The self-righteous, it will not
please them, but it will sure thrill sinners on it. That's who we're after anyway.
Not come to call the righteous, but sinners. And that gospel
of sovereign mercy will thrill sinners. It will make them mad
and make them glad. So we're not out to please men,
per se. We're out to—we're on the trail
of his sheep. Then Paul thanks God for all
these Thessalonians. Verse 13, he says, And for this
cause we thank God. That's who we give thanks to.
That's why we're here, to give thanks to him for all that he's
done. For this cause also we thank we God without ceasing. We pray without ceasing, as he
said. We thank God Without ceasing,
because verse 13, when you received the word of God, which you heard
of us, which you heard preached, you received it. And he said
in John one, as many as received him. Those that did, did so because
they were born of God, right? There's another mark of election,
right? Believe, believe don't. Great is the mystery of God.
believed on in the Word. And he said, you receive the
Word, not as the Word of a man. You can actually sit and listen
to a vessel of clay, an earthen vessel, and hear him as he speaks,
and barely believe that God Almighty speaks through him. As it is
in truth, the Word of God, which effectually worked and worketh
in you. It worked a miracle in you when
you first heard it, and it continues to work that miracle in you.
Same old thing. Same old, same old. That's what
makes it a miracle. That's the reason you can believe
it's the power of God, can't you? Same old, same old. Same
old, same old. But it's glorious. Verse 14,
he says, You brethren, and you became followers of the churches
of God and Judea, which are in Christ. You also have suffered,
suffered things of your own countrymen, even as they of the Jews, who,
verse 15, read with me now, this is important, you suffered because,
and this is the, this is the, pretty much the subject of the
message tonight. You've suffered the same thing,
like things as others, from the Jews and others who killed the
Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted us. They
persecute us. They persecute you. And you suffered
for your stand for the gospel. And that's what the Scripture
says. All that will live godly in Christ Jesus, all that will
believe Christ and Christ alone, who will declare Christ and Christ
alone, They shall suffer persecution, Scripture said. They shall. Trials, afflictions, sadness,
and sorrow are the lot of every believer. To wean us from the
world, to conform us to the image of Christ with the chief affliction that God's people
are called on to endure. And it's one they endure from
the moment they declare Christ. The moment they believe Christ
by God's grace, the chief affliction that they're to call on to endure,
and that tribulation which is spoken of more than any other,
is persecution for Christ's sake. Being hated of all men for Christ's
sake. That's it. And Christ said, being
cast out, that's what my margin says they're cast out. They said
they chased us out. Verse 15. Persecuted us. Chased
us out. Get out of here. In a God-hating, Christ-hating,
Gospel-hating, grace-hating world, you shall have tribulation and
persecution. But be of good cheer. Remember
Brother Harding's article? Be of good cheer. All those that
love Christ and declare Him are going to receive the same thing
that He received. Right? That's what Christ said.
He said, If they've called the master of the house Beelzebub,
it'll be the same thing to you. If they've received My Word,
they'll receive yours. But they didn't, and they won't.
If they hated Me, count on it. And these Thessalonians, they
suffered. They did. They suffered persecution. They suffered tribulation. They
suffered afflictions for their stand for the gospel. And this
is what chapter three is all about. This is what chapter three
is all about. All right, let's look at it again.
Chapter three, verses one and two, he says, When we couldn't
wait any longer, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone.
We stayed here. We needed to stay here and preach
and so forth. But verse 2, we couldn't wait,
so we sent Timothy. We heard about what was going
on there, the persecution and all that was going on there,
and so we sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, our fellow
laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and comfort
you concerning your faith. We sent Timothy not to organize
a political rally, not to organize a prayer in public school, but
to preach the gospel that he might establish and comfort you
in your faith. And that's the title of this
message, A Message to Establish and Comfort You. to establish
and comfort you. Paul was anxious to hear about
how these Thessalonians were doing, so they sent Timothy to
establish and comfort you concerning your faith. Did you see that?
Concerning your faith. To establish your faith, to comfort
you in this faith that God has given you. However small it may
be. He said mustard seed can accomplish
something. Didn't it? In a world of tribulation,
we've been talking about this lately. In a world of tribulation,
a world full of trouble, there's a world of terrible trouble out
there. You're in for a world of heart stains. You heard of
that old saying? That's true, isn't it? Our Lord's
the one that said it. In the world you shall have tribulation. You must, through much tribulation,
enter the kingdom of heaven. You must. In the world you shall
have tribulation. and a world full of trouble out
there. The only thing that's going to keep us from being overcome
by it all, this is that which overcometh,
that which would overcome you. This is that which overcometh,
John said, even your faith. This is that which will comfort
you, faith. That's what he said, John 5,
5. Who is he that overcometh the world, this world of trouble
and tribulation and hurt? He that believeth that Jesus
is the Son of God. And this goes a whole lot deeper
than just believing, you know, the facts, that he's the Son
of God. He that believeth that Jesus Christ is Lord, this is
that which will comfort, settle, establish you. Believe that he
is Lord, and not like old Kenneth Copeland liked to say, just in
word only. Now remember, by Jesus his law. You might as well say, fiddle
his sticks, for all that you believe that. But the believer,
this is your comfort And this is that which will establish
you so that you won't be moved away by these afflictions. That Jesus Christ is Lord. I am the Lord, he said. What's that mean? That means
he declares the end from the beginning. Known unto this Lord
are all his works from the beginning. Said, done. He who purposes all
things, and it will come to pass, and it's all, A-double-L, for
your good. A-double-L, all, he says, for
your good. He who said, I wound, are you
wounded? He said, I did it. I'm the Lord. He who heals, are you healed?
Rejoice. He did it. Rejoice in the Lord,
I say. Rejoice. He who said, I kill,
somebody die, he killed them. I'm the Lord. Somebody living,
I make alive," he said. I kill, I make alive. He brought
down, he said, I bring down. He brought up, he said, I brought
you up. He got peace, he said, I make
peace. He said, some evil overcome, he said, I create evil. I, the
Lord, do all these things. Now this will establish you.
and comfort you, settle you down. He said, Be still and know I
am God. He's the Lord. He's the sovereign
ruler. He's the judge of all the earth. He's too wise to err. He's too
good to do evil. He always does what's right.
Shall he not? Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right every time? in every instance, in every situation
concerning everyone and everything. Right. It ain't wrong, it's right. Everything. He who never lies,
and I'll say it again, I'll just repeat what he said, he who never
lies, it's impossible. He is the truth. He cannot lie. He said, A-double-L, all things
work together for your good. This will establish you. This
will comfort you. Right? This will comfort you.
This is the only thing that will comfort you. Rather, He is the
only one that will comfort and establish you. Come what may,
with Eli we may say, it's the Lord. Come what may, with Eli
we may say, it's the Lord. let him do what seemeth good
to him. Who did this thing? It's awful.
The Lord did it. I sat in my study a little while
ago and wrote some names down out of this congregation, thinking
about some of the trials. And those that missed tonight,
they forsake their own mercy. Those of you who are here, We ought to get something out
of this, something. But I wrote several names down,
more than 16, 17 names, quit writing, to people who are going
through trials in this little congregation alone, some of them
very severe and tough trials. He said we would, didn't he?
The Lord promised. The Lord foretold us of these
tribulations, didn't He? Look at verse 3. No man should
be moved by these afflictions. You yourself know we are appointed
there unto." Didn't he say that? No man should
be moved or rather moved away or shaken beyond belief. Why
is this happening to me? He said bad things are going
to happen. What we may think are bad. He
said, I create peace, I create evil. That word evil means things
we think are evil. But count on it. Let this be
established in your mind and heart. You believe Christ. You
trust Him. Whatever it is, no matter how
evil or bad it may appear, it's for our good. It's not for evil. Joseph said,
what would we do with Joseph? Imprisoned. Cast away from his
family. wrongly imprisoned, wrongly accused,
over and over again, until he was an old man, Stan. What did he finally conclude
with? He said, y'all meant it for evil. Everybody meant it for evil.
Everybody with wicked hands took and put me in jail. Everybody
did this to me, evilly, wickedly, but the Lord meant it for good.
Was it? Did it turn out good? I read Genesis 50. Read the end
of the story. As some of you would say, that's
the rest of the story. For good. You meant it for evil. But you cannot do anything but
what my Lord God determines to be done. Right? Go ahead Nancy,
say it out loud. I saw your lips move. Amen. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen
Say it. Anybody? Suffer! For Christ's
sake. Then he said, Suffer. Here it
is. Verse four. He said, Verily,
when we were with you, we told you before, we should suffer
tribulation, and here it is. He said, Here it is. Here it is. Whatever you may
be going through, here it is. That's what the Lord said. That's
what the apostles affirmed. And Paul wrote and Paul sent
Timothy to know how they were getting along through this suffering. He sent Timothy to find out.
Y'all holding up okay? He sent Timothy to establish
them. Now, to establish, to settle them, to comfort them, to reassure
them, to reaffirm them, to confirm what he's already said. to preach
the gospel again, to declare Christ as Lord again, Lord over
all again, to comfort them. He sent Timothy to know of their
welfare, verses 6 through 8, and he said, Now when Timothy
came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith,
you still believe, in spite of what's happened. You still believe.
and love, and you have good remembrance of us, you're thinking about
us, desiring greatly to see us. Brethren, verse seven, we were
comforted. We were comforted over you in
all our afflictions. See, Paul said, I've got some
problems, too. Paul said, I've got some problems,
too. I've got some afflictions, some trials, and some distresses.
And he mentioned those things. Didn't he? In other places. Let
me just read a few to you. He said, he said over in 2 Corinthians
6, he said, my, my, he said, stripes and chrismas, tumults,
labors, watchings, fasting, dishonor, evil report. A sorrowful yet,
a sorrowful yet making many happy or endeavoring to do so. poor yet making many rip Paul
he said he said we've got some trials of our own and we said
to know how you were doing we heard you the Lord was upholding
you in these things it comforted us you see we're comforted by
the same comforted where with your comfort we got to get the
same comfort from the same place you're getting comfort all the
while trying to comfort you you give us comfort he said you give us comfort We're in
affliction. We're in distress. He said that. Don't have all the answers. We're
perplexed. But not in despair. Why? He's still Lord. Persecuted. Oh, persecuted. Weren't they
persecuted? He said in one place, he said, everybody in Asia has
left me. But not forsaken entirely. It's somebody with us that no
one really matters. Same Lord. He said, we're cast
down. Oh, cast down. Oh, why art thou
cast down within me? Oh, my soul. Cast down, he said. We're not going to get up, not
destroyed by this thing, not overcome by it. Always bearing
about in the body these things. Didn't he say that? And he said,
when we heard of you, you gave us comfort. Verse 8, he said,
now we live, we've got reason to keep living if you stand fast
in the Lord. If you quit, he says, we're going
to lose sleep and we're going to be troubled. But if you stand
fast, we can go on preaching and live with some joy. Verse 9, he says, What thanks
can we render to God again for you? All the joy we've had together
shall light afflictions cause us to forget weighty mercies. And he said, night and day we
pray exceedingly that we might see you again, perfect or help
you in some way, and you help us. That which is lacking in
our faith, you got something lacking in your faith? That's
why we're here. That's why I'm here. I'm not
here to teach you necessarily. I'm here to get to learn together. Learn together. I'm learning
from the same. I just happened to read it before
you did. and study it earlier. Now, he says, now he prays and
he says, Now God himself and our Father and Lord Jesus Christ,
may he direct our way unto you. And may the Lord make you to
increase and bound and love one toward another and toward all
men. And God knows, he's our witness, we do toward you, we
do love you. And this is the end, this is
the goal, this is the purpose, this is what it's all about.
This is what it's all about. This is what everything we are
called upon to endure is all about. This is why we're here
tonight. This is what it's all about. Verse 13, "...to the end,
to the goal, to the purpose, that he may establish your hearts
unblameable without sin in holiness before your God." Who can do
that? Christ only. Right? Christ only. His righteousness
imputed, His blood shed for the remission of your sin. He only
can present you thoughtless, unblameable for the presence
of His glory before God, even our Father—yes, He's our Father—in
the day that He comes to receive you, to receive us together in
all His saints. And quickly, over there in chapter
Chapter four, verse eighteen, he says, comfort one another
with these words. Didn't he? When you get together,
don't dwell on your problems and so forth and do all, nothing
but cry on one another's shoulders. Comfort one another. How? With these words. With these
words. With these words. And he said, He said over in 2 Thessalonians,
in all of his, he said, he said, brethren, or no, it's that same
chapter there, verse four, or chapter four, he says, the Lord
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. We're going to
shout. With the voice of the archangel,
with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise
first, and we which are alive and remain be caught up together
with them in the cloud, we're going to be caught up in it all,
aren't we? To meet the Lord in the air,
and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Comfort one another
with these words. You remember that article, it
lays out in this bulletin, but in last Sunday, Sunday before
last, I think it was McShane who died at such an early age,
he said, We're going to drink new wine
with Christ in the kingdom, with our dearly departed brothers
and sisters, and with one another, and He shall wipe away all tears. Then it will be pie in the sky, and a sweet bye-bye with the
Lord and with His saints. for comfort one another with
these words. Comfort one another. It's a little while. This too
shall pass. All right. Hope that was a help
to you. Stand with me. Stand with me. John, would you dismiss us please? that we've had here, if you can't
do work, you fail with it, because that's what you teach us. Because that's
what you teach us, by word. You teach us by will. You teach
us through, uh, you teach us through the work, the work, the work,
the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work,
the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work,
the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work,
the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the
work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the
work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the
work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work, the work Father, we thank Thee for the
performance of grace. We're thankful of the pasture
and the plants. And we both, Father, thank Thee
for the cross and all He's done for us. Christ, thank Thee. Amen.