Apostolic Advice for Believers

Q: What does the Bible say about God's election?

The Bible teaches that God elects individuals for salvation, demonstrating His grace and purpose in choosing whom He will save. The doctrine of election is crucial in understanding God's sovereignty in salvation. In 1 Thessalonians 5:9, it states, 'For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.' This verse highlights that believers are chosen by God out of His eternal love and purpose. Furthermore, Romans 9:11-13 illustrates how God's election does not depend on human actions but on His divine will: 'For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand.' Thus, God's choice is rooted in His grace, ensuring that salvation is entirely His work, apart from any merit of our own.

Q: How do we know the doctrine of predestination is true?

The doctrine of predestination is supported by numerous biblical passages that emphasize God's sovereignty in salvation and His eternal plan. Predestination is a key aspect of Reformed theology, asserting that God has sovereignly chosen certain individuals for salvation before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4-5 states, 'According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.' This teaching affirms that our salvation is not left to chance but is an expression of God's determined will. Alongside this, Romans 8:30 reinforces this doctrine by explaining, '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.' Such verses affirm that predestination forms an essential part of God’s redemptive plan.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to gather together?

Christians are called to gather together for mutual encouragement, worship, and the edification of the body of Christ. The gathering of believers is critical in the Christian faith as it fosters unity, support, and growth in the gospel. In 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Paul instructs, 'Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.' This emphasizes the necessity of mutual encouragement and the sharing of one’s faith within the Christian community. When believers assemble, they are reminded of their shared identity in Christ and are able to bear one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2). Additionally, Hebrews 10:24-25 encourages believers not to forsake the assembling of themselves together, highlighting that corporate worship and fellowship serve to strengthen faith and promote holiness. Being part of a congregation is essential for spiritual nourishment and accountability in a believer’s walk with Christ.

Q: What is the significance of Christ dying for us?

The significance of Christ dying for us is central to salvation, as His death satisfies God's justice and secures eternal life for believers. The death of Christ is the foundation of the gospel and encompasses profound theological significance. In 1 Thessalonians 5:10, Paul writes, 'Who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.' This verse underscores that Christ's sacrifice is pivotal for our justification and eternal life. His death not only bears the penalty for our sins but also fulfills God's righteousness, allowing us to be reconciled to Him. Romans 5:8 explains this further, stating, 'But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' This love and grace exhibited in Christ's atoning work compel us to respond with faith and gratitude. The reality of His death assures believers that they are secure in their relationship with God as it guarantees salvation, serving as the basis for their hope and assurance.

Before I get to my text tonight,
I would like for you to open your Bibles with me to Psalm
65. The title of the message tonight
is Apostolic Advice for Believers. Apostolic, and Tom mentioned
that when he was reading the passage. This is an apostle speaking. But here in Psalm 65, I tell you, we who know and believe
and love the gospel of God's grace in Christ are blessed of
God, far beyond our understanding, far beyond our imagination. How
blessed we are. And that's what David's saying
here in Psalm 65, verse 4. Blessed is the man. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest. My, he is, isn't he? The man
whom God chooses, the woman whom God chooses. Blessed is that man whom thou
choosest. And not only whom the Lord chooseth,
but He causes to approach unto Him. Actually, causes us, calls us,
and causes us. We wouldn't approach Him without
His causing us to. We'd run the other way. That's
what Israel did at Sinai. They ran. But He actually calls
and causes and enables us to approach unto Him, into His awesome
presence, to come boldly before the throne of grace. That we
may dwell, not go in for a little while and out for most of the
time, but actually inhabit His courts, dwell in His courts,
seated with Christ. in the heaven as we have a building
of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
He causes us not only to approach unto his presence, but to dwell
in his courts. And in the person of Christ,
we do dwell there now in our forerunner. And then he says,
and we shall be satisfied. We are satisfied knowing that
we will be satisfied. We are satisfied knowing that
we will be satisfied. That's what Paul meant when he
said, I've learned to be content. A man with no hope is not content.
If Christ be not risen, we're of all men most miserable. And
we're not satisfied, but we are satisfied knowing we will be
satisfied. And we shall be satisfied with
the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple." Now, we
are blessed. Oh, how we're blessed. The believers,
children of God, who know and love and believe this gospel
of God's grace. How blessed we are. Well, let
me read you something else about this blessing in 1 Thessalonians
5 now, in our text. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. And
I'm going to look first of all at verse 9. Verse 9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath. Some have been. Can you name
some who were appointed to wrath? Well, Judas was. Scripture says
he's a son of perdition from the beginning. Esau was. Before the children were born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of
God according to election might stand, not of him that worketh,
but of him that calleth, it was said to her, the elder shall
serve the younger. Jacob have a love, Esau have
I rejected." Hated. Matthew 7, our Lord said this
to those people at the judgment who who demanded entrance into
heaven on the basis of what they had done. They said, hey, haven't
we done this, that, and the other? And he said, I never knew you.
Never at any time did I know you. Now here's a scripture I
want you to look at to appreciate this text. Turn to 1 Peter, chapter
2. And I talked about a moment ago
1 Peter 2, how blessed we are. It's beyond our understanding,
beyond our imagination, because God hath not appointed us to
wrath. He chose us, caused us to approach
unto His presence and to dwell in His courts and be satisfied
with the hope of His glory. Some have been appointed to wrath.
It says in 1 Peter 2, verse 8, listen, 1 Peter 2, verse 8, Is
that 2 Peter 2? Let's look at that one. I've got the wrong scripture.
Anyway, it says this. Yeah, here it is, 1 Peter 2,
verse 8. And a stone, it talks about the stone which the builders
disallowed as the head of the corner. Look at verse 8. And
a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which
stumble at the word being disobedient. Now here it is, whereunto also
they were appointed to this judgment, to this place
of wrath. They were appointed, but you,
oh my, you're a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him
who had called you out of darkness. He didn't leave us in darkness,
he called us out. unto His marvelous light. Go
back to the text. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 9, For
God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ. Isaac once wrote this, Twas with
an everlasting love that God his own elect embraced. before he made the worlds above,
or earth, on her columns placed. Christ be my first elect, he
said, then chose our souls in Christ our head, a new regenerated
race to praise the glory of his grace. So with Christ our Lord,
we have a part in God's affections, in God's
heart. Nor shall our souls ever be removed
till he forgets his own beloved. Never will, will he? My, my. God, verse 9, hath not appointed
us to wrath. He's not left us alone, but to
obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, verse 9, verse
10, here's the reason, the reasons for all that we have and all
that we are. He says He died for us. That's
why we obtain salvation. That's why we are what we are,
we have what we have, is He died for us. He died for us. If He died for us, we'll not
die. If He died for us, then the Father
is satisfied. He died for the unjust that He
might bring us to God, that God may be just and justify. That's
why He died. If He died for us, we have no
fear of condemnation. Who is He that condemns? It's
Christ that died. If He died for us, then whether...
Look at the rest of that verse. He died for us that whether we
wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Oh my, whether we wake or sleep,
that is, whether we're our friends who've died, and
we who are still remain, or whether when He comes we are awake or
asleep, we live together with Him. God has not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain eternal salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ
who died for us, who died for us. Now look at verse 11. Wherefore, comfort yourselves
together, Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together. We need
one another. And this is what he's saying
here. Comfort yourselves together. Together. You see what I'm saying?
It means so much to be together. That's what I'm saying. I've
illustrated. It's warming. It's heartwarming. It's encouraging. It's comforting. By yourself,
you're cold, man. You're cold. Your heart gets
cold. That's right. You forsake your
assembling of yourselves together and see what I'm talking about.
Get out there by yourself and see how cold you get, and indifferent,
and careless, and callous, cold. Comfort yourselves together.
Warm one another. Encourage one another. That's
right. Comfort yourselves together and edify one another. Even as
you also do, you comfort one another and edify one another
with what? With these words of Christ, and He died for us. He's our Redeemer. God has not appointed us to wrath,
but to salvation, to obtain the salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
See that? Even as also you do. In other
words, this is not written to people who doesn't know what
he's talking about. You know what he's talking about, and
I do too. He's reminding us. See that? Even as you do. Let's look at that again. Verse
11, "...wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another,
even as also you do." You know, we go over the same thing here
over and over again. And you say, I know those things.
Do you? Do you know them that well that
you don't need to hear it again? Paul didn't think so. He said
in Philippians 3, to write the same things to you, to me, is
not grievous, but for you it's profitable. And this is what
he's saying to these people. You comfort one another and edify
one another, and I'm going over this same thing, and you do it
even as you do do it. Keep on doing it. Keep on doing
it. You don't get so smart and so
mature and so strong that you don't need help. That's right. All right. Now, then here comes
some words of exhortation, some apostolic advice. And I've kind
of divided it into three parts. First of all, verse 12 and 13
is our advice about our relationship
with our elders and pastors. And then verse 14 and 15 has
to do with one another, our attitude toward one another. And then
the rest of the chapter, starting at 16 through 28, has to do with
ourselves, ourselves, our attitude, our everyday, conduct and conversation
and demeanor All right. Let's look at verse 12. Here's
talking about the pastors and elders And we beseech your brethren
Verse 12 and we beseech your brethren to know them that labor
among you now He's talking about the faithful pastors and brethren. You just had one up here reading
scripture one of our elders He had one preach to you Sunday
night, Sunday morning, this one. He says, he's talking about these
men who teach and preach the Word of God. And he says to know
them. And that is to acknowledge them.
And to appreciate them. And to respect them. And to esteem
them for what they are, ministers of God, ambassadors of Jesus
Christ. Know them. Know them. that labor among you. To know
them also means to make yourselves known to them. Don't wait for
them to find you. You find them. You find them. And let them know the state of
your souls. I had a young man write me this week. He's a student
at MIT up in Boston. He'd been listening to our tapes.
He said he'd learned the gospel of God's grace. He was raised
in church and never knew the gospel. And he got ahold of some of the
tapes and he's been listening to them. And he wrote to them
and said, you know anybody up here in this whole area preaching
the gospel of God's grace? He said, I've run into a problem
that I never did experience before. He said, I always was able to
find a church. But now that I've learned the
gospel, it's hard to find somebody preaching it. Do you know anybody
that I can look him up and find him and go hear him preaching
the gospel? Don't wait for one to find you. You find him. See what I'm saying? That's what
he's saying. Know them that labor among you.
You know them. That is, acknowledge them and
appreciate them and respect them and be sure they know you. and the state of your soul. And
then it says here in verse 13, esteem them very highly, have
high regard and appreciation and affection for them and for
their message. And I'll tell you, if you do have affection
and esteem for the message, you'll have esteem for the messenger,
if you know the message, if you love the message. He says up
there in verse 12, they're over you in the Lord. They admonish
you, they teach you, they're over you, they're not over you
as lords over God's heritage, they're over you as leaders and
examples of the flock. To esteem them very highly, verse
13, in love for their work's sake, and then watch this line
here, and be at peace among yourselves. Now why is that right there in
that particular spot? Can you figure out why? See,
just as if you take this to mean what it sounds like, just be
at peace among yourselves, he's talking about the pastors and
elders. And this is what he's saying
now. He says here, you be at peace among yourselves in regard
to these ministers. See what he's saying, Tom? We're
still on the same subject. In other words, don't find fault
with and criticize them and disagree with them and take offense with
them over trivial matters and go telling somebody else about
your dislike and offense and problem and stir up the congregation. He says, be at peace among yourselves
in regard to these men who preach to you. Support them. Encourage
them. You see, when you Destroy the
messenger, you destroy the effect of the message. That's right. With your children? You say, well, I like the man's
gospel, but I don't like him. You've just destroyed his ministry
with your children. Or with the person to whom you're
speaking. Because they don't know the message. The only contact
they have with the message is him. And if they don't like him,
they ain't gonna hear his message. You were fortunate enough to
hear the message before you met him. See what I'm saying? So he started, verse 12, says,
brethren, I beseech you, brethren, do we need this sort of thing?
Well, why is it in here if we don't need it? But we're saved
people. These are too. He says brethren,
doesn't he? You emphasize that in your reading.
Know them which labor among you, those which are over you in the
Lord. Who is that? Who can that possibly
be but your elders and pastors and other pastors? And esteem
them very highly in love for their work's sake. We are in
the same business, aren't we, of glorifying our God? And be
at peace among yourselves in regard to the ministry of these
men. They are there. God's put them there for His
glory, and you're good. Don't be a stumbling block. They
labor among you for His glory. All right. Now then, He comes
down to our attitude and our responsibility to others, to
one another. There's the responsibility to
the elders, now to one another. Verse 14. We exhort you, brethren,
we exhort you, we beseech you, warn them that are unruly. What's
unruly? Well, brothers who are out of
line. If they're out of line doctrinally,
if they're out of line in spirit, if they're out of line in deed,
if they're out of line in attitude, they're unruly. They're not in unity and not
in fellowship. They're unruly. They're causing
difficulties. You warn them. Don't wait for
the preacher. That's the preacher's business. That's not what he
says here. He says, you warn them. Isn't that what he says? You warn them. They're your brothers
and your sisters. You warn them. Don't leave that
for the elders and for the pastor. You warn them. You get them aside
and talk to them. Warn those that are unruly. All
right, comfort the feeble-minded. Now that's not people that are
not bright. That's not what that's talking
about. This old English sometimes uses words that we, that have
today a totally different application. But this word here means, it
means the timid, the shy, the faint-hearted. That's who that
is, the faint-hearted, the shy. It's the same word as the next,
support the weak. Comfort and support the timid
and the shy and those that are weak and those that are faint-hearted.
You know, you don't need to hold an office or have a title to
comfort a weak person. You don't need to be a deacon
or an elder to go to a brother who needs comfort and help and
encouragement. or aid in some way, you appoint
yourself the person to do it. That's what he says here. You
warn the unruly. You comfort the timid and the
shy and the weak and the faint-hearted, support the weak, and watch this,
and you be patient with everybody. Oh, what an important area this
is, and how sadly lacking. We are in this area. Think of
the long-suffering and patience of our God toward us. My, my. No, be patient toward everybody. Give them time. Wait on the Lord.
And look at this, and see, listen, watch verse 15, see that none
of us render evil for evil. You heard that old saying, well,
I'll just give her some of her own medicine. No. Now, don't
give her some of her own medicine. It says here, don't render evil
for evil to anybody. Don't do it. Retaliating is not
God's way of grace. Getting even is not the way of
righteousness. No, sir. God's way is forgiving. Seventy times seven, and forgetting
the offense. But instead, verse 15, instead
of rendering evil for evil, follow that which is good, both among
yourselves, among the believers, among the family of God, among
the church, and also outside. Apply this same rule out there
as you do here. All right, now here's the third
area. This is my main emphasis here.
Now this is, and really I think where we need the most work because
if we can get this applied here, it'll take care of some of this
other. It's myself. It's in my own heart, my own
heart's attitude and condition. All right, let's look at these.
Verse 16 says, Rejoice evermore. Rejoice evermore. I read the
Amplified version. Listen to what it says. Here's
the Amplified Bible. Be happy. Be happy in your faith. Rejoice and be glad-hearted continually. Rejoice evermore. Be glad-hearted
continually. And I'm sure Paul is not talking
here about an outward show of emotionalism. There's none of
us that can go around all the time you know, like some of these
religious people are. But what he's talking about here
is having a happy heart. A happy heart and having a cheerful
countenance. A happy heart and a cheerful
countenance. I talked to a man recently who
has a physical problem, a serious physical problem, but I never
knew it. Never did know it. I've known
him for a while, but I never did know he had this serious
physical problem and he's had it for many many many many years
and I've sit and talking to him yesterday and found out about
it but I said you're always you've always got that smile on your
face you've always got that cheerful countenance oh yes he said said
I'm a happy person in spite of this disability I'm happy I'm
happy And that's what he's talking about here. Rejoice evermore.
Be a happy person. You know, the scripture says
a merry heart doeth good like medicine. A bitter spirit dryeth
the bones. There's an awful close connection
between the spiritual and physical man. Between attitude and physical
comforts. That's right. But merry heart
doeth good like medicine. Rejoice evermore. Be a happy
person. Be happy in your faith. Rejoice. Be glad-hearted continually.
Where are countenance of gladness? All right, look at verse 17.
And he says, pray without ceasing. That is, live in an attitude
of communion with God. Even when you have no particular
crisis. All of us pray more when we have
a crisis. All of us do some serious praying
when we have a crisis. But this is telling us to live
in an attitude of communion with God even when we have no crisis
or no particular request. But we're just aware of his presence
and aware of his mercies and aware of our dependence upon
him. I think I might illustrate that
in this fashion, perhaps. A father, a mother, and a child.
And all through the day, that child
is ever mindful of his dependence upon that parent. He may not
constantly hang on to the arm or skirt of his mother or hand
of his father, but he's always If there's any danger comes up,
he looks to see where his father is or where his mother is. He's always aware of the presence.
And I believe there's no way we can go around constantly praying, but we can live in an
attitude of communion with God, an awareness of His presence,
awareness of His mercy, and awareness of our dependence upon Him. And
then it says here in verse 18, In everything, give thanks. In
everything, give thanks. Brother Jack Shanks preached
a message one time on the subject, God is good. God is good. And he talked about all the different
ways in which God is good to us, how he's blessed us, and
I've commented on some of them tonight. But I tell you this,
and he brought this out in his message, When we are not receiving
what we want, when we're not in a happy frame, and when we're
going through trials and sorrows, God is still good. God is still
good in everything. In everything. It's equally important. The word giving thanks is important.
But equally important is the word everything. In everything
give thanks. And I know that's not easy. That's
quite difficult. But we do know that all things
good and bad are working together for our good and His glory. So in everything. And it's very
difficult. I know that. But still, because
it says here in the next line, listen, this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus concerning you. This trial at this time is His
will just as much as that time of mercy and blessings outwardly
was the will of God for us. Whether Paul said, I know, he
said, I know how to abound and I know how to be abased. I've
learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content or to
give thanks in everything. This is the will of God concerning
you. All right, look at verse 19. Quench not the Spirit. Now, I can't believe that Paul
is referring here to the person of the Holy Spirit himself. I
just don't believe that, because the Holy Spirit works effectually
as He will. The Scripture says, the wind
bloweth where it listeth, and you hear the sound thereof. You
cannot tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth. So are they
that are born of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit will awaken and
quicken whom He will. The Son quickeneth whom He will.
You and I cannot resist, effectually resist the Holy Spirit. He divided
to every man several as He will. Well, what does this mean, quench
not the Spirit? I think he's referring to these
very things we're dealing with. I believe he's referring to the
gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit which he works in us.
We're commanded to rejoice evermore. All right, don't suppress the
Spirit's gift of gladness and happiness and praise. Don't quench
the Holy Spirit. We're commanded to love one another.
Don't quench that. We're commanded to forgive one
another. Don't quench that. We're commanded here not to render
evil for evil. Don't quench that. This is the
operation. This is the work of the Holy
Spirit. Don't suppress it. That's what he's talking about
here. See, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, meekness,
gentleness, kindness, and so forth. Don't suppress that. That's
what that's talking about. A man's not going to quench the
Holy Spirit. He's not going to put out the
fire of the Holy Spirit. He's not going to resist the
work of the Holy Spirit. What the Holy Spirit of God sets
out to do, He'll do it for the glory of God and for our good.
But we're told here not to suppress and to quench those gifts and
graces of the Holy Spirit. You know, Paul told Timothy,
stir up the gift that was put within you by the laying on of
our hands. Don't suppress it and quench it. Stir it up. Do
something about this. We're not robots. We're not robots
at all. And a strong belief in God's
sovereignty does not lead us to believe that we're robots.
It gives us, it lays upon us even a heavier responsibility
to redeem the time. So don't quench this. Don't suppress
this. And then verse 20, he says, despise
not prophesying. What is that? This is preaching
the gospel. Preaching the Word. Preaching, teaching, interpretation
of the Word. Don't despise it. Don't make
light of it. Don't be indifferent to the Word
preached. Preach not the Holy Spirit. Receive the Word preached
and do what it says. Isn't that what it says? Don't despise it. Well, who are
you to tell me? You see this? That's the very
thing he's talking. Don't do that. But I'm just good as you
are. Fine, but don't do that. Don't
lose the effectiveness of the message over some personality
or feeling of that very kind. Well, there's nobody here can
do that. See? Don't do that now. Don't do that. You know, we preach these things
and somebody says, well, we can't measure up to that. Well, take
a shot at it. Don't despise it. Rejoice evermore. Pray without
ceasing. In everything give thanks. And
don't quench the Holy Spirit. And don't despise the Word of
Prophecy. Just let me at all times in you
say, well, Lord, I'm a child. Teach me. I fall so short of
Your glory. Help me to rise up and keep going
and keep trying. I fail this time. Don't let me
do it. Don't let me keep doing it. Don't let me keep doing it. I murmur, but don't let me keep
murmuring. I've been selfish. Don't let me keep doing it. Do
something about it. That's what it's talking about.
Prove all things. Hold fast that which is good.
Prove everything. Oh, there's a lot of worthless
sermons being preached today, but all of them aren't worthless. Those who preach must be proven
by the Word of God. So when they come to this prophesying,
verse 20, when a man comes to you with the Word, with God's
Word, prove what he says by God's Word. Prove all things. Prove
all things. Over there in 1 John it said
something like this, Believe not every spirit, but try the
spirits, whether they be of God. Try them how? By the Word. By
the Word. And when you try them, hold fast
that which is good. Hold fast to the truth. This
young man I told you about who wrote the letter, he's heard
a message. He knows the difference. He's
proven it by the Word of God. Now hold fast to it. Take hold
of it and don't let it go. Hold fast to that which is good.
And abstain from all appearance of evil, verse 22. I know we
quote this quite often in reference to the believer's conduct and
behavior, where we're seen and with whom we're seen and what
we're seen doing and these things. Avoid any appearance. If somebody
sees you here, there, yonder, don't be there because it may
give them the appearance that you're there for an evil purpose.
Well, that's fine. And that can be carried to a
certain degree or extent. But there's no way to please
everybody in this world, that's for sure. But what he's talking
about here, at the moment here, the Apostle is talking about
preachers, and preaching, and prophesying, and the Gospel,
and the Word of God. And the advice here is to avoid
that message, and there'll be a lot of them, There's a message
that doesn't appear to be false, but it's not quite clear, and
it leaves a suspicion in the mind. You listen to a man preach,
and, well, he didn't say anything real bad, but he didn't say anything
real good. It's sort of unclear. Listen,
God's gospel is clear. The truth of God is plain. There's
no question as to who Christ is and what he did and why he
did it and where he is now. So that which gives appearance
of evil, avoid it. Don't line up with it, don't
support it, don't lay hold of it. That which comes in, which
is not clear and plain and true to the Word of God and glorifying
to God, just abstain from it, all appearance. of evil, evil
preaching. And he says in verse 23, now
watch this, verse 23 and 24, And the very God of peace sanctify
you through and through, holy. And I pray God your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of
our Lord Jesus. Separate you from profane, vain
things. Make you mature and consecrated
to God. preserve your spirit, your soul,
and your body, and present you blameless when the Lord Jesus
Christ comes again. Now look at verse 24. Tom talked
about this. Faithful is he that calleth you.
He's faithful to his promise, he's faithful to his covenant,
he's faithful to his word, he's faithful to his gospel, and he'll
do it. Over here in Philippians, Paul
said in chapter one of Philippians. I'm confident of this very thing,
that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto
the day of Jesus Christ. He'll do it. He that hath begun
a good work, he'll perform it. So verse 23, the very God of
peace sanctify you wholly, I pray God your whole spirit, soul,
and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and faithful as he that calleth you, who also
will do it. Brethren, pray for us. I exhort you and me and all of
us, set aside time to pray. Set aside some time by yourself,
alone. somewhere, sometime, during your
busy day. I know you have a lot of pressure
and a lot of things to do. But brethren, we need to pray. We
need to pray for ourselves. We need to pray for one another.
We need to spend some time in prayer. And I'll tell you, if the Apostle
needed people to pray for him, how much more do we need people
to pray for us? Rather than pray for us, pray
for us. You know, it doesn't take long
to pray. If you go through the Bible and read all the prayers
of the prophets and the apostles, even the prayers of our Lord
Jesus Christ, they weren't very long. They were sincere. They
were earnest. They were to the Father. They
were prayers of intercession, prayers from the heart, prayers
of sincerity. But it did take very long. But
it does take some effort to get alone with God for a little while
every day and pray. Brethren, pray for us. Pray for
us. He said you have not because
you ask not. You ask not. Ask and you shall
receive. Knock and it shall be opened.
Seek and you shall find. And then he said in verse 26,
greet one another with a holy kiss. That is, have genuine affection
between yourselves. Affection only God can give. Sincere, genuine affection. And
I charge you by the Lord Jesus Christ that this epistle be read
unto all the holy brethren. Someone asked me just recently
if these, were these Epistles intended to be read to the church?
That's what it says there. I charge you by the Lord that
this epistle be read to everybody that's saved. Read it. Make much
of the Word of God. That's the reason that we ever
service here, we read the Scriptures. Go verse by verse through the
Scriptures. It's to be read. Can't be read too much. And the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. All right. May the Lord bless His Word.
Mike, come lead us in a psalm, please.

Apostolic Advice for Believers

What does the Bible say about God's election?

How do we know the doctrine of predestination is true?

Why is it important for Christians to gather together?

What is the significance of Christ dying for us?

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Apostolic Advice for Believers

What does the Bible say about God's election?

How do we know the doctrine of predestination is true?

Why is it important for Christians to gather together?

What is the significance of Christ dying for us?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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