The name of the message tonight
is Election and Assurance. We're going to continue our study
tonight in the book of 1 Thessalonians 1. And tonight we'll look at
verses 4 and 5, but I'd like us to read the first five verses
so we can get the context of verses 4 and 5. 1 Thessalonians
1. Verses 1 to 5. Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus
unto the Church of the Thessalonians, which is in God the Father and
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God
always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering
without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience
of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God, and our
Father, knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. For our
gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and
in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as you know what manner
of men we were among you for your sake." Now in the first
two studies of this wonderful epistle, the first study we looked
at a wonderful salutation. And in that message, we had looked
at how Paul was very well acquainted with the saints at Thessalonica
as he was one of three. Paul and Silas and Timothy were
the ones who established the church by the grace of God, as
we see in verse one. Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus
unto the church of the Thessalonians, which is in God the Father and
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. So by God's mercy and
by God's grace, Paul and Silvanus and Timothy were sent unto Thessalonica
to preach the gospel. And there was a church by the
grace of God established there. And then we saw in verse three
how these saints, and we know it was amidst persecution and
trials, they were patient in hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
They had a good hope, just as every born-again believer in
Christ has a good hope, a good hope. Tonight we'll look at verses
four and five. In the last two studies in this
wonderful book, we looked at the first, again, three verses
of chapter one, and we saw Paul's love evident before us for the
Thessalonian believers. It came through in his words,
and remember, these words were inspired by the Holy Spirit of
God, who is the true author of this book, and the true author
of every blessed book of the Bible. So having looked at Paul's
introduction to the saints at Thessalonica, We see then that
the Holy Spirit moved Paul to write about the electing grace
of God in verse 4. And in verse 5, about how the
word of God came to the Thessalonian believers, not in word only,
but in power. Not just spoken by Paul and Sabanus
and Timothy, but it came to them in power and power of the Holy
Spirit of God. And again, we know the power
there is the power of the Holy Spirit of God. And this is true
for every born-again, blood-washed believer. The gospel comes to
us in power, in power, and in much assurance, as Scripture
says here, and in much assurance, because our assurance and our
hope is in Christ. I have a dear brother who is
on the front lines in the ER room. He's an ER nurse, and he's
in the front lines And he wrote to me about how our Lord Jesus
Christ is our great Redeemer and how he's our hedge protection
and how he ever watches over us. And he's just trusting and
resting in Christ and Christ alone. So the gospel, again,
comes to every single believer in power and in much assurance
because we have a great hope. And we patiently await our Lord's
return, don't we? We patiently await our Lord's
return. Now some say election is strong meat, but we see Paul
here writing to young believers. This is a young church, it's
not been established for very long, and Paul is writing about
this blessed doctrine, this blessed truth. Now some say you shouldn't
teach this to young believers, but we see Paul here, by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit of God, bringing forth this absolutely wonderful
doctrine, which we know is true. It's in the scriptures, it's
true. And this precious, precious doctrine is not to be kept from
young babes in Christ. It's not to be kept from them
until they mature in the faith. No, we see that Paul preached
all the counsel of God to God's saints. And these are the saints
who are chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the
world. And they are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ.
And they will one day be in glory with Him forever. And God's preachers
bring forth before the saints of God this wonderful truth of
the electing grace of God. Because we who are the people
of God We need a steady diet of God's sovereign grace. We
need that to be bought before us. We are so soon to forget
that our Lord is in control. And this is why we need to be
constantly reminded about it, because we have a tendency in
our flesh to try to take things upon ourselves. And the Lord
weans us off trusting and leaning on our own understanding. And
he does that through this life, through trials and tribulations,
through things that occur in the world. He just keeps us clinging
to him and holding on to him. And again, we need a steady diet,
we who are the people of God, of God's sovereign grace. And
of his sovereign mercy too, we need to be reminded of how it's
only the grace and mercy of God that has made us to differ from
anybody else in this world. Only the grace of God and the
mercy of God. And it all comes to us, to God's
chosen people, in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. We are
saved, beloved, for Christ's sake, for Christ's sake. And
as we mature in our faith in Christ, this teaching of election
becomes so very precious to us. very precious to us. As the Holy
Spirit of God teaches and enlightens us through the preaching of the
gospel, we grow in our faith. And this fact, the fact of the
doctrine of election, again, becomes more and more clear.
And we know the truth. We know the truth of the hymn
writer who wrote, Lord, if you had not chosen me, I'd never
choose you. I'd never choose you. And our
Lord even said, He said, I have chosen you, you haven't chosen
me. It's all Him. It's all Him from
beginning to end. Salvation is of the Lord. Even
in Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians, he brings forth
again this wonderful doctrine to the church at Thessalonica.
Listen to this in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13. Scripture says this,
but we are bound To give thanks always to God for you, brethren
and beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. Whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. I'll read that again.
Second Thessalonians chapter two, verses 13 and 14. And remember,
Paul's writing to born-again, blood-washed saints, to the very
saints that he's writing this first letter to, 2 Thessalonians
2, verses 13 and 14. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you. Brethren, beloved of the Lord,
oh, let that sink in, you who are the born-again people of
God, beloved of the Lord, beloved of God, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. Oh, we're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God and we believe the truth. See, if someone doesn't
believe on Christ, if someone doesn't believe the truth of
the scripture, then they're not saved, no matter what they say,
no matter what they say. The Holy Spirit teaches each
born again believer through the preaching of the gospel about
the work of God the Father in choosing a particular people
in Christ. And he did this all before the
foundation of the world. And the Holy Spirit teaches each
born-again believer through the preaching of the gospel about
the work of God the Son and the perfect redemption of his chosen
people. When he died on the cross, he
offered himself up as a perfect spotless lamb. His redemption
is perfect redemption, beloved, perfect redemption, a perfect
atonement. The Holy Spirit teaches each
born again believer through the preaching of the gospel about
the work of God the Son in the perfect redemption of his chosen
people. How? By the shedding of his precious
blood, which he shed at Calvary's Cross. And he did that as the
substitute of his people. And he paid the ransom. He paid
the ransom price that God demanded for the eternal souls of his
people. He did it. And he did it all.
And the Holy Spirit teaches each born-again believer through the
preaching of the gospel about the sanctifying work of God,
the Holy Spirit, when he enlightens the minds of God's chosen people
to the sovereign grace of God through the perfect finished
work of Christ. And this is what every sent preacher
of God is to proclaim. It is finished. The work is done. We proclaim,
we who are sent of God, we proclaim the perfect, sin-atoning work
of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross in the place of His people.
Beware, lest ye also, being led away with the air of the wicked,
fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory,
both now and forever. Amen. This is what God tells
us through his own word. That's in 2 Peter 3, verses 17
and 18. Now let's go back to our verse
4 in 1 Thessalonians. And look at this scripture. It
says, Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. Now, the
Greek word there for election, listen to what it means. This
is the underlying Greek word for the word election. Now, people
say all these different things that are not even scriptural
about election. Let's see what the underlying
Greek says about this word. The Greek word here for election
means the act of picking out, choosing, the act of God's free
will by which before the foundation of the world, he decreed his
blessings to certain persons. And we know that those persons
are in Christ. We know that because we know
that we were chosen in Christ by Ephesians 1, 4. We were chosen
in Christ before the foundation of the world. And also it says
this, the decree made from choice by which God determined to bless
certain persons through Christ by grace alone. And then also
this, a thing or a person chosen. And then it uses the example
of God's elect. So we clearly see then, even
in the definition of the Greek word for election here, that
this election, this election is an act of sovereign mercy.
It's an act of sovereign mercy. So what boundless grace is on
display here for the believer in Christ, Truly, we who are
the people of God, we have obtained mercy, unmeasurable mercy in
Christ. How did Paul know they were God's
elect? Was it by their outward show
of boastful religious exercises before others? No, not at all. Was it by the boasting of abstaining
from evil? Well, I don't do this and I don't
do that, no. Was it by their boasting of their
good deeds before others? Well, I've did this. I opened
the door for a lady. And therefore, I remember hearing
this one time, somebody told me that him and his friend were
out and about. And because his friend got to
the door before he did, he got the reward for opening the door
for a lady. And the one guy who was telling
me said, I lost that reward. Well, you didn't get no reward
in the first place and you wouldn't. My, it's just incredible what
people think and how they twist the scriptures to their own destruction. Beloved, beloved of God, it's
not what we do. It's not what we do that gives
God's people assurance. It's not what we do that makes
our calling and election sure. The assurance of faith, the faith
of God's elect is based upon what God has done for us and
in us. by His almighty power. We are
born again by the Holy Spirit of God. We are given faith to
believe. We were once dead in trespasses
and sins. We fell in Adam. We fell in Adam. And we came into this world dead
in trespasses and sins, but by the power of the Holy Spirit
of God, we've been regenerated. We've been regenerated. We've
been given faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Never
forget that God loves His people with an everlasting love. and
He has saved us because it's pleased Him to do so. It is God
who wrote our names, the names of His elect, in the Lamb's book
of life. Why? Because it pleased Him to
do so. It is God the Father who sent
His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to redeem us, the sinless
one, to redeem us, we who are sinners, to redeem us with His
precious, precious blood. Why? Because it pleased Him to
do so. It was God the Father who poured
out His eternal wrath on His darling Son in our room and place
because it pleased Him to do so. It pleased God to bruise
Him in our place. It was God, by His almighty power,
who brought us under the preaching of His gospel and regenerated
us, which just means being born again, and revealed Christ to
us because it pleased Him to do so. It was God who gave His
people preserving grace to wait for Christ's return because it
pleases Him to do so. It's God who's given us this
hope in Christ, we who are His people, because it pleased Him
to do so. It's God who will preserve His
sheep all by his almighty power until we breathe our last breath,
because it pleases him to do so. So what comfort we who are
the people of God can find in these blessed truths, and especially
in this blessed truth of election. And we can find great comfort
knowing that our great God watches over us and protects us, especially
in the times that we find ourselves in right now. We can have peace
amidst the storm of this global pandemic. We who are the people
of God, we can have peace amidst the storms of life, whatever
comes our way, because we know that our great God is in control,
full control. Listen to this wonderful scripture
in light of the doctrine of election that we're studying right now
in verse four. And take note of the verbiage as it tells us
that salvation is of the Lord. Listen to this, 2 Timothy 1,
verse 9. Speaking of God, who has saved
us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our
works. I want you to stop there for
a second. Not according to our works means
not according to our works. That's exactly what it means.
Salvation is not according to our works. Now, natural man,
when I was lost and dead in trespasses and sins, I thought my good would
outweigh my bad. Boy, was I in for a surprise.
I was all bad. But I didn't think that. It's
not until the Lord regenerated me and saved me that I knew what
sin really was. But the scripture clearly says
here, not according to our works, but according to his purpose
and grace. He saved us according to His purpose. If God has saved
you, He saved you on purpose. He saved you on purpose. Let's
just let that sink in. And it's all according to His
grace. Again, no wonder Paul, you hear me often say this, no
wonder Paul said, I've obtained mercy. Oh, what mercy we have
obtained. It's absolutely incredible. who
has saved us and called us with the holy calling not according
to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. The scripture
declares that all this was given to us in Christ before the world
began. That completely excludes creature merit. There is no merit
in anything we do. The believer in Christ is saved
by the grace of God, and it's all God's grace. As Spurgeon
wrote a book called All of Grace, meaning that we are saved by
the grace of God, period. All of God, salvation's all of
God's grace, from beginning to end. He's the author, and he's
the finisher. He's the alpha, and he's the omega. So we are
plainly taught then from the scripture that salvation is of
the Lord. Human merit has nothing to do
with salvation in Christ. And the scripture, salvation
in the scripture, is in Christ alone. So human merit is out
the window. There's no human merit. If we
got what we deserve, we'd all be in hell. But God's people
received mercy. And marvel at this, beloved of
God. God chose us in Christ. We were redeemed in Christ. We
are regenerated by the power and work of God the Holy Spirit.
And we are called with an effectual call. And the grace that we now
enjoy was given to us according to 2 Timothy 1.9, was given to
us according to God's glorious sovereign purpose in Christ before
the world began. Just let that comfort your souls
during this time. Let that just speak peace to
your heart. God's electing grace is a wonderful
doctrine to God's people. You know why? Because it strips
away human merit. It strips away human pride. And
it gives us a sure ground of confidence and assurance. And
that confidence and assurance is in Christ and Christ alone.
And it also highly exalts and honors the name, the person,
and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The doctrine of election
in Christ gives hope to sinners. It actually encourages evangelism
because God's preachers do not know who the elect are. God's
people do not know who the elect are. But God knows, God knows. And Christ has told us that all
that the Father had given will come to him. So what an encouragement
for evangelism. What an encouragement. And we
know all the sheep of God will come to Christ by the power and
grace of God. And according to the free grace
of God, which he's purposed, salvation for his people before
the world was. And it all comes about by God's
almighty power. Therefore, he receives all the
glory. He receives all the honor. He receives all the praise. If
you're going to boast, boast in Christ alone if you're a believer.
We don't have nothing to boast in on ourselves. But oh, we have
lots to boast about in our mighty Savior, don't we? Turn, if you
would, to John chapter 10. John chapter 10, and we'll see
our Lord call his people his sheep. He's talking to some Pharisees,
and he's gonna talk to them about God's electing grace. Let's turn
to John chapter 10, and we'll see our Lord call his people
his sheep. And in this portion, he brings
forth the electing grace of God. God has a people. And we who
are his people are called his sheep. And we will see that we
were given to Christ before the foundation of the world. And
we will also see that every one of those sheep will come to Christ. And they're come by the effectual
call of God, the Holy Spirit. We'll see it clearly in these
verses before us. John chapter 10, verse 25 and
26. Jesus answered them. I told you, and you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. So the Pharisees here, they didn't
believe him. They didn't believe what he said.
But look what he says in verse 26. Now here, we're going to
see the distinguishing grace of God start to be unveiled here. But ye believe not, because ye
are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. Now we know from studying
Scripture that the sheep of God are the elect of God. And note
the distinction that our Lord has made between the sheep of
God and those who we know are goats. Let's read on because
it becomes even more evident that God's people are chosen
people in Christ. And take note of our Lord Jesus
Christ bringing forth the divine purpose of God within these scriptures
as well. And remember that the one who's
speaking to them is God incarnate in the flesh. Look at verses
27 to 30. My sheep, they're His. They're
His because the Father gave them to Him. They're His, we also
know by purchase. Oh, yes. My sheep hear my voice
and I know them. Again, Gnoska, that's an intimate
knowledge. He has an intimate knowledge
of his people. And they follow me. It doesn't
say they might if they make a decision. No, it doesn't say that at all.
It says they follow me. They will. And I give unto them
eternal life. See, if you're saved and if you
have eternal life in Christ, it's because God's given it to
you. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
Oh, my. We may die in our physical bodies,
and we will. It's not may, we will. We will
die. It's appointed on the man who
wants to die, and after this, the judgment. So we all have
a date with death. We all will pass through that
doorway, call death, and go into eternity. One will either go
into eternal bliss with Christ or one will go into a Christless
eternity in hell. And I give unto them eternal
life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. Talk about eternal security.
We see here pronounced the eternal security of the believer because
it's Christ who keeps us. It's Christ and Christ alone.
My father which gave them me is greater than all. And no man
is able to pluck them out of my Father's hands. We're twice
held. We're in the Lord's hands and
we're in the Father's hands. I and my Father are one. And
note God's invincible effectual call in verse 27, when the master
says, my sheep hear my voice. It doesn't say again, they hear
my voice if they make a decision. What comes first, faith or regeneration? Well, regeneration. And then
we're given the gift of faith. That's why we hear the shepherd's
voice. It's so clear. My sheep hear
my voice and I know them. He knows us intimately. And they
follow me. They follow him. We're on the
track one way and the Lord just calls us and now we're following
the Lord. And then marvel at God's amazing
power declared in verse 28. And I give unto them eternal
life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. Beloved, if you are one of God's
elect, if you are one of God's people, if you are one of his
own, you're gonna hear the gospel. So what hope this gives us in
evangelism too, because as the gospel goes forth, we know it's
used for the building up of God's people, right? But the gospel
goes forth in power. And the lost sheep of God, when
it's the point in time for them to hear the gospel, they are
going to hear the gospel. They're gonna hear the true gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they will be born again.
They will be regenerated. And then they will be granted
faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you are
one of the Lord's sheep, if you're one of the Lord's sheep, a lost
sheep, you're gonna hear the gospel of salvation in Christ
alone, not with natural ears. No, it'll come to you in power.
It'll come to you in power, in the power of the Holy Spirit
of God. We'll see that in verse five of this chapter. You're going to believe it. You're
going to receive it. If the word of God comes to you
in power, you're going to love the gospel. You're going to love
the gospel. And in one day, by the grace
and mercy of God, you will see Christ in glory. and it's all
because of God's eternal purpose and grace. So with that fresh
on our minds, let's now look at verse five. For our gospel
came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the
Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as you know what manner of men
we were among you for your sake. Now we see a truth brought forth
here before us in verse five, which is true of every believer
in Christ. We see the way the gospel came
to the Thessalonian believers. And it reveals their election
because it came to them in power. It didn't come to them just in
word. No, beloved, it came to them in power. And we know that
the power there is the power of the Holy Spirit of God. It
didn't come only in external ministry of the world. Oh no,
but it came in eternal efficacy. through the power and revelation
of God, the Holy Spirit. So we see then that the Apostle
Paul brings forth that the gospel comes to the saint of God, not
in word only, oh, but in power and in the Holy Ghost and in
much assurance. It says right there, much assurance. So we saw in verse four, election,
and now we see assurance. assurance. Look at how unanswerably
conclusive it is when a child of God is quickened under the
Word of God. And don't ever forget that the
word of God is the sword of the spirit. Remember Lydia? Oh, the
Lord opened her heart, didn't he? That's what he does for every
single one of his people. He opens our hearts, beloved,
and he gives us hearing ears to hear the gospel and seeing
eyes to look to Christ and Christ alone, to look away from ourselves. and to look to Him who is the
only Savior of sinners. Therefore, as the Scriptures
proclaim, the Word of God again is quick and powerful and sharper
than any two-edged sword for the born-again believer. In our
natural state, we may hear the Word of God, and it has no impression
upon us. no impression upon our minds,
no impression upon our hearts. But when the Holy Spirit of God
regenerates a lost sinner, then the word of God is powerful,
quickening, illuminating, sanctifying, and renewing word. And the believer
cries out with David, For I am become like a bottle in the smoke,
yet do I not forget thy statutes. So Paul brings forth that those
who are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit of God through
the Word of God comes to us in power and in much assurance. And our hope, our interest is
in Christ and Christ alone. Paul tells the Thessalonian saints
Paul brings forth that those who are born again by the power
of the Holy Spirit of God through the word of God, which is for
we who are the people of God, that this word of grace, which
the Holy Spirit applies to our hearts and brings great conviction
and gives us a blessed assurance of your interest in Christ, Paul
in confidence tells them that it's all the work of God. Therefore,
the regenerated heart is enabled to discern God's faithful servants,
coming to them in the Lord's name. As Paul brings forth in
this verse with the words, you know, saith Paul, what manner
of men we were among you. Oh, I pray, sinner friend, that
God would give you grace to believe. Oh, that the word which is preached
right now would come to thee in power. and much assurance. And we know if it does, it's
all by the will of God. May God be glorified through
the preaching of his word. Amen.