Second Thessalonians chapter
one, Paul's second letter to the church at Thessalonica. Now
the first purpose of this letter was to recognize their persecutions,
their tribulations, their distresses and then encourage them in the
Lord. Remind them of his finished work. Remind them that Lord,
in one place it says vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. He's
telling them the Lord's going to take care of them. The Lord
will defend them. And he points them back to Christ. No matter
what they had faced, the Lord caused them to remain faithful.
They suffered. You remember the reason the church
became to be. Paul and his companion were preaching
for three weeks, as we heard last week, and a riot broke out
because of the gospel, and they ran them out of town. They told
them they weren't welcome, and then the Lord raised up a church
there. Well, this is the church, as we know. But think of the
persecutions they would have endured and the things that they,
the ripples that would have came out of that gospel that still
is being declared in that, or that at this time was still being
declared in that place. And yet we see that the Lord
calls them to remain faithful throughout whatever they had
faced. Aren't you glad that we're not kept by us? I don't keep myself and you don't
keep yourself. There is rejoicing in that. We're
called by His power, we're kept by His power, all by His grace.
Now that's one reason for this letter, but the second reason
was, although they were faithful throughout previous trials, It
would seem that these at Thessalonica, in hearing of the return of Christ
being so nigh, as we heard about on Sunday, some of them went
out and sold all of their possessions. Well, if the return of Christ
is so nigh, let them sell everything I've got. And they didn't work
anymore. They stopped working, sold their
houses, sold everything that they had, and they just joined
together. And Paul's addressing that. Paul's saying that's not okay.
If you don't work, you don't eat. And if you want bread, you're
gonna have to labor. We labor unto the Lord, and we
constantly are looking unto him and his return and rejoice that
he's returning. But we don't become fatalists,
do we? We're just looking to Christ.
That's what we do. and everything that we're hoping
that he causes us to. They were looking to self, their
circumstances, they were looking for worldly signs, for evidence
of this, like men are doing today, like many men are doing today,
and yet, Paul says, look to Christ. Don't look to things around you,
look to Christ. This is the second reason for
this letter. Now, Lord willing, I hope to
be talking about that more in depth on Sunday, about how they
were duped by signs and wonders to do exactly what they did,
and they were, rather than believe in Christ, they were duped by
those who had manipulated the truth, so to speak. They took
Paul's letter and they said, well, Paul's really saying this,
and they said, huh, you're right, let's sell everything we've got.
And I'll probably mention this Sunday, but back in, what was
it, in 1988, there was a book that said 88 reasons why the
Lord will return in 88. Does anybody remember that one?
94, there's a guy that said the Lord's gonna return in 1994 and
people sold, there's believers that sold your brothers and sisters
in Christ. They bought into that lie and
then they were restored unto the Lord. So it is possible that
we could be drawn away for a brief moment. Lord, keep us. Lord,
keep us looking. Don't look around you, look to
Christ. I hope to talk more about that on Sunday. But for tonight,
in the first chapter of this second epistle, I want us to
look at two verses, and it's 2 Thessalonians 1 and verse 11. It says, wherefore also we pray
you, and we pray always for you, that our God would count you
worthily of this calling and fulfill all the good pleasure
of his goodness and the work of faith with power. that the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and ye
in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus
Christ. I've titled the message Counted
Worthy. Counted Worthy. He says that
our God would count you worthy of this calling. How is it possible
to be counted worthy of this calling? How is it possible to
be counted worthy of this calling? Well, we have to ask the question,
what calling is he talking about? I've heard in religion and in
the truth both, the verse that says when the Lord's speaking,
he says, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man will
answer, I will come in him and sup with him and he with me.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. And they'll say, well,
the Lord's knocking on the door. Won't you let him in? Aren't
you glad that when the Lord reveals that we're dead and trespasses
and in sin, we realize we can't open the door until he gives
life to have any movement, to have any ability. Lord, I don't
need an opportunity. I need you to kick the door in
and take the strong man and throw him out. Take up a boat in my
heart. So he's not talking about the
calling of standing at the door and knocking, is he? That's not
what he's talking about. Now the scripture is clear, as
many as were ordained to eternal life. Those are the ones that
believed in Acts 13, 48. If they were ordained to eternal
life, they believed. And the ones that were not ordained,
they did not. So this is not an invitation that he's talking
about. That's not the calling that he's
talking about as an invitation where the Lord says, I'm calling
you, won't you answer me? The phone's ringing, why don't
you pick it up? That's not what's being said here. How's a dead
man going to open the door? He can't. The Lord has to kick
the door in, doesn't he? I love that it's not an option
to contribute our will. This is his effectual calling. It's not an option where we get
to contribute something by doing. This is an effectual. It means
calls and effect. He's calling, therefore you're
alive. You've been made alive in him. He calls his people.
He doesn't just say, if you would like to live, he says live. He doesn't say, if you'll, I
used the example already, but pick up the phone because it's
ringing. No, he causes us to hear his voice, doesn't he? And
how does he do that? He gives us life. Gives his people
life. This is the only calling from
death to life. This is the calling I'm talking
about. This is the only calling from darkness to light. This is the only one. This is
where the Lord tells us clearly, God hath delivered us from the
power of darkness. He didn't say anything about
us doing anything in that did he? God hath delivered us, that's
all past tense. God hath delivered us from the
power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
son. That word translate means to remove, be removed from one
place to another. Who did the removing? Who did
the transporting? Who's the one that that took
us where we were and put us where we are. Well, he did. He did. You and I could not have climbed
out of the darkness that we were in in order to find his light.
It's unsearchable. But thanks be to God, he called
us from darkness into his light. Being dead in trespasses and
in sins, we know we can't apply the blood and make it effectual. He has to do that, doesn't he?
He has to do that. He has to say, Leah, this is
the calling that he does for his people. God does the removing,
he does the revealing, and it's all by his effectual calling
when the gospel is declared and he chooses to bless it in power
according to his will by his spirit. Breathe the breath of
life just as you read in Genesis where he said he breathed the
breath of life into Adam. Adam was just a corpse laying
there made out of dust until God did something for Adam. He
said live, that's our hope. Lord call me, breathe into me. This is the only calling that
is from eternal damnation to everlasting justification. It's
the only calling that exists that'll do that. Take us who
are doomed and damned by our sin and yet realize because of
life given that our sin's been put away, we've been justified
in his sight. How long for everlasting? No
beginning and no end, we're justified in the Lord Jesus Christ. This
calling is from condemnation to righteousness. Condemnation,
we're no longer condemned. He declares his people righteousness
by the finished work, the righteousness of Christ, by the finished work
of Christ. This is the call that reveals
salvation. This is the call that reveals
eternal redemption. This is the only call that reveals,
isn't he? He is our salvation. He is our
justification. He is our righteousness. Paul makes this statement, I
pray that God, that our God would count you worthy of this calling. How are you gonna be worthy of
that calling? Calling from darkness to light. How are we to be worthy
of that calling? What must I do to be counted
worthy? We'll turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
one. 1 Corinthians chapter one. What must I do to be counted
worthy? 1 Corinthians 1.26 says, For
you see your calling, brethren, how not many wise men after the
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God hath
chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen the weak
things of the world to confound the things which are mighty,
and base things of the world, and things which are despised
hath God chosen. Yea, things which are not to
bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in
his presence. But of him, who? The one that
did all the choosing that was just described right there. But
of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made into us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. What must I do? Nothing. I'm impotent. I'm impotent. How many times do we do we see
here that God chose? Three times he says that. See,
he must be the one that does it. And of him, we are in Christ
Jesus. Of him, we didn't get in him.
We didn't choose to be called. We didn't choose to become worthy
of this salvation, did we? No, it's of him. There's good
news in that. I can't mess it up. I can't mess
it up. He must do it. It's God's choice
and he tells us the reason why it's God's choice that no flesh
should glory in his presence. When we stand before the throne
of God, our only hope is to be found in the righteousness of
Christ. Not in our flesh, not in the
works of our flesh, not what we've done or not done, but what
he has done for his people. Some men will think of us, choice,
and they'll say, and I've had two accounts this very week already
over this particular topic, and one individual made this statement,
that it's God's choice, yes, I'll agree with that, it's God's
choice, but you have to let him make, you have to let him, and
you do that by kneeling before him, and you do that by asking
him, you have to ask him, you have to let him, but I'm like,
man, You're talking in circles. You don't know what you're saying.
You don't know what you're saying. That makes God dependent upon me. If we
ask, it's not to be saved. It's because we've been saved. See, it's the evidence of life.
It's not the cause of it. If we're mercy beggars, it's
because mercy has been given already just to be able to be
mercy beggars. If we say, Lord, have mercy on
me, the sinner, Lord has to be the one that shows us we're the
sinner in need of mercy. If we ask, ask the Lord to have
mercy and save us, it's because we have been saved, not to be
saved. Well, the second person made a statement and said, totally
different conversation, totally different day. And they said,
no, it's your choice, but it's God's power. It's your choice,
but it's God's power. So now I have to do something
to make the power of God do something. If I do that, doesn't that make
me God? What kind of power does he have
if I have to choose and then he can use his power? That makes
me more powerful than him. No, the scripture says, the Lord
does whatsoever he will with the inhabitants of heaven and
on earth and under the earth. And who shall stay his hand and
say unto him, what doest thou? He's God. He's God. This is His
choice. This is His choice. If I have to choose to let God
be God, I'm God. That means I get some kind of
glory. And what did He just tell us? That no flesh should glory
in His presence. Nobody is going to stand before
Him, believer or non-believer. They're all going to have the
same confession. Christ Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. The mercy and grace of God's gospel according to His
purpose and His Spirit is as we are able to say that right
now. We don't have to wait to say that then. Can you say that
from your heart? The Lord Jesus Christ is Lord.
He's both Savior and Lord to alter the glory of God, the Father.
Nothing that I've done, but everything that he has done. Our choice is not what makes
us worthy of his calling. It's clear because he says this
in this passage, says three time, God did the choosing. God, our
choice isn't it, it's his choice. It's his choice that makes his
people worthy. He tells us in verse 30, but of him are you
in Christ? He's the one that put us there.
That's why he says he that gloryeth, let him glory in the Lord. It's
God's choice. I will say this, the same, the same being that's
giving men a choice is this right now is the one that gave the
first choice ever in the Garden of Eden. It's Satan. He offered
a choice to Eve. God didn't offer a choice to
Adam and Eve, did he? He said, don't do it. For the
day that you do it, you'll die. Don't do it. That's not a choice,
is it? That's not a choice. That's not optional. No, it was
a choice whenever Satan tempted Eve. He said, you shall not surely
die. Are you going to choose God,
or are you going to choose you being God? That's a choice, isn't
it? There was two options there.
And she chose according to her nature, just as you and I would
do. Uh, as frustrated as we get sometimes dealing with this whole
flesh, we'd have made the same choice. We're in our father,
Adam. Back then we were in his loins. We'd have done the same
thing. We need a substitute. Don't we need a substitute? Aren't you glad the Lord said,
I will have mercy. On whom I will have mercy. I
will. I love the fact that he said,
I will. That means he chose to have mercy on somebody. Lord,
let it be me. Can you say that Lord have mercy
on me? The center. I will have mercy. There's hope.
The Lord has mercy on dead dog centers. Lord have mercy on me. There's my hope. The reason it's not of our choice
is we're impotent spiritually. They that are in the flesh, we
can't discern the things of the Lord, of the spiritual things
because we're in the flesh. You remember in John chapter
five, there was a man laid impotent at the pool of Bethesda and the
pool of Bethesda was a place where the angel of the Lord would
come down once a season, trouble the waters. And if you were the
first person into that pool, you would be healed with whatever
infirmity you had, whatever sickness, whatever disease, whatever manner
of impotency you had, you would be healed of that. And this was
the only place, as a matter of fact, that that angel would come
down and stir the water. This was the only place of healing
that was like its kind. I guess in the scriptures, it
doesn't give us any other place. I'll say it was the only place
like this in the world. I think that's safe to say. How many
people do you think lay there? They didn't know what day. It
wasn't written down on a calendar, but we know at midnight tonight,
he's going to be there. That's not what happened. Scripture
doesn't say that. He said once a season. Well,
that's, uh, that's a vast amount of time. So how many people you
think laid there all day, every day in hopes? that maybe somebody
couldn't make it one day, and they asked, I missed it, did
the angel come? I missed it. No, okay, good,
I'll be there tomorrow. Think about it, I mean, I really
believe this is how this was, based upon what the scripture
tells us. How many people do you think were there? The Lord
chose to heal one, just one. only one. He walks right up to
this one impotent man and he says, wilt thou be made whole? And the impotent man says, sir,
I have no man. Well, can you say that? In your
impotent state as a sinner, can we say from our heart, truthfully,
have we been given repentance to say, I have no man, not here
and not here. I have no man to help me, Lord. You're going to have to help
me. He said, I have no man to help me. When the angel comes
down and troubles the water, somebody jumps in front of me.
I'm not fast enough. I'm not strong enough. I'm incapable.
I'm impotent. He was made to confess, wasn't
he? He had no hope in self or man. And you know, the Lord doesn't
say anything about what he just says. He says, rise. That's the next verse. Man said,
sir, I have no man to help me when the angel troubles the waters,
but somebody steps in front of me. The Lord says, rise, take
up that bed and walk. Ain't that an act of mercy? God
was speaking to him and he couldn't see it. See, that's us. We're
spiritually blind. This isn't our choice. This isn't
what made us worthy of this calling. It wasn't that we chose when
we saw the Lord from a distance and said, Lord, have mercy upon
me. No, no, no. He had to come where
we were. Calls us to confess that we have no hope in this
and this is repentance, but it's also faith at the same time.
Do we see that? It's exactly what happened here. The Lord
said, rise, take up that bed and walk. And I like this word
immediately. I love that. That's the salvation
we're talking about is an immediate salvation. Immediately the man
took up his bed and walk. This is the calling. This is
the calling we must be worthy of, but it's not because we chose
anything. It's that God chose us by His
will, by His purpose, according to the riches of His grace. I
love the verse that says, His mercy endureth forever. That's why we're called. Now back to our text in 2 Thessalonians. Let's read verse 11 again. Wherefore also we pray always
for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling and
fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work
of faith with power. So how are we counted worthy? Well, we've determined it's not
by our choice, but his. And we've determined by not our
will, but it's by his. We're determined by, it's not
by our works of righteousness, but it's his. It's his works
of righteousness. If we are to be made righteous,
it's going to have to be him that does it. It's all according
to the good pleasure of his will is what he just said here. Men might say, you know, the
account of Noah given. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord is what the scripture says. Noah found, that leaves
enough rope for somebody to do several things with. One would
primarily be hang themselves, spiritually speaking. Noah found
grace. Well, that means he was looking,
right? He was seeking it diligently. He was living the good Christian
life. You ever heard that before? That
is not the case, that is not the case. Let's turn to Genesis
chapter six, I'll show you that. Why else would God choose him
if he wasn't doing good? That's exactly what grace is,
isn't it? It's exactly what grace is, is
getting what we don't deserve. Genesis 6 verse 5, And God saw
that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. Now don't
miss this, that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that
he had made man on the earth and it grieved him at his heart.
And the Lord said, I will destroy man who I have created. Now understand this is one of
the few places in scripture where he's actually talking about every
man, every man. I will destroy man whom I've
created from the face of the earth, both man and beast and
creeping things and fowls of the air, for it repenteth me
that I have made them. But, but, Noah found grace in
the eyes of the Lord. He said, every imagination, you
mean Noah's imagination too? Yes, yes, Noah's imagination
too. What was wrong with it? His heart
was on evil, Continually, can you say that about yourself?
Is your heart continually upon evil? Truth, Lord, give me a
new heart. Truth, Lord, I don't need a quadruple
bypass. I need a new heart. I need this
heart of stone to be taken out and a heart of flesh to be given.
And understand, Noah was a sinner. He was Adam's offering by one
man's sin entered into the world and death by sin, and it came
upon all men, all men. By the disobedience of one, all
were made sinners. You know what the byproduct of
sin is? Sin. You know what the offspring of
sin is? Sin. You know what the wages
of sin is? Death. So that's what sin can
produce and only produce, is death. That's all we can produce.
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Well, if his heart
was upon evil continually, how did he look for grace? How did
he find it? How did he find it? Interesting part, if you look
back, I have to find this because I
haven't, I did not write this down and I should have. Bear with me just a moment. I can't find it so I'll have
to, I'll have to move on. The scripture
literally calls him a perfect man. It literally calls him a
perfect man. And, uh, oh, it's the next verse,
isn't it? Verse nine. I'm sorry. These
are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and a perfect
man. Noah was a just man and a perfect man in his generations. And Noah walked with God. If the byproduct of death is
death and the offspring of sin is sin and vice versa, then how
is Noah considered to be perfect? He found grace in the eyes of
the Lord. But why did he have hope of being
counted worthy if he had an evil heart? He found grace in the
eyes of the Lord. It's our same hope. It's the
interjection of this word, but. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Understand the only way that
we can find grace in the eyes of the Lord is if grace has always
been there. It's not something that we are
searching for in when we're dead and trespasses it in sin. It's
not something an evil heart can search for. An evil heart doesn't
search for the grace of God. The grace of God reveals Christ
is all. Grace of God is given by the
word, but it's the interjection of God, but God who is rich in
mercy. but God who is rich in mercy.
We're in his great love. That's why the songwriter wrote,
amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like
me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found, was blind, but now I see. Next verse says, "'Twas grace
that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear the hour I first How did he find
grace? Well, believing isn't the result. It isn't the cause of life. Believing
is the result of life that has been given. We believe not to
obtain eternal life. We believe because eternal life's
been given to us already. We just believe it by faith,
by faith alone. We see the light, it's all because
life has been given. I was thinking of a newborn child
that comes forth. It doesn't see the light for
the first time to become alive, does it? It doesn't breathe for
the first time to live, no. It does it because it's already
alive. That's what, that breathing, that sight, that's faith, isn't
it? That's faith. It's not the cause of it. Finding
grace is the result of life. The Lord said, live, Noah. And
Noah lived and found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Do we see
how simple that is? It's never the cause of it, it's
the result of life. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man come to the Father but
by me. Unless he causes it, no man will come to the Father.
Unless he's the first cause of us coming to the Lord. We can't
come to the Lord by any other means. We can't come to the Lord
by any other way. Christ is the way. He is the
doer of it. And because he is the doer of
it, God's people are counted worthy for the calling they receive
by his spirit. They're counted worthy by God's
choice, by his will, by his grace alone, by his grace alone. Noah
found grace. in the eyes of the Lord because
he was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.
And every single child of God ordained into eternal life will
find grace in the eyes of the Lord at the appointed time when
God says, live, live. Because Noah found grace, God
revealed that he had made Noah perfect and upright. Do you love that? When the Lord
says, live, He's revealed, they called him perfect and upright.
He's talking about everybody else had an evil heart, even
imaginations on evil continually, including Noah. But Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. You know what that means? He
was counted as righteousness in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
was seen perfect and upright in the Lord Jesus Christ. God
did that. God did that all by grace. And we're going to go back to
2 Thessalonians. I won't have us turn anywhere else tonight. Second Thessalonians, let's read
our text again, verse 11 and 12. Wherefore also we pray always
for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling and
fulfill all the good pleasure of his will in the work of faith
with power that the name of our God, the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ may be glorified in you and ye in him according to the
grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. There can be no
There can be no supposition, no presumption, no consideration
whatsoever of this worthiness coming from us in any way, in
any way. Not by what we are, not by who
we are, not by what we do, not by what we don't do. There is
no hope of being counted worthy of grace or eternal life outside
of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no hope. of being counted
worthy for anything, for that matter, outside the Lord Jesus
Christ. So how do we, if I've got to be in Him to be counted
worthy, how do I get in Him? God has to do that. God has to
be the doer of that. It's not when we kneel in an
altar. I'll say this, on the authority of the scripture, there's
nobody that's ever been saved by kneeling in an altar. That's
an outward show. That's all that it is, and it
draws attention to the flesh. Anybody that kneels at an altar,
they're drawing attention to themselves. Faith looks to Christ. If you
desire to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, believe him right
now. Believe Him right now, through the eyes of faith that He's given.
Don't move a muscle, come to Christ. That's the pattern throughout
the scripture, isn't it? Come to Him through the eyes
of faith, don't move. Because as soon as we move now,
we've made a work. As soon as I put our first step,
you've heard that many times, that first step, boy, that nullified
the whole transaction, didn't it? No, I made it about self,
don't do it. No, we don't get in him by kneeling
in an altar or even feeling really sorry for our sins and confessing
our sins. I remember hearing that repentance
was really having a broken and contrite heart and confessing
your sins because if we confess him, he's faithful and just.
Now that's just obligating him, isn't it? By what I just said,
if I, because I've confessed him, he is faithful and just
and he has to forgive me now. No, that's not what he's, that's
not repentance. Repentance is a changed mind.
And with that repentance, did you know it comes with a broken
heart and a contrite spirit? And what does that broken heart
cry out for? Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner.
What does that new, what does the Lord's spirit demand that
we cry out for by faith? Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner.
That's what a contrite heart and a broken, Broken spirit does. No, it's not that we get in him
because we've asked him to save us. If we ask him to save us,
it's because we're in him through the eyes of faith. If he's given
faith, that's because, or that's, uh, that's what faith does is
it cries out, Lord, save me. If we kneel by that faith, looking
to him, confessing what we are because repentance has been given,
it is because of the good news of the gospel. God hath chosen
his people in Christ Jesus before the world ever began, before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame in him in love. The Lord hath always, always
seen his people in Christ Jesus. If you're counted worthy for
this calling, you've always been counted worthy of this calling,
not because of what you and I have done, but because of what the
Lord Jesus Christ did on the cross of Calvary. Whenever He
bore the sin of His people in His own body, making one offering
unto His Father, satisfying the laws of man, satisfying justice
forever. Whenever the Father was pleased,
the veil in the temple was rent entwined from top to bottom.
Christ Jesus said, it is finished. They are now counted worthy for
this calling. You and I didn't do any part
in that transaction, did we? We didn't have one thing to do
with it. If we would have, it would have been nullified because we're
nothing but sin. Thanks be to God, He took our
sin, nailing them to His own cross, that we by His faithfulness
may receive His faith, that we by His righteousness may have
righteousness and putridity, that we by His blood alone might
receive the adoption of sons and daughters through the praise
and glory of God. We have this hope by his resurrection,
the father was satisfied. And now, now his people, they're
counted worthy of this calling, not by works of righteousness,
which he have done, but according to his mercy, according to his
grace alone, are we counted worthy. Counted worthy of this call of
eternal life. And I love the thought when he
calls, we're gonna answer. He said, my sheep hear my voice.
My sheep hear my voice. Sheep need a shepherd. Sheep
need a shepherd. He says, my sheep hear my voice,
and I know them. I know my sheep, and I'm known
of them. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall
never perish. Why? They're my sheep, and I
am the good shepherd, and I lay my life down for the sheep. Then
he goes on to say, neither shall any man pluck them out of my
hand. My father which gave them me is greater than all. No man's
able to pluck them out of my father's hand. I and my father
are one. And I love going a little farther
with that to John 17, talking about us in him and him in the
father. And we're all one together by
Christ Jesus. That's why we're worthy of this
calling by the Holy spirit is we're one with God and he will
not lose one that the father gave him rich on chapter six.
He said that now I won't lose one sheep, not one of them. All
that the father giveth me shall come to me and of all that come
to me, I won't lose one. I won't lose one. Nowhere in any part of the scripture
will you find a sheep becoming a goat or a goat becoming a sheep.
The Lord's people have always been his sheep, the sheep of
his pasture. We've been his people, that's
our hope, all because of his finished work on the cross. And
all because of that, his people are counted worthy. They're counted
worthy of his calling by his blood, by his body alone, by
his redemption alone. Because his people have been
redeemed, not because they're going to be. Because they are
made righteous, not because they're going to be made righteous because
they have been that made the righteousness of God in him,
but not because they're going to be made holy because they
have been made holy. They're counted the Lord's people. They're counted worthy of this
high calling of Christ into eternal life. You mean I'm worthy? If you're
in Christ, you are. If you're outside of Christ,
no, we're not worthy. No, we're not worthy. Like John the Baptist said, I'm
not worthy to, you want me to baptize you? I'm not worthy to
loose your sandal latches off. He said, suffer to be so. What
about Peter? He said, Lord, I'm not worthy
that you wash my feet. He said, Peter, if you don't
let me wash your feet, you have no part with me. He said, in
that case, not my feet only, but my hands and my head. Lord,
make me worthy by putting me in Christ. See, he's our only
hope for worthiness, isn't he? He's our only hope. Aren't you
thankful that he has made his people worthy of his calling?