I can't tell you how thankful
I am to be here. I appreciate your pastor, his
dear wife. Tom and I have been friends a
long time. I'd like to say, I'm going to
say it now. You know, a lot of times people
will say something to you, like, you know, greet you or something,
and you always say, okay, I will. Well, you know. Now, I talked
to Brother Carl this morning coming down here, and he told
me, he said, you tell the saints. I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. I'd like to look at verses 4
to 9 for a few minutes. We're exhorted. But Tom just read this. 1 Thessalonians
5.18. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle
Paul exhorts us in everything. Everything. Give thanks. This is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. And you know, we know that He worketh all things
after the counsel of His own will. And therefore, whatever
comes our way, it is for our good and it's for His glory.
Therefore, the Apostle Paul says, giving
thanks always. for all things unto God in the
Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I want to do that. I do, Tom, I do. I want to be
thankful. I thank God that I'm with you
tonight. I'm thankful. I'm thankful that
the Lord's given us a heart to be here Thursday night. Who goes to church on Thursday
night? those that God has given a heart
to want to go. I'm just glad we're here. I wouldn't
want to be anywhere else. This is where He's put us tonight.
The Apostle Paul is writing to a church that the Lord raised
up in the city of Corinth. And as we have looked, and I
won't go into the to the history of Corinth, but to say that there
were a lot of trouble, a lot of baggage. But here's the thing
that's amazing to me. When Paul wrote to them and expressed
his thankfulness for them, he says in verse 4, I thank my God
always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you
by Jesus Christ. I thank, and I know that he thanked
the Lord. He did, he thanked the Lord.
But notice what he said, I thank my God. The Lord's promise to his people
in Ezekiel 36, 28 said this, you shall be my people. and I will be your God. And God's people, they call upon
Him, my Lord. That's what Thomas said, my Lord
and my God. Lord, you revealed yourself to
me. Lord, you loved me with an everlasting love. You chose me
in Christ. You adopted me. My God, And that
for which the Apostle Paul always said, that's what he said, I
thank my God always. I read what Brother Henry said
on that right there. He said, every time I think about
you. Isn't that the truth? Every time
I think about you. By the grace of God, every day
The Lord brings this congregation in my heart every day. Every
day. I thank God for you. I thank God always. Thanking the Lord for the grace,
the favor, the benefit, the loving kindness which is given you by
Christ Jesus. I thank the Lord for His grace
that He's given you. Consider for a moment, and I
know we want to enter into this, but I'll admit it, I know it
but I wish I knew it as I ought, that Almighty God He says it
in verse 2, "...unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to
them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus." Set apart, chosen in Him. Now just for a moment, that Almighty God would be pleased
for no cause, in any of us to choose to show mercy and said,
I'll have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion
on whom I'll have compassion. Not of him that runneth, nor
him that willeth. God shows mercy. Elected, adopted
in the beloved, chosen according to His good purpose, because
it pleased Him. And the Lord Jesus Christ redeemed
us by blood, called us out of spiritual darkness,
taught us the gospel. The Scripture says forth, the
grace of God which was given you I'm telling you, there's
no merit in anybody here. There's no power, no ability. It came through the Lord Jesus
Christ. Gave us faith to believe. The
blessed, glorious mediator. The angel of the covenant. Boy,
these are precious titles. And we love to just refer to
Him, call on Him, bless Him, His holy name. I thank my God
always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you
by Jesus Christ that in everything you're enriched by Him. In all utterance and in all knowledge
that God, according to His grace and mercy given us in Christ
Jesus, has abundantly, plentifully provided for us by
the Lord Jesus Christ, given us the utterance of the gospel. We're here. in a town that by
and large cares nothing for the glorious gospel of God's free
grace, but that the Lord would give us the utterance, the hearing
of the gospel. And then not only to give us
the gospel, to teach us the gospel, the knowledge of the gospel,
and give you an understanding of the gospel, comprehending
and understanding from the heart the truth that you've heard and will keep you, grant you
faith to believe. He says in verse 6, even as the
testimony of Christ was confirmed in you. Now, that word confirmed. I truly desire that the Lord
would confirm me in the gospel. Let me tell you what that word
means. Shown to have been made sure. Shown to have been made
sure. Now a lot of people heard the
Lord Jesus Christ speak. But there were not many that
were confirmed to be in Him. Many of the Pharisees heard Him.
How long are you going to make us to doubt? They said, if you
be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told you. I told you. And you believe not. You know
why? You're not my sheep. My sheep
hear My voice. I know them and they follow Me. I give unto them eternal life
and they're never going to perish. Now, if there's anything that
I truly desire, I want to be confirmed in the Lord. I want
to be shown to be established. That's what He's talking about.
To be established, set to be firm. You know, I thought about
this as I was coming down here. I was not looking at my notes,
but I was sitting here preaching this message over and over and
over again. And I got to thinking about this
being confirmed. I got over to Brother Tom at
Bridget's house, and I told him, I said, I just need to go sit
down for just a few minutes. And Tom said, go out here on
the back porch. No, he said, I'll just let you stay back here.
And so I wanted to go down and just sit down and just think
on this being confirmed. to be shown to be so, to be proven. And I jotted down some things
here. What is the evidence of being confirmed? I know what
the word means. Proven to be so. I know, based
on the Scriptures, that there's going to come a time when we're
all going to stand before God. Now, I know that the books are
gonna be open and the book is gonna be open. And I know for
a fact that every person outside of Christ, the books of their
works are gonna be open and they're gonna be judged out of those
books. And I know that. I know that. And I thought to myself, Lord,
have mercy on me. Lord, I need some help. I want to know. What is the evidence
of being confirmed? That's what Paul is saying. Even
as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you. What is that
evidence? Now jot down these scriptures,
Matthew 10.22, and you shall be hated of all men for my name's
sake, but now you listen to what the Lord says, these next words,
but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Many appear for a while, to believe. Turn with me, hold your place,
turn with me to Matthew 13. The Lord gave a parable. He preached
in parables. The disciples asked Him one day,
they said, Lord, why do you preach in parables? Remember what He
said? Because it's given unto you to
know the mystery of the kingdom. but unto them it is not given.
The Lord gave a parable, Matthew 13 verse 3, He spake many things
unto them in parable, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to
sow. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and
the fowls came and devoured them up. Some fell among stony places
where they had not much earth, and forthwith they sprung up,
because they had no deepness of earth. And when the sun was
up, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered
away. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and
choked them. But others fell into good ground
and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold,
some thirtyfold." Now here's the thing. there was two groups. One of them, the first one by
the wayside, the birds came and just ate them, there's no evidence.
But there was one that was sown and it said in verse 5, it fell
among stony places where they had not much earth and forthwith
they sprung up because they had no deepness of earth. But when
the sun was come out, it was scorched and it withered. But
there was another group these thorny ground hearers, and the
thorns sprung up and choked them. The cares of this world choked
them out. They probably were still there.
They probably were there, but they were choked out. The Word
was sitting under the gospel. But
the cares of this world, one of the greatest revelations
to me of this being confirmed. What is it about being confirmed? I know that he that endureth
to the end, turn with me to Genesis 32. I love this passage of scripture. I love, oh, Genesis 32. There was a man named Jacob. The Scripture says that Jacob,
verse 24, Genesis 32, 24, was left alone, and there wrestled
a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that
he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his
thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he
wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the
day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee
go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, what is
thy name? He said, Jacob. And he said,
thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel. For a prince
hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. There was a man named Jacob,
and Almighty God wrestled with him. And the man, the Lord himself,
said to Jacob, let me go. And Jacob said, I can't. I can't. Unless you bless me. What's your name? I'm a huckster. I'm a cheat. I'm a liar. I'm
a theft. My name is Jacob. He said, not anymore. Not anymore. Your name is Israel, a prince
with God. You've prevailed. You know why
Jacob held on? Because the Lord wouldn't let
him go. He was confirmed. He was confirmed. He that endureth
to the end shall be saved. How many of them is going to
endure to the end? All that the Lord endures to the end. Isn't that what 1 Peter says?
1 Peter 1.5, huh? That's what it says, "...who
are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time." If there's ever a passage
of Scripture for which I can truthfully say, Lord, thank You,
because I have just enough, not much, but just enough sense to
know I won't stay. I will not stay. Just got through
going through the book of John and I've read this before and
I know it's so, but it was just made to be real again, Tom. The Lord was risen from the dead.
He had already met with the disciples twice after he was raised from
the dead. First time he met with them,
Thomas wasn't there. Next time he met with them, Thomas
was there. And then after that, the scripture
says, the disciples are talking, not all of them, and Peter says,
I go a fishing. And I looked this word up to
make sure I knew for sure this is what I knew. I knew what I'd
heard he'd said, so I looked up that word. He said, I go a
fishing. Look this up. You remember when
that group was following him in John 6? And the Lord told him, he said,
no man can come unto me except it be given unto him, my father. And from that time, many of them
had followed him no more. They left. And the Lord turned
to his disciples, and this is what he asked them, will you
go away also? That word go is the same word
go that Peter used. He said, I go a fishing. He wasn't
going out for an afternoon of enjoyment. He quit. He said, I'm leaving. I'm going
back to what I did before. And you know what the other disciples
said? We go with you. We're going to associate ourselves
with you. And they fished all night. And they caught nothing. And the next morning, by the
grace of God, Almighty God who confirmed them, who kept them,
and the only difference between them and that group that left
in John 6 was the grace of God. And he said, children, have you
any meat? They said, no. He said, cast
on the right side, and there you'll find. And John, the scripture
said, told Peter, it's the Lord. And Peter jumped in, grabbed
his fish's coat and jumped in. I looked at all the conversation
that took place from the time he jumped in until he had his
conversation with Peter, and the Lord did all the talking.
The disciples said nothing, not a word. And the first word of
our Lord to Peter was, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me
more than these? And he said, Lord, you know I
love you. Three times. Feed my sheep, feed my lambs,
feed my sheep. Kept by the power of God. Even, verse 6, as the testimony
of Christ was confirmed in you. And then he says in verse 7,
so that ye come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The church there in Corinth was
greatly blessed of the Lord. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 12,
7-11, it gave The gifts that was found there,
but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man
to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit
the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, by the
same Spirit to another faith, by the same Spirit to another
gifts of healing. by the same Spirit to another
the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning
of spirits, to another diverse kinds of tongues, to another
interpretation of tongues. But all these worketh that one
in the self same Spirit dividing to every man severally as he
will." The Lord's blessing was upon that people and Paul thanked
the Lord for them. Thank God for God's grace, but
this is the precious thing that they were doing. While in verse
7, Paul told them, you come behind in no gift, here's what they
were doing. Waiting for the coming, for the
revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know, I'm convinced, This
is what we're doing here tonight. We're waiting for the coming
of the Lord. We're here at this midweek service. You met together last Sunday.
Wednesday before that, you met together. Sunday before that. And the Lord has graciously allowed
the gospel, the candlestick of God's testimony, the testimony
of Christ, to be in Pikeville, Kentucky. Now, here's what you're
doing. You're faithfully, faithfully
supporting the gospel. You got a pastor that loves you,
that preaches the truth for you. Somebody said, well, what are
y'all doing? Y'all just meet, you know, week in, week out,
week in, week out. We're waiting for the coming
of the Lord. That's what we're doing. We're waiting for Him. And so great, is the glory that
is connected with the return of the Lord Jesus. The Apostle
Paul declared, I fought a good fight. You know, you think about that,
that wasn't an arrogant statement on Paul's part. He knew, he knew. I'm here, I am what I am by the
grace of God. But this fight, this battle is
a good fight. A fight of faith. I've finished
my course. I've kept the faith. And henceforth,
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me
only, but unto all them also that love His appearing. Very soon. It amazes me how quickly
time passes. You know, I've heard this for
years. You know, the older you get, the quicker time flies.
And I used to always say, yeah, I know it. I know it. I mean, it does. It does. I mean, I was telling Tom and
Bridget a while ago, I just not too long ago went to Fairmont. Just not too long ago. I think
it was 14 years. And I thought, 14 years. It's just like, where did the
time go? Where is it? Here, waiting for
the return of our Lord. All that live in the expectation
of the coming of Christ are God's people who anticipate it with
joyfulness We're going to see Him as He
is. Now that's an amazing thought. Be like Him. Anticipating His appearing. And while the Lord's people are
found to be waiting for the return of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit
declares it again in verse 8, who shall also confirm you, listen
to this unto the end, that you may be blameless in the day of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who also shall make you firm and steadfast
and constant in soul. Turn to John 10, 27. John 10, 27, 29. John 10, 27,
29. I just quoted this, talking about
they shall, who shall confirm you unto the end. What a promise. The Lord said, I'll never leave
you. I'll never forsake you. I'll
never forsake you. John 10, 27, My sheep hear My
voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave them Me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
My Father's hand. He shall confirm you, make you
to be established. unto the end, that you may be
blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here the apostle
declares that the Lord of heaven shall never, never leave his
own. Being confident of this very
thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ. Brother Scott used to say this,
wherever the Lord puts a man, a woman, that's where He keeps
them, right there. That's where they're going to
stay, right there. Isn't that comforting? His love
never fails. The Lord said, I will keep you. You shall not be moved, removed
from the hope of the gospel. God's people kept by God, confirmed
in the faith, and shall be found blameless in the day of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Not blameless in themselves.
You notice how it was stated. They shall be confirmed in Christ
Jesus alone. He alone saves his people. Salvations of the Lord. When
the Lord was praying His high priestly prayer, John 17, 11,
He's prayed, and now I'm no more in the world, but these are in
the world, and I come to Thee, Holy Father, keep, guard, reserve. keep through thine own name those
whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. While
I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those
that thou gavest me have I kept, and none of them is lost but
the son of perdition, but that the scripture might be fulfilled. And then last verse, back in
1 Corinthians 1 verse 9, God is faithful. God is faithful. By whom you
were called unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our
Lord. God is trustworthy. When I was about 9 or 10 years
old, I was living in central Louisiana, and We lived out in
the country, and I'd been working, you know, doing little odd jobs
and chores and saving my money, and it was just burning a hole
in my pocket. And I wanted to go to the store. My dad had a — he was a bread
man. He drove a bread truck, and he'd
get up at 2 o'clock every morning and go to work. And I asked him
the night before, I said, Dad, I said, I want to go to Merritt's
store tomorrow. And he said, I'll pick you up
after I get off. He said, I'll be home. And I
said, okay. Well, for some reason, he wasn't
there when I thought that he was supposed to be there, you
know, probably to me, you know, five minutes later than what
is normally there is eternity. You know, so I started walking.
Now, I'm going to tell you something. In Central Louisiana, I don't
know how it is where everybody's from here, but in Central Louisiana,
on an asphalt road in August, yeah, and Buddy, I'm telling
you, I probably had, I can remember about where I was. The little
old store was about five miles away. And I can tell you, I probably
made it about a mile, mile and a half. And man, I'm telling
you, I was just sweating and I can remember the road, you
know, and I mean way over there. I saw that bread truck come over
and I lost it. And here it comes over and it
came over that last one and he's come up to me and he stopped.
And I opened the door and he told me, he said, I told you
I'd come home and get you. I was glad to get in that truck,
you know, and I said, yes sir. I could trust my dad, but I'm
going to tell you this. God is faithful. He is trustworthy. The Apostle Paul had just said,
who shall also confirm you unto the end. in the midst of all of my struggle,
and my doubts, and my fears, when I find myself, Lord, I do
believe You. Help Thou my unbelief. Lord, keep me. Lord, help me. When I find myself
having to admit, Lord, when I try to pray, I wonder, my mind just,
I'm thinking, Lord, if you dealt with me on the basis of this
attempt at praying, if you dealt with me on the merit of that
prayer, Lord, confirm me unto the end. Lord, keep me. Lord,
establish me. God is faithful by whom you were
called. The Lord's promises are to His people that He has
called, effectually called, by grace. Those that He's everlastingly
loved and called out of spiritual darkness, vessels of mercy. God is faithful by whom you were
called unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. You know, what is the Fellowship. Fellowship. What is the basis? This was a question I started
asking myself. Into the fellowship of his son,
Jesus Christ our Lord. What is the basis of fellowship? I believe it's this, Amos 3.3.
How can two walk together except they be agreed. You know what's
going to have to happen for me to have fellowship with the Lord?
God's going to give me a heart that agrees with Him. All of
the agreeing is going to have to come over to His side. I'm
going to have to go to Him and agree with Him. Until the Lord
called me out of darkness, Do you think I truly believed that
every thought of the imagination of me, my old man, was evil continually? I didn't believe that. But you
know what? Lord, as you say I am, I am. When Almighty God says all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God, you know what this
guy says right here now? all have sinned and come short
of your glory. When He tells me, I have loved you with an
everlasting love, I said, Lord, that's the only reason I love
you now, is because you love me first. Lord, I agree with
you. Has called you unto the fellowship
of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Called into a state of
friendship and union with God in Christ totally being found
in Him, the very heart of our eternal
security in the haven Himself. The life of God's people and
the manifestation of that life is totally in the Lord Jesus
Christ, called by whom you were called into the fellowship. He
said, Abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except
ye abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches,
he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. The Lord confirms His work in
His people. That's what this message is all
about. He's going to confirm His people. He calls His own
out of spiritual darkness through the preaching of the gospel.
He gives them faith to believe. All men have no faith. They love
one another by a new heart imparted by the Spirit of God. And He
keeps them by His power through faith and salvation ready to
be revealed in the last time. Lord, to the glory of the Lord
Jesus Christ, Lord, and for my eternal good, for the eternal
good of Your people, confirm us unto the end. Lord, keep us
to the end. For Christ's sake. Amen.