The Apostle says here in verse
13, 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13, he says, But we are bound to give thanks all the way to
God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Now, Paul here is giving
thanks, and that's what I want to title my message this morning.
I'm bound to give thanks. God's Word says that in everything,
give thanks. 1 Thessalonians 5.18 says, In
everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. In everything, give thanks. Now,
that excludes everything. It includes everything. In everything,
give thanks. But of all the people I know,
and I know lots and lots of people, I don't know of anyone that God
has blessed more and should be more thankful than myself. I've been so blessed of God.
In the other world, my own flesh, the devil says, but your children
aren't converted. So how can you say you're blessed? You don't have a whole lot of
people to preach to. And you're getting older. And
all that's true. Every bit of that's true. But
everything I mention to you is just temporal. Just temporal. But I do have Christ. I have
Christ. I believe the gospel. I believe
it. God taught it to me. He's revealed
to me. I know the truth, and I believe
the truth. There's people here who didn't
believe the truth. But God saved us by a belief of the truth.
I believe the truth. I have more friends than I can
number. Can't number them all. They told
me this morning, Brother Henry said, send his love to me. Said
he loved me. We've been friends for years
and years and years and years. Dear, dear friend, and I have
the riches of Christ. Talk about blessings. Everything
that Christ has, I have. How wealthy is he? Well, however
how wealthy he is, that's how wealthy I am. I have an eternal hope, not just
a hope here, but an eternal hope. And God is for me, so who can
be against me? Christ died for me, so who's
going to condemn me? God's for me in His providence.
Everything that happens is for my good. He gives me a sound
mind. And last but not least, there
is a people, and this is the blessing, and that's why I say
I'm bound to give thanks, but there is a people here who loves
me and gather out here three times a week to hear me preach.
Now that is a blessing. That is a blessing. Gather out
here to hear me preach. Love me and want to hear me preach.
Want to hear me preach. Now I want to give thanks, and
I want to give thanks for you. For you. This is a personal message
from me to you. And Paul said here in verse 13,
But we're bound to give thanks. Bound to give thanks. And he
says but. And that word, but, you've got to look back. And
here's why he gave thanks for them. He says here in verse 7,
he says the mystery of iniquity is working. Sin out here is working
now. And it already works in iniquity.
How about with our own selves? You know, we wouldn't go out here and deliberately
sin, but yet iniquity is so mysterious that it comes out in us. It comes
upon us, and we see it everywhere, and yet he says here, only he
who doth let us will let until he be taken out of the way. He'll
hinder sin and the mystery of iniquity until it be taken out
of the way. And then shall that wicked, whoever that wicked is,
be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth, and shall destroy with the blindness of his coming.
And oh, this is what people who don't know Christ have to look
forward to. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan.
with all power, signs, lying wonders. You know, everything
that Moses did down in Egypt, those magicians and soothsayers
did the same thing. Throw down a snake, as Paul,
as Rodney became a snake, they created snakes. Whatever he done,
up until a point. And then he says he comes with
all deceivableness and unrighteousness in them that perish. He comes
and deceives them with unrighteousness. But here's why, because they
receive not the love of the truth. It's the love of the truth and
the knowing of the truth that they might be saved. And for
this cause, and I'll tell you how many preachers has God sent
a strong delusion to, and the people that's preaching to them. the Pope and all those Catholics,
God sent him a strong delusion. Armenians who think that they
could grow glory and boast in the fact that God gave us the
greatest gift of all, our free will, where we can decide our
free will is our Savior ultimately. God sent him a strong delusion.
And that was a time that we were under a delusion. But listen
to him. that they should believe a lie.
Not that they might believe a lie, but God said, I'm going to see
that you do believe a lie. That they all might be damned
who believe not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness.
But then he backs up. With all that darkness, with
all of that frightening things that's going on, he says, and
all these people who are going to believe a lie and be damned,
he said, but we, are bound to give thanks always to God for
you. He says you're not in that bunch,
you're not among those people. And he says, oh beloved, and
he says we're bound to do it. That means it's necessary, it's
an obligation, it's a debt. We owe it to give thanks to God
for you. He didn't leave you like that.
And then he said, and he said, give thanks to God. Do you know
why he said give thanks to God? Because everything begins with
God. All things start with God. And ultimately, all things will
end with God. He declared the end from the
beginning. And then he says, here, we give thanks for you.
And let me ask you this. Why do I give thanks for you?
I'm here to give thanks for you. You're sinners. You're weak. You stumbled and you faltered
around. You got false by goodness of
life. We got all of us got false, false, false. Why are we giving
thanks for you? I'll tell you why. Here's why. Brethren, you're beloved of the
Lord. With all that's wrong with you,
God loves you. And I'll tell you that he says,
beloved of the Lord, beloved of the Lord. And one of the most
blessed verses of scriptures that I tell you every time I
read it, it does something for me. Romans 1, 7. You don't have
to turn there, but look at it when you get home. He says, Breth,
to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. To be beloved of God to all that
be in Cumberland County, Tennessee, all that in Lantana Grace Church,
beloved of God and called to be saved. Beloved of the Lord.
And how long have you been God loved you? He said, yeah, anyway. And with everlasting love, everlasting
love, have I loved you. And with cords of loving kindness
have I caused you. And I'll tell you, Hosea says,
yes, he said, I will love them freely. I don't look for a cause
in them to love them. I don't look for a cause in them
to cause me to do anything for them. I don't look for a cause
in them. I don't look for their looks. I don't look for their
worth. I don't look for their merits. I don't look for any
goodness about them or any badness in them. I will love them freely
just because I will. Do you keep this and look with
me over John chapter 17 just a moment. John 17. This is why we give thanks, because
you're beloved of God. Now, not a lot of people can
say that they're beloved of God. There was a group of people here
that God said, I'm going to send them a strong delusion, that
they should believe a lie and be damned, but we give thanks
to God for you because you're beloved of the Lord. Strong delusion,
beloved of God. Believe a lie? Believe the truth. What's the difference? Beloved
of God. No wonder Paul said, We give thanks to you. Look here
in verse 23 of John 17. Our Lord's praying here, He said,
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one,
and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, now listen
to it, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. You mean Peter who denies it? You mean them fellas that went
back fishing? Yep. You mean them fellas that
went to sleep when you told them to pray for you while he's in
the garden? Yep. How much do you love them? Just
as much as you love me. Bless his name. And oh, we're
bound to give thanks to God. All thanks start with Him because
you're beloved of the Lord. And then look back over in our
text. Look what it says. He says, because God has from
the beginning chosen you to salvation. Huh? Oh, He's chosen you. When did He choose you? The same
time He fell in love with you, from the beginning. He's chosen
you. You're one of God's elect. And
I'll tell you what, you don't have too many times elect or
chosens in the Bible. How in the world people can go
through it and not see it, I don't know, but I mean, left according
to the foreknowledge of God, chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world. He's done an outstanding exposition
of 1 Peter 1. He gave it to me. He says, elect according to the
foreknowledge of God unto the obedience of Jesus Christ, unto
the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. And oh, beloved,
Jeremiah, God told him this. He says, before you was ever
formed in your mother's belly, I knew you. You know why your
name's Jeremiah? Because I named you Jeremiah. And I tell you, do keep that
look in Romans with me just a moment. Romans chapter 9. You see, God
has a purpose of election. God has a purpose of election.
And that's why our Lord said, you know, you not chosen me.
You didn't choose me. But I chose you. I've chosen
you. You didn't choose me. I chose you. He went unto a mountain
and called unto him whom he would. Folks, that don't hardly make,
that don't seem fair. You don't want God to be fair
with you. No, you don't want God to be fair. People get upset
because the government's not fair with them. Well, God's not
the government. God is God, and you don't want
Him to be fair with you. If He's fair with you, then you're
a gone guest. That's all I can say about it.
But look here, Romans 9, verse 11. God has a purpose according
to the election. For the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil. Now, I'll tell you what, after
they're born, I'll tell you what they're going to do. They're going to
do evil. Now, ain't that right? any of y'all had children that
was born that didn't start doing evils as quick as they was born? As pretty as our babies
are, and as beautiful as they are, the only way they're not
going to do evil is not being born. But after they are born,
but look what he says, having done any good or evil, now watch
this, that the purpose of God according to election might stand,
not of worse, not because they ain't done good or evil yet,
but of him that calleth that was sent unto the elder, sent
unto her the elder shall serve the younger, as it is written,
Jacob hath a love, but Esau hath a hatred. And neither one of
them done anything. What made the difference? The
purpose of God according to election. So that's the reason why. And
that's why Paul called them vessels of honor. Back over again in
our text this morning. You're all beloved of God. Oh,
I give thanks to God for you. You're all because you're beloved
of God. You're chosen of God. Then look what He chose you to.
He chose you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. Three things right there. He
chose you unto salvation. You know what salvation is? That
means deliverance. You're in trouble. Salvation
means that there's that presupposition that you're in bad trouble, or
you would need to be saved. And salvation, saved, means to
be delivered from. Delivered from your trouble.
Delivered from your danger. Delivered from your bondage.
And beloved, that's what God does. He comes and saves us.
He comes and delivers us. What does He deliver us from?
First and foremost, He saves us from sin. That's the first
thing He does. He saves us from sin. We need
to be saved from sin. Sin has occurred. The wages of
sin is death. And Christ came to save us from
our sin. And God saves us from our sin,
and then He saves us from ourselves. You know if we was left to ourselves,
that we would all be damned? If we was left to our own will,
our own power, our own abilities? But God saves us from our impotence,
saves us from our sin, saves us from ourselves, and saves
us from our self-righteousness and self-confidence. Oh my, listen. Then it is the man who thou choosest,
now listen to it, and causes to approach unto thee. I want
to show you a verse of Scripture. I believe it's in 2 Corinthians
1, talking about deliverance. Salvation is deliverance. And
He sung that this morning. He will deliver thee. 2 Corinthians
1. In verse 8, look what it says
here. God who has saved us, and this scripture says we give thanks
unto the Father who has delivered us, saved us from the power of
darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his Son. Paul
said here in 1 Corinthians 1, in verse 8, he says this, but
we would not have you, brethren, ignorant of our trouble. We have
trouble. Call upon me in the day of thy
trouble, and I'll deliver you." This trouble that came to us
while we were in Asia, while we were over in Ephesus, that
we were pressed out of measure. I mean, we were so under such
a strain that we just were pressed out of measure. We was above
our strength. And we were brought to such a
place that we despaired even of life. We said, this is going
to bring death. We've got to make it through
this. And so what we've done, we've just come to this conclusion.
We have the sentence of death in ourselves. And this is what
he says. And we've done this. Not trying to save ourselves,
no hope in ourselves, but that we should trust not in ourselves,
but in God. Which raises the dam. Now watch
this. Which delivered us from so great
a dam. Saved us. And doth deliver us,
doth save us. And whom seek we trust that he
will yet deliver us, yet save us. Hath been, are being, and
shall be. What a blessed hope that gives
us. What a blessed hope. But also he saved us. Then look
what he says here. Through sanctification of the
Spirit. Now you know and we know what
sanctification is. Sanctification means to be set
apart. That's what the word saint means.
That's all the word saint means, is to be sanctified. God called
us to be saints, called us to be sanctified. And he set us
apart through the sanctification of the Spirit. The Spirit comes
and he takes us, and if anybody's going to approach God, talk to
God, have fellowship with God, commune with God, be in the presence
of God, he must be holy and must be set apart under the service
of God. And that's what the Holy Spirit
does when he calls us by the gospel. He sets us apart. And that was a time we wasn't.
We were set apart to religion. We were set apart to our words.
We thought our sanctification was us quitting certain things
and taking up other certain things. But sanctification just means
that God says, I lay hands on you, and I'm going to make you
mine, and I'm going to call you the same. Now they ain't going to have
no statues made to us. We ain't going to have no emeralds
made we can hang around our necks, Saint Donny or Saint Ruby. We ain't going to have nothing
like that made for us. You know why? Because we know
who made us saints. And we ain't got no marriage
we can give anybody else anyway. Christ got all the marriage.
And oh beloved, not only that, but look what he says here, through
sanctification and belief of the truth. Now, oh, this is where
the rubber hits the road right here, believing the truth. Believing
the truth. Oh, my. As many as were ordained
to eternal life, what did they do? They believed. Now, after
you trusted Christ, after you heard the Word of Truth, the
gospel of your son, you're going to hear the truth. God's never
saved a man with a lie, never saved a man with a half-truth,
because a half-truth is a whole lie. Ain't that right? And beloved, it's the belief
of the truth. And look over with me in John
chapter 8, verse 43, just a minute. I want you to see this. You know,
our Lord Jesus told They came to him and told him,
and said, you know, if you're the Christ, tell us plainly.
We want to know. He said, I've told you. But now
watch what he said. John chapter 8, verse 43. But he said, I've told you who
I am. I've told you that I'm the Christ.
He says, but you believe not. You know why? Because you're
not of my sheep. That's the reason you don't believe.
And look what he said here. In verse 42, Jesus said unto
them, If God were your Father, you would love me. You would
love me. Do you love Christ? Do you need
Christ? Do you know why you do then? Because God is our Father, and
I proceeded forth and came from God. Neither came I of myself,
but He sent me. And then watch what he says,
Why do you not understand my speech? Why don't you understand
what I am telling you? You know why you don't? Because
you cannot hear my words. Now they heard his physical words.
They heard his words. But he says you don't hear them.
Blessed is he that hath ears to hear. Now watch this. Down
in verse 47. He that is of God, born of God,
called of God, chosen of God, believes the truth, sanctified
by the Spirit. He that is of God hears God's
words. You therefore hear them not because you're not of God.
Huh? That's what Paul said here. Then
God sent him a stone delusion. But, oh, He saved you by believing
the truth. Believing the truth. Ain't you
grateful? Thank God for the truth. I bless
God. I told you I couldn't tell you
how many times I've told you here. And I thank God for not
only you, but I thank God for every man who ever came and told
me the truth. God let down in my face and told
me the truth. told me the truth about sin,
that sin is a nature, sin is a principle, not what you do,
it's what you are, that Jesus Christ was the Lord of glory,
that He was God manifest in the flesh, and He came down here,
and He took upon Himself the sins of all of His people, His
elect, and when those sins were found on Him, He paid the wages
of those sins which was damned. And he bore the weight of no
sin, which was the curse of the law. And God punished him, and
Hyrule was stead, and justice was speared completely on his
holy body and head and spirit. And, beloved, he went into the
tomb, and the thirdborn arose from the dead, and went away.
Because God said, it's finished, it's done, salvation is full
and free. Now, you believe that truth? Somebody
come tell me that. Huh? Oh, bless His holy name. Then look in our text what it
says here. So you believe the truth until He called you. He
called you. He called you. My sheep, hear
my voice! Have you heard the voice? You
heard the voice? The hour is coming and now here's
when the dead should hear the voice of the Son of God. They ain't got to hear what happens
to them. They live! Do you hear that voice? Are you living? That voice comes to you and it
brings life with it. Life is come forth! Seconds come
down! You hear that voice? Oh, I hear
that voice. And you know what it's doing
right now? I feel that life of Christ in
me, the joy, the peace that's in believing, that rest and comfort
and assurance that goes with believing. I hear it. Do you hear it? Do you hear it
coming, giving you life? Oh, listen. And then He called
you by our gospel, by the gospel, our gospel. One gospel, to the
obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know what
that means? That God will make us just like
His Son. We've received the glory. We've
seen God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ. We've seen God's
glory in the Word that was made manifest in the flesh. We've
seen God's glory in Christ on the cross. We've seen God's glory
in Christ bearing our sins. We've seen Christ's glory in
coming and bringing us to Himself. We've seen the glory of Christ.
And one of these days, we're going to be just like Him. We're going to look at Him and
look to Him until one of these days, we're going to look at
Him as face to face and be just like Him. You know, that's like people,
they've been married so long that they get to where they look
like one another. Well, everybody can't do that,
but some people do. They've been married so long,
they look like one another. And that's the way it is. We've
been married to Christ, joined to Christ, and one of these days,
we're going to be looking right at Him, and we're going to look
just like Him. We're going to come out just like Him. Therefore,
He says in verse 15, Therefore, brethren, Stand fast. Stand fast. Oh, stand fast. That means, beloved, don't you
move a peg. Drive down, as old L.R. Shelton
used to say, drive down a stake right there. Drive down a stake. Oh, but let's stand fast. And
stand fast in what? Hold them. Guard them. That word,
hold, means to guard, protect, preserve. The traditions. Now,
these traditions he's talking about here, which have been taught
Whether by word, when we come and preach to you, or by our
epistle. These traditions are not like traditions that men
follow. He's talking about instructing concerning the gathering of believers.
That's what he started talking about. We beseech you by the
coming together of Christ, and our gathering unto him. Instructing
concerning the gathering of believers, when you all gather together.
And what he's talking about is Christian doctrine, the truth
of the gospel. And Paul uses the word here, says, traditions
which you've heard by word are our epistle. And he uses the
word here, stand fast in traditions, as a denial that what he preached
originated with himself. This didn't originate with me.
God gave me this word. And then look what he says there
in verse 16. Thy Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Thy Lord Jesus Christ
Himself. And God, even our Father, now
listen to it, hath loved us, and look what else he does, calls
you loved us, hath given us an everlasting consolation. Oh my,
every one of us needs consolation, needs consoling. Babies start
crying, we try to console them. Troubles come our way, somebody
wants to console us, give us a word of consolation. Well,
God's given us an everlasting consolation. From all of our
trouble, from all of our heartaches, from all of our trials, from
all of our afflictions, we have an everlasting consolation in
Christ that this is the only trouble we're ever going to have,
is in this world. That's a consolation to me, ain't
you? That this is not the only world we're going to live in.
We've got another one to go to. And then, watch this, and He
gives us a good hope. How do we get that good hope? Through
grace. I love it, don't you? Through
grace. Just love to hear that word.
For by grace are you saved through faith and that knowledge of yourself.
And watch this now. And then He says, so comfort
your hearts. God, comfort your hearts. God do this. Establish you in every good word. God do this for you. No wonder
he says we're bound to always thank God for you. Look what
God's done for you. Huh? He chose you. He loves you. He chose you. Saved you. Sanctified you. Called you by
the gospel to a belief of the truth. Gave you an everlasting
consolation and good hope through grace. And then he's going to
come and comfort us and teach us what to say. and work good
works in us. Oh, my. That's something to be
thankful for, isn't it? And then look over in 1 Corinthians.
I've got another thing to be thankful for. Another thing. I'll have to finish this message
tonight. I can see that already. Well, five points. So you go,
I'm going to tell you, that's the first one. But look what he said here in
verse 4, 1 Corinthians 1, 4. Oh, I thank God because he has
chosen you from the beginning. Then he said here, I thank my
God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given
you by Jesus Christ, that in him You are enriched in all utterance
and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ confirmed
in you, so that you come behind in no gift waiting for the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you unto the
end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ. God is faithful, whom you were
called unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
Ain't that what Paul said? He said, I thank my God always
on your behalf. No, my over there was because
he asked from the beginning, for your election. Now he says,
I thank my God for the grace that God give you. And he says
here, and it's given you. If it's not a gift, then it's
not grace. If it's not a gift, it's not
grace. That's what Paul says. If it's a grace, then there's
no way it can be of worse. Or it really wouldn't be grace.
And then if it's a works, there's no way in the world it can ever
be a grace. Or else it couldn't possibly be works. Huh? So when it comes to salvation,
when it comes to our standing before God right now, and from
the day God saved us by His grace, we have nothing to do with it. Everything we have is given to
us by the grace of God. If you do a good work, it's grace
that works it in you. Ain't that right? For by grace
are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's
the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Huh? And oh, beloved, God gives
us grace for grace every day. Mercy for mercy. All we have
from God is a gift. A gift. Life? God give us life. His Son? God gave us His Son. We repent? Repentance was granted
unto us. Do we believe? Faith was given
unto us. And so you see, beloved, everything
we have is a gift. So that's why Paul says, when
are you going to boast? And then how was it given to
us? By Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus came and gave
it to us. Oh, He gave it to us. You know,
we're talking about grace given to us. When was grace given to
us? By Jesus Christ. Everybody ought to remember that
just like that. 2 Timothy 1.9. Grace was given us in Christ
before the world ever began. That's when grace was given to
us. Before you ever bought into this world, God had grace. Had
a whole heaven full of it just for you. Where did He have His
store at? In His Son. You're up this morning,
what did you do? He gave you some grace. Here
it is, whatever time it is, He's given you grace. Go to bed tonight
to be graced, be given. Whatever happens at any time,
any particular moment during the day, grace is given. Ain't that right? And how does
He give it to you? Christ. Because of Christ. And
oh, beloved, everything we have is because of Christ. Every one
of us. And then look what else it says.
Not only do we give thanks for the grace given unto you, but
look what God did for us in Christ. In verse 5, that in everything
you are enriched by Him. You know what that enriched by
Him in everything means? That means made wealthy. Enriched. Enriched. That means you're made wealthy.
You're made rich in Christ. Now, beloved, He's there. Is
He not there? God has made Him heir of everything.
And if He's the heir, and we're joined to Him, and we are His,
then everything He has is ours. That's what Paul said. He says
we're joined heirs with Him. And if children, then we are
joined heirs with Him. You know, we're children. And
everything He gets, because we're united to Him, and we're in the
same family, we get exactly the same thing He does. We have an
inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved
for us in glory. And the scripture says that our
inheritance is already laid up for us in heaven. Only anybody
can lead you down here. Only anybody can lead you down
here is something that's temporary. They leave it to you, and then
you leave it to your children, and then they leave it to their
children. And after a while, the first group started giving
it and leaving it. He's dead and gone. Nobody ever
knows he left anything. But God always lives and He's
always going to be given to us. Huh? And other things that would
be left to us is temporary. Leave us a house, it's going
to fall down one of these days. Leave us money, we don't spend
it. Leave us an automobile, we'll run the wheels off of it. Ain't
that right? And we've got to take care of
it. When you leave it to us, we've got to take care of it.
Somebody's got to keep it up. But when God gives us something,
we don't have to take care of it. We don't have to. It's not
temporary. It ain't going to wear out. It's eternal. And then not only
do they make us wealthy in Christ, but look what it says. That in
everything you're enriched by Him in all utterance. You know
what that word utterance means? That you're able to utter the
Word of Christ. You know the Word of Christ.
It dwells in you. that you can testify of Christ,
you can witness for Christ, you can call on Christ, you can call
on God. Paul says, I pray that a door
of utterance, a door to preach the gospel. And that's what he's
talking about, utterance, the word, the word of Christ dwells
in you. And then look what he says, and in all knowledge. Oh,
give thanks to God for you brethren, in all knowledge. What do you
know? It's not what you know, it's who you know. That's what
he's talking about here, who you know. Oh, beloved, the knowledge of
the glory of God in Jesus Christ, that you know Christ, listen,
that you know God, you know of His love, and this is, listen,
here's a knowledge, let me, I wrote this down here, here's a knowledge
that we have, a knowledge to desire the knowledge of Christ. We know enough that we know enough
that we don't know enough, it makes us want to know more. Does
that make any sense? We know enough to know we don't
know enough, so we want to know more. More about Jesus would
I know. More of His saving grace to others
should. Oh, that's why Paul said, I want
to know Him. I want to win Him. I want to be found in Him. And
we have, and God give us this knowledge, and give you this
knowledge, that Christ is all in all, that He alone is our
righteousness. And no wonder He says, thank
God for the grace given you, and brought you this ability
to utterance and wealth and knowledge. And look what He says here in
verse 6, that's why He gives thanks. Even as the testimony
of Christ was confirmed in you. Now why am I talking about the
testimony of Christ? Look back over here in chapter
2, 1 Corinthians 2. I'll show you the testimony.
Somebody came and testified to us. People say, you got a testimony
from the Lord this morning? When people say that, you know
what they're going to say? They're going to start talking about
themselves, first word out of their mouth themselves. Either what they quit doing or
the good things they started doing. They ain't going to talk
about Christ. But look what it says here, And
thy brethren, I came to you, came not with excellency of speech
or wisdom of word, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
But what is the testimony of God that was confirmed in them?
For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus
Christ, in Him crucified. We receive that testimony. We
receive the testimony of Christ in Him crucified. And that testimony
is confirmed in us. How is it confirmed in us? Right
now, the testimony that you received of Jesus Christ, who He is, what
He did, who He did it for, and where He is now, is confirmed
in you while you're here. Is that not right? That testimony
is being confirmed in you. The testimony of Jesus Christ,
the Lord of glory, salvation by grace, justification by faith,
the righteousness of Christ alone. All of these things. The testimonies
confirmed in us. Huh? And then what on it says,
look what it goes on to say here. And then he says it was confirmed
in you. Now that word confirmed. Now there's churches that what
they do is they confirm you. You've got to go through a catechism.
Three churches I can name right now. Denominations, I should
say denominations. that you've got to go through
catechism classes, and you've got to learn so much, and then
you go in and there's catechism classes, and they'll ask you
to repeat these things, and when you repeat them, then they let
you in the church. And they confirm you. But it's because if you received
the catechism and being taught as that particular doctrine does,
then they'll confirm you into the church. They'll either throw
water on you, Well, they'll do some hocus-pocus in front of
you and do something. But you've got to go through
there. But God says here that He came and confirmed this in
you. This is a testimony of Christ.
It's not a church that confirms you. Christ confirms you. Not
the preacher confirms you. Christ confirms you. You know,
what have you got to do to get in this church? You've got to
be confirmed. Well, Christ confirmed you. I
know, I got a member of my family that's been confirmed in one
of them churches. With no God from above. Oh, it confirmed in you. That
confirmed means to make firm, means to establish. It confirmed
you to make you firm, establish you. Secure you, establish you. You stand there. And then he
says there, and this is why we give thanks, and I'll quit and
we'll finish tonight, that God is faithful. Verse nine, we give
thanks to God, oh, for the grace given to you by Jesus Christ,
that you're made wealthy by him, that the word of Christ dwells
in you richly, and you know God, you know Christ, the testimony
of Christ was confirmed in you. And then look what He said, and
He'll confirm it in verse 8, that you'll be blameless. He'll
keep right on confirming it in you and establishing it in you
until the day of Jesus Christ. And when He gets there, you'll
be blameless because you believe this testimony. And this testimony
is confirming. Then He says in verse 9, and
I'm through, God is faithful. That's why we give thanks. God
is faithful. You know why we're faithful?
Because God's faithful. And then by whom you were called,
into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ his Lord. God is
faithful. Great is thy faithfulness. That's
what we sung this morning. He's faithful to his Son. He's
faithful to us. And he's faithful to his Word.
And Paul said in Romans 11, 29, the gifts and calling of God
are without repentance. What he starts, he finishes.
Amen. Our Father, in the blessed, glorious
name of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you for the gospel,
and I thank you for these dear saints of God. Lord, from my
heart, from my soul, I give thanks. I give thanks. Lord, we wouldn't
be gathered here. We wouldn't worship. We wouldn't
look in your Word. And these folks have gathered
here to hear, so I give thanks for them, for what you've done
in this body of believers. It's your work, it's your work,
it's your church, it's your people, it's your ministry. Everything
we've got, we've received. Everything we have, you give
us. Everything we know, you taught
us. And so we acknowledge that, and we give thanks. We bless
you in Christ's name, Savior of people in this place, to your
glory. Amen.