Let's open our Bibles again to
1 Thessalonians 1. The title of the message this morning
is Knowing Your Election. The church at Thessalonica had
been established when Paul and Silas had been preaching in Philippi. They left Philippi where that
church with Lydia the Philippian jailer had been formed and they
came to Thessalonica. They spent three whole weeks
there in that city preaching Christ. We read that a multitude
of Greeks believed, and of the chief women, not a few. But of
course, many did not believe, that's the way it always is.
And those who in that town did not believe their idolatry and
things were attacked so much, they hated that gospel so much,
they caused a riot throughout the whole city. And Paul and
Silas had to leave town at night. And they went from there to the
noble Bereans. And sometime later, now Paul
writes his first letter back to these Thessalonian believers.
And he writes to strengthen their understanding of some key doctrines. He writes to them of the doctrine
of election that we'll look at here, Lord willing, in just a
minute. He wrote to them of how the pastor is to care for and
preach to the congregation. How in return the congregation
is to love Him and to support Him. He writes to us of the believers
walk, our conduct in this life. And he writes to us about the
death of these bodies and the resurrection of them when the
Lord returns. We looked at that in the first hour this morning.
But the subject I want to deal with this morning is the doctrine
of election. And this is a very, very important
topic. In our Savior's first recorded
public message, He chose as his subject the doctrine of election. That's the passage in Luke that
we read open to service. God's election of a people unto
salvation. Election is not salvation. Election
is unto salvation. God's election of a people is
a truth. It's a doctrine that reveals
the truth about who God is and the truth about who man is. God's
sovereign. He always does according to his
will. Now look over at Romans chapter
nine. Election reveals God in that light as sovereign, always
doing according to his will. Romans chapter nine, verse 11. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil that the purpose
of God, according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it's written, Jacob have I
loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. God chose a people to show mercy
to them. He chose whom he would. And you
can't say that's wrong. because God's sovereign. It's
His sovereign right to choose whom He will. So that doctrine,
the doctrine of election, reveals to us who God is. Secondly, the
doctrine of election reveals to us who man is. Man is lost
and undone, ruined in sin. He can't do anything for himself.
Man has a nature that's dead, that's ruined. So man, by his
own nature, his own choice, will never choose God. So God's got
to choose him. God's got to do something for
him. Look at Matthew chapter 11, a couple of scriptures on
this. The doctrine of election reveals man as he is. We're lost
and undone. We're helpless. We need God to
choose us and do something for us because we're unable to do
anything for ourselves. Matthew 11 verse 25. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them unto babes. Even so, father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight." God sovereignly chose to reveal these things
unto babes, unto babes who are helpless. They can't do anything
for themselves or for God. God had to do something for them,
didn't he? Look at another scripture, Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as he hath
chosen, he hath elected us in him before the foundation of
the world that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love. God chose sinners who are unholy
and blameable. ruined in sin, and he chose them
to make them holy and unblameable in his sight. That's God's election.
And the doctrine of election is not a hateful doctrine. The
doctrine of election is a doctrine that displays God's love. Election
is God's display of his electing love for his people. He said
there at the end of verse four that he chose us in love, in
love. God chose to save sinners because
God is love. Because He does love sinners. Election is not God choosing
some men to heaven and some men to hell. No. We go to hell all
on our own. We do a fine job of it. Men don't
go to hell because God did something to them. Men go to hell because
that's what their sin deserves and God just left them alone.
We go to hell on our own. God didn't have to choose us
to hell. But God chose to save sinners. And he did that in a
great act of love, didn't he? Only God, with a pure, infinite
love, could really choose sinners and love sinners and choose to
save them. Now look back in Romans chapter
8. I'm going to give you a few reasons why this doctrine of
election is so important. First of all, it's important
because it reveals God as he is, a man who he is. It reveals
God's love to us. Then election is important because
every other grace stems from this grace of election. Romans
8 verse 29. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn, the king among many brethren. Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called,
them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. Now what shall we then say to
these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Now where did this predestination
and calling come from? Where did glorification and the
sacrifice of Christ, where did it all come from? Where did the
intercession of Christ come from? Paul said all things. Where did
all these things come from? Where did they all start? They
all began with God's foreknowledge, with God's election of a people.
So it's election that guarantees our salvation and guarantees
our ultimate glorification. It all came from God's election
of a people. So the cause of election is all
found in God. The cause of election is found
in the character of God, that he's loving, that he's merciful.
Election is unconditional. What that means is this. The
sinner doesn't have to meet any conditions in order to be chosen. You don't have to meet any conditions
whatsoever. All the reasons for God choosing a people are found
in His character, not in our character. But the necessity
for salvation or for election is all found in us. We're lost. We're dead in sin. We're unable
to produce a holiness and a righteousness that God requires. Our Lord said,
you will not come unto me that you might have life. So God's
got to do something for us, doesn't he? He's got to choose us. He's
got to choose a people to save in his son and draw them to his
son. Now, before we go on, let me give you, tell you a few things
about election. Let me talk to you for a minute
about election. Every saved person believes in
election. Every saved person knows I didn't
choose God, God chose me. Every person God has saved believes
I love him only because he first loved me. However, the first
thing that a sinner believes, first thing we learn when God
saves us is not election. First thing we learn is we're
sinners and Christ is the Savior and we need him. Nobody has ever
or will ever come to Christ because they know they're one of the
elect. And believe me, I know what I'm talking about. I spent
wasted, wasted years trying to figure out if I was one of the
elect. What an exercise in futility. Nobody ever comes to Christ because
they know they're one of the elect. We come to Christ because
God's broken us. We're poor and needy sinners. And we desperately need Christ
to be our Savior. That's why we come to Christ.
Our Lord didn't stand and cry, all who are elect, come unto
me. No. He said, all who are thirsty, come to me. All you
who are weary and heavy laden, come to me. That's who comes
to Christ is thirsty, the heavy laden. Burdened down with their
sin. Burdened down under the requirements of the law. Nowhere
in Scripture are we told we have to understand election and know
that we're one of the elect before we can be saved. You won't find
that anywhere in this book. What is Scripture saying? He
that knows he's elect has everlasting life? You know what it says,
right? He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. So don't waste your time trying
to figure out. Learn from my mistake if you
can. Don't waste time trying to figure out if you're one of
the elect before you come to Christ. Come to Christ because
you're a sinner and you believe Christ is the Savior. And He'll
save you just like He said He would. That's why you come to
Christ. We come to Christ because we're sinners who need a Savior.
But right quick, we do learn this. We learn we came to Christ
because He chose us first. I've used this illustration before,
but I'm going to use it again because I really like it. Salvation
is like a doorway, a doorframe. On this side of the doorframe,
we read, if you're weary, come to me. Are you thirsty? Come to me. I'll give you rivers
of living water. And we come because we're thirsty.
We come because we're weary. And on the other side of the
doorframe, we read, I've loved you with an everlasting love,
an eternal love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn you. I came because he chose me first.
I came because he loved me first. That's the experience of salvation.
Election is not the first thing we learn. We learn that later
on. And everybody, God save, believes it. Now election, this
is something that the world has an argument against election.
Election will never stop a sinner from coming to Christ. No, if
you're a sinner, nothing will stop you from coming to Christ.
Election certainly doesn't stop you from coming to Christ. Our
Savior said, all that the Father hath given me shall come to me.
No question about it. All the elect will come to Christ.
But what our Lord say next? And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. You see, you can't use an election
as an excuse not to come to Christ. There's no excuse for you to
refuse to come to Christ. Christ himself said, I'll not
cast you out if you come to me. He'll never cast out a sinner
who comes to him needing forgiveness and mercy and cleansing. Then
this is another argument that those who do not know the Lord
throw against this doctrine of election. They say, well, election
just removes man's responsibility. No, it doesn't. God's sovereign
and man's responsible. Like what Brother Henry said,
if God wasn't sovereign, man wouldn't even be responsible
to. Election in no way removes your responsibility to come to
Christ. We can never say, oh well, nothing I can do about
it. If I'm one of the elect, I'll be saved. And if God didn't
choose me, nothing I can do about it. Do you know why we can't
say that? Because the master said come.
Christ said, you come to me for forgiveness in life. And if you
don't come to him, you'll be damned, and it's your own fault.
It won't be God's fault for not choosing you, it'll be your own
fault for refusing to save you. So, election is a very important
doctrine taught in Scripture. You and I don't have to be in
doubt about whether or not we're one of the elect, one of God's
elect. Paul said, look back in our text
now, 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, Paul said he knew these Thessalonian
believers were elect, In verse four, he says, knowing brethren
beloved, your election of God. Now, how did Paul know that they
were elect? You know, remember that time
Paul was caught up in the third heaven? Did he sneak a look at
the Lamb's book of life and see their names written there? No,
that's not how he knew they were. Paul knew these believers were
elect because they gave evidence of knowing God and knowing people
know God or are his elect. So I want us to look at these
evidences of election that Paul gives us. in our text so that
we can leave here. We don't have to leave here this
morning wondering if I want to be elected or not. Every person
that God saves has all six of these evidences in themselves,
evidences of election. Well, how can I know if I'm one
of God's elect? Number one, God's elect believe
the gospel. 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 is you know what manner of men we
were among you for your sake. Now God's elect hear the gospel
and they believe it. Now they don't understand all
of it. They can't necessarily explain all of it. Most of us
can't, but we believe Christ. God's elect, when they hear the
gospel, they say, that's it. I believe that. Now the elect
don't hear the gospel and believe it. because they heard in the
power of man's wisdom or man's understanding, because they're
smarter than somebody else. That's not why they do it. The
elect hear the gospel because they hear in the life-giving
power of the Holy Ghost. The elect hear the gospel in
the heart. It's in their heart where only
the Spirit can put it. All of the Godhead, the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, it takes all three, the whole
Godhead, is involved in saving a sinner. There's an article
about that in the Bulletin this morning. Salvation began with
the Father electing a people. Then the Son came to redeem those
people with the blood of His sacrifice. And then the Holy
Spirit applies that salvation in the heart of His people in
the new birth. That's the power of the Holy Ghost that Paul writes
of here. And we preach this Gospel of
Christ because this Gospel is the only Gospel that the Spirit
will bless to save and edify God's elect. Look at Romans chapter
1. Every person God saves is saved
through the preaching of this gospel. They all believe it.
They all hear it and they all believe it. Romans chapter 1 verse 15. So for as much as in me is, I'm ready to preach the gospel
to you that are at Rome also. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it's the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believe it, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein,
in that gospel of Christ, is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith. As it's written, the just shall
live by faith. The elect, they live by faith. When they hear the gospel, they
believe it. They don't just hear the gospel
in word only. They don't just hear doctrine
now. They don't just hear words. They don't just hear this doctrine
of election as something that makes us different from everybody
else. No, when they hear the gospel, they hear light. They
hear the Savior speak. They don't hear the gospel in
word only. Well, what is it to hear the
gospel in word only? What's the difference between
hearing it in word only and hearing it in the power of the Holy Spirit?
Well, to hear the gospel in word only is to hear, all men are
sinners. Yeah, I believe, I believe all
y'all are sinners. That's hearing the gospel in
word only. Hearing the word in the power of the Holy Spirit
is hearing, I'm the sinner. I need to say, God be merciful
to me, the sinner. That's hearing in the power of
the Holy Spirit. Hearing in word only is hearing
about a way of salvation. We say, Yeah, that makes sense. I see the technicalities of how
that works, how God can be both just and justify. I see that
way of salvation. Hearing the word and the power
of the Holy Spirit is to see Christ as my only way of salvation. That's hearing in the power of
the Holy Spirit. To hear in word only is to hear of the doctrine
of the perseverance of the saints. Yeah, I see they can't be lost
because Christ died for them and he'll keep them. The hearer
in the power of the Holy Spirit is to hear in full assurance
of faith. If Christ died for me, I cannot
be lost. He won't allow it. He died for
me. That's hearing in the power of
the Holy Spirit. And all of God's elect, when they hear the gospel,
they believe it. Second, God's elect all follow
Christ. Verse six, back in our text,
1 Thessalonians 1. And ye became followers of us
and of the Lord, having received the word of much affliction,
with joy of the Holy Ghost. Now God's elect are all sheep,
the sheep that the Father gave to Christ. And those sheep are
sheep. What do sheep do? They follow
the shepherd. God's elect always follow Christ,
the great shepherd of the sheep. We follow Christ by walking in
faith. We don't walk through the rest
of this world, you know, our life here on this world, trying
to earn our way to heaven or earn a bigger mansion in heaven.
No, we walk by faith, looking to Christ, trusting Christ to
save us. We follow Christ by being with his people. Sheep
all flock together. Sheep aren't loners. Sheep flock
together, follow the shepherd together. And we follow Christ
by walking in his ways, striving to be like him. And we follow
Christ by being in the public worship service, where God's
servant preaches Christ. That's following Him. Paul says
here, you became followers of us and of the Lord. Now let me
make this perfectly clear. Everybody listen. We don't follow
a man. We're not following a man. The
sheep follow Christ. But we certainly do follow the
man, follow the servant that God gave us as they point us
to Christ. Let me show you that in a couple
of scriptures. 1 Corinthians chapter 4. We follow God's servant as he
points us and leads us to Christ. 1 Corinthians 4 verse 15. For though ye have ten thousand
instructors in Christ, ye have not many fathers. For in Christ
Jesus I have begotten you, born again, begotten you through the
gospel. Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me. Now what Paul's saying is you've
got many teachers, but I care about you as a father. I've preached
to you. I've watched God give you life.
I strove to see Christ. I travailed to see Christ formed
in you. as a father loves his children.
Well, I care for you. Every one of you, I care for
you. The father cares for his children. And I preach the gospel
of Christ to you, the gospel that gives life. So you follow
me as I follow Christ. As I preach Christ to you, that's
the way you're to follow God's servant. Look over first Corinthians
chapter 11. Paul tells us this very plainly
in verse 1 of 1 Corinthians 11. Be ye followers of me, even as
I also am of Christ. You only follow me because I'm
following Christ. You only follow me, you only
listen to me as I preach the gospel to you because it's my
job as the pastor here to lead you to Christ. I'm not telling
you to be followers of me because I'm trying to get a following
for myself. I don't want you being a follower of me. I want
you to follow Christ. So you follow me as I lead you
to Christ. One more scripture, Hebrews chapter
13. Hebrews 13 verse 7. Remember them which have the
rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose
faith follow, considering the end of their conversation, Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. Those who
rule over you, they're guides. They're guides. They are guides
to guide you to Christ. That's the pastor's job. Then
you follow him, considering what is the goal of his message. The
goal of his message is to lead you to Christ. He's the same
yesterday, today and forever. And the elect, they follow. They follow God's servants as
they lead them to Christ. They follow Christ. And they
keep following Christ, no matter where it is that he leads. You
know, these Thessalonians, they received the word in much affliction. Paul and Silas, they started
this riot, and then they left town, didn't they? They went
on to the next town. They went on to Berea to preach there.
But the Thessalonians had to stay and live there in that town.
They had to live in that riot. They had to live being persecuted
and afflicted for believing the gospel. They were persecuted. They were tried. But they kept
believing Christ. They kept following Him. Their
fleshly circumstances didn't change their faith in Christ.
And this is what trials always reveal. Trials reveal true faith
and false faith. It's always so sad. I've seen
it happen so many times over the years. You have to see someone
come for a while. He might stay for a long while.
And then hard trials come their way. And they leave and you never
see them again. Well, that trial revealed false
faith. And it's so sad because when someone says, oh, this is
too hard and they leave and they don't come back, what they've
done is they've separated themselves from the source of comfort, the
preaching of Christ. They're confused. They don't
know why is this happening to me, but they leave. They separate
themselves from the preaching of Christ, their instructor.
Someone shows them what's going on. But true faith, even when
those hard trials come, not only does that true faith Keep trusting
Christ. Keep following Christ. Trials. Draw the elect. Those who believe
Christ, they draw them even closer to Christ. In those dark times,
when the valley's so deep, and it's difficult, and it's so dark,
and you can't see, you don't know what's going on, you don't
know what way to go. You know what faith does? Faith doesn't
leave Christ. Faith gets closer to Him, so
I can see Him better. True faith in the storm, all
the wild raging storms of life. True faith doesn't jump overboard
in those storms. True faith, you know, you don't
jump overboard, start swimming to shore. I'm going to get myself
to safety. No, true faith gets even closer to Christ on those
troubled seas so that he's our security. God's elect follow
Christ and they keep following him. Thirdly, God's elect are
examples of faith and love. or seven, so that you are examples
to all that believe of Macedonia and Achaia. People who believe
Christ are examples to others. They're examples of how God saves
sinners. They're examples in this way.
Out there on the job and in the workplace, wherever it is that
you are, I tell you how, you who believe are examples of how
God saves sinners. You're an example because you
never take credit. for your salvation. Salvation
doesn't have anything to do with what you did. It's what God does. You never say, oh, you know,
God helps those who help themselves. No, you're an example of salvation
in this way. You claim God saves the worst. He saves the helpless. The proof
of it is he saved me. That's how you're an example
of faith, how God saves sinners. People God saves are examples
of faith in this way. The point we just looked at.
They keep believing. Through all the ups and downs
of many, many, many years, they keep believing. If someone says,
well, do I have, really, do I have real faith in Christ? Well, see,
in about 20, 30 years, we'll know, won't we? True faith lasts. And saved people are examples
of love. Scripture tells us when God saves
a person, he sheds abroad his love in our hearts. Well, love
acts. There's an article in the bulletin
about that this morning. Love acts. Love for Christ acts
by believing Him, by trusting Him, by following Him, by giving
ourselves to Him. And love for others acts by doing
for them. Not only do we just care about
them, we do something about it. We do for them. That's how we
show love. And this congregation, I'm so
thankful for you. Oh, I thank God for you and your
examples of faith and love. When something needs to be done
around here, I mean, you do it. You do it joyfully and happily
and willingly. You're examples of faith and
love. And I thank God for you. And you young believers, now
you watch. You watch the example being set for you so you can
show your faith example, be an example of your faith and your
love in the exact same way that you're being shown by these older
believers. And God's elect are also examples
in this way. They're examples in generosity
and giving, which brings us to our fourth point. God's elect
are missionary-minded people. They want to see the gospel spread
everywhere, or say, for from you sounded out the word of the
Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place
your faith to God were to spread abroad, so that we need not to
speak anything. Now, God's people are missionary-minded
people. and not only to far off places. You know, this attitude starts
right here, right here in our town. And that's what you do. You support a pastor here in
this town. You support a radio program that goes out all around
this area. You support that program because
you want people in our area, in this tri-state area, to hear
the gospel of Christ, just like you did. You support putting
these messages on the internet, so people from all over the world
can hear. You know, Dan gets that report
every month, and what different states and different countries
have heard, they listen to messages from this pulpit. I mean, this
little old rinky-dink place, you know, it's amazing. That's
God's power, and you support that, because you want people
to hear this gospel, the gospel of Christ that you love, You
support missionaries, the Groovers down there in Mexico, because
you want people to hear the gospel. Now, I know the Lord is going
to provide for the Groovers. I know that. His name is the
Lord I'll provide. Of course, He's going to provide
for them. But you know, God does use means, doesn't He? And don't
we count it an honor and a privilege to be able to help send support
to them? We do. That's not an obligation that
we've got to meet everyone. That's a blessing to us, isn't
it? It's a blessing because we desire for other people to hear
this glorious good news of salvation in Christ. We look forward every
week to coming here in the gospel. We want other people to have
that blessing. Somebody took the time to preach to you and
me. Somebody went to work, they gave
of their money, they sacrificed to support that man so he could
preach to us. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we
could do that for somebody else? God's people are missionary minded
people. Here's the fifth evidence. Fifth
evidence of being elect. God's elect all repent of their
sins. They repent of their idols. They
turn to Christ from their idols. Verse nine. For they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you and how you
turn to God from idols. to serve the living in true God. Now Paul says, I know you're
led because you turn to God from your idols. Thessalonica was
a Roman, part of that Roman empire, Roman city. Idolatry was rampant
there. I mean, these folks just were
steeped in idolatry. They cut their teeth in all these
mythical Roman idols, you know. We've got our kids and some of
these academic teams. Don't you spend hours and hours
and hours studying all those different idols they had? It
takes you forever to learn them all. They knew every one of them.
I mean, they were steeped in it. But this is repentance. They turn to God from their idol.
Repentance. Not just feeling sorry that you
sinned. Certainly that's part of it,
being sorry that I sinned. But repentance is a turning. We all sin. And before we know
the Lord, we all have some hope, something we hope will take away
enough of our sin that we could not go to hell and go to heaven.
Repentance is turning away from all of those hopes because we've
turned to God, because we've turned to Christ and put all
of our trust in Him. So we've turned our back on those
idols, those former things that we used to trust in. And in case
you don't know, let me tell you. Every person born on this planet
is born an idolater. You who believe before God saved
you, you're an idolater. And if you don't believe Christ
at this very moment, you're an idolater. Now, maybe you're not
bound down to a stone statue. You know, we go down there to
Mexico. I haven't seen, I've just seen
this once or twice in this country, but it's rampant in Mexico. You
see these people, they just bow down to these ceramic statues. There's a woman we saw there
teaching her little children to bow down to the statue, how
to get themselves on their knees, how to hold their hands and all
these things, you know, teaching them to bow down to a ceramic
statue. It's idolatry. Well, maybe you don't do that.
But we're idolaters nevertheless. That's what's born in our natural
heart. Every one of us has the idol
of self. You know, we're going to trust our self, our own works,
our own morality, our own things that we do, you know. Here's
a subtle form of idolatry. Oh, I got the right doctrine.
I'm a Calvinist. I'm a five-point Calvinist. I
have been as long as I could ever understand language. That's
idolatry. We don't trust in the doctrine
now. We trust in the person. The person of Christ. Those are
idols. Because all those things are
not Christ alone. But when God saves a sinner,
He saves that sinner that He chose in eternity past. He calls
out that sinner that Christ died for. He reveals His Son to them. And He reveals His Son in them.
And now they see Christ. So of course they don't look
at those idols anymore. They follow Christ. Of course
they follow Him. Of course all their trust and
hope is in Him. Because God's given them eyes to see Him. And
they look to Him. And they're not going to look
back to those idols anymore. Why would you want to? Why would
you want to be children of a lesser God? You look to Christ and you
follow Him. And then lastly, the sixth evidence
of being elect. God's elect all desire for Christ
to return. They're just waiting, longing
for Christ to return. Verse 10. And to wait for His
Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus. which delivered us from the wrath
to come. And you believe you're just waiting on Christ to return.
You're just waiting. Why? There's no evidence he'd
never come in the clouds before, like he's promised he's going
to come again. Why are you waiting for his return? Because he said
he would, right? You know, in the Old Testament,
he promised he's coming. The whole Old Testament tells
us what? Somebody's just like a train going down a track. Somebody's
coming. Someone's coming. Someone's coming.
One day he appeared. He came just like he promised
he would. And he lived as a man established a perfect righteousness.
He went to Calvary's tree to suffer and die to put away the
sins of his people. And when he rose and he went
back to glory, he said, I'm coming again. Well, then he's going
to come a second time, just like he promised he'd come the first
time. He's going to come a second time. I believe him, don't you?
And we're waiting for Christ to return because he was born
as a man. He came the first time. It's
like he promised. A son was given. A child was born. He suffered
and died. But then he rose from the dead.
He's not dead. He's living. He rose again because
he put the sin of his people away. Well, then he's coming
back to get them. Christ already suffered hell
for his people. Now there's a day coming, this
world's going to end. God's going to make a new heaven
and a new earth. And those who do not believe Christ will be
cast into hell. When this world ends, that's it. Those who don't
believe him are going to spend eternity in hell. Well, Christ's
not going to allow his people to suffer that way. Paul says
he's delivered us from the wrath to come. He's not going to let
them suffer that way. He's not going to let them suffer
separation from the father. He died to redeem them, to bring
us to God. Christ bought His people with
His life's blood. I mean, He paid no small price
to redeem His people. It's His blood. But He's not
going to leave them in the grave and He's not going to leave them
in this sinful world. He's going to have them because
He bought them. So we're just waiting for Christ
to return because He said, I'm going to come back. And when
I do, I'm going to gather you to myself. Just like we looked
at in our lesson this morning, so shall we ever be with the
Lord. That's why we're waiting. That's
why we're longing for his return. Because my heart's desire and
the heart's desire of every believer is to go be with Christ, which
is far better to awake in his likeness. And if your heart's
desire is for Christ to return, to gather you to Himself, that's
evidence that God saved you, that He's revealed Christ to
you. If He's revealed Christ to you, He is your heart's desire. You want to see Him in the Gospel?
As many years as God gives you, your desire is to see Christ
in the Word, to see Christ in the Gospel. But you'll be satisfied
if you see Him face to face. That's your desire. That's the
evidence of being elect. And I pray that God will cause
those evidences to be in us, that he'll put those in our heart,
that he'll reveal himself to us and be merciful and gracious
to us. All right, let's bow and pray. Our Father, how we thank you
for your infinite goodness and love for your people, that you
choose us out of our death, out of our sin, out of our rebellion,
out of our unholiness, That you choose a people, put them in
your Son to make us holy and unblameable. That you choose
a sinful, vile people in Adam to make us just like your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we thank you. We know
human language is very insufficient to express our gratitude and
our joy for what you've done for your people in Christ our
Redeemer. but we do thank you. I ask that you'd accept our praise
and our thanksgiving in our Savior, in him, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Father, I pray that you'd cause your word, as it's been preached
this morning, to go forth in power, that your people gathered
here would not only hear the voice of a man, but Father, that
they'd hear in the heart, in the power of the Holy Spirit,
that you'd reveal Christ in us and to us, cause us to run to
him, cause us to find in him everything that we need, and
give us the faithfulness to follow him, to look to him, to continue
following him wherever he may lead. Father, all these things
we ask, and we praise your matchless name. I ask that you'd hear us
and accept us only in Christ our Savior. It's in his name,
and for the glory of his name we pray.