This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

Last week, as we began to look at this portion of the Word of God, we began to look at the motive and the motivation of our Savior as He makes His way to the cross. We saw that there was the dread of that unique suffering that He was about to undergo. His spirit was deeply troubled—’tarasso’—dismayed, agitated. He says that His soul has become dismayed.

Spurgeon, commenting on this, said, "In anticipation of Calvary, His soul was full of trouble, not that He feared death, but His death was to be a very peculiar one. He was to die, the just for the unjust. He was to bear our sins in His own body on the tree, and His pure and holy soul shrank from contact with sin. To stand in a sinner's place, to bear His Father's wrath, this bewildered Him."

John Calvin, commenting on the same, said the following: "Moreover, it was useful and even necessary for our salvation that the Son of God should be so affected. The chief thing to consider in His death is His expiation, by which He appeased the wrath and the curse of God. But He could not have done that without transferring to Himself our guilt. Therefore, the death which He underwent had to be full of horror, since He could not perform the satisfaction for us without apprehending the dreadful judgment of God in His own senses. From this, we learn better the enormity of sin, which the Heavenly Father exacted so dreadful a punishment from His only begotten Son."

Christ has come to His hour, and it troubles Him—deeply troubles Him. And yet, far from asking to be delivered from it, He looks into the face of it, and He chooses it. He deliberately chooses it. And He tells us what His motive and motivation is in choosing it. What was it that really was the driving force behind His choice, His willingness to come to this hour? He says, "for this purpose"—verse 27—"I came to this hour." Verse 28: "Father, glorify Your name."
Beloved, when we're struggling with powerful emotions, it is always right to submit your feelings—my feelings—to God's purpose to glorify Him, to glorify Himself. Our Lord is our example here in how to deal with our feelings. Jesus, the God-man, had human feelings, but He was free from all sin. And here, He honestly expresses His revulsion at the thought of the cross, but He quickly submits to the will and the glory of the Father. And, beloved, you and I ought to do the same.

If you're facing a difficult trial, and you are overwhelmed with powerful, powerful feelings, so that you don't even know what to pray, you can always pray, "Father, glorify Your name." Father, glorify Your name. Your aim, like Jesus' aim, should be to glorify the Father in everything. "Father, glorify Your name." This is His chief desire. This is the overarching motive and motivation—that His Father will be glorified.

But today, in the verses that follow, we find that there's something else that moves the Son of God. This is the chief thing. We saw it together. This is the overarching thing. This is the way that sums it all up, that the Father, indeed, would be glorified. "Father, glorify Your name." That's it. We see it here. It's captured beautifully, powerfully, succinctly, but in that is also the knowledge of what the product will be of His dying, what the outcome of His death will be, bound up in this.

We can put it in the language of Hebrews 12, verse 2: "for the joy that was set before Him"—for the joy that was set before Him. He knows what His death will do. He knows what His death will accomplish. He knows what His death will produce, and that moves Him to the cross. That compels Him to the cross. For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross.

I want to begin this morning where we left off last Sunday: the desire of Christ for the glory of the Father. The desire of Christ for the Father's glory. Verses 28-30: "Father, glorify Your name." And we see that the Father gave Him assurance of this. The Bible says, "then a voice"—verse 28—"came from heaven: I have both glorified it and will glorify it again." The Son's desire is met now with the Father's assurance. And the Father tells us that He has been glorified. And I take it to mean in His Son. In His Son's life. The Son of God has already glorified the Father. He has been glorified.

Have we not seen the Father in His Son? If you've seen Christ, you've seen who? The Father. And Christ has made known that to us.

In John 14, verse 8, "Philip said to Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you all so long and have you not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?"
Or the Apostle John tells us in the opening of this Gospel, John 1, verse 18—you remember those words—"No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God" — the only begotten God —  "who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him."

Christ, the ‘Logos’, the Word, has made God known to us. He has exegeted Him. He has revealed Him. He has revealed God to us. In Christ we see God incarnate. So that already in the Son's life, before the cross, before the garden, before the resurrection, the Father already has been glorified. His name has been made known in His Son.

As Lewis Johnson writes, "What a glorious view of God we would have obtained even if the Son of God had passed into heaven at this point." In other words, if I can insert this, has the Father already been glorified? Yes. So much so that even if the Son of God had passed into the heavens at that point, man would have already had a glorious view of God. But he goes on to say this: "We, however, would never have been able to profit from it. For lost in our sins, we would have never grasped the true meaning of His life and been able to receive the life that brings illumination and salvation."

The Father has already been glorified, seen in the life of His Son, seen in the teaching, preaching of His Son, seen in the miracles performed by His Son. He has made the Father known. Clearly known. I have been glorified, the Father declared. I have been glorified. I have glorified My name. The Father has glorified His name.

But, He doesn't just say that He has been glorified, but He says also what? He will be glorified. Verse 28: "I have both glorified it and"—what?—"will" —will— "glorify it again." Looking to the future. Looking to where the Son of God is headed. The Father will be made known. His name will be glorified. Even as His Son is humiliated and dishonored. Even as mankind, sinful mankind, wicked man, dishonors the Son, the Father will be made known. His name will be glorified. He will be revealed.

And the Father will be made known, seen in the love of His Son. The love of His Son, displayed on Calvary's cross.

You remember John 13:1, right? "Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end." He loved them to the end. That lets us know who God is. God so loved the world, right?

Seen in His Son's suffering, He suffers in such a way at His mock trials, at the places where He was mocked and beaten and scorned and spat upon and dishonored. The way that He conducts Himself there, the way that He responds to all of it, speaks to us of God. The way that He suffers on the tree—so much so that people are converted. Truly, truly, this is the Son of God. And they come to faith as they witness all of this.

He will be glorified in His Son's suffering, in His Son's death. He will be glorified in His Son's resurrection. The Father will make His name known by raising His Son from the dead, demonstrating that He is the Lord who saves sinners, and that all that is claimed concerning Himself has been true, vindicated, validated, by raising His Son from the dead. The Father will testify to it by raising His Son from the dead.

And so, in the agony of Gethsemane, the agony of the cross and His death, the victory of His resurrection, the victory of His ascension, the victory of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the victory of the much fruit that has flowed down to this present day. And every single child of God in this place, you are that much fruit that has come from when the Lord God said from heaven, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again." So He has been glorified and He will be glorified.

But there's something strange about the voice that comes from heaven. The voice that comes from heaven and says this, but notice what Christ says. He says concerning this voice down in verse 30—look at it—"The voice has not come for My sake, but for your sake." For your sake. The voice is for your sake, not mine.

But here's what makes this really curious. Apparently, people didn't understand the voice, right? They didn't get it. How did they respond to it? Verse 29: so the crowd of the people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had what? Thunder. I think I hear thunder, some of them said. Others hear it. They recognize something supernatural in it. There's something supernatural. This isn't something explained by nature. We read others were saying an angel has spoken to Him. They don't attribute it to God. They don't attribute it to the Father. They attribute it to an angel. It must be an angel.

What do we make of this? What do we make of this? This voice comes. They don't understand it. They don't recognize it, and yet Christ says it wasn't for Him. It was for them. You know, I think that we have here sort of a divine object lesson. That's what we have here. A divine object lesson. The Son has clearly exegeted the Father. He's revealed the Father clearly. The Son has clearly explained the Father. The Son has clearly revealed the Father. The Son has clearly made the Father known.

The Father has clearly testified to His Son by His life and through His teaching and through His miracles, the miracles wrought by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Father has testified of His Son. God has been glorified. God will be glorified. But get this. That doesn't mean that all men will recognize it. The Father has been glorified. The Father will be glorified, but we're not to conclude from that that all men will recognize that glory just like this voice.

Some are going to witness the glory of God and attribute it to something explained by nature, and some are going to witness the glory of God and they may even be willing to acknowledge something supernatural to what they've seen, but they will not attribute it to God. Don't we see this in our own day? Don't we? I mean, we see it in our own day. You've experienced it, no doubt. Some look at Christ and they say, well, He was a good man. Nature. Natural. He was a good man. He was a good teacher. A wise teacher. Others see in Christ something supernatural, but they will not say this is God in human flesh. They will not say this is the Savior of the world.

And in both cases, when you fall short of a right biblical understanding of Christ, whether you take Jesus, you reduce Him to something explained by nature, or you take Jesus and you explain Him by something supernatural, but not God in human flesh, the only Savior given to mankind—when you fall short and you're understanding in either direction—what have you missed? You have missed the glory of God. You have missed the glory of God.

2 Corinthians 4:6 tells us what happens when God shines His light into a human heart so that for the first time, people rightly see, rightly understand the Son. What do we see? "For God, who said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness,' is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."

When you rightly see Jesus, when you biblically see Jesus, the Christ of Scripture, what do you see? You see the glory of God. The glory of God.

"Father, glorify Your name." "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again." I have glorified it in You, My beloved Son. I will glorify it again in You, My beloved Son. But that doesn't mean everybody is going to recognize it. You can have clear testimony and it still be attributed to nature or to angels and not understood by sinful men.

And when the gospel goes out, there are some people who simply say, it's a noise. It's a noise. That's all. That's all there is to this. You're making noise. It's noise. It has no real sense of meaning to them at all. And the Apostle Paul puts it plainly when he says, "But a natural man does not accept the depths of the Spirit of God, for they are" —what?— "foolishness to him," —foolishness— "and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually examined." 1 Corinthians 2:14.

And then there are some individuals who sense that there is meaning in the gospel, but they haven't really grasped it for themselves.

Spurgeon applying this says, "They did not understand the voice of God or the cause of the voice speaking to them. If the men of the world in our Savior's day did not understand the Father's voice to the only begotten, do not expect that the men of the world today will understand the divine voice in your heart. They will reckon that you are in error and that God has not spoken to you. It has only thundered. They will be ready to invent all kinds of stories of angels and I know not what so as to get rid of the voice of God to you. But you know it. If you are God's children, you know His voice and you also know what He means when He speaks."

And the question I would ask is whether the mission of the Son of God encompassed this. Did Christ anticipate this? Would He have been disillusioned by this? And we know the answer. Yes, His mission accounts for this. Yes, He anticipated this. No, He wasn't disillusioned by this. He never came to this earth thinking that all men would recognize the glory of God. He came to this earth to accomplish a specific salvation mission, and that mission would be accomplished, and nothing—absolutely nothing—was going to derail it.

He would save His people from their sins. He would lay down His life for His sheep. His sheep know His voice. He would gather into one both Jews and Gentiles into one flock. The desire of God's Son, the desire for Christ, is to glorify the Father.

Now, the second thing that I want us to see: not only His desire to glorify the Father, but also notice that He's going to die for the glory of the Father. The death of Christ is for the Father's glory, and we see this in verses 31 to 33. His death will glorify God. He's speaking of His death. Look at verse 31: "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.  But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was about to die."

He's going to be lifted up. In other words, He's going to be lifted up on the cross. He's going to be crucified. He's going to die on a tree. But what's going to be accomplished there? The glory of the Father? Yes. Yes. But there's something else embedded in that. To the glory of the Father. Again, the joy set before Him—the joy set before Him.

What is going to accomplish, to be accomplished at the cross? Well He mentions—three things. Three things are mentioned.

Number one, look at them with me. There's going to be a great demonstration. We might even say a great declaration of something. Verse 31: "Now judgment is upon this world." Now judgment is upon this world. There's going to be a demonstration of what? Judgment. There's going to be a demonstration of judgment. There's going to be a declaration of the cross, of the judgment of this world.

Question: In what sense was judgment accomplished at the cross? Beloved, in this sense. The cross is your condemnation. It is God's witness against you if you reject Christ—if you reject Christ. At the cross, not only does it speak of salvation, it also speaks of judgment. Judgment. It is the testimony of God to the world that there is a way for man to be reconciled to God. But it's also a testimony from God to the world that if you reject His Son, His only begotten Son, this is the judgment of sin.

The cross speaks to the real guilt of our sin. The cross speaks to the real hardness and impenitence found in the hearts of men, wicked men, that they would crucify the Prince of life. It speaks of man's real hatred toward God. It speaks of the real crime committed against the Son of God. At the cross, the world's hypocrisy is stripped away. Who we really are spiritually by nature, left to ourselves by nature from Adam since the fall, is exposed at the cross.

Let me ask us today, what would mankind in his natural condition since the fall—what would mankind do to God if God will allow it? Answer: he would kill God. He would murder God. The Bible says that man's a God hater. Man is a God hater. Is that not true? I mean, is man really a God hater? Since the fall, do people really hate God? What's the answer? How do you know? Look at the cross. Look at the cross. The cross reveals it, doesn't it? There's what man would do to God if given an opportunity: Crucify Him. Crucify Him.

As if, Spurgeon says, "as if in Christ's death the world was judged and condemned—and so it was. Nothing ever so convicted the world of high treason against God as when men said of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's well-beloved Son, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and the inheritance shall be ours.’ The shedding of the blood of Christ upon the cross is the crimson evidence of the deep transgression of human nature. Now is the judgment of this world."

Crucify Him. My heart was gripped at this point. I marveled, and I trust you'd agree with me. Isn't it the wonder of wonders that at the very time man was expressing his hatred toward God, God was expressing His love toward man? How can this be? How can this be? Isn't it amazing? Romans 5 verse 8: "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

But the cross also strips away the hypocrisy of sinful man in another way, because man wants to imagine that he's a God lover. Man wants to say, you know, you know what, if there was a way for me to come to God, I would. If there were a way for me to please God, if there was a way for me to approach God, I would. I would come. The cross cries out, here's the way. Here's the way. Here's the way opened by God Himself, the shed blood of the Son of God, and anyone who wishes to be reconciled with God, let them turn from their sins and come to the Son of God and you will have fellowship with God. Here's the way. Will you come? Will you come?

So that when man walks away from the truth of the gospel, he what? Exposes himself. You don't love God or else you would come. The cross represents the judgment of the world in that the cross will take away every lost man's excuse. Every single one. And it shows us, shows us all for what we are by nature apart from the grace of God. It shows us that we would, what we would do with God if given the opportunity. And it shows man that he doesn't really want to be reconciled to God, for the way is open and if left to himself, man will not come.

Spurgeon goes on to say, "I dare say you have heard people use pretty phrases about the dignity of human nature and so on. These, they are lying phrases, for human nature is as bad as it can be. If you want proof of that assertion, behold how God Himself came here among men, incarnate virtue robed in love. Did men love Him? Did they fall down before Him and do Him homage? The homage of the world was, ‘Crucify him. Crucify him.’" —He goes on to say— "The world hates virtue. It cannot bear perfection. It might endure benevolence, but absolute purity and righteousness it cannot. Away with. Its native instincts are wrong. It is not towards the light that men are going. Their backs are to the sun. They are journeying into the thick darkness."

That was revealed at the cross. That was revealed at the cross. Now judgment is upon this world.

The cross would demonstrate the sinfulness of men, but there's a second thing that's going to take place there on the cross when Christ would be crucified. And looking at it from from the standpoint, of course, of John 12, looking to the cross, the second thing is there's going to be, from our vantage point, a great victory, and looking at it from Satan's vantage point, there's going to be a great defeat.

"Now judgment is upon this world," verse 31. "Now the ruler of this world will be cast out." Who is the ruler of this world? Who is the ruler of this present present age? Satan. Satan the deceiver. And at the cross—at the cross—Jesus says he's going to be defeated. At the cross, he was defeated.

Pastor MacArthur writes, "Satan was dethroned at Calvary. Again, this is a reversal of what you might think. It looked like Satan won. It looked like Satan triumphed, and the devils of hell thought there was a triumph. Satan had conquered Christ at the cross, they thought. But in reality, Christ had crushed his head, dealt him the death blow. Now Satan fights from death row. He is a vanquished enemy. He has nothing on Christ. He has nothing on us. He is a conquered, defeated foe."

In the death of Christ, beloved, Satan was stripped of any claim against believers—mark it down—any claim. And when we come to the Lord Jesus Christ, the rule of sin is broken. Sin has no longer dominion over us. The rule of sin is broken in our lives. Satan has no claim upon us, for the blood of Jesus answers for all of our sins. Satan is the accuser of the brethren. He can accuse us day and night before God, but he has no solid ground upon which to accuse us because the Son of God has answered for our sins.

You see, that by which Satan held men—the guilt of their sins—is now borne by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross and dealt with permanently, once and for all.

And so in Christ, now we can sing with Horatio Spafford, "My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought—My sin, not in part but the whole, Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord oh my sou!l"

And we can sing with Martin Luther, "And though this world, with devil filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us the Prince of Darkness grim we tremble not for him his rage we can endure for lo his doom is sure one little word shall fell him".

He was defeated there but also was demonstrated the cross his final defeat at the cross and in the resurrection of Christ was demonstrated the fact that Satan is a defeated foe.
Revelation 12:10,  "Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the lamb and because of the word of their witness, and they did not love their life even to death. For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath knowing that he has only a short time."

One commentator said, "The cross and the resurrection spelled Satan's defeat. These events marked the glorification of all He renounced and the reversal of all He sought to attain."  You know the prophecy back all the way back to Genesis chapter 3 to that protoevangelium, that first gospel God said, I will put enmity pronouncing this to the serpent, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel." And the offspring of the woman came the Lord Jesus Christ the God man, God incarnate the deliverer for mankind came and indeed His heel was bruised, He was wounded for our iniquities. But at the same time at the cross while He was wounded for our iniquities, what was He doing? He was crushing the serpent's head, He was crushing the serpent's head and our victory was attained by the Lord Jesus Christ a great demonstration of the world's sin, a great demonstration of Satan's defeat.

Colossians 2:13, those precious words remind yourself every time you face temptation; "And you being dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him, having graciously forgiven us all our transgressions.  Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us, He also has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." When you would crucify someone you would take their offenses and you would nail it to the tree and God is telling us here that all of our offenses were nailed to the tree of Jesus, all of them, all of them so verse 15,  "Having disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having" —what?— "triumphed over them in Him."

There at the cross is our forgiveness, there the cross is a demonstration, a powerful demonstration of the victory of the champion of our faith the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 2:14 puts it this way, "Therefore since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives."

He took to himself flesh and blood, the Word became flesh that He might set us free and conquer the enemy of our souls and He did he did and this is set before Him, John 12, this is what He knows is coming he says in verse 31, now this hour now "Now judgment is upon this world;" —this world— "now the ruler of this world will be cast out."

But there's a third thing he says here in terms of what would be accomplished on Calvary's cross, the third thing that moves him to the cross, there's a third thing that he's looking forward to,  it is the joy set before him, in verse 32 particularly if I am lifted up, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."

Our Lord endured all of this because He looked beyond all of this to what lay on the other side.  The joy the joy set before Him. What is that? The joy of seeing His offspring come to faith in Himself through the merit of His own finished work on Calvary's cross. He looked beyond beyond the shame of the cross, beyond the horror of the cross to the joy that would come to the Father whereby He would purchase a people through His own precious blood.

Again back to Spurgeon quote, "The Pharisee said the world has gone after Him, but Jesus says no not while I am riding in state through the streets of Jerusalem but when I am lifted up and hung upon the cross then it shall indeed be true I if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me. The crucified Christ of Calvary is the mighty magnet that is to attract multitudes of trembling doubting ruined sinners who by grace shall be drawn unto Him and find eternal life in Him."

"And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." This is most interesting isn't it? You see the word draw in this verse, it's the Greek word ‘helko’. Every time by the way this word is used in the New Testament, every time it's used in the New Testament, the drawing is successful, the drawing is successful. There's never a time where you see this word used, something is drawn and there's resistance sufficient to withstand the drawing, you never see that. You do see resistance sometimes but every time the resistance is overcome and the drawing is effectual and there's obedience from the heart, it's effective, it accomplishes what it set out to do.  Always, the drawing is successful. I will draw all men to myself.

Now Jesus says that if He's lifted up from the earth dying in this fashion on Calvary's cross suspended between heaven and earth the result will be that all men all men will be drawn to Him and if the use of this word is consistent with the rest of its usage in the New Testament it doesn't just mean drawn like an interest, but it means brought to Him by faith.  All people will be brought to him. What is He saying? Well certainly remember I trust He cannot mean all people without exception, He cannot mean every single person will be drawn to Him.  If that's true what do you have? Universalism, universalism. Did the death of Jesus Christ on the cross mean that every single human being ever born will be in heaven one day? No. So what does he mean?

This word, all, does not mean all men without exception. He means all men without distinction. That is, when He's lifted up on Calvary's cross, it's going to mean the salvation of the world. In other words, all people, people will be drawn to Him from every tribe, every race, every nation, every tongue. It's going to be the salvation of the world. He's troubled, dismayed, but what moves Him forward, what motivates Him, what His motive is, the glory of the Father, and included in this is the result of His death, which is the judgment of the world, the casting out of the ruler of this world, and the drawing of people all over the world to salvation in Him. And what strikes me in the language here, when He talks about each of these three things, is not one of them—not one of them—is described as potential. Not one of them is described as potential. Not one. Every single one is described as something that is what? Definite. Definite.
Look at the text: "Now judgment I" —is— "upon this world"; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth," —what's the next word?— "will draw all men to Myself."

Now we've talked about it before—I'll say it again, beloved—Jesus did not die a vague death intended to accomplish a vague result, just hoping that someone would take Him up on it and be saved, hopefully. He came to this world with a definite mission in mind, and He accomplished it. He finished it so that we can trace our salvation, yes, back into the eternal counsels of God, the electing purpose of God, but we can also say that we can trace our salvation to the cross. He died to save us.

And let me say this, dear friend, do you realize that the cross of Jesus Christ has settled the destiny of every single one of us in this place? Do you realize that? Do you realize that the cross of Jesus Christ has settled—settled—the destiny of every one of us in this place? It speaks of all of our destinies. The question is, in what direction? In what direction? And so I ask, will the cross one day speak to your judgment? Or will the cross speak to your salvation?
At the cross, were your sins atoned for? At the cross, were your sins paid for? What's the answer? The answer is, only—only—if you embrace the Son. Only if you repent of your sins and come to Jesus and look to Him for life. Only if you come to Him as Lord and Savior will the cross ever speak of your salvation. And for every other man, woman, young person in this place, the cross will one day speak to your judgment—your judgment.

Can you say that your motive is the same as God's Son today? We've looked at that last Lord's Day, 1 Peter chapter 4: we're to arm ourselves with the same purpose, the same mindset, the same thinking that Jesus had. "Father, glorify Your name." Is that your passion this morning? "Father, glorify Your name." We talked last time about some ways that God may choose to glorify His name—maybe in sickness, maybe in times of leanness, maybe in great difficulty. And you know what? He may even choose to glorify His name in your dishonor here on earth.

Have there been believers slandered for their good works? Absolutely. And did God work through all of that in many instances to magnify Himself and to make His gospel known? Yes. And can you, can we honestly say—again, not flippant words, glib cliché—can we say, Lord, that is my chief desire. Glorify Yourself. Lord, it troubles me to think of certain ways that You may glorify Yourself. But just like my Lord, not asking to be delivered from it, but instead looking right into the face of it, I will say, "Father, glorify Your name."

Can you say that because you've seen God's Son in the gospel suspended on Calvary's cross. You've seen Him in the tomb. You've seen Him raised from the dead. And you said, He is the Christ. He is the Savior of the world. And I've turned from my sins to Him. I've given my life to Him. For to me, to live is Christ. And so to die is gain. Is that your story?

If not, if not, well, the good news is that this very day, right where you sit, right now, if you will turn from your sins to Christ, He will save you. He will save you. He is the Savior given to mankind. He's the one who can reconcile you to God. Will you come to Him? Will you turn to Him? Will you be saved today? Will you live for Him? Will you follow Christ? And wherever He's at, will you be found to be His servant? Will you serve Him?

And then if you say no today, if you say no, then realize there's a witness against you that speaks to the fact that you're a God-hater. You're a God-hater. It speaks to the fact that you don't really want to be reconciled to God. That witness is the same thing that witnesses to our salvation, and it is the cross of Christ. It speaks of your judgment.

May every soul listening to me in this place today come all the way to Jesus Christ, that the cross would speak of your salvation. That's my prayer. That's my prayer.

Come to the child of God, dear child of God, dear beloved of God. The joy set before Him was the great harvest of redeemed men and women to the glory of the Father. The joy that is set before us is Christ. It's Christ. He is our joy. He is our exceeding joy. He is our satisfaction. He is our everything.

Everything in this book that it says about Him intensifies our love for Him and our desire for Him to be our final reward. Behold Him, look to Him, the joy set before you, beloved, and before me, Christ Jesus. He is God's final revelation. He is the heir of all things. He is the creator of the world. He is the radiance of God's glory. He is the exact imprint of God's nature. He upholds the universe by the word of His power.

He took on human flesh. He made purification for our sins. He sits at the right hand of majesty on high. He is God enthroned forever with the scepter of uprightness. He is worshiped by the angels. He rules and reigns and His rule will have no end. He was crowned with glory and honor because of His suffering. He is the founder of our salvation. He destroyed the one who had the power of death, the devil. He delivered us from the bondage of fear. He is a merciful and faithful high priest. He made propitiation for our sins. He is a sympathetic high priest because of His own trials. He never sinned. He became the source of eternal salvation. He appears in the presence of God on our behalf. And He will come back one day to take His people home. And He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Blessed be His name.

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

In this paragraph of praise and thanksgiving by Paul, expressing his praise and thanksgiving to God for the work that He's done in this body of Christ, this body of believers, believers there in Thessaloniki, and he really gives God praise for their genuine conversion, for their genuine, meek, joyful, delightful reception of the Word of God. And you see the effect of that reception, that welcoming embrace, that warm embrace of the Word of God, really expressed in genuine repentance—how they turned from idols, they turned to God from idols, and they turned to serve the true and living God. And of course, from them, as a result of their genuine conversion, you see the effect of it, how the Word of the Lord sounded forth, reverberated, all throughout the region around them.

Not only the Word of God really sounded forth, but also reports went out how truly their life has been transformed by the power of the Gospel. And that's always the case. When there's genuine reception of the Word of God, there's always, always, always the fruit of that being transformed lives to the glory of God.

And tonight we come to this third, really, element that is found in a genuine repentance and transformed lives. Really, he says, "and to wait for His Son from heaven," and to wait for His Son from heaven. Beloved, this is so much what was driving this church, that this was really the engine beneath the hood of this church. This is what really put this church into overdrive. They were waiting for the Son of God to return from heaven. They were a second coming people. They lived every moment of every day with this bright hope and expectancy of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It prevented them from being lukewarm. It prevented them from being laid back, apathetic. I mean, they were laboring. I mean, he mentions earlier in this chapter, he says, I “give thanks to God always for all of you," – he says, – "remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." They were far from being apathetic. They were far from being lukewarm. Really, they lived on the edge of the coming of the Lord. They lived with this bright hope and expectancy that the Lord Jesus is coming again, and this prevented them from being laid back, apathetic.

And it prevented them from just simply shuffling through life, going through the motion, going through mindless routine and rituals. It kept their hearts bright. It kept their hearts on fire for God. It brought a sense of urgency to their Christian walk, Christian life. It brought a sense of urgency to their witness. The Word of God sounded forth, sounded forth with power and with reach, and it was comprehensive. We had no need to say anything, to add anything to what you already were doing. It brought a sense of urgency to their witnessing. They had only so much time to share about Christ because He was coming back again. He was returning.

And it brought a sense of unity to their fellowship as they came together, and they were waiting for the return of Christ. This truth from Scripture so fills our tank with a sense of passion and urgency to be about the work and the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. They turned to God from idols to serve, to serve.
 
Remember, a disciple is one who serves Christ, serves Christ. And let me say, beloved, every believer needs to be a second coming believer, and every church needs to be a second coming church. And we should carry out our ministry and live our lives as if the Lord Jesus Christ is in the process of coming back to us right now. Understanding this truth really has powerful, very powerful implications on our lives, powerful effects on our lives.

Because as a result, there's no doubt when we are gripped with this truth of Scripture that Jesus Christ is coming back again, we begin to see the world differently. We begin to see people differently. We begin to see people around us—would they be one of those who would be taken? Or would they be left behind? We begin to see life in light of eternity, life in light of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, and what effect, what an effect this truth of the second coming has upon the heart of the child of God.

The truth of the second coming also has a restraining effect, a restraining effect upon the heart, upon the soul of the child of God, because you wouldn't want to be in sin when the Lord comes back. You wouldn't want to be dabbling with prohibited things when the Lord comes back. It keeps you on the narrow path, it keeps you keeping short accounts with God, it keeps you on the right path, it keeps your feet pure. We all need that today, the sense of urgency, the sense of eternity that produces purity, that produces holy living, and that would cultivate till the ground of the fear of God in our lives.

And as we come to this last verse in this first chapter, Paul confronts us, really, with the truth concerning the coming of the Lord. And what I want to bring our attention to is that this book, this little epistle, 1 Thessalonians, is a second coming book. It is. And it is, actually, in fact, throughout the entire letter. In fact, you'll find this quite really interesting. Each chapter of this book ends with the second coming of Jesus.

Look at it with me. First of all, here, you find it here in chapter 1: "and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come." Now move forward to chapter 2, and look at verses 19 and 20: "For who is our hope or joy or crown of boasting? Is it not even you, before our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy."

Paul saw people in the light of the second coming. He saw people to whom he ministered as His crown, and when Christ comes back, Paul is saying all the reward that I need is to see you rewarded at the second coming of Jesus. That's all the reward that I need, to see your Christian life built up, to see you encouraged in the faith, to see you walking with the Lord, and when the Lord comes back, for Him to put a crown on your head—that would be my crown, to see the Lord crown you. What a perspective for ministry. What a perspective for servanthood, for us to have that as we serve Christ, as we serve others under Christ, that the only reward that I need is to see you rewarded in that final day because you've been walking with Jesus faithfully.

Look at the end of chapter 3. Verse 13 really is a kind of a benediction, a doxology, beginning in verse 11, and in verse 13 offers like really a prayer for the Thessalonians. We read in verse 13: "so that He may strengthen your hearts blameless in holiness, before our God and Father,” – what's next? – “at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."

And what Paul is saying is that my ministry is about preparing you for that day, that last day. Everything that I'm teaching you, everything that I'm imparting to you, and living before you simply to prepare you for that day when He comes back.

At the end of chapter 4, of course, we read the very same thing, that classic portion of the Word of God concerning the rapture of the church. We'll get there and see that in more details, Lord willing, when we get there. Verse 16: "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words."

Paul comforted the believers with these words as they've lost loved ones to death. He comforted them with this truth: there's going to be a day of great reunion one day. The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And what a glorious day this is going to be when Christ comes back to take His church.

And then to end at chapter 5, the end of chapter 5, verses 23 and 24: "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, who will also will do it." Paul is telling us, if God has begun the process of sanctifying you, and that begins the moment that you are converted, that you are saved, that you are regenerated, he said God will complete what He had started in your life.

Just as he says that also in Philippians 1:6, "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." That's what he's saying in this verse. Faithful is He who has called you out of darkness into fellowship with His Son, and faithful is He to bring it to pass. He will fully sanctify you one day. He will fully prepare you one day and present you to stand faultless and blameless before the Father. What He started, He will finish. What He began, He will complete.

We unmistakably saw that if your faith is genuine, it's been inseparably joined to true repentance. We've seen it here, even in this first chapter, and you remember the first elements of repentance are these: a turning away from all false gods and a turning to the true and living God. That's always, always the case in Scripture—turning from, turning to. We are the church, the called out ones, called out of the world, out of darkness, but we're called unto, unto Christ, unto God, the service of God, the service of Christ, to live for Him. So from, to, that's always the case.

And so the elements, these first elements of repentance, are found here. Paul reminds us: a turning away from all false gods, idols, and a turning to the living God. And then here now, he says, you turn not only from the false god to the true God with a disposition to be submissive to Him, but notice now, he says in verse 10, and to wait for His Son from heaven. If you put it together, it reads like this: "You turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come."

In other words, this radical change in their lives, this radical change in their worldview, didn't just have to do with the present; it also had to do with their view of the future, what is to come. Whereas prior to this reception of the gospel, the report of which has gone forth everywhere, their lives were earthbound—they were earthbound. The things of eternity were a thing of no concern to you whatsoever, but having turned to the true God, having become believers in God, your whole sphere of interest has shifted tectonically from earth to heaven, radically.

So 1 Thessalonians 1:10, as we look at this verse tonight, I want to draw your attention to the six truths that really are bound up in this verse that were taught here by the Apostle Paul. Truth number one, I'm going to state the obvious, I'm going to state the obvious, and sometimes we miss the obvious because we become too familiar with the obvious. Number one, Jesus is coming again. Jesus is coming again. Jesus is coming again.

We can be so earthbound and so really focused on the here and now, we can't think beyond—well, you know, tonight, after the service, I have this, this and that, and tomorrow morning, Monday morning, first thing in the morning, and I have this and that, and this week is going to be busy—and Jesus is coming again. Jesus is coming again, and so this is so obvious here, "and to wait for His Son from heaven." They were waiting for His Son from heaven.

If this verse, beloved, says anything, it says to us that Christ is coming again, and He's coming to this planet earth for His bride, the church, church of the redeemed saints, to take them back to heaven, and beloved, this truth ought to dominate our thoughts. When you get up tomorrow morning, you need to be reminded that Jesus is coming again. I need to be reminded that Jesus is coming again, and when you go to school, and when you go to work, you need to be reminded that Jesus is coming again, and when you come back home from school, and come back home from work, you need to be reminded that Jesus is coming again, because Jesus is coming again.

Jesus Himself said this to His disciples. In John 14:3, "I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." And this was not a figure of speech. Jesus was saying literally, I'm coming back. I will come back for you, and you will be with Me, and right now I am preparing a place for you.

The angel said He was coming back again. Remember in Acts 1:11, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven." The angel said to these disciples, who were really distraught, and just, I mean, everything is just moving quickly and changing, they said to them, He's coming back, and the apostle Paul repeatedly said that as well, that He's coming back.

In Titus 2:13, I love this: "looking for the blessed hope"—looking. We live our lives looking. We serve looking. We do what we do looking—"looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." This is a tremendous verse concerning also the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. "Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." And this is what we need to do. Jesus is coming again.

We read in Revelation 1:7—I love how John puts it, or the Holy Spirit puts it, of course—"Behold, He is coming with the clouds." And that doesn't even say He will come. It's not a future tense. It says He is coming, present tense. His return is so close, it is spoken of in the present tense. He is in the process of coming back to planet Earth. How exciting this is.

The Bible ends with Jesus making this statement: "Behold, I am coming quickly." "I am coming quickly." How the Lord wants this truth to flood our minds, to saturate our thinking—better yet, to marinate our thinking. We ought not to be so attached to this world, earthbound, that we lose sight of what's going to happen from heaven, that the Lord is coming back. This truth ought to transform every decision we make. It ought to have an effect on each and every one of us, His children.

This tells us there's a work for the Lord to be done in our sphere of influence, in our schools, in our works, in our homes, in our relationships, and whatever we can do for the Lord, we must do it. As God gives us strength, Jesus is coming again.

The second truth we find in this verse: Jesus will descend from heaven. He will descend from heaven. Look at the text: "And to wait for His Son from heaven," simple. "and to wait for His Son from heaven." Now I want to underscore this word, heaven—"from heaven," the Greek word ‘ouranōn’ for heaven. Ouranos literally means heights or lofty place, elevated place. That's what the word means.

But what we need to know is that the Greek word here in the text is not singular, it is plural. It is ‘ouranōn’. It is translated in our Bible singular, heaven, but the reality is it is plural and it should read "to wait for His Son from the heavens." From the heavens. You say, what does that mean? I thought there's only one heaven. Well, to put it in the plural really intensifies the heights of heaven and it is the way that Paul conveys to us that when Christ comes back, He will come from the heights of heaven, from the very highest heights of heaven.

And the Bible speaks of the outer atmosphere, the sky above us and of the earth, and then there's the outer space and beyond outer space is what Paul referred to in 2 Corinthians 12 as what? The third heaven. Meaning the third layer beyond the earth's atmosphere, beyond the outer space, planets, galaxies, beyond all of that is heaven. In other words, beloved, heaven is a real place. It's a real place. It's a real place on God's map. Heaven is not just a mystical, nebulous place in our thinking, concocted in our own mind, wishful thinking.

No, no. It is a real place. It is a real geographical place on God's map. It is where Jesus is right now. It's where the redeemed saints are right now. Their souls are right now there. It is where many of the angels are right now. It is a real place on God's map.

And there is a layering in heaven, and at the very apex of heaven, you have the throne of God above at the heights of heaven. And what this is saying is that when Jesus Christ comes back, He will come back from the very heights of heaven, from the highest place of all created matter. Even heaven itself was once created by God. God always existed, existed always as God. God was alone, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, alone in the sense that nothing else was there, but He was never alone because there was Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And then God created, and when God created the planets, He also created the heavens, and at the heights of the highest point of heaven, that's where the Lord Jesus Christ is. Here are some verses, really, that will help us amplify this. For example, in Luke 24:51, it says, "And it happened that while He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven." Was carried up into heaven. Jesus ascended and left the earth. It says that He was carried up into heaven.

Hebrews 4:14: "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us make, let us take hold of our confession." That means He passed through the earth's atmosphere. That means He passed through the solar systems. He passed through the galaxies. He passed through all that there is throughout space, and He kept passing through the heavens.

In Ephesians 4:10, "He ascended far above all the heavens"—plural. In Hebrews 7:26, it says that He is “exalted above the heavens." In Hebrews 8:1, He “sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens." He passed through everything that was created all the way up to the very apex of heaven, the very heights of heaven itself, and He's now seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high, the throne of the Majesty on high.

Beloved, there is no one higher than Jesus. No one. And when Jesus comes back at the second coming, He will arise from the throne, and He will descend from the highest of the heights of heaven all the way down to the atmosphere of the earth. And the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the trumpet of God, and the voice of the archangel, and we, the church, will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

Oh, what a glorious day. Christ will descend from heaven Himself. You know what that tells us? He's not sending a representative. He's coming Himself. He's not sending a special envoy to represent Him. He'll come back Himself to receive us. I'm coming back for you, to receive you to Myself so that you will be where I am.

Third, third truth that we see in this verse, Jesus will appear when He comes back in bodily form. He is coming back in bodily form. He will appear in bodily form. We need to read in verse 10, "and to wait for His Son from heaven"—and here it is—"whom He raised from the dead." Whom He raised from the dead. I mean, it seems at first glance almost out of place in the middle of the verse. And we're talking about the second coming, and all of a sudden, Paul throws in sort of like the resurrection of Jesus, but there's a reason for everything in Scripture. There's a reason for everything in Scripture. And the Holy Spirit, who is the author of the Scripture, has interwoven this letter as well as this book so perfectly.

And again, let me remind us—just a parenthesis here—when we have difficulty, when we have trouble, when we are confused, the fault lies in us, in our limitation, not the Word of God. Because the Holy Spirit has interwoven this book so perfectly. And the reason Paul now writes, "and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead," is to remind us that Jesus Christ was bodily raised from the dead.

That it wasn't the Spirit of Jesus, as Jehovah's Witnesses and the liberals would want us to believe. No, no, we believe in the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that the tomb was empty on the third day, and when the angel rolled back the stone, it wasn't so that they would let Jesus get out of the grave. No, no, it was simply to let the women and the disciples go in. He could have walked right through that stone in His glorified body, but He was raised from the dead.

And I believe the reason this is inserted here in verse 10 is to remind us that the same Jesus who was raised physically, bodily from the dead, will come back in just the same manner—bodily, physically, and victoriously. And when He comes back, it will not be the ghost of Jesus. It will be the same Jesus who was taken up from the Mount of Olives, who was raised from the dead bodily. This same Jesus is coming back, beloved—bodily, visibly, victoriously, and physically.

Acts 1:11: "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking toward heaven?" Can you imagine that scene that day? Their jaws dropped as they stared up into the heavens, as they watched Jesus being lifted up supernaturally, up into the sky, up into the clouds, taken up into heaven until they could see Him no more. It was mind-blowing, mind-boggling for these disciples as they were amazed, stunned, unfounded, dazzled, staring up into the clouds. And then two angels appeared and they say, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking toward heaven? This Jesus, this Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way, in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."

However He went up, that's how He's coming back down to take His people. He went up in a glorified, resurrected, physical, visible, touchable, tangible body. That's exactly how He's going to come back. And I want to also tell you, beloved, if you're a child of God, that's how you're going to go to heaven as well at the rapture. The Bible says that in that split second when Christ returns, there's going to be an immediate transformation of your body, mine, and your body will be transformed in that moment into a glorified, resurrected body in a twinkling of an eye. And you will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

You see, you and I could not look upon the glorified Christ in our fallen body. We would be incinerated. We would burn up. God has to give us a glorified body so we could look and behold Him in His glorified body. 1 John 3:2, "Beloved, now… we will be made like Him, because we will see Him just as He is." No wonder in that vision John fell flat on his face as though dead. In order to see Him just as He is, you must be made like Him. And how this speaks of our transformation as it awaits us at the coming of the Lord.

Truth number four, Jesus rescues us from wrath. We're going to skip that because we're going to come back to it next Lord's Day. He rescues us from wrath. What a glorious truth. It is found here at the end of the verse, "who rescues us from the wrath to come." What a glorious truth.

Truth number five, Jesus could return today, tonight. Jesus could return tonight. There's one word that jumps off the page as I look at verse 10. And it may be the least noticeable word in verse 10. And look at it. It's the word “us”. You see that? Little word "us," us. Paul actually believed that Christ was perhaps coming in His lifetime. And then not just him, but all the believers—"us" is in the plural. And these Thessalonians were waiting for Jesus to return, anticipating His return, watching and waiting. And there is this sense of imminence about the return of Jesus Christ, that Christ would come back, could come back at any moment. Any moment.

Paul lived this way. Paul never told us to be looking, watching for the appearance of the Antichrist. He never. He gave us details about the Antichrist, but he never said wait and look for the appearance of the Antichrist. He always tells us to be looking for the appearing of who? Jesus. Jesus.

Beloved, the next event on God's prophetic calendar is the catching up of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ to meet the Lord in the air. And we need to live every day as if Christ will return in my lifetime. And Paul lived that way 2,000 years ago. And how much more we ought to be living on the edge of the return of Jesus Christ, you and I. And I believe, beloved, that the strongest argument for the pre-tribulation rapture of the church is the doctrine of the imminence—of imminence that Christ could come back at any moment. That we're not looking for the Antichrist. We're not looking for any of that. We're looking for Christ to appear and take us home.

So Christ could return today. And I want to tell you, beloved, there isn't a single prophecy that yet needs to be fulfilled that would prevent Christ from coming right now. You say, well, what about the building of the temple over in Jerusalem before Christ can come? No, that only needs to be built in the first half of the tribulation. There's not yet one single verse that needs to be fulfilled that would prevent Christ from coming back in the middle of my next sentence.
How do we need to live? We need to live as if Christ were going to come back tonight. To live for Him. To love Him. To adore Him. To serve Him. To make much of Him. And to sound forth His word like these Thessalonians.

Truth number six. By way of extension, obviously then, Jesus' return demands our readiness. His return demands our readiness. If Jesus could come back any moment, if there's that doctrine of imminence, then we need to be ready. We need to be ready. And look at it. It's found in the text, actually, this last truth. Look at the beginning of verse 10. You see the verb there? "and to wait." To wait. You could just draw a circle around the word "wait." "To wait for His Son from heaven." Now, you may find it interesting that it's the only time this Greek word, ‘anamenein’, is used in the entire New Testament. It's only found here. It's a very special word. It's a strong word. It's a word that means to wait expectantly. To look forward for something with great eagerness. With great expectation and anticipation.

It's not merely that you need to believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ. You need to be waiting for the second coming of Christ. Longing for the second coming of Christ. And looking for the return of Christ. It's almost like, and maybe this is the best illustration that we could identify with—even though it pales into comparison—it's almost like when you have a dear, dear beloved family that are coming to your house to spend a few days with you. What do you do? You get everything ready. Everything ready. At least you ought to. You get the guest room fixed up. You get the bathroom fixed up. You get the refrigerator full to the brim. You get the house cleaned up. You scrub the floors. You dust everything. I mean we should be doing this every day. But even more so. Especially.

And you eagerly wait for them to come. And the day of coming you eagerly wait by the window to see the car coming into the driveway. So you could run out and meet and embrace your family member and receive them. There's excitement. There's eagerness. And there's that warm welcome. That's what it means to wait for His Son. The Lord Jesus Christ. That your life and my life would be in order. That your heart would be ready. That your whole would be ready. That you would be ready for the Lord to descend from heaven with a shout, and for you to be ready to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. We are always, always, always to live this way.

And would you please note with me that this is a present active infinitive: to wait for His Son. In other words, to be always waiting for His Son. To be always in readiness waiting for the return of Jesus. And like I said, this verb is in the active voice, which means it is something that I must do. I must do. That means I just can't sit back and wait for Him passively. I can't just sit on my hands and be passive, laid back, nonchalant. I must prepare myself. I must be active in getting ready for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That tells me that waiting involves activity. Waiting involves ministry. Waiting involves serving. Waiting involves doing, laboring. Waiting involves purity. And all within biblical balance that we be spending time with God and that we be sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. But there's more than sitting at the feet of Jesus. Yes, we ought to do that. We must be also serving and doing the work of the Lord. And this we will do if we are waiting for His Son from heaven. We will be the perfect balance of Martha and Mary.

And we see the beautiful balance here exemplified by the Thessalonians themselves. Look at verses 9 and 10, “how you turn to God from idols to” – what? To do what? To sit on your hands? No. – “to serve”. Right? To serve. Remember that verb. We get from the word ‘doulos’, slave. Serving a master. "to serve a living and a true God, and to wait"—see the balance?—"to wait for His Son from heaven." They weren't waiting sitting on their hands. They were waiting serving. Doing. Laboring. Laboring. Doing. Working. Eagerly. Working hard. Working to the point of exhaustion. And when they have nothing more to give, they give more.

This radical change in their lives, this radical change in their worldview, didn't just have to do with the present. It also had to do with their view of the future. Whereas prior to the reception of the gospel, the report of which has gone forth everywhere, all around, your lives were earthbound, he says, prior to that. Things of eternity were a thing of no concern to you. But having turned to the true and living God, having become believers in Christ, your whole sphere of interest shifted from earth to heaven. You have a heavenly mindedness.

Now your sphere of activity was not shifted. You still had to get up in the morning and make your Greek coffee there by the sea in Thessaloniki. You still had to get up in the morning and shine your sandals and prepare breakfast for your kids and wash the clothes. No, no, he said, life itself in terms of what's necessary to make up life and human existence, well, that didn't change. He didn't say you all of a sudden became monastics. No, no, no. But he said in the midst of all the normal routine of life, an entirely new focus came in.

Having turned from idols to the living and true God to serve Him, your expectations, your longings were now fixed not upon the passing things of time, but upon the great issues of eternity—to wait for His Son from heaven. What does that mean? Sit back, put on a white robe and find the highest hill and wait for the Lord to descend from heaven with a shout? That's the way some interpreted it. And they've actually done that and Paul had to correct them. And it doesn't mean a passive kind of waiting as I mentioned. This is not the kind of waiting in the sense of passing time. When we talk about waiting for the Lord Jesus, we're not just letting the calendar run, letting the clock run as we live our lives just like everybody else lives life.

Our beliefs about Jesus' return ought to be affecting how we're living right now. That's what it means to wait for Him, to wait with anticipation, to wait with expectation, to wait with burning devotion. Decisions made today in light of what He's promised tomorrow. And tomorrow's coming. And I know it's coming. He's told me what's coming. So I'm going to live today in light of what God has told me is coming tomorrow.

Waiting for His Son means that in the midst of all of the responsibilities and all of the activities—and later on He mentioned some of them, very practical things about working with your hands and providing for yourself and for your family, very practical things—but in the midst of all of this, you're not bounded to it. You're not tied to it. This is not your end. This is not your goal. This is not what you're living for. No, he said, in the midst of all of this, you're longing for that day when the work of grace that has been begun in you will be completed. That day when we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Radically different lifestyle in the present. Because they've embraced a radically different perspective about the future. Living their lives with expectancy. Living their lives—and I love this—in a new fellowship. In a new fellowship. I love how Paul puts it in verse 10. It's right here, "and to wait for His Son" –do you see it? Do you see it right here? – "for His Son from heaven." Not just waiting for heaven. Not just waiting for paradise. Not just waiting for a better world. And sometimes, you know, certainly the Bible talks about that too. Looking for a better city. That's true.

Oh, we look forward to that day. To be in a place when there's no sin and no suffering and no pain. Of course. But look how Paul puts it: "to wait for His Son." To wait for His Son.
Living in a new expectancy. Living their lives in a new fellowship. He says, at the center of our hope, at the center of our waiting, is Jesus Himself. Jesus Himself. We have come to know Him. We have come to fellowship with Him. We love Him. And we want to be with Him. And Peter writes, "And though you have not seen Him,” – you what? – “love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but you believe in Him”. 1 Peter 1:8; and we “rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” And look toward the day when we meet our Savior face to face.

That's one of the attendance of true saving faith. For it's one of the inseparable attendance of repentance. And I want to tell you, beloved, as I speak to my own heart: If your life is not in order, then you're not waiting for His return. If you're not serving God today, you're not waiting for His Son. If there's sin unrepented of in your life that needs to be dealt with and confessed, if you need to go and turn in a new direction and you haven't done that, then you are not waiting for the return of the Son of God.

You're not truly waiting for Christ's return unless your life is dressed with readiness—ready, prepared to go and be with the Lord this very moment should He come right now. If there's a need for repentance, then do it tonight. Confession of sin, do it. Do it right now. Service for the Lord. Why are you holding back? Serve Him today. If there's someone to whom you need to go and reconcile and ask for their forgiveness, do it. Do it today. If there's an act of kindness and mercy that you need to do, then do it. Do it today.

Our lives are like vapor—here today but gone tomorrow. And the second coming brings the necessary sense of urgency to our Christian walk, Christian life. What do you need to do in your life to be ready to meet the Lord in the air should He come tonight? Whatever it is, do it now. Do it tonight. Do not procrastinate.

The devil will always tell you, you have tomorrow to get right with God. You could do it later. But God the Holy Spirit is saying, "Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation." If you've never come to faith in Jesus Christ, I want to tell you tonight—tonight is the night. Today is the day that you need to come to faith in the Son of God because you may not have tomorrow. You may not have even tonight.

God has brought you into this place to hear this truth proclaimed from God's Word. And you are not here by accident. Remember, this is a truth we recently were reminded of. There are certain times designed by God, and this is one of them, that you're here by divine appointment. God wanted your heart to be impacted by this truth.

And if you've never committed your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, I call upon you to believe upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to give your life to Him, to repent of your sin, turn from your idols—whatever those idols may be—and turn to the true and living God and come to Him in the name of His Son, the one and only mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then and then only you shall find forgiveness, and you shall find mercy and grace and acceptance. His name means Jehovah saves, and He will save you, and He will forgive your sins, and He will pardon you, and your sins may be washed away in the blood of Jesus Christ. And so if that is you tonight, I beg you—I beg you—turn to Him. Enter through the narrow gate. Come to Christ. Believe on Christ. He's coming, and He's coming soon. Are you ready?

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

The Apostle said in 1st Timothy chapter 1 and verse 15, "It is a trustworthy saying, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost." Christ came into the world to save sinners. The Shepherd came to lay down His life for the sheep.

When He came to this earth to give His life for His sheep, He was not only coming to save the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He had other sheep not of that fold, and He must also bring them into the fold. When He said those words—you remember when we studied that in John chapter 10—He was speaking of the fact that He would not save Jews only, but He would also save Gentiles. That explains why we're here today.

Indeed, as He says here in verse 32, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." Meaning all categories of men. "For God so loved the world, that He gave —His one and only Son,— His only begotten Son." In these verses, we're getting a small glimpse of the end of the ages, the age that was to come as Jesus encountered this request made by the Greeks to meet Him, these Gentiles. A glimpse of an age that was to come, the very age that we're living in right now, known as the time of the Gentiles.

This is the connection between the request of the Jews, the Gentile proselytes to see Jesus, and our Lord's proclamation that His hour had come, had arrived. He's come to save the world. Not every man without exception, but every man without distinction. But the saving purpose could only be accomplished one way and one way only. And there is no other way. There is no other option. There is no other alternative.

There would be no salvation without a sacrifice. There would be no life without death. It had to be accomplished that way. It had to be accomplished by death, the shedding of the blood. There had to be the death of the Son of God, the shed blood of Christ, the Lamb of God for there to be life indeed.

But we also discover here that not only would Christ have to die in order for us to be saved, there's also a sense in which we have to die in order to be saved. And I want us to see this together this morning. The first thing I want us to notice in verse 24, to pick up where we left off, the clear illustration.

Last week we considered the coming of some Greeks, verses 20 to 23. Then we consider the contrast with the Pharisees, verse 19 and verse 21. This morning we will consider together the clear illustration, this clear analogy that Jesus uses. And that's found in verses 24 through 26.
Look at the text with me. Verse 24: "Truly, truly,”  — amēn, amēn. He's saying something here when he says that, this formula, this expression, amen, amen. He's saying something here that he wants us to particularly pay careful attention to. We can't miss this. We can't afford to miss this. This is underscored, underlined, bold italics. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." Very simple agricultural example that He uses to make His point that there would be no wheat harvest apart from His death. No harvest apart from His death.

The grain of wheat, the seed of the wheat, doesn't produce anything whatsoever until the process of sowing and death takes place. Once the grain is sown and it dies, then from that death will come out a harvest, life. That's the illustration.

You say, well, what's the point of the illustration? It's a great question. Well, beloved, the point is clear. Despite the response of the crowds and the day of His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, there wasn't going to be a kingdom without a cross. There wasn't going to be a kingdom without a cross.

He had not entered into the city to bring about a political kingdom that so many of the Jews envisioned. To be set free from the bondage to Rome. That is not why He came. He's come to bring about a kingdom not of this world. And that kingdom required that the King also be the Lamb of God.

You remember that, right? The Lamb of God. The Lamb of God that delivers His people by His very death, deliver them from the domain of darkness, that they may come into His marvelous light. Beloved, He came to die. Jesus came to die. He came to save His people from their sins.
And the first part of this explains, number one, under this heading, the clear illustration, the necessity of His death. He came to die. He came to lay down His life. This explains the necessity of His death. The first part, He says, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone." In other words, apart from the death of this grain of wheat, there will be no harvest. There is no harvest. This is the explanation of how disciples will be made. It's the only explanation how disciples will be made. Apart from Christ, apart from His life, His perfect life, His death, apart from His death on the cross, there would be no disciples. No disciples whatsoever.

There is no sheepfold unless there's a shepherd who gives His life, who lays down His life for the sheep. There's no way to approach a holy God if Christ doesn't die. And though that's simple for those of us who've been in the faith for some time, this is something we must declare to the world, that sinful man, lost, condemned, sinful man, cannot come to the thrice holy God directly. You don't just simply walk into the presence of the thrice holy God. Apart from reconciliation through the blood of the Lamb of God, there is no access to God. There is no reconciliation with God.

Jesus said that very plainly, didn't He? John 14, verse 6: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no man, — no one, no one. That means absolutely no one — comes to the Father but through Me." And in 1 Timothy 2, verse 5, the apostle Paul echoes the same truth: "There is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” And apart from Him, there is no way into the presence of God. There aren't different ways into the presence of God. There's only one way, and that's through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So apart from the death of Christ, there would be no harvest, there would be no kingdom, there would be no church, there would be no disciples. That's the meaning of the illustration. "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains"—what?—"alone." There is the necessity of His death. Apply it to Him. Apply it to Him, the Redeemer. There's the necessity of His death—no death, no harvest. No death, no harvest.

J.C. Ryle puts it this way, commenting on this truth concerning the death of Christ: "The death of Christ was the life of the world. From it, as a most prolific seed, was to spring an enormous harvest of blessing to souls and of glory to God. His substitution on the cross, His atoning death, were to be the beginning of untold blessings to a lost world. To wish Him not to die, to dislike the idea of His death, as the disciples evidently did, was as foolish as to keep seed corn locked up in the granary and to refuse to sow it. I am the corn of wheat, Jesus seems to say. Unless I die, whatever you and your private opinion may think, My purpose in coming into the world will not be accomplished. But if I die, multitudes of souls will be saved."

But not only is there that in that illustration, the necessity of His death that we see here very clearly. There's also in that illustration, that clear illustration, the certainty of life. Not only the necessity of life, of death, but the certainty of life. Look at the text: "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone." Now notice, “but if it dies,” — what happens, Lord? What happens?— "It bears much fruit." You see it? "It bears much fruit." Christ speaks in such a way as to teach us that if He dies, if He lays down His life, there will be a harvest. There'll be fruit. There will be fruit.

He puts it plainly, the verses we read now more than once last week and even this morning. Look at verse 32 and verse 33: "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was about to die.” He will draw all people to Himself. There will be a harvest. There will be fruit from His death. There is no doubt about it.

We understand, don't we, that Jesus Christ did not come to this earth to die only to make salvation potential. Right? No, no. He didn't come here to die only to make salvation possible, available. No, no, beloved. He came to die in order to make salvation actual. He came to die in order to actually save His people from their sins.

His atonement accomplished redemption for all those who were given to Him as a gift by the Father before time. The Father before time gave a people unto His Son for redemption. And Christ came into the earth to lay down His life for the sheep, His sheep. And when He died on the cross, the harvest was secure. Make no mistake about it. They were all brought to Him. We were brought to Him through the preaching of the gospel and the powerful, effectual, regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.

There must be, of course, repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in order for there to be salvation. But mark it down. His death secured not only the end, but the means to the end. He accomplished redemption by His death. There will be a harvest. He's saying if there's this death, then inevitably, unmistakably, there'll be fruit.

Do you realize, beloved, if God is not sovereign in salvation, if salvation is not of the Lord, if indeed salvation is something like this—this is purely hypothetical, it's impossible—but if salvation were to be like this, you know, God says, I'm going to do my part. But it's not going to be effectual. It's not going to accomplish anything apart from man in his natural condition joining his will to Mine. I'm going to do everything from My end to save sinners. I'm going to set it before them, and then I'm going to leave it up to them. Can these dead bones, dry bones, live?

Do you understand that if that's the way salvation is, there was absolutely no guarantee that the death of Christ would bring about even one person to salvation? In fact, I would put it bluntly, biblically, there would be absolute guarantee that no person would be saved left to himself. Christ would have to come, shed His precious blood on a tree. He would have been raised from the dead. The gospel proclaimed to the ends of the earth. And no one received Him. No one would receive Him—which is impossible. Absolutely impossible.

But when you read the Word of God and pay attention to what it says about the work of Christ, you find that there was something far more certain than that. There will be much fruit, actual fruit. Salvation is actual, not potential. Why? Because God not only accomplished in Christ all that is necessary to save sinners from the standpoint of the adequate, finished sacrifice, but God has also promised and proclaimed and declared and determined to do everything necessary to bring those people to His Son whom He has determined. He has determined to bring them before time and to save through the preaching of the gospel and through the work of regeneration, granting them as a gift, repentance and faith.

Salvation is of the Lord, beginning to end. Only Jesus saves. So the first way that this illustration is applied is to the Lord Jesus Himself. It speaks of the necessity of His death. It speaks of the certainty of life that will come from His death. He will draw all people to Himself and there will be fruit as a result. There will be a harvest as a result of His death.

But then He does something interesting. He takes this analogy, the same illustration, and now He broadens out the application. And this is amazing. This paradox of life coming out of death, life coming through death, doesn't just apply to the Savior. It also applies to those who are saved. Obviously, we're not talking about applied in a redemptive fashion.

You see, because He died, we have life. That's the primary cause of our life. His death—His death secured for us all of the benefits and the gifts through which He has brought life to us. But it is also true to say that He's brought us this life in such a way by the Holy Spirit that His disciples are made to die in order that they may have life.

Let me put it this way. We are saved by grace alone. Grace alone. Grace plus nothing. Alone. Grace plus nothing. By faith alone. Faith plus nothing. Christ alone. Christ plus nothing. But the faith that is the product of God's grace to us in Christ is a faith that brings about a willingness to die in order to have life. In fact, we are called upon through the gospel to surrender our lives, to lose our lives in order to have life that is found only in Christ. Exclusively in Christ. We're called to die. We're called to lose our lives in order to live.

What will be true? What will characterize a true disciple of Jesus Christ? Someone who is made alive indeed through His death, through the death of Christ. What will mark them? What will characterize them? What will characterize such an individual? Look at the text. Verse 24: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." Then He says this: "He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him."

Four things. Four things we have here. Four characteristics that will mark a true disciple of Jesus. And the first one we meet with is this. Number one. A disciple of Jesus has lost his life. A disciple of Jesus has lost his life. If you are truly saved, you've lost your life.

Look at the text. He says in verse 25, "He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life." He who loves his life. Let's start there. "He who loves his life loses it." This is an absolute statement of truth on the part of our Lord. No wiggle room. Absolute statement of truth. He wants us to know this in no uncertain terms. "He who loves his life"—whoever loves his life—what? "Loses it." Loses it.

What is He talking about? Look at the word life. The word life here is the Greek word psychē. Psychē. The soul. The soul of man. The personality of the man. Who he is. The man himself. If anyone holds on to—this is what He's saying—if anyone holds on to life as he has always known it, if he holds on to his life as he's always assessed it, if he holds on to his life as he's always lived it, if he wants to hold on to that life, Jesus says, he will what? Lose it. He'll lose his life. That is, he will perish without God. He will spend eternity separated from God. If he seeks to hold on to this life, his life, he will lose it. If he loves his life in this world, he'll lose it.

What kind of a man is it who holds on to his life? Clutches to his life? Well, this is the man who lives according to the way that seems right to him. You know, this is the way I've always lived my life. This is the way I look at life. This is the way I was raised to look at life. This is the way my parents looked at life. Or, I live my life differently than my parents. I have my own way. My own thinking. Life as it seems right to him.

To say it another way, this is the man who lives his life using the language of Ecclesiastes: under the sun. Under the sun, life lived without a heavenly perspective. Life lived as though God were not there. Life lived under the sun. This is the man who walks according to Ephesians 2. According to the course of this age. According to this world. According to the mindset of this age. This present age. This is the man who lives his life indulging the desires of the mind and of the flesh. Living according to the boastful pride of life.

And then at some point, this man is confronted with the claims of the gospel. Here is this man living life the way he has always lived it. He comes face to face with the truth of the gospel. The truth of who the Lord Jesus Christ is. And this demand that if he wants life—true life—then he must be willing to relinquish his life and come all the way to Jesus, empty handed, Christ who is able to save. He must be willing to turn from life as he has always known it. Turn from his own ways and come all the way to Christ. Believing that the death of Christ is enough to pay for his sins. That Christ's merits are enough to make him right with God. Losing his life to gain Christ.

But, tragically, this man responds and says, no, thank you. No, thank you. I love my life like this. I want it to stay like it is. I love my darling sins. I love myself. He looks at his life and he thinks this life that he's lived out of fellowship with God, this life that he's lived in this godless fashion, he thinks it's a life worth keeping. I don't want to lose this. I don't want to give up this and that and the other. I don't want to give this up. I don't want to forfeit this. Oh, the pleasures of sin.

Isn't it amazing? I mean, if you've paid attention to this at all. Isn't it amazing that men think—what men think to be more valuable than their soul? Have you ever considered that? I don't want to stop getting high. I don't want to stop being promiscuous. I don't want to stop living for the stock market and accumulating wealth. Because that's their idol. It's not like having money. It's money has them.

Friend, have you noticed that your body is wasted away? Have you noticed that you've lost your relationships? Have you noticed how your children have turned out? What are you holding on to? What is so valuable? I don't want to lose this relationship. I don't want to lose this. I don't want to lose that.

This man says no. I love my life. Jesus says that man will lose his life. The way that seems right to a man ends in what? Destruction. Death. Proverbs 14:13: "There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." The life that is lived under the sun indeed proves to be vanity of vanities. All is vanity. The life that is lived according to the course of this world is the easy path that ends in what? Destruction. Horrible tragedy. And the man who seeks to save his life, our Lord says, loses it.

Mark 8:35: "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it." He will be eternally lost. He will be lost without God. He will be lost without Christ. He'll be lost without forgiveness. And he will be lost without hope.

And you know the word "lose it"? The word "lose" is a powerful word. Apollymi. Literally, it means to destroy. To perish. Given over to eternal misery in hell, to use the biblical definition. "For whoever desires to save his life”  —will destroy it, will cause it to perish in hell,— “will lose it." People lose their wallet. They lose their rings and important documents. But the greatest loss of all is to lose one's soul. And it's permanent.

Jesus speaks in absolute terms. And He says if you continue to live your life your own way and do your own thing, what seems right in your own eyes, you will lose your life forever. Eternally. He speaks in absolute categories. There are only two options here: to accept or to reject. You're either saved or lost.

But notice the second part of the statement. In John 12:25, He says, "He who loves his life loses it." And now, just as certain as this statement—"and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life."

Second, a disciple of Christ has kept his life. Has kept his life. A disciple of Christ has kept his life. What does it mean to hate your life? Well, it is the opposite of loving it. It is the opposite of loving it. It means that the one for whom Christ died is the one who recognizes that he desperately needs a new life. The one for whom Christ died is the one who realizes that he doesn't have a life worth keeping, a life worth holding on to. He doesn't have a life worth clinging to in comparison. He hates it. And he's willing to forfeit it. He's willing to let go of it—all of it. He's willing to walk away from it.

We can say it this way: he has been awakened. His eyes are wide open. Now, it's not that his life is different all of a sudden than it was before. And he says, you know, for a while I had a life worth keeping, but now I realize I need a new life. You know, this life has kind of gotten worn out a bit. And if it was like it used to be, I would hang on to it and hold on to it. But now I'm willing to let go of it. It's not worth much anymore. No, no, it's not like that at all. That's not what we're talking about.

What has happened is he's been awakened to what his life has really been like all along. He just couldn't see it before. But now he sees it. He sees it. He sees it for what it is. He sees himself for what he is. “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind”—oh, “but now I see.” I see.

He sees his sinfulness. He sees his emptiness. He sees his guiltiness before a thrice holy God. And he sees his utter helplessness. And he can't do one thing to save himself. He can't do one thing to change himself. A leopard can't change its spot. And a man can't change his own sinful, wicked, wretched heart. Deceitful heart.

But he also sees something else. Oh, he sees the hope that has been set before him by God. He sees that God has opened a way through the death of His Son for all of his sins—all of them—to be forgiven. To be canceled. And for this man to be made a new creature in Christ. And to be reconciled to a holy God. He sees this. He sees it for the first time.

And because he sees this now, the demand of the gospel that we repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ—that demand that says lose your life or forfeit it, lose your life for the life of Christ—that demand now no longer seems like a demand. Now it sounds like the most unbelievable, glorious, precious, gracious, merciful offer in the entire universe. And it is. It is.
God, You mean You will take me? Ha! I can't believe it. You will take me? Here's my life. Ruined. Undone before You. Not worthy to stand before You. Clothed in filthy rags. All my righteousness as filthy rags in Your sight. You mean You would receive me just as I am and transform me? Forgive me? Reconcile me to Yourself? Clothe me with the perfect righteousness of Your own beloved Son? Take my heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh? Make me a new creature? You would do this for me, God?

This is not some difficult demand, is it? It's glorious. It's a glorious offer of mercy, of grace.
I wonder, I wonder, have you ever seen that? Where are you at today? Are you one who's holding on to your life? Or are you one who has hated his life? And Jesus says here—look at verse 25—that "he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life." A different Greek word than psychē. This word is zōē. Often associated with eternal life. Divine life.

Hold on to life as you've always known it and you will never know divine life. You will never know the life that is in Christ. You will never know eternal life. Hate life as you've known it. Turn from it. Abandon it. Forfeit it. Turn to Christ and God will give you life in His Son. Real life. Zōē life.

A disciple of Jesus has lost his life. That's what it means to be a disciple. We've lost our life. That's what the Lord does. He brings us face to face with whatever is most important to us. Whatever is your life, your god, He brings us face to face with that. And when He brings you to faith in Himself, the one thing that stands out to you is this: Are you prepared to turn away? To abandon? To forsake your idol? And follow Me? Just like the Thessalonians did. How you turned to God from idols. To serve the living God.

Are you prepared to turn away? When He brings you to faith in Himself, the one thing that stands out to you is this: Are you prepared to let go? To abandon? To forsake your idol? And follow Me? Now who do you choose? What do you choose? Will you lose your life? Will you lose what you've held on to all your life as making you important, significant, giving you meaning, giving you pleasure? Will you turn away from all of it?

And you know, you may be one who was brought up in a Christian home, grew up in Sunday school, Bible studies, memorized scriptures, been many times to different Christian retreats and nobody thinks you're lost, but you know, you know you're lost. Jesus says, you know you don't have Me. Now in order to have Me, you're going to have to admit that you don't have Me. Are you willing to lose the impression in the minds of others that you're My disciples, my disciple? Are you willing to be honest about your spiritual condition in order to have life?

And you know what? Even after the Lord saves us, beloved, even after He rescues us, doesn't He down the road of His discipleship of us, this road of discipleship, down this road of sanctification and conformity to the image of Christ, doesn't He continue to bring us face to face with who is more important and what is more important? We're cut from the same cloth. I know I need that reminder. Don't we go on choosing Him above all else?

And there are times in our lives, if we'll be honest before God, that we allow things to creep in that ought not to be there in terms of greater priority than they should have. And what happens is that we experience the coldness that comes into our lives when that occurs. And all over again, we must repent and place Him above all else because Christ must have the place of preeminence. Will you lose your life to have Him?

Look at Colossians 3 for just a moment. Turn with me to Colossians 3. We see a living example of this in verse 1 and following: "Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory. Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry."

Now let me make the obvious point. You realize, don't you, that he's saying this to believers. He's saying this to believers. You've died with Christ. Your life has been hidden with Him. Now seek the things above. You must go on putting to death what is earthly in you. Keep your foot pressed down on the pedal.

And realize this also, verse 6: "On account of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. In them you also”—past tense—”once walked when you were living in them. But now you also, lay them all aside." —You don't walk anymore in them, but you fight with those pockets of resistance. Lay them aside, all of them:— “wrath, anger, malice, slander, abuse of speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you put off the old man with its evil practices and have put on the new man who is being renewed to a full knowledge according to the image of the One who created him."

That's what we must do. Put to death these things that are earthly because now our life is in Christ.

Our life is Christ. We must seek the things above. This was Paul's attitude about it himself. Turn over to Philippians 3, that familiar portion of the Word of God. Philippians 3. Notice this is his attitude about it.

Verse 1. Philippians chapter 3 and verse 1: "Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you. Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the mutilation. For we are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more.” —Verse 5— “Circumcise the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ."

You know, I could have held on to all of that, life as I've always known it, Saul of Tarsus. I could have held on to all of that from an earthly point of view, but blessed be God, from a sovereign point of view, we couldn't have. He couldn't have. It was Christ's purpose to save him, and he would be saved.

But notice what he says in verse 8: "More than that, I count all things to be loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own which is from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God upon faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."

This is the value system. This is the set of values that is produced in the heart when God does His work. When God brings awakening. Now all that stuff that I thought was valuable, now I see it as rubbish. To be more specific, as dung. The stuff that the world would count to be righteousness. The stuff that the world would count to be reputation. It's all a trash heap compared to having that righteousness that comes from God, that is by faith in Jesus Christ. It's trash. It's dung compared to knowing Christ, and I am more than prepared and willing to lose it all, to have Christ my treasure.

Whoever hates his life in this world, whoever is willing to lose it all to have Christ, will keep it. Life eternal. 1 John 5:12: "He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son does not have the life." Matthew 16:25: "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"

A disciple of Jesus has lost his life. A disciple of Jesus has kept his life. He hasn't lived his life in this world. He's hated it, and as a result, he hasn't loved his life in this world. Pardon me. He's hated it, and as a result, he's kept his soul. He has been saved, redeemed. God has given him life in His Son.

Back to John 12. There's a third thing that I want us to see concerning a genuine disciple, the characteristics of a genuine disciple. He's lost his life. He's kept his life. Thirdly, a disciple of Jesus is a servant of Christ. He's a servant of Christ. Look at verse 26: "If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him."

What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? What does it mean that you've been saved, have life? Well, you've become a servant of Christ. You've become a servant of Christ. And this service, by the way, is spiritual. It's spiritual service because you see the words there? Anyone serves, diakoneō, my servant, diakonos. We get the word deacon. Deacon. It's a spiritual service.

We're living for Christ in this world, in an active way, in concrete decisions. It's a spiritual service. It's worship unto God. It's worshipful. We worship Him as we live with Him and for Him. This service is spiritual. It's a spiritual service.

But it's also, the service is perpetual. It's perpetual. This is in the present active. If anyone keeps on serving Him, if anyone keeps on serving Me, it's a perpetual service, ongoing, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We live for Him all the time. We live for Him as a pattern of life.

And this service also, look at it, is submissive. If anyone serves Me, he must what? Follow Me. Follow Me. It is a pursuit. We follow Him. And how do we know where to go to follow Jesus? We find it here in His Word. It means to follow Him and no longer to walk according to the course of this world, but to live in such a way that you follow Christ step by step.

It means that you no longer follow the crowd, but you follow Christ. It means to follow Him if everyone followed Him or no one follows Him. By the grace of God, I will follow Him. It means to no longer follow the majority. It means to no longer follow the minority. It means to follow Christ submissively. It means to pursue Him. It means to love Him, to adore Him, to obey Him. It means to walk as He walked, an imitation of the very righteous lifestyle of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In other words, I would speak as He spoke. I would live as He lived. I would rejoice in what He rejoiced over, and I would weep over what He wept over. I would make His priorities my priorities. I would make His goals my goals. I am to follow Christ.

This service is also personal. Personal. Who do we follow? We follow Him. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me. It's personal. It's a personal pursuit that we may know Him. It's in the context of fellowship, knowing Christ, walking with Christ.

And this service that we offer is exclusive. Exclusive. “If anyone,” —verse 26,— “serves Me, He must follow Me. And where I am,” —notice,— “there My servant will be also.” Whose servant are you? He says, My servant. Whose servant are you? Nobody's but Christ. Nobody's but Christ. Then under Christ, we serve others. Unto the Lord. But we serve Christ. We are His servant. And this service, notice with me, is loyal. It is loyal service. If anyone serves me, He must follow me. And where I am, there my servant will be also. The disciples of Christ, as a pattern, where are they? They are wherever the Lord is. They're loyal to Christ. Where would we go? He has the words of eternal life.

Now, along the way, we may stumble. We may fall. We may be like Peter sometimes and stumble and fail. But at the end of his life, Peter was faithful, ultimately gave his life for Christ. These are the disciples of Jesus. They've lost their life. They found their life in Him. And they serve Him in this world. They serve Him perpetually. They serve Him submissively. Personally, exclusively, loyally, they serve Him.

I love how, S. Louis Johnson summed it up, and there's an application for us. Listen to what he said. Quote, "So what does this life come down to? Following our Lord. What does it come down to, following our Lord? He says, witnessing. He answers, no. Praying, no. Teaching, no. Singing, no. Preaching, no. Giving, no. Working, no. Following Him. All of these things flow out of following Him. Following the church, no. Following Him. It's very simple, isn't it? He says, follow Him. The rest will flow.”

He goes on to say, “what kind of path did He take? What kind of path did He take? He fell into the ground and died.”— Building on the analogy. That was the path. He fell into the ground and died. In other words, what God the Father wished Him to do was His determining principle.— “And I suggest to you,"— he goes on to say,— "you who are Christians in this audience, that the determining principle of your fruitfulness as a Christian, and your ultimate happiness as a Christian, will be the extent of which you follow Him and follow Him in death. Death to your pleasures. Death to your ambitions. Death to your goals. Those things are peculiarly yours, in which you put other things before the Lord Jesus Christ." End of quote.

Well, I must hasten. That brings us to the last thing He says here. He says in verse 26, "If anyone serves Me, the Father will honour him." Fourthly, a disciple of Jesus will be honoured. Will be honoured. Honoured. And it's a personal honour. I mean, if it's something that God is involved in personally, the Father will honour him. This is something the Father does.

And it's a promised honour. It's a promised honour. Not a wishful thinking honour. This is a promised honour. Christ promises this. "If anyone serves Me, the Father will honour him." He's holding out this promise to us. Whose acceptance are you interested in? Whose pleasure are you living for? Do you realize that if you follow Me, you have pleased the Father? This is acceptable to the Father. This is something the Father honours. God honours.

And notice it's a future honour. This is a future active "will honour." "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Come into the kingdom prepared for those who love My Son." And it may also be a martyr's honour. Maybe the same kind of glory that Jesus speaks of in verse 23 when He says, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." How is He going to be glorified? On a tree.

Look over to Mark chapter 10. Mark 10, look at verse 28. Mark 10, verse 28, Peter began to say to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You." Remember what was Peter's concern? This is right after the rich young ruler encounter. He's come to Christ. Jesus told that young man he had to take all of his possessions, sell them, give to the poor, follow Him. Then he would have treasure in heaven. The young man was saddened and went away grieving, the Bible tells us. And he was one who owned—for he was one who owned—much property. Jesus put His finger on his idol.

And Jesus talked about the difficulty in verse 23. “Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God." Why is it difficult? Well, because what is required to enter the kingdom of God is the loss of one's life to have His. Faith in Christ is that—the surrender of one's life to Him. And how many people who have much wealth think that it's real treasure. And compared to the value of knowing Christ, they consider it to be of a greater treasure and it causes them to live relying on their sense of independence from God, being dependent on no one else except their own wealth and power. That's why it's hard.

Verse 24, “the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were even more astonished, saying to Him, “Then who can be saved?" If this is what is required—the loss of one's life in this world, hatred of one's life in this world to follow the Son of God—then who can be saved?

And verse 27, “looking at them, Jesus said, With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God." Do you realize, do you realize, beloved, you, believer, are a human impossibility? That I'm a human impossibility? But you are what you are because it was possible with God. Who brought you to see the relative trash value of your life compared with knowing Jesus? Who brought you to the place of surrender to Him, brokenness, repentance from sin, turning to Him for life? Who did that? You didn't do that. God did that. No preacher did that in you. No pastor did that in you. No one did that. God did that in you. No amount of persuasion could have ever done that in you. God did that in you. He gave you sight. He shined His light into your heart. He made you know who Christ really is and what you really were. He did that.

“And Peter,”— verse 28,—”began to say to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You." Lord, what about us? What about us? This is us. This is what's been done in us. What about us?

Look at verse 29. “Jesus said, Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake, except one who will receive one hundred times as much now in the present age—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life." Isn't it wonderful that when you lose everything for the sake of Christ and the gospel, at that very moment, you gain everything? That is, you have fellowship with God, and in terms of all that you've lost, you've gained a hundredfold.

You say, what do you mean? Well, I mean that in this precious body, for example, I have houses. I mean, if something, God forbid, were to happen to my family, would you not take care of us? Well, you could say the same thing yourself. I have brothers and sisters. Maybe somebody here in this congregation, because of your relationship with Jesus Christ, you've lost your relationship with your earthly brother. Do you realize you have brothers here? You have sisters. You have fathers.

Some of you, you don't have any grandparents for your kids. They don't want anything to do with you because you walk with Jesus, but you have fathers, and mothers, and grandfathers, and your kids have people in Christ who love them, and are willing to teach them, and look out for them. You lost everything, but you gained everything. And let us not miss the point. Let us not miss the note—end of verse 30—along with persecutions. It's listed among the blessings of God.

Matthew 5:10–12, right? Makarios. “Blessed are you when you are persecuted for my name's sake.” You receive. You gain that, too. And this may be how the Lord chooses to glorify Himself and honor you, honor your faith in Christ, and in the age to come, eternal life. The Gospel presents a great apparent paradox. To have life, there must be death. Christ had to die in order for there to be a harvest. His death ensured a harvest. We had to die in order to enter His harvest, and that was not from us. That was a gift from God. The repentance that we experienced and the faith that we had in Christ was a result of regeneration, but then there's also this truth. We may have to die in order to see more into the harvest. We've lost our lives to gain Christ. Now, would we be willing to lose our life to see others gain Christ? We've gained houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, but are we willing to receive, also, persecutions for His sake and the Gospel's sake? And if in God's wisdom and sovereign plan, it becomes really difficult to be a Christian, if it really begins to cost more than it ever cost to be a disciple, will we be found where our Master is? Will we be found following Him? If we're truly His servants, we will buy the grace of God. Only buy the grace of God. As I close this morning, I wonder, what is it today that is more important in your life than Christ? What would you say that is? Let me put it this way. What would He put His finger on Himself and say, is it Me or is it that? Is it Me or is it them? Is it Me or is it her? Is it Me or is it him? Is it Me or is it that job, that career? Is it Me or is it acceptance of your family, acceptance of your peers? Is it Me or is it your reputation? Is it Me or is it that gain? Is it Me? Is it Me? And may we all be able to say today, “for to me, to live is Christ.” —and only then we would be able to say,— “and to die is” —what?— “gain.” Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

We return to our study in the Word of God, the section of God's Word. We're studying verses- particularly verses 2 through 10 slowly, which is in a very real sense, could be called a Paul's paragraph of praise to God, as he thinks about those believers there in Thessaloniki. He recounts the different things which give him occasion when he seeks the face of God and thinks of the people there at Thessaloniki. He finds it easy to give thanks to God, as he says in verse 2, "We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers," remembering,”-verse 4- “knowing.”

So as we studied together; he rejoiced in remembering certain things, three, particularly three cardinal virtues, those three crowning jewels manifested in them, verse 3, and then he rejoiced because of something he knew. And we saw last week that when the gospel of Jesus Christ comes in power, it will always—always, inevitably—produce this glad, warm reception of the Word. Verse 6, "You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received"—that beautiful word, dechomai, to receive with warm embrace and welcome—the Word of God.
They rejoiced at the Word of God. They embraced the Word of God with joy in the midst of affliction, and not just affliction but much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit. And the first indication of the effectual call of God, the call of God that is more than an invitation, but is a powerful laying hold of the sinner, drawing him into a living relationship with Jesus, is that he suddenly welcomes the Word of God with delight. The Word perhaps prior to that he's regarded with indifference or with mere intellectual objectivity suddenly becomes the Word for which his soul thirsts… yearns. "Your Word came to me and I ate them."

Now when the Gospel comes in power and that Word is received, there will always be two immediate effects, Paul tells us. Always, always. No ifs and buts. Verse 6 and 7 describe those effects for us. In verse 6, "You became imitators of us and of the Lord." That's the first effect. And the second one is in verse 7, "You became a model to all the believers." When the Word is received in such a way that it is a spirit, raw reception of that Word, then men will become imitators of the faithful servants of Christ and Christ Himself.

And that word, imitators, is the Greek word from which we get the word mimic, mímos. It's the word mimic we saw last week. Literally, they became mimics, imitators. And in turns, having become imitators of the proper model, they became themselves models to others.
Now in verses 8 through 10, Paul—and this is where our focus is tonight—Paul enlarges upon that thought and tells us in telling them what it means to be a model to all the believers. Now why could Paul say that these people had become a model to all the believers? Why? Paul answers that question in verses 8 through 10. And the first thing that confronts us is this phrase in verse 8, "For the Word of the Lord has sounded forth from you."

So let us consider first the fact that there was a sounding forth of the Word in verse 8. And then in verse 9, we'll consider the manner of this sounding forth of the Word. And then verses 8 through 10, we'll put our arms around them. We will see some of the important lessons contained in the sounding forth of the Word. We'll see how far we will go-we will get.
So verse 8 then declares to us the fact that from that group of people in Thessaloniki, the believers there, the Word of the Lord, Paul says, "has sounded forth." And I want us to really zero in on this expression, “sound forth.” This word in Greek, exēcheō, is an interesting word. This is the only instance in which this word is used in the New Testament. And it's a word that you would use if you were trying to describe the blast of a trumpet. It has the connotation of a clear ringing sound.

Well, you remember it's a trumpet that was used even in the midst of the battle of foot soldiers, and the clanging of swords, and shields, and armor upon armor. But when one of the leaders would sound his trumpet above all the tumult and the noise of the battle, the trumpet is piercing. The trumpet could be heard, make no mistake about it. And so Paul says, amidst all of the ruckus and all of the confusion of human life, and human existence, and human conflict, from you people there at Thessaloniki, there went out this clear ringing, discernible, penetrating note of the Word of the Lord. A very strong word.

Well, the question we must ask: what sounded forth? What sounded forth? Well, he tells us. The text tells us. He describes it here as the Word of the Lord. From you people there in Thessaloniki went out, like the clarion call of a trumpet, the Word, the message of the Lord.
Now, why does he call it the Word of the Lord? Well, to put it simply, because God is the author of it. He's the Author of it. Whatever went out from them, it was His Word. It was God's Word, not man's word, not man's opinion. It was God's Word. He gave it. And it was deposited in them as a church by the Apostle. And it was a word that pointed toward Him, toward the Lord. It was a word from the Lord, and a word that pointed to the Lord. It was the Word of the Lord.

And it's particular. It's particular. It was the Word of the Lord. There aren't six words of the Lord, or seven. We can pick and choose what we like, what we don't like, what suits us best. This is not a buffet. All of that is bound up in the way Paul writes this, for "the Word of the Lord has sounded forth from you."

Here's another question to ask. Well, where was it sounded? Well, he tells us again. Look at verse 8: "not only in Macedonia and Achaia"—that is, northern and southern Greece—not only in these places. It was sounded forth, as he mentioned in verse 7: you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. But also, verse 8, he tells us- "in every place your faith toward God has gone forth."

Paul is saying, wherever I go, I find that the Word of the Lord has already gone out from you people. He said, I can't go anywhere, but I hear about you people, how the Word of the Lord sounded forth from you. I go into Macedonia, there I hear about you, sounding forth the Word of God. I go into Achaia, there I hear about you. I go somewhere else, I hear about you. The trumpet apparently was blown quite loudly, very intensely. Paul could hear it all over that section as he would carry out his missionary journeys.

Now, what in particular was sounded forth—and this is really interesting—for "the Word of the Lord," look at the text, "has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place." Now, what was the particular note that was sounded? Here it is: "your faith toward God has gone forth." Amazing. Wherever Paul went, he heard the report that these people had become indeed true, genuine, authentic believers in the living and true God, and in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Paul said, from this place has gone out the Word of the Lord, and the message that you people, who were idolaters, have become believers in the true and living God, the only God. And the report was so widespread, so powerful, he concludes that verse by saying, "so that we have no need to say anything." We have no need to say anything. In other words, the Word of the Lord sounded forth from you comprehensively. I don't need to add anything to your witness, and when I come into a new town, I don't need to tell them what wonderful things God had done in Thessaloniki. The reports beat me there.

You will find several times in the book of Acts that Paul and his companions, when they were making their rounds of the churches, would report what God had done among the Gentiles. But he said, I didn't need to make a report. I didn't need to do anything like that. I go there, I stand up in the assembly, and one of the elders perhaps recognizes me, and I say, I'd love to tell you people what God has done in Thessaloniki. They say, well, sit down Paul, we've already heard it. No need to say anything. I don't need to say anything, anything. The report has preceded me. Everywhere I go, the message has gone out.

So in verse 8, you have this fact established that from the center, that center at Thessaloniki, the Word of the Lord has sounded forth like a clarion trumpet.

By way of application, mark it down, beloved. You can mark it down. A transformed people, a genuinely transformed people, genuinely saved people, transformed by a saving reception of the gospel, will always become a testifying people. Always. If you know the Lord, it's in your heart to make the Lord known. You wrestle, you struggle, you become timid at times, you fight the good fight, but it is in your heart so that transformed people become testifying people.
And he says, this was on display in the church at Thessaloniki. They received the word, then they sounded forth the word. They didn't receive it and keep it to themselves. They received it and they sounded it forth. Now verse 9 answers the question, what was the manner in which this word of the Lord was sounded forth? The manner of the sounding forth, verse 9, he tells us there that their witness was demonstrative. Their witness was demonstrative. Their witness says something not only about the work of God in them, but about God's work that had come to them. It says something about Paul. It says something about his missionary theme. It says something about the legitimacy of the work that God had done in and through him.

Look at verse 9: "For they themselves report about us." They're giving a report about you, but as they give a report about you, what's also happening? They are reporting about us—what kind of an interest we had with you and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come." What had come out of Thessaloniki spoke of what had arrived in Thessaloniki.

They are an evangelistic people. They are an evangelistic people. This is an evangelistic church, and again I say, beloved, a transformed people become a testifying people, and the reality of their transformation on display in the reality of their witness, the reality of their testimony, as they're spreading the word of God faithfully, vibrantly, expansively, comprehensively, it all becomes demonstrative of what had come to Thessaloniki with Paul and his missionary team.

How do the Thessalonians testify to the legitimacy, the genuineness, the trustworthiness of Paul's ministry? By the very change that God had wrought in their lives, and I want us to see this. This is quite important. It's not just their message, the word sounded forth, but it wasn't without being accompanied by something else. It's the transformation of them, their lives, accompanied by that radical transformation.

Paul says, the message of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in word, but also by the powerful eloquence of your transformed lives as a result. For he says, wherever we go, this is what we meet. In Macedonia, Achaia, every place, your faith toward God has gone forth, not just your message about God, not just the fact that you're teaching people about Him and pointing to Him, but your faith toward God has gone forth as well. So that the manner in which the Gospel or the word of God, the word of the Lord, to use the term here in verse 8, has sounded forth from this church was not just verbal communication of the Gospel, but it was also accompanied by this powerful eloquence of transformed lives, always.

And there is a great theological or what we might call doctrinal lesson here for us, and it is this: mark it down, don't forget it, put it down, saving faith is inseparably joined to true repentance.
 
Let me say that again, saving faith is inseparably joined to genuine repentance, true repentance.

Notice carefully the connection, and it's here in the word of God. Verse 8, it says, "Also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth." What has gone forth was that these people had become believers in the true God. Now, how did people describe their faith? Verse 9: "For they themselves report about us what kind of an entrance we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait for His Son from heaven." Verse 8, "In every place your faith toward God has gone forth." Verses 9 and 10 describe that faith as a faith that produced something. Produced what? Look at it—a turning to God from idols to serve the Lord and to wait for His Son from heaven, indicating that in the thinking of these people, there was an inseparable relationship between saving faith, faith toward God, and true repentance, turning from idols to serve the living and the true God.

Do you have faith in God? You can sit here and say, oh, I believe in God. Do you have faith in God? You know, that's sort of—let me say this—that's a sort of an anemic phrase in our day, unfortunately. It's an anemic phrase in our day. You know, everybody, oh, I have faith in God, sure, sure, I have faith in God, of course, of course I have faith in God. Do you have faith in God? Let me say it again. Do you truly have faith in God?

Listen, if it's biblical faith, biblical faith in the biblical God, then these things will be just as true of you as they were of the Thessalonians. If your faith toward God is that faith, which is the gift of God, spoken of in Ephesians 2, then the report should go out from you that you too have turned to God from your darling idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for His Son from heaven. For true faith is inseparably joined to biblical repentance.

Conversion, true conversion, involves a turning. Always. Notice, notice verse 9, how Paul puts it—how you, what? Turned. Turned. Epistrephō is the verb, and it's a powerful word, which means to turn around, turn completely around—not just a little bit here, a little bit, no, no, it's a turning around. It means to turn around in the opposite direction. Like if you're going downtown, but you're going 404 north, you're going the wrong direction. Repentance is when you actually exit and take southbound 404 towards DVP. You can't be going northbound and say, you know, “oh, I'm so sorry, I feel horrible. I feel horrible. I'm going to be late, and I know I'm going the wrong direction. I feel terrible.” But you keep on going north. You have to exit, and you have to turn around. You have to turn around. It means to turn around in the opposite direction.

Their lives had been turned around by the power of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want us to see this, how the word, this word, is used in the scripture, used physically in the scripture, and you get a sense of the meaning. Mark 5:30. Mark 5:30. You remember one time Jesus was going through a crowd of people, and a man named Jairus came up to Him and said, my daughter, Lord, my daughter is at the point of death. Would You come and heal my daughter? And she will live. Jesus said, I will. I will come, yes.(Mark 5:22-24) And it was so tight, packed around Him, that He began to walk through the crowd, could barely get through the crowd of people.

And you remember how that woman with the issue of blood reached out, and just, she was desperate for the tip of the hem of His garment, and touched Him. And the Bible says, verse 30, "And immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, what did He do? Epistrephō. Same verb. turned around in the crowd and was saying, 'Who touched My garments?” Same word. So Jesus stopped in His tracks. He was going in this direction. He stopped, and He turned completely around in the opposite direction. This is precisely the word, Epistrephō.

1 Thessalonians 1:9. Use that word. Same word. Paul uses it under inspiration, when he says, how you turned. How you turned. "You turned to God from idols"—your life was dramatically changed. This verb, Epistrephō, also is in the Aorist tense. And if you're familiar with the Greek language at all, you will see that this is very precise language, and far more precise than our English language, especially when it comes to verb tenses. And this is an Aorist tense verb, which indicates that this turning was an immediate, decisive change. It was definitive. It was decisive. It was life-altering encounter. They turned.

Conversion, beloved, always involves a complete change over. Complete change. Here's the word that we can use, really, to describe this turning around. It was a radical change. Radical change. Let me put it this way: God never half-saves anyone. Never, never, never, never. Conversion is not the turning around of an 18-wheeler in a tiny area, where you can't turn completely around. Conversion is the turning around of a, maybe, smart car, where there's plenty of room for that life to be turned around.

Conversion involves the changing of the entire person at the deepest level. It involves a change of mind. It involves a change and a turning of the heart. It involves the turning of the will. All three. Not one, not two out of the three, but all three. All of me. The entirety of the person's innermost being is turned in conversion. Their mind is turned from one way of thinking, the worldly thinking, to another way of thinking, a Gospel way of thinking. Their heart is turned from simply being cold and apathetic to now being broken and sorrowful over sin. And there's a turning of the will, a decisive dramatic change of the inner person that affects a turning of the outward life. It's radical transformation.

So it's a turning of the mind, the emotions, the will that results in the turning of the outward life, the direction of the life, the conduct of the life, the conversation of the life. You turn the heart, you turn the life. Right? The Bible says, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." The essence of any person's existence is what they are in their heart and in their soul, for out of the heart, Jesus says, "proceeds the issues of life." Conversion is a turning of the heart that in effect turns the entirety of life. The entire life is turned around.

And I want to say to us this evening that you cannot be converted without your entire life being turned. This is not perfection, but this is a complete radical change of direction. Total radical change in a person's life that turns them in a new direction.

Come with me to 1 Corinthians 6. I want us to see an example of this. 1 Corinthians 6. Oh, this is, beloved, very important. 1 Corinthians 6. We'll start with verse 9, that familiar portion of God's Word: "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."

This is who you were, but you're no longer that. Something dramatic took place. There was a radical transformation. There was a turning around in the opposite direction. What this is saying is that there's no way that someone can continue down that path as a pattern—all those sins and any sin, as a matter of fact—and can say, I'm a Christian, and not have their life dramatically turn around.

You cannot come to Christ and not be changed, for if you truly come, you will be a new person. It's not a decision that's just an empty decision. It's a life-changing encounter with a living, risen person, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what conversion is.

So let me ask you before we move on tonight, has your life been changed? Has your life been changed? You say you're a Christian, has your life been changed? You see, every single one of us ought to have our autobiography in two volumes—two volumes—and volume number one is B.C., before Christ, and at the moment of conversion, that starts volume number what? Two, and you become a new person in Christ, and there's a new nature, new heart, new disposition, new ambitions, new desires, new direction.

"Behold, if any man be in Christ, he is"—what?—"He is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come." Not just the temporary laying aside for a couple of weeks where you will pick it up again later on when it fades away. No, no, passed away. New things have come.

And this is not to say that we do not wrestle with temptation. This is not to say that there will not be entangling sins and besetting sins that we have to battle with day in and day out by the grace of God, but we are fighting from victory, not for victory, because we are no longer under the dominion of sin. What the Scripture is saying loud and clear, there will be a turning.
Now, let's go back to our passage, and let's now break these things down briefly. Turning, number one, turning to the living God in faith—this repentance, this turning around, turning to the living God in faith—meant, first of all, according to verse nine, a turning away from all false gods. When you turn to God, you're turning, inevitably, from other things, and Paul says turning to the living God in faith meant, first of all, according to this verse, a turning away from all false gods.

Verse nine: "For they themselves report about us what kind of an entrance we had with you, and how you turned to”- from-” how you turned to God from idols.” When the apostle Paul went into a pagan situation, he didn't have this idea that, well, you know, we must be careful. We must not disturb the existing structures. You just can't go in and just be negative. We must go in and be positive, right? And so I'll just go in with a nice, sweet, positive approach, and I'll so enamor these people with the truth that just by some automatic process, their false gods, and the rest will just kind of drop off.

Paul didn't have that philosophy of ministry. Actually, it's not even a philosophy of ministry. That's the philosophy of much, what passes in the name of Christ in our day, but when he went into a pagan situation where there was idolatry, what did he do? Well, what did he do? Well, we know. We know from the analogy of Scripture.

Turn with me to Acts 14. Acts 14, we have a clear answer to that question, and no doubt he probably did the same thing here because that's the pattern. That's his approach. Acts 14, verse 15. Here these people were about to worship Paul and Barnabas, in fact, gave them names after several of their Greek gods, but back up to verse 14, Acts 14:14: "But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out and saying, crying out,”-verse 15- “and saying, Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, proclaiming the gospel to you that you should turn from these,”- what?- “Vain things.” mataios, empty. Puff of wind, chasing the wind, pursuing one's own shadow. That's what the word means. You should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

He came with a very negative message. He said, we have to come and tell you and to preach to you that you should turn from these vanities. Turn your back upon all of them and acknowledge the true and the living God and approach Him through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and apparently there was the substance of Paul's message to the greater body of the Gentile community at Thessaloniki. This was his message there.

Acts 17 gives us the record of his initial evangelism amongst the Jews and the proselytes in the synagogue. But here from this context in 1 Thessalonians, the text that we're studying, we see that there was this idol worship and that their faith in God, being inseparably joined with true repentance, meant in the first place a turning away from every single false idol.

So I want to ask a very simple question this evening. Have you professed faith in the living and true God? You say “yes.” Wonderful. Has your professed faith in the living and true God been attended with a turning away from every false god? Oh, but you say we aren't idol worshipers. Aren't we? What is an idol? Any person or thing that is set up in the place of the true and living God as revealed in Scripture, that is revered, that is worshiped, that is served, that is honored.

And you don't need to frame your idol in wood or jade or stone. You don't need to shape him with a hammer and chisel. All you need to do is concoct a god out of the stuff of your own imagination, a god of your own making, and out of the prejudices and predisposed notions of your friends and peers and worship that god. That's idolatry. The greatest of all of those idols is the idol itself. And I'm convinced that great segments of professing Christendom are nothing but refined idolatry.

For the moment you begin to declare what the Scripture says about God, that He is the God Who sits upon the throne of absolute sovereignty, Who does according to His will in the armies of heaven and earth, they say, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. My God's not like that. Well, who is your god then? The minute you begin to declare the God of the Bible, that He is the God revealed in this very passage who has reserved wrath for all of His enemies and Who will punish them with everlasting destruction in a place called hell, people say, no, no, no, no, no. My God wouldn't send people to hell. Who is that god then? Who is your god? He's an idol. He's not the living and true God.

For the God revealed in Scripture is the only true and living God. And He's the God revealed as the absolute Sovereign, the judge of the universe, and as the God who will punish with everlasting destruction those who defy His rule, who reject His Son. “I don't know, but my God is not that exclusive. You know, Jesus, I'm the way, the truth, all, there are other roads. I mean, there are sincere people all around the…”-Then you're worshiping an idol.

Have you turned from idols to the living and true God? Or is your god simply the concoction of your own theories about Him? Maybe your sweet, old Sunday school teacher's theories—who knows nothing about God, who knows about Christ, but doesn't know Christ—and the world's ideas about Him. All sort of, you know, meshed together, thrown together so that what you have is like Aaron when he gave into the demands of the people and said, "Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, your daughters, bring them to me." And they threw it all into a pot and then came out and was shaped into the golden calf and the product of all of their contribution of the people of Israel.

Is that your god? Just a product, the sum total of the contributions of your thoughts and your pseudo-Christian parents, perhaps thoughts of professing Sunday school teachers, or is He the God revealed in the Word of God? So I ask again, have you turned, apo-from. Apo- literally away from? It's a decisive turning away. Apo, of separation. Turning away of location, local separation, departing, fleeing, any kind of separation of one thing from another by which the union or fellowship of the two is destroyed, one Greek lexicon puts it.

If your faith is genuine—genuine faith—it's been inseparably joined to true repentance. And the first element of repentance, or the elements of the first elements of repentance are these: turning away from all false gods and a turning to the living God. And I love that, turning to the living and true God. You see, you turn from, but you're turning to. We're called out from the world, but we're called out too. We're holy, saints, meaning separated ones, separated from, separated unto. It's always like that.

And by the way, this phrase, turning to the living God, is pregnant with meaning. Now, here's the positive aspect of conversion, and it always, always, always, always, beloved, involves a turning to God. Allow me to state the obvious. It's never a turning to religion. It's never a turning to a reformation. It's never a turning to rituals. It's never a turning to a friend. It's only a turning to the living God, the true God.

And in the strictest sense, it's not just a turning to the Word of God, but a turning to the God of the Word through the Word of God. The Word of God points us to the God of the Word. You see, you can have the Bible and not have God, because you can read the Bible for the sake of reading the Bible, but if you read the Bible because you want to meet God, you want to see God, you want to know God, then blessed be God. It's a turning to God.

And I want to comment on this word, too, to God, found in our text. Tiny preposition, familiar with. It's that Greek preposition, pros. The expression itself is pros ton theos . It means, in many contexts, face-to-face with. Intimate relationship. Remember our passage in John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Right? "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was pros ton theos." Face-to-face with God. It means face-to-face with, in closest, most intimate relationship, in closest fellowship with, and John tells us that the Son of God, God the Son, was in intimate, face-to-face relationship with God the Father. Closest fellowship with God the Father.

It's the same word, pros, used here in 1 Thessalonians 1:9, how you turned pros ton theos. You turned to face-to-face fellowship with God. You entered now into an intimate, personal, loving relationship, and at that moment, you began a sweet fellowship with God. And at the very deep level of your heart, down in your soul, down in your spirit, you were face-to-face with God for the very first time in your life.

Before that, you knew about false gods, idols, and in that moment, when you were introduced to the living God, the true God, you came to really know God. John 17:3: "Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." That's what conversion is. It's a turning to God that enters into the deepest, personal relationship with God. Religion is external, relationship is internal, and that's what conversion does.

Come with me to the book of Acts, Acts 9, verse 35. I'm gonna be reading at verse 32, but verse 35 is what I want us to see. Acts 9:32: “Now, it happened that as Peter was traveling through all the regions, all those regions, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda, and there he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Rise up, make your bed. Immediately he rose up.”-Verse 35:- "And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, saw the paralytic,”- and now watch this- “and they turned to the Lord." They turned to the Lord.

Miracles in the New Testament serve to authenticate the message and the messengers, and not to underwrite their financial expenses. Just a side note, every conversion involved a turning. And second, it involved a turning to the Lord, a turning from, turning to.

Acts 11, verse 21. It says in verse 19, they were speaking the word to Jews only, and it says in verse 20, they were preaching the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 21 says, "And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord." You see, again and again, saving faith is never passive intellectual acknowledgement of some facts. It's always an active, volitional choice of the will by the grace of God, whereby the sinner turns to God and embraces God by faith and receives His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And when Paul says to the Thessalonians, how you turn to God, it speaks about a whole new focus in the direction of their lives. Whereas once their interests, their standards, their morals, their goals, their ambitions, were either framed by their understanding of the wishes of the false god, or by their depraved notions of their own hearts, now their ambitions, their standards, their morals, their conduct, all of life was framed because of this new directive: you turned to God.

Life was now lived in the context of face-to-face relationship with the true and the living God.
It's always one of the attendance of true faith. Your faith toward God has gone forth. Verse nine, “you turned to God from idols,”-and then he says,-”you turned with a disposition not only to receive the benefits of His salvation, but also to submit to the implications of His rule."

Look at it, verse nine: "you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God." And again, we see here very clearly, true repentance, biblical repentance, authentic repentance, repentance according to Scripture, always, always involves not only a turning away from false gods and all mental allegiance to that god, that false god, but also a turning away from volitional allegiance to the false god, and now the swearing of allegiance to the living and true God.

"You turned to serve a living and a true God." He didn't say you turned to get away from the wrath of the living God, to go scot-free, to do as you please, live your life the way you want to live it, and then at some subsequent point in time, you thought maybe it's nice—a nice idea—that I ought to begin to serve this God. No, no, this is just teaching the basic doctrine of the lordship of Jesus Christ. Being involved in the response of true faith, using different terminology, but the same concept that all true faith in God is inseparably joined to basic subjection of the will to this God.

In fact, the verb translated serve, douleuō, comes from the Greek noun doulos, doulos, which is translated means slave, which means one in this context -biblical context- one who would be willing, or who would willingly, made willing by the grace of God to serve his master. In other words, it's an obedience from the heart. The willing slave is one who could have been set free to do something else, but he chooses—by the grace of God, be compelled—to stay and serve his master out of love and devotion for the master. That's the word used here, but it's in the verb form. So he takes doulos, slave, he turns it into a verb, and he says, you now serve God voluntarily. He's your Master, He's your Lord. You belong to Him, He bought you with a precious price.

Now you serve Him from the heart. You don't need to be manipulated to serve Him. You don't have to have a pep talk to serve God. The Lordship of Christ is so real in your life, and the sacrifice of Christ upon Calvary's cross, so real that there flows out of your soul the desire from the heart to serve Him willingly and with delight. Because of what God has done for you in Christ, you find yourself wanting to invest all of you in serving Him, living for Him, in this life and in eternity.

Child of God, can you relate to that? Does it resonate with you today, the desire to want to serve God? The love of Christ constrains us. I will gladly spend and be spent. I just want to serve Him. I want to live for Him. He's my life. He's not a compartment in my life, He is my life.
It begins a dynamic relationship whereby you invest your life serving others because you serve Christ. You turn from your idols, you turn to God. It's not static position. That's what Paul is saying here, and he describes it in greater detail in Romans 6, verse 17: "But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were given over," and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

"But now having been freed from sin"—he says in verse 22, Romans 6—"and enslaved to God, you have your benefit leading to sanctification, and the end, eternal life." And then he says you turn not only from the false god to the true God, the living God, with a disposition to be submissive to Him.

But notice verse 10, the first part of verse 10: "and to wait for His Son from heaven." And in order to exposit that, you have to also wait until next week, Lord willing. Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

God will be glorified. God will be glorified. He will be glorified because He is worthy of all the glory, every ounce of it. And He will be glorified because He is God. He's sovereign. He's utterly sovereign. He's almighty. And it is His will that no one can thwart—that He will put His glory on display. And so He will be glorified. And His glory He will not give to another. God will be glorified.

Christ said here, “‘It was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.’" (John 12: 27b, 28) He will be glorified, and He will be glorified whether men wanted Him to be glorified or not. He will be glorified even if all the nations and all their armies were joining together to somehow try to stop it. He will be glorified. And He will be glorified in ways that men would never imagine.

In fact, there are times when God glorifies Himself even in man's desire to refuse to give Him glory. Even in that, He glorifies Himself. God is so powerful, so sovereign, that even from the lips of men who have no desire in their hearts to glorify God, God is able to glorify Himself nevertheless. We saw an example of this, right? In Caiaphas, when he unwittingly prophesied the meaning of the death of Jesus on behalf of the nation.

And I want to suggest that we see another example of that right here in these verses that we have before us that I want us to see this morning. And where we begin this morning is this: the request of some Greeks, or the coming of some Greeks. Let's begin with the coming of some Greeks.

Look at verse 20, "Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these men came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, 'Sir, we wish to see Jesus.' Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.'"

The coming of some Greeks. And as we look at these verses, as I looked at these verses this week, I always begin with some questions. One of the best ways that you could study the Bible is, in dependence on the Holy Spirit, to ask questions. Ask questions.

And the first questions I had were, who were these Greeks? Who are these Greeks? "There were some Greeks among those who were going up," the text says, "to worship at the feast." Who were these Greeks? And the answer is, they were simply Gentiles. They were Gentiles. I make the distinction because these were not Greek-speaking Jews, Hellenistic Jews. These are Gentiles.

The word that John uses under inspiration here is Ἕλληνες (Hellēnes). It's a word that is most often used for Greek people, particularly used even beyond that to Gentiles. There's another word, Ἑλληνιστής (Hellēnistēs), used for the Greek-speaking Jews, translated Hellenist—a Hellenist, a Jew by birth. For example, Acts chapter 6 and verse 1, you see an example of that word being used, but that is not the word that John uses here. The word he uses is Ἕλληνες. It's a word used for Gentiles. These are Greek people.

Well, if these are Gentiles, well, what are they doing at the feast? A Jewish feast. Well, we're told that they went up to worship. And that indicates to us that they were God-fearing Gentiles. They were proselytes. They were worshiping Gentiles—Gentiles who joined themselves to Jews in worshiping the one true God, Yahweh. And so here they are. They've made their pilgrimage to the Passover, and they're there to worship.

Another question: When did this request take place? Where were they when this request took place? Well, we're not told. The text doesn't tell us. John doesn't tell us. He doesn't give us any time indicators here. So it's unlikely this was on the day of the triumphal entry. It's probably the day after or another day after that. It's possible this took place at the temple—perhaps, most likely, even at the court of the Gentiles. We're not told, however.

Another question: Why do they want to see Jesus? Why? They asked to see Him. "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Why? Why do they wish to see Jesus? I think when you look at the passage as a whole, when you hear the answers that we're going to hear in a moment that Jesus gives, I think it is right to understand that they do have a genuine authority and they do have a genuine, authentic desire—interest, really—in the Son of God. This was an authentic, genuine desire to know Jesus. They have some knowledge of who He is. They've heard something about Him. And they want to meet Him. They want to know Him.

And so even in their request—and we'll get into this in a moment—I think even in their request, there's a foreshadowing of the purpose for which Christ had come into this world. File that for a moment. And so these Gentiles are asking to see the Son of God.

Here's another question: Why do they approach Philip? They go to Philip. Philip goes to Andrew. Together they go to Christ. Well, why did they approach Philip? I mean, it could have been just the fact that he was the one available at that moment. It could have just been, as we would say, you know, accidental that they went to Philip. But we know nothing is accidental.

It's interesting, though, that John tells us—well, why does he tell us that Philip was from Bethsaida? There's a point that he's making under inspiration. It's interesting, though, that John tells us that he was from Bethsaida. And by the way, Andrew is from there as well. James Montgomery Boyce points out that Bethsaida was near a Greek area of the ancient east known as Syrophoenicia. It's all part of the Decapolis, ten cities there that was replete with Gentiles and Greek population. And so it may have been, it's even possible that there was some acquaintance perhaps here, that they knew Philip perhaps.

Now, what we know is that Philip's name is a Greek name, Φίλιππος (Philippos). And Andrew's name is a Greek name, Ἀνδρέας (Andreas), as well. And so it just may be that these men overheard the name. Perhaps they feel an affinity for these men because of their Greek names. Whatever the reason, they come to Philip in a very respectful way. "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." A respectful way that reflects their respect for Philip's master, for Philip's teacher. And so they have a knowledge of His teacher and they have a genuine interest in Christ.

I love what S. Lewis Johnson said at this point. And I agree with him. He said, quote, "I'd like to suggest to you before we go on, that the fact that the Greeks or the Gentiles came to the apostles and said we want to see Jesus, and it's safe to say that it is for spiritual instruction, that that suggests to us the failure of everything that is Gentile apart from Christ." He goes on to say, "I would suggest to you that it suggests the failure of intellect. Remember 1 Corinthians 1:22, Greeks search for what? Wisdom. If these were really Greeks and they were, of course, the thinkers of the ancient age,"—he goes on—"it would suggest the failure of intellect, but at least it would suggest the failure of the intellect of the Gentiles and finding truth. It would suggest the failure of culture, the failure of refinement, the failure of beauty, the failure of wisdom. In fact, the failure of man, the failure of Gentile men to find the answers to the questions of life. Sir, we wish to see Jesus."

The coming of these Greeks. That leads us to a second thing that I want us to see here, the contrast. The contrast with the Pharisees. And this is really amazing. Think about it with me. Think about it with me. One of the things that we notice in the Gospel of John is John is pretty good at time indicators. I mean, over and over again, you'll see things like, and “on the next day”, or as we saw it earlier here in this chapter, “it was six days before the Passover.” Verse 1. John is very good about time indicators, yet he doesn't give us any indication of time here. He doesn't tell us what day it occurred on, doesn't tell us what hour of the day, doesn't even tell us where they were when this occurred.

Well, that says something to us. And I believe what it says to us is that what is utmost in his mind is not the time or the location, but rather something else. There's something else far more significant. It's not the time when this happened. It is the place where John is going to put it in his account under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Remember, there were many things that occurred during the time that John spent with Jesus that he did not record in this Gospel. Many things, many conversations, many events. In fact, John himself tells us in John 21:25, he says that if I were to put all of what Jesus did and said down, he said that “the world could not contain all the things that he could have recorded.” (John 21:25)

So right away, you know, whatever you find in the Gospel of John, it has a strategic purpose. It's meant to lead us to a right knowledge of Jesus. It's meant to lead us to an understanding of our Savior, of the Savior. He said, I'm writing these things. These are for the purpose that you may know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And knowing this, that you believe in His name.

So what is most important here is not when it occurred, but where John puts it. And notice, you notice he puts it right on the heels of something that the Pharisees said back in verse 19. They said, "You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him." The world. The world has gone after Him.

Now, of course, when they say the world, they don't mean the world, the entire world. They're thinking in terms of the response of the Jews as He's making His way into the city of Jerusalem. The triumphal entry, people singing Hosanna. They're singing praises to Christ. And they look at the response of the Jews and they say the nation, that is what they mean. The nation, the entire nation has gone after Him. The world has gone after Him. Everybody is going after Him.

But I want to suggest this morning that by the strategic placement of this account, that John sees in their words—that the Holy Spirit rather sees in their words—again, one of those unconscious statements that means much more than they ever realized, that out of their mouths come words that glorify God, that speak the truth. The world has gone after Him. And right after this, we're told, Greeks, Gentiles, they come seeking to know Him. "Sir, we want to see Jesus.” We wish to see Jesus. There's a contrast.

And the Holy Spirit is presenting us with the irony that is present in the response of these Gentiles to Jesus, compared to the response of the Pharisees. Notice with me, first of all, there's a contrast in attitude. A contrast in attitude. The Pharisees are resentful. They are resistant. They want to eliminate the Lord Jesus. They are defiant. They are hardened. But the Gentiles come on this occasion and they are drawn. They're attracted. They're interested. And they desire to seek out the Lord Jesus, not eliminate Him. They want to know Him. Contrast in attitudes.

There's also a striking contrast in terms of access. Now you know the Pharisees were Jews. To them belonged all the privileges and all the advantages that God in His sovereign plan had provided for that people. Romans 3 verse 1, Paul says, "Then, what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?" Verse 2, "Great.” This is Paul's response—”great in every respect.” Great in every respect. He says, great in every respect. And then he says this: "First of all”, that is, above all, we talk about their privileges, "above all, they were entrusted with the oracles of God."

The Jews were given divine revelation. The divine revelation of Scripture. So that they had all the prophecies that proclaimed what they were going to see when their Messiah arrives on the scene. They had all that for preparation. And the Gentiles didn't have that. None of it. Romans 9 verse 4 says, "Israelites, to whom belong the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises." To them belong the patriarchs, verse 5, "whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen."

What divine preparation has been given to these people, so that they may recognize their Messiah when He comes. And yet, yet we see again and again, especially here, despite all of that preparation, all of the privilege, the Pharisees don't know who He is. They don't recognize Him. They don't love Him. They don't submit to Him. They had access to Him, even in terms of His earthly ministry. They had access—in fact, they had amazing access to Him. If they wanted to know Him, they could have easily entreated Him. There were many interactions with them and Jesus. They could have easily spent time with Him. They could have easily asked Him questions.

In fact, notice how Jesus Himself puts it in Mark 14, when Jesus is being arrested, verse 48. You read the following, Mark 14, verse 48, “And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me? As you would against a robber?’” Verse 49, “‘Every day I was with you within the temple teaching and you did not cease me, but this has taken plan in order that the scripture would be fulfilled.’”

Jesus says, Was I not with you every single day? Didn't you have access to me every single day? Wasn't I in the temple teaching, and you every day? I mean, what amazing access the Jews had to Him. What amazing privilege the Jews had. And yet, they don't see Him. They don't see Him. They don't recognize Him.

And yet, here are these Greeks, Gentiles, who had none of this, none of these advantages by birth. In fact, they had to request to meet Him. And here's another evidence that they were indeed Gentiles. You notice the hesitancy on the part of Philip. Philip says, let me go and talk to Andrew. Maybe he was the head deacon, I don't know, or usher. And Philip and Andrew go to Jesus. Here are people who, when they wanted to worship the true and living God, didn't have the same access in the temple area that the Jews had. I mean, after becoming a proselyte, even after a circumcision, there was, what? A section dedicated to what? To Gentiles who actually become God-fearer. It's called the Court of the Gentiles. And there's that partition wall, that wall of separation between the two. They didn't have the same access.

So there's this contrast in attitude. And what makes the attitude contrast so amazing is that there's this contrast in privilege. This contrast in access. This contrast in terms of availability and familiarity with that which should make someone receive Jesus. And the Pharisees had it all. All of it. And they missed Him. They completely missed Him. The Gentiles had little. And they desperately seek Him. They seek Him.

You know, beloved, we see the same sort of amazing thing in salvation history throughout, don't we? We see it to our own day, even. You'll see people who are raised around the gospel all their life. They hear it all their life. They're surrounded by the gospel. They hear it inside their homes. They hear it inside the church, the Sunday school, kids camp, and Christian schools. They're surrounded by the gospel. And yet, they do not come to the Savior. They miss Him.

And then there'll be someone who had very little privilege in terms of familiarity with the gospel and being trained up in the arena of sound doctrine, and they hear the gospel. And the Lord saves them. And what is God doing when He does this? You know, He's reminding us that He saves sinners. He saves sinners. And He's not limited either, is He? He can save them in strange places. There's been people saved sitting in weak, anemic churches and the Lord just in His grace and mercy visits them and saves them. In fact, there are people sitting here this morning who were saved in churches that they would never sit in today, but the Lord saved them. The Lord is a Savior.

So you have a contrast in attitude, you have a contrast in access. There's another contrast here that's being put before us. There's a contrast in terms of the ages. Contrast in terms of the ages. That is, there's a new age about to dawn as Jesus speaks His words here, a new era, a new time in terms of the working out of God's salvation purpose. God is about to turn from Israel to the nations. He's about to set the nation of Israel aside for a time. God is about to bring about a new thing. God is about to do something new. Jesus is going to build His church and that church will mean the inclusion of the Gentiles. And very soon the Lord is going to build His church and in that church Jew and Gentile will stand on equal footing at the foot of the cross.

I said that in verse 19 you have words that mean more than they knew. “The world”, they say, “is going after Him.” And here right after those words you have what is a foreshadowing of the coming of the world to Christ, the coming of the Gentiles to Jesus. Do you realize, beloved, that we're living in a new age? We're living in a new age. Do you realize that we are living at the end of the ages? 1st Corinthians 10:11. “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have arrived.” We're living in a distinct time.

Turn with me to Romans 11. Romans 11. Romans 11 speaks of this. Look at verse 7 now. "What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but the chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; just as it is written, 'God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day.'” And David says, “'Let their table become a snare and a trap, and a stumbling block and a retribution to them. Let their eyes be darkened to see not, and bend their backs forever.'"

I say then, did they stumble so as to fall—notice this national rejection, not every single Jew rejected Christ, the elect were saved, but you look at the nation of Israel as a whole and they rejected their Messiah—and what does that mean in terms of the future? Paul asked the question in verse 11, what does it mean in terms of the future? He says, "I say then, did they stumble so as to fall?” That is, is God completely done completely finished with a national ethnic Israel? And what's the answer he gives? The strongest negative reply in the Greek language μὴ γένοιτο (mè genoito) “May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness be!"

How much more will their full inclusion mean? This is a time we're living in right now, the time of the Gentiles. God is—God is is gathering in Gentiles through the preaching of the gospel in great numbers. Jews are being saved in small numbers. You go back to the Old Testament, Jews were saved in great numbers, Gentiles were saved in small numbers. We're living in a distinct, different age. But this age will come to an end, and when it comes to an end, there's going to be a great salvation work of God in the nation of Israel, and there's going to be a full inclusion. God is going to do this.

Look at verse 13, "But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles in as much then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?"

It looks like the nation of Israel, from the standpoint of salvation, it is dead right now—dead. But God is able to bring about a resurrection, and He's going to do it because He promised it, and God will never rescind His promises. Never. But right now, you see what it means is the reconciliation of the world. Paul tells us their rejection is the reconciliation of the world. God is reaching right now Gentiles for His Son in great numbers, and beloved, that is what is in view here. There's this foreshadowing of it right here by the coming of these Greeks, these Gentiles, to Jesus back in John 12.

And one of the ways that we know that we're understanding this correctly is how Jesus responds to their request. Now think about it, this is fascinating. Is it not a strange response? "Sir, we wish to see—to see Jesus." Philip says, well, let me look into this, let me look into this. He talks to Andrew. Philip and Andrew go to Christ. They inform the Lord that these Greeks want to see Him, they want to meet Him. Now, you might think that the Lord would say, well, go back and take with you enough supply of the Four Spiritual Laws and give them to them. No. Or you might think that He would say, well, of course, you know, bring them in, let's set an appointment to meet them—9, 10, 11, whatever the case may be.

Well, the interesting part is that John, under inspiration, really never tells us whether they saw Him or not. That's not recorded here for us, at least. He doesn't even record that. Why? That's not the matter of interest here. That is not the matter of interest. That's not what's important here. He doesn't tell us whether they they ever got to see Jesus or not. What does he tell us? He tells us of an unexpected response. He tells us about an unexpected response.

I mean, think about it. If a friend comes to you and says, well, there's a Greek person who wants to meet you, would you like to see—to see him? Well, you'd have usually one of two responses: "No, I'm not—I'm not seeing Greeks, I'm not seeing anyone." That's one response. The other would be, "Yes, bring him in, let's meet him." But you don't find either of those here. Interesting. Not a no, not a yes. What you have is a theologically significant response. That's a theologically significant response. His reply reflects a profound impression made upon Him by this request from the Greeks, and this signals something in the Lord Jesus.

Look at verse 23. "Jesus answered them he answered Philip and Andrew saying, 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.'" What's the connection? If we were to put another heading in our outline, we'll say the connection—the coming, the contrast, the connection. The connection. What's the connection between their request and what He says, "The hour has come"? Well, what is the hour of which He speaks here? We've come across this expression, right? The hour. The hour has come. What is this hour? It's the hour of His death. It's the hour of His death. It's the time for the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the time for His arrest, His trial, His crucifixion, His burial, His resurrection, His appearance, and ultimately ascension, and then the preaching of the gospel to the world. The hour has come. His hour has come. The time for which He has come into the world has finally arrived.

Verse 24, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." Verse 27, "Now My soul has become dismayed; and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name." Verse 31, "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out." Verse 32, “‘And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.’ But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was about to die.”

What is this hour? Well, it is the hour of His death. It's the hour of the cross. It is the purpose for which He has come into the world. And He says that when He is lifted up from the earth, He's not just going to save some Jews, but all people are going to be drawn to Himself. That's the connection between their question—the question of these Gentiles—and His response. He's seeing already what is going to come to pass after He's accomplished what He has to accomplish in order to save sinners, the likes of us.

More than once in the Gospels we have found that it wasn't His hour yet. You remember that, right? Back even in the Gospel of John, back in chapter 2, when He performed the first sign, the changing of the water into wine, when the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.’" Chapter 7, verse 30, "So they were seeking to seize Him; and yet no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come." Chapter 8, verse 20, "These words He spoke in the treasury, as He was teaching in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come."

Now comes this request from the Gentiles, and He says in verse 23, "My hour is here." My hour is here. He also says here, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." The Son of Man to be glorified. How is the glorification going to take place? What is the glorification of which He speaks? He's going to be glorified at the cross, through the cross. That which was an instrument of shame would be to Him an instrument by which all men would be drawn to Himself. The Son of Man is going to be lifted up from the earth. He's going to be glorified on a tree. It would allow His glory to be put on display, to be seen by men.

You even get a picture of that at the cross, at the foot of the cross. Mark 15:39, “When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, ‘Truly this man was God's Son.’"

His glory on display. He's going to be glorified at the cross, but He's also going to be glorified in what we have a foreshadowing of here. He's going to be glorified by the world coming to Him. Verse 32, He says, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."

And we'll get to this portion at some point, but only to say this: that does not mean every single individual. When He says "all men”, Πᾶς (pas), the context is very important. The analogy of Scripture is really important, and we see that word used with different meanings. This is not "all" meaning every single individual. "All" doesn't mean all without exception, but rather all without distinction. "All" doesn't mean every single person. He means all peoples, all in terms of national distinctions, all in terms of racial distinctions, all the world, all people will be drawn to the Son of God from every tribe and tongue and nation. The mission for which Christ came to the world was a global mission.

Why does He express this in association with their requests? Because even in this request you have a foreshadowing of the nations that would come to know God as a result of the death that He was about to die. If He doesn't die, there will be no fruit. But if He does die, many will be saved, and there will be a great harvest.

We're reminded, aren't we, that the only, that only the crucified Savior—only the crucified Savior—saves. Only the crucified Messiah can save. The example of Christ does not save. The example of Christ does not save people. You can preach the Word of God and say, "Now you do like Jesus did," and nobody's ever going to be saved. You can't, first of all, and second, that is not why He came. He didn't come just to give you and me an example of how to live. And the teaching of Jesus Himself—the teaching of Jesus—unless the teaching of Jesus leads you to Him as Savior, as Lord, will not save you. He didn't say, "I will show you the way." He said what?, "I am"—I am—"the way." I'm the way to God, and apart from Me there is no way. There is no access to God. No, it's not the example of Christ that saves. It's not the teaching of Christ that saves. It is the death of Christ that reconciles the world to God.

The Son of Man, He says here in verse 23—”the Son of Man”, messianic term found in Daniel 7. They're familiar with that passage, no doubt. This vision in Daniel 7—you remember, the Son of Man comes, He has power, dominion, authority, and He crushes all His enemies, and He sets up His kingdom. And we read in Daniel 7:14, "And to Him to the Son of Man the Son of God was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not be taken away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed."

So when they hear that, I I suppose there was there must have been some excitement, some exuberance. But then He gives them this illustration that we will look at next time, Lord willing—this analogy "Truly, truly, I say to you” and this must have been shocking to hear “truly truly I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." What does that mean? I mean, we have in our mind Daniel 7. Why are you talking about death?

Before we press on with the application, just a couple of side quick side notes that have their own application as well. Would you notice with me how God uses common temporal associations to advance His glory? Common temporal associations to advance His glory. God is God uses that. In other words, Philip and Andrew got to be used by the Lord to bring this whole account about. The fact that these men lived near to an area where Gentiles lived—they were from where? Bethsaida. That's not there for no reason. The fact that they lived in an area close to Gentiles, where Gentiles lived, the fact that their names were Greek and invited this—this sort of approach—this, beloved, I submit, was used by God to bring this request to Christ and thus to glorify the Son of God.

But Philip and Andrew, mark it down, never aimed at that, did they? We don't find anything that tells us this in the text, that they aimed at that. They didn't. They didn't say, "Well now, hey brother, we've got—you and I have Greek names, we come from Bethsaida, we need to really be on the lookout for Greeks." No, they didn't aim at it. They're just being themselves for Christ. They're just being themselves for Christ. They're just out there living for Christ, and God used these temporal associations that He brought about to advance the glory of His Son. They did not aim at it. They just lived for Christ.

And we're living in a day, beloved, when everyone is wanting to separate the church, break us out into our distinctions, and magnify the distinctions instead of magnifying the oneness—one family, one name by which we're called. In fact, one race of men redeemed—redeemed, that's it.

Do you realize that there are only two races of men on the face of the earth? In Adam or in Christ. In Adam or in Christ. There's nothing else in between. Are you in Adam or are you in Christ? Are you in the first Adam or are you in the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ?

Now, you may happen to be Italian, you may happen to be Irish, you may happen to be Chinese or Greek or Egyptian, and that doesn't mean that you've got to start a ministry for wherever you come from. It means you live for Christ. And if God is pleased to use that for His name, guess what? He's going to use it. He's going to use it. But you don't aim at it as your purpose, that you just live for Him.

And you know, someone comes and says, "Well, you know, I was raised on a farm. Maybe we ought to start a farmer's fellowship for Christ." Or, "You know, I enjoy hockey. Maybe we ought to start a hockey fellowship for Christ." Beloved, you don't find anything like this in the New Testament. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You just live for Christ. And if He wants to use those temporal things in your life to draw others to Himself, guess what? He's going to do it.

Another important note is how God is working out a salvation plan that spans across all human history. And there are certain times for certain things. There are certain times for certain things. Christ has come first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But even now, there's beginning to dawn this new age when God would gather in the Gentiles in great, great numbers. And you see a foreshadowing of it right here.

Certain times for certain things. So in light of all of this, let me finish this morning with some questions. Listen carefully, beloved.

Question number one. Do you realize that today is a certain time? Do you realize that today is a certain time? Just as surely as God had a plan and has a plan for Israel, and God has a plan for His church, and God has a plan for the time of the Gentiles? Do you realize that today is a certain time in God's sovereign plan? That before the foundation of the world, it was God's plan to have you sitting here in this building this morning hearing this sermon, and He has a reason for it? Do you realize that? Do you live your life with that awareness that things are not happening accidentally, incidentally in your life, but there is a divine purpose for this moment?

And for some of you here this morning, this is God's certain time for you to hear the gospel, to receive the gospel, and to respond savingly to His Son as Lord and Savior if you just hear Him and if you won't harden your heart. "He again determines a certain day,” Hebrews 4:7. “He again determines a certain day “Today”, saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, 'Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.'" Today—today. For some here this morning, this could be the day of your salvation. Will you hear the gospel? Will you heed the gospel call? Will you come all the way to Christ? This could be the day of your salvation. Will you come all the way to Christ?

Not enough to come all the way until your toes are right up to the narrow gate. That is not enough. Come all the way to Christ. Enter through the narrow gate. Leave your sin behind, your old life behind, and come through the narrow gate with repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you have to repent, leaving your darling sins behind because the gate is so narrow that you have to come in empty-handed. “Nothing in my hands I bring. Only to Thy cross I cling.”
Will you approach Him the way these Gentiles approach Him? Will you say today, I wish to see Jesus. I wish to behold His glory.

Second, do you realize what mercy we have been shown as Gentiles? Do you realize how mercy—what mercy—we have been shown as Gentiles? How many here this morning, how many of you are a Gentile? You don't have to raise your hand, but you get my point. Anybody here is not Jewish? Do you realize that there was a time when we were without hope, without God in this world as Gentiles? God was dealing primarily with Israel. He always had a plan to reach the world. And even in the Old Testament times, you see pictures of that.

But Paul says in Romans 3, “there is advantage to being a Jew.” To the Jews were entrusted, first above all, the oracles of God. And they were given the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the patriarchs. And through them came the Messiah. But right now, we're living in a time when God has turned His saving attention to the world, to Gentiles. And we're told in the book of Romans that we're not to be puffed up by that. We’re not. We're to be humbled, rather, by that knowledge. Humbled.

I mean, do we look at the unbelieving Israel right now and do we say, oh my, oh my, how foolish they are and how wise we are. Do you understand the only reason you and I are seeing, that we have seen, is God. God. God's saving plan. God's saving grace. His mercy. He planned to save you. That's why you see. That's why I see. So the fact that He's turned for this time to the world and He's gathering in Gentiles in great numbers, that you're among them, that I'm one of these, ought to humble us before God and to say, oh Lord, You have a saving plan that was settled before time and You're working it out. And it's not being thwarted and every one of Your elect will be gathered to Your Son and I'm living in this time when You have turned Your attention to us and You have saved even me. What mercy that is.

Third, do you realize God isn't finished with the Jewish people? God isn't finished with the Jewish people. Do you realize that God does have a saving plan that will be fulfilled that includes salvation coming to national ethnic Israel? And do you glory at the sovereign saving promises of God that they will be fulfilled? Let me put it this way. Beloved, pre-millennialism is taught by Scripture. And it's on the fact that if you take God's word at face value, you have to believe that there is a saving plan that is going to be fulfilled to the Abrahamic covenant and that is going to include salvation for national ethnic Israel. Do you realize that, beloved? Do you glory in that? Do you rejoice in the wisdom of God and how He's working out His saving plans? His promises will be fulfilled—every single one of them.

Have you ever seen the Son of God glorified? Christ said He's going to be glorified. The time has come. The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified at the cross, through the cross, and beyond. Have you seen the glory of God's Son at the cross? Do you see the glory of God? What do you see when you see the cross? Do you understand the purpose for it? Do you understand the fullness of it? Do you understand what happened there at Calvary? That there at the cross, on that tree, O child of God, there at the cross, on that tree, you—you were being reconciled to God through the shedding of the blood of the Son of God, the Lamb of God. Yes, it would be brought to you through the preaching of the gospel and the acknowledgement of faith, but it was accomplished there over 2,000 years ago. I could trace my salvation to that tree.

Romans 6. You died with Christ. You were buried with Christ. That's where my sins were paid for. Do you see the glory of God's Son there at the tree? And have you ever seen His glory in your heart, beloved? Because this is how men and women are saved. They see the glory of God in the face of His Son. They understand who Jesus is and why He came to this earth and what He did in His living and what He did in His dying and what was accomplished in His glorious resurrection so that they see Him—they behold Him—they love Him. Sir, we would see Jesus. And that would be the cry of the heart of every single child of God ever since.

Guess what? We have seen Jesus. If we've been saved, we have seen Jesus. We've met Him. We've come to know Him. And we love Him. Is that you this morning? Is that you? Or is all you know is religion? Can I just say there's no one more miserable in this world than someone who only has religion? Miserable. Miserable. And I don't doubt that there's somebody here this morning. If you just can be honest with your own condition, you will have to admit that you really don't have a saving personal knowledge of Jesus. What you have perhaps is a church life. What you have is religion. What you may even have is a Baptist life. But you don't know God. You don't know Jesus.

And that's why you don't have any desire whatsoever for His word. That's why you don't even want to spend a minute of your time in prayer. That's why you never share the faith with anyone—never ever. And that's why you have compartmentalized your life where you come to church on Sunday morning, even Sunday evening, and perhaps even sometimes you might show up to prayer meeting on Wednesday. But the rest of your life is in a different category. And you live your life daily as if Christ doesn't even exist. That is not Christianity. That is not what it means to have eternal life. That is not what it means to be saved.

Beloved, when someone is saved, Christ is not a part of their life. He is their life. “For to me, to live is Christ.” (Philippians 1:21)  He's not on the periphery edges of my life. He is the core of my life. The point of my life. He is at the center of it. He is my life. I live for Him. I live for Him. Do you know that kind of Christianity? Have you ever been saved?

Finally, I must hasten. Do you realize that God's plan is for the salvation of the nations? God's plan is for the salvation of the nations, not every single human being, but every category of human being. Do you realize that? That God has a plan for the salvation of the nations so that you have a burden to see all peoples reached with the gospel for the glory of God?

We're not to be a people, as Christian people, who only have a burden for one person here, one person there. Maybe, you know, my neighbor right beside me. No, no, beloved. We are to realize that we are heavenly citizens and this gospel that we're entrusted with is to go to the ends of the earth, and through our prayers and through our giving and through our activity, we are to desire to see the salvation of all peoples for the glory of God.

And do you realize that whenever salvation comes to a heart, God is glorified? And as His people, isn't that what we desire? For Him to be glorified so that our motivation for evangelism and missions isn't some silly statistic put on a page somewhere for someone to pat us on the back or give us an award. But the motivation for evangelism and missions is that we love God. We love God. We love Jesus Christ, and we want Him to be glorified. And when sinners are saved, He is glorified. And we desire to see Him glorified—not glorified like a rock or tree would glorify Him unconsciously, but glorified consciously from hearts that truly love Him. And that only happens where there's salvation.

Do you desire for your neighbor to glorify God like that? Do you desire for your co-workers to glorify God like that? Do you desire for your mom, your dad, your brother, sister, aunt, uncle, children who are unsaved to glorify God like that? I know this. Unless you glorify Him like that, you don't have any burden for them. How could it be that a so-called Christian has no real burden to share the Gospel with others? How? Answer: they're only a so-called Christian. And I'm not talking about struggling with that desire and being intimidated and praying for boldness and wrestling. I'm talking about no desire whatsoever, no burden whatsoever—ever.

I want to close with Spurgeon concerning the desire to see Jesus, to know Jesus, to love Jesus. Quote, "If Jesus be a soul's desire, it is a blessed sign of divine work within. Such a man will never be content with mere ordinances. He will say, 'I want Christ. I must have Him. Mere ordinances are of no use to me. I want Himself. Do not offer me these. You offer me the empty pitcher while I am dying of thirst. Give me water or I die. Jesus is my soul's desire. I would see Jesus.'"

And then he asked, "Is this thy condition, my reader, at this moment? Has thou but one desire and is that after Christ? Then thou art not far from the kingdom of heaven. Has thou but one wish in thy heart and that one wish that thou may be washed from all thy sins in Jesus's blood? Canst thou really say, 'I would give all I have to be a Christian? I would give up everything I have and hope for if I might but feel that I have an interest in Christ?' Then despite all thy fears, be of good cheer. The Lord loveth thee and thou shalt come out into daylight soon and rejoice in the liberty wherewith Christ makes men free." End of quote.

Next week, Lord willing, we're going to come back and we're going to see that there's no life apart from death. And we're going to see that Jesus takes an analogy, an illustration, and broadens out the application. He doesn't just apply it to Himself. He applies it as well to us. We had to die to live. And even now, we have to die to be used for life. And we'll see that together next Lord's Day, Lord willing. Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

You remember the founding of this church set forth for us back in Acts chapter 17, when in a very brief period of time–possibly just a period of three weeks, a little bit more, perhaps longer–a company of believers was called out by the grace of God and formed this assembly of God known as the Church of the Thessalonians. And in its infancy, Paul had to leave—you remember—that church quickly, knowing and knowing that persecution not only attended him while he was there, but also attended the people of God after he was gone. He's deeply concerned about the state of this infant church under much affliction.

So, Timothy's dispatched to check on them, and then word comes from Timothy that all is well and the work of God is flourishing there in Thessaloniki. And, in his mingled attitude of joy and yet fatherly concern for his church or this church, he writes this letter. Having considered the general introduction and then what we might call the beginning verses in this paragraph of praise—really, for it is nothing short but a paragraph of thanksgiving and praise—we have seen where Paul commends this church for the three cardinal virtues manifested in them as we read in verse 3: remembering without ceasing your work of faith, your labor of love, and your steadfastness of hope.

These things mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13:13, "But now abide faith, hope, love–these three." And these things were manifested in the church and increasing, and Paul delighted to hear that report and he rejoiced in hearing that report and praised God for it. Then he stated in verse 4 that he also rejoiced because not only of something that he remembered, those three virtues which are the work of the Spirit, but because of something he knew—knowing. Not only remembering but knowing as well. Brothers, beloved by God, your election.

And he was confident that they were peculiar—they were the peculiar objects of God's redemptive distinguishing love, the love of God—and that they were also the chosen of God, the elect of God, beloved of God or by God and elect of God. Then he tells us in verse 5 why he's convinced that they were beloved of God and elect. For he says in verse 5, "for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit, and with full assurance." In other words, he's confident of their election because of their effectual call.

The gospel came not just as a lot of religious verbiage, it came as a powerful transformative word from heaven that laid hold of them and radically transformed their lives. So, as Paul saw the working of God in the effectual call of God, then he was confident of their election, their election of God. Then, this produced many very practical results or fruits. And we are considering those things together now in verses 6 and 7.

And in our last study we looked at the last part of verse 6, which we called one of the first results of the effectual call of God. And what was it? That one of the first results—the first result, one of them—of the effectual call of God, he says, “having received the word in much affliction and with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” Whenever the gospel comes in power, whenever truly the gospel comes in power—the power of God through the Holy Spirit of God—the indication that it comes in power is that men and women receive that Word. And, the word for receive here, you remember, that word is a strong word, ‘dechomai’, which means to receive with a warm welcome, to receive with glad abandonment, to receive and to retain with joy, with delight, with tenacity, with open arm. It's a warm appropriating of the Word. And so the effectual call of God comes to light when men embrace the Word as the Word of the living God and as the Word of their own salvation.

Now, that in turn, will always, always, always, inevitably produce some wonderful things. The gospel comes in power, men receive it, then what happens? What happens? Well, having received it, Paul says there were two wonderful effects from this spirit-wrought reception, ‘dechomai’—this warm welcome, the spirit-wrought reception—two wonderful effects. First part of verse 6, that's the first one: “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord.” And the second one is found in verse 7: “so that you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.”

Notice now the connection. Trace the connection with me. Verse 5 says, the gospel came in power, they received it. They received that word biblically with welcome, with delight. Even though it meant affliction and opposition, they welcomed the Word gladly. They rejoiced in the Word, in receiving the Word, because the Spirit of God had effectually worked in their hearts. Now, having welcomed the Word, a spirit-wrought reception of the Word then had two blessed effects–verse 6: you became imitators, verse 7: you became a model. You became imitators, you became a model.

So our study this evening—and there's so much meat here for us—our study this evening will be on the theme of the two inevitable effects of a spirit-wrought reception of the Word. The two inevitable effects, and I would underscore the word inevitable. Inevitable effects of a spirit-wrought reception of the Word. Are you receiving the Word? Are you ‘dechomai’ the Word? Have you received the Word? You say, ‘well, yes, I have.’ If so, these two inevitable effects will be undoubtedly true of you.

If we, as a church, have received the Word, if we are receiving the Word every time we meet and hear the Word read and taught and exposited, if we are receiving the Word in all the richness of that biblical meaning of receive, then these effects will be true of us, and should be increasingly true of us the more of the Word we receive as it comes to us in the Holy Spirit.
Very simple. You became imitators. You became models. Simple. So, not only do you have the theme, but also the outline that we're gonna follow this evening.

So, first of all, you became imitators as a result of receiving the Word. You became imitators. Now, what does this word imitators mean? Imitator is a good word. It's a good translation. Literally, the word—the Greek word—we get the English word from it: mimic. Mimic. Mimic. ‘mimētḗs’ is the Greek word. So, we get that word mimic in English. So, we say of someone, oh, look at him, he's mimicking his dad. He's mimicking his dad, or he's mimicking so-and-so. Well, that's the word we use. You also became literally mimics of us and of the Lord.

Now, of course, today, if we use the term mimic, very often we think of it as something perhaps humorous or negative. You know, "Stop mimicking me," kids say to one another. "Stop mimicking me." But it was intended here to be positive, a good thing, a compliment. Imitation is one of the highest forms of flattery, really, and admiration.

Now, what is an imitator? What does it mean to imitate something or someone? An imitator is one who closely observes a fixed pattern of voice, speech, action, or of a certain substance, and studiously attempts to duplicate it. When you speak of imitation vanilla flavor, you expect it to taste like real vanilla bean. If it tastes like cinnamon, you're in trouble. You've missed it. It's poor imitation. Imitation vanilla flavor is supposed to so closely approximate the true thing, so that you won't know the difference, that you won't be able to tell the difference. And when you talk about imitation mink, they take synthetic artificial fur, they dye it, they try to fix it so that to the untrained eye, it looks as close as possible like mink. If it looks like something else, like a fox or a rabbit, you've missed it. You've missed the boat.

You see, imitation has this connotation of, here's a fixed standard, the ideal, and then you're trying to, as closely as possible, to approximate that ideal. You know, in a talent show, you have people who are imitators of popular singers, and it's amazing how some of them can really approximate so closely the real thing, that if they just sang a few bars, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Now, I don't need to press this. I think you've got the idea of the word and its meaning. And Paul said, as Paul said of these people, and he commends them for it. This is a commendation. When the gospel came in power, you received that word, and you received it though there was much affliction that you were enduring. The first effect it had on you was to make you a mimic, to make you an imitator, to bring you into this place where you became involved in seeing a certain standard, and you were determined by the grace of God to approximate that standard as closely as possible by the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now, of what did they become mimics? That's the next question. Or, rather, more particularly, of whom? Of whom did they become imitators? Well, notice the text. He tells us, you also became imitators–mimics–first of all, of us, of us, and secondly, of the Lord. Now, this is a strange sort of a statement, isn't it? You know why? Because we have been brainwashed by this familiar cliché: We don't put our eyes upon man, we put our eyes upon the Lord. Don't put your eyes upon man, put your eyes upon the Lord.

How often, when faced with inconsistent Christian profession, has this little cliché sort of been a general blanket to cover all forms of ills, lacks, in the professing people of God? Well, God doesn't expect us or ask us to look at men. He tells us, keep your eyes upon the Lord. I think Paul had a different perspective. He's actually commending them for the fact that they did put their eyes on men. And furthermore, they followed men. He's commending them. He's not scolding them here, is he? He's not. He's not scolding them, saying, well, the Gospel came in power, but you Thessalonians botched things up by looking at us. No, no. The text is clear. He says, the Gospel came in power, you received that word, and the first effect was you became mimics of us. You became studious to discover how we walked, how we behaved, how we lived our lives. Then you applied yourself to walk in the ways that we, the servants of God, walked.

So the first object of imitation, or actually I would have liked to title this message, sanctified mimicry, sanctified mimicry. The first object of the sanctified mimicry are the faithful servants of Christ, the faithful servants of Christ. Now notice Paul says, verse 6, “you became imitators of us.” Us, not just me. This is not something peculiar then to apostles, but you also became imitators of us, Paul and Silas, or Silvanus–the ones who were there at the formation of the church. And then he says that the letter comes from him and his associates, Timothy and Silvanus, or Silas. So this idea that we're not to follow men immediately runs aground on this reef of Paul's statement.

Now what is the principle involved here specifically? Why did Paul commend them for being imitators of him and of his associates? Well, the principle is this: man as a creature is an imitative creature. We're made by God and we're imitative creatures. We're imitative creatures. You take our kids. Long before they know how to consciously say, well, so-and-so is doing something this way, I want to do it like them. Well, what? What do they do? They pick up our characteristics. Just like that. We talk about this. We say more things are caught than taught. Right? They mimic us. Your son didn't sit down and say one day, ‘Well, I want to be like my daddy, therefore I'm going to…’ No, no. He didn't say that. But you see, just the presence of another human being. We are imitative creatures and subconsciously we pick up these characteristics and these attitudes as well as habits.

And God, who made us, recognizes this, this imitative quality that is true of all of us and now God, in working His work of redemption, takes into account what man is and how man is. So, as He works out His purposes of redemption, which are not only to bring us into saving relationship with Himself, but to make us like His Son, He uses, He employs this principle that man is an imitative creature and He seeks to teach us what it is to obey Him, to love Him, to serve Him, not only—follow closely—not only by giving us a precept and say, ‘Well, this is what thou shalt do,’ but then by having that precept embodied in a life, a flesh and blood, so that God says, this is what you're to do, but this is what it will mean in actual experience if you do what I've told you.

So that, just as we need the law in its precept form to guide us, so we need the law in its flesh and blood form of actual experience to guide us. Hence, the fellowship of the body of Christ.
Hence, one of the elements that really underscores the importance of the church. What did it mean to love God? These Christians wanted to know. And Paul says, you looked at us and you learned what it means to love God. Well, what does it mean to follow Christ at any cost and be a disciple who counted the cost? Well, he says, you people looked at us and you saw us, you actually saw us being run out of town in the midst of all the jeerings and the pressures and the threats of our very lives and seeing us loving God nevertheless, even if it meant our necks, our lives. You learned something of what it was to love God and not being just simply fair-weather Christians. So the principle that God takes into account in His dealings with His people is this principle here.

Now, having said this, of course we know, and the Scripture is clear, we are not to venerate the faithful servants of God, worship them. We are not to pray to them. We are not to trust in them. He doesn't say anything about, you prayed to us, you trusted in us, you worshiped us. None of it. He said, ‘You mimicked us. You followed us. You followed our example.’

Now, would it shock you if I told you tonight that it's part of your Christian duty and mine to mark the faithful godly saints of God and to studiously seek to imitate their lives? Do you know that's part of your and my Christian duty? You ought to have in your mind faithful saints of God whose walk is a commendable walk, and you ought to be working at imitating their walk before God. This is a Christian duty. Oh, well, you say, isn't that a bit strong statement? Isn’t that heavy-handed?

Well, let's look at several passages together and let's see what God says. Let's see if there are those passages that clearly indicate that this is a Christian duty. Turn with me, 2 Thessalonians, chapter 3 and verse 7. Chapter 3 and verse 7. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 7. "For you yourselves know how you”--and what's the next word?--”ought.” Is that a suggestion? Is that a suggestion? Ought. Ought–something you ought to do as a duty. “For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us.” In the original, it's the same word in verbal form. How you ought to mimic us. You ought to follow us. You ought to imitate us “because we did not act in an unruly manner among you." Verse 9: "not because we do not have the authority, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would”--what?--“imitate us." Paul said the example we set is not to be lightly regarded, but rather it is to be studiously followed.

Then, if you will please turn with me to Hebrews chapter 13. You know that passage. Chapter 13 of Hebrews, verse 7. Hebrews 13 and verse 7: "Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct,”--and what's the next word?--”imitate their faith." Imitate their faith. Same word in the original. Mimic their faith. Follow. Imitate their faith.

Now, speaking now not of apostles, but in this context speaking of those who had been spiritual leaders in the assembly there in the church to the Hebrews. Remember them. They've spoken unto you the word of God. Follow their faith. Mimic. Imitate their faith. What does it mean to be a believing man? A believing woman? The Scripture tells us in precept that we are to be believing men and women. Paul says, you look at those people who stood among you, ministered in your midst, and there you see what it means to be a believing person. Now imitate their faith. Mimic their faith.

And then several other passages. I mean, it's not like one or two. 3 John verse 11. 3 John. 3 John verse 11: "Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good.” And how are we not to imitate what is evil, but to imitate what is good as abstract principles? No. He tells us, “The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God. Demetrius has received a good witness from everyone, and from the truth itself.” In verses 9 and 10, he was speaking about the negative example. Speaking of this, “Diotrephes who loves to have the place of preeminence.” He had a disease. This man Diotrephes. He had a big shoddy-itis. He wanted to always feel like he's a big shot in the assembly. And John speaks about his negative example. And then he then follows with Demetrius as a positive example. And in the midst of it he says, imitate not that which is evil, but that which is good. How? In terms of its embodiment in human beings. Don't be a Diotrephes, but rather be a Demetrius. That's what he's saying. So here the command again.

And then of course 1 Corinthians 11 verse 1. 1 Corinthians 11 verse 1. "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ." Be followers. Same word. Mimics. Imitators of me. And one last passage. Philippians 3:17. “Brothers.” Philippians 3:17. “Brothers, join in following my example.” Join in following my example. One word in the Greek. Same word. And then he says, “and look for those who walk according to the pattern you have in us." What a tremendous statement. What a tremendous statement. Look for, ‘skopeo’. It means to spy out. Look intently towards an object. Contemplate. Not just a glance. Contemplate. Give attention to. Mark. Mark those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. Paul says, ‘You look around. You spy out. And look around. And see people who are walking before you as we did. And mark them. And set them there as an example to imitate, to follow.’

Now, how did this idea that we're not to look at men, follow men, ever invade the church the way it did? I thought about this. And I have a sneaking suspicion that the standard of piety, I believe, has been so low, and the standard of practical godliness at such a low end, that we didn't dare hold forth this duty of following the example of the saints of God. And, so, we've covered over our low degree of piety by saying we shouldn't look at man, we should only look at the Lord. And we discover together that this is an unscriptural concept.

It has an element of truth, as we're going to see, but it's been pushed way out of proportion. Paul really gives the balance: "Imitate me, as I imitate Christ." Right? So Paul then commends them, that they became mimics. They became imitators of the faithful servants of God. And then he says in verse 6, back to our text, "and of the Lord." And of the Lord. They became imitators of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And of course, He is the only perfect example.

And again, we have been invaded in the church with some really erroneous ideas. Whenever you speak of Christ as our example, immediately, we're traumatized and so we have a knee-jerk reaction. And we react because liberals have had nothing but a Christ who was just an example—nothing more, nothing less. So much so that we've thrown out the baby with the bathwater.

But you see, Jesus Christ is just as much as your example in Scripture as He is your Savior if you're a Christian—and my Savior. They just got—you've got to get the order right. You don't follow His example in order to come into a saving relationship with Him, but coming naked and stripped of any grounds of hope in yourself, and embracing the Lord Jesus Christ in a penitent faith as He's offered in the gospel, He becomes our Savior, our Sovereign. But once He has become our Savior and our Sovereign, He then becomes our example—the perfect example for the child of God. He is the God-man, the perfect man—the perfect man, fully God, fully man.

And, so, the Scripture not only commands us, as part of our Christian duty, to follow the example of the faithful servants of Christ, but it also commands us, as part of our Christian duty, to follow the example of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And here are some scriptures that really underscore that for us. 1 Peter 2 verse 21. 1 Peter 2 and verse 21: "For to this you have been called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should”–and here it is–“follow in His steps." Follow in His steps. He suffered that He might bring us to God—that's chapter 3 and verse 18—but here this passage says He also suffered to leave an example for the saints of God, that we might know how to walk here on earth in the face of all that we encounter. He left us an example.

And then in 1 John 2:6, 1 John 2:6: "the one who says he abides in Him”--referring to Christ–“ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked." And of course, Matthew 10:25, our Lord Himself says, "It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master." The whole concept of Christ being the supreme exemplary figure for the Christian, and that he studiously—the Christian seeks to discover how the Lord Jesus acted and reacted in given situations, and then seeks to imitate—that is a Christian duty, beloved.
And, you see, the difference between that and empty morality is that a Christian—the Christian, the believer, the genuinely saved—imitates from an indwelling power of the Holy Spirit that enables him more and more to be made more like his Savior. Whereas the unregenerate, the religious but lost, in trying to imitate Christ, they try to do it simply going through the motions—sort of like the motions of a puppet. Unreal. They have the semblance of the real thing, but they lack the flow of true life and power.

And, so, Paul commends these people, that they become mimics, that they become imitators of the faithful servants of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Now, let me pause here at this point and ask this question in a practical way: How does one do this? How does one do this? Let's get very practical. How do we do this?

Well, the way the Thessalonians became imitators of Paul was what? To watch him. To watch him. If we're going to imitate something, you've got to watch it. If you want to make an imitation mink, you've got to study what a real mink is. If you want to imitate somebody's voice, you've got to listen again and again until you know all things—all things that make, for example, Matt Boswell's voice different from Matt Papa's voice. If they all sound the same to you, you won't be able to imitate with any distinction.

So, our responsibility is to watch the faithful servants of Christ in the Scripture and out of the Scripture. And when you read the biographical section of the Scripture, we are to study these things, not just to know the history—Elijah did this and Elisha did that—but now, how did they act? How did they react in a given situation? And where we see their action and reaction, and their attitude and their disposition, there's the example that we are to follow. And we say, Lord, there's the pattern, but I'm so unlike that. But Lord, by Your grace, help me be like that servant of Yours in a given situation.

You study that. You study the life of the Shunammite woman, and you see her stillness, her steadfastness, that how she did not do in the time of Christ is anything different than what she did when the sun was shining. And you learn. You imitate. This is why you read Christian biography. Wonderful things happen in the reading of Christian biography. Literally, whole nations have felt the impact of, for example, a 300-page book called “The Life and the Diary of David Brainerd”.

It's when Henry Martin, the English missionary, came near to the heat and passion of Brainerd's heart in the pages of his biography, that something was kindled in his own breast that made Henry Martin, with all his brilliance, turn his back on everything else, and his passion was to go out and establish an opening for the kingdom of God in the land of India. John Piper writes concerning the biography of David Brainerd and the impact of David Brainerd. He says concerning Henry, the impact on Henry Martin: "Pursuing the life of David Brainerd, his soul—Henry Martin—was filled with a holy emulation of that extraordinary man, and after deep consideration and fervent prayer, he was at length fixed in a resolution to imitate his example." He goes on to mention different names: William Carey, and Edward, and Robert Morrison, and Robert Murray McChain, and John Mills, and Frederick Schwartz, and many others. And he says, “All of them count David Brainerd a teacher, a model, and stand in awe of him, and find inspiration from him.”

That's the benefit of it, beloved. You see? That's the legitimate use of being a mimic, being an imitator—the faithful servants of Christ. But not only in Christian biography, but here today, as we rub shoulders with our brothers and sisters. You parents, for example—again, this is very practical—you ought to mark those men and women who have, as you're in their presence, a real sense of openness and good communication as husband and wife. Those husbands and wives who apparently, amidst all the problems that you face, they've learned how to communicate together. When they face a problem, they've learned how to ride through storms together and talk out their differences. And you have to get near those people and watch them and see how they operate and imitate them.

Homes that are well ordered, whose children are well disciplined—it didn't just happen. They didn't just go to bed some night with a book under their pillow on how to communicate effectively and influence your kids, and suddenly woke up the next day and their home was well ordered and their kids were well behaved. Didn't just happen. Somebody's sweat, somebody's work, somebody's wrestled with issues and problems and on the knees of prayers.

And Paul says in Philippians 3:17, look for—look for—mark those people, mark those people's walk, and then imitate them. Find out how they do it and imitate them. Mark out where you see a home where there's a beautiful relationship between a husband and wife, and they really have learned the art of communicating together. They move as one. You sense when you're in their presence, though they're two, they're one. They're not just under the same roof, sleeping in the same bed, sitting and eating at the same table—they've been fused together as one. And that doesn't just happen. Look for, watch, watch, and then learn and imitate.

Others in the body of Christ—you look to older, more mature, really, not simply older, but mature men and women in the season of singleness, and you look at their example, and you look at their resolution and how they live their life to the glory of God, devoting their time and energy to the things of God. And you go up to them and you say, ‘I look at your life and I see your devotion in the midst of all of…how do you do it? Because I want to do the same.’

It's obvious. It's obvious when you see those virtues in someone or in a family, that this is the work of God. And you and I are responsible to look for, to mark out godly examples to imitate. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You're sitting maybe here and thinking, Wait a minute. I have to humble myself and go to someone in the church and say, ‘Look, it's obvious that you. You are walking in the good of the gospel. Or to go to a couple and say, It's obvious that you and your wife have a relationship that me and my wife would like to cultivate. Would you please tell us how you…’—that's why we're here for, beloved. This is the family of God. That's why God incorporates us into the body of Christ, the family of God, that we might help one another.

But, it means that you've got to pull away that mask behind which you live, pull away that facade, and you know you botched it up in your relationship with your brothers and sisters, with your wife, with your husband, with your friend, and you need help. Let us have the humility and sanctified resolve to go and say to godly, faithful Christians, ‘Look, the Bible says mark those that are walking as an example and imitate them. And you've got something that I see—how you carry yourself, how you walk with Christ, how you love Christ, how you serve Christ’ and, if married, ‘how you treat your wife, how you treat your husband’, or ‘in this season of your singleness is an exemplary attitude’, ‘your attitude in the face of affliction is exemplary’, ‘your attitude in the face of sickness is exemplary’. ‘Tell me how you do it. Tell me what you wrestle with. Tell me how you overcome.’

Beloved, is that unreasonable? Or is that a valid application of this scriptural principle? "You also became imitators of us." The principle of following the faithful saints of God. And then he says, you became imitators of the Lord. And how do you do that? Again, let's be practical. How do you become an imitator of the Lord? Well, we've got to get ourselves under conviction, you see. If I'm to imitate the Lord, I've got to know what the pattern is. Well, how do you know what He is like? You read the Gospels. You start with the Gospels. How did He act in a given situation? You read the Gospels. How did He react? What was His attitude? You read the Gospels.

The Gospels then become this beautiful, many-sided portrait of the Lord Jesus. And as you see Him as the great example, then you cry out, ‘Oh God, by the Holy Spirit, give me grace to imitate my Lord.’ “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord." Seek to know those that you can mimic to your profit as an adult, as a student, as a church, as a parent, etc. Read the book of Acts. Read those great periods in the history of the church when God has broken in with power, and you will see that we know so little about zeal, so little about worship, so little about holy abandonment to God. And we need desperately to read those who walked so as to leave us an example, and to imitate them by the grace of God.

Now, if you are one who is not savingly joined to Christ, never been born of the Spirit of God, obviously this is not a word to you. Remember, this was a fruit, not a root–a fruit, not a root. They had received the Word, then they became imitators. So, God's Word to you is not to be an imitator, but rather tonight God's Word to you is to be a receiver of the Word. Hear the Word of salvation and embrace that Word that comes with His promise of mercy to all who repent, to all who believe.

But I want to say a word particularly to those who profess to be believers. Now, we must believe in order to learn, right? We must believe in order to learn. And if you haven't believed, you don't start by learning, you start by believing. You must believe in order to learn, and you must learn in order to follow. But if your believing and your learning is not leading to following, it's not true faith. It's not.

For our gospel came, Paul said, “in power”. That's what the text says. Now, how did he know it came in power? Not because they went on and stood up on a Wednesday night or a Sunday evening service and gave their testimony at a prayer meeting or an evening service, but because they became imitators of the Lord and of His servants. Paul knew that the gospel had come in power and had been truly believed and embraced because of the fruits of belief, namely a holy imitation of the Lord and of His servants.

I must hurry on to the next phrase and touch on it very briefly. You became not only imitators, but he says in verse 7, “so that you became a model”--I love that–"you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia." Now, what's this word model, ‘tupos’? What does it mean, this Greek word? Well, it's an interesting word. The verb form of it means ‘to strike’. So it's the mark left by a blow. When Thomas said to the other disciples, "Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger in the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe"—the word he used, the imprint, the mark left by the blow of the nails, literally. The word he used is this, and Paul says you became a ‘tupos’--a model, an imprint. The word came, it left its mark upon you, and then that mark became a pattern for others to follow.

I thought of Plaster of Paris–a powdered gypsum cement. You take an object. Let's say, suppose you want to reproduce that object in Plaster of Paris. Maybe you've got a little bust of Alexander the Great and you want to reproduce it, so you smear upon it some Vaseline or some greasy stuff, oily stuff, so the plaster doesn't stick to it, and then you mold the Plaster of Paris around the mold, and then you split it down the middle. You take it off and you have a form, you have a mold, and then into the mold you can then pour some more plaster, and out will come another bust of Alexander the Great, and then he could do the same thing with the reproduced bust until you can keep on reproducing.

You see, beloved, here's the point. As one thing conforms to the pattern, then it becomes itself a pattern to which others can conform. That's the idea. A father begets a son who in turn grows up and becomes a father who begets a son who in turn grows up and becomes a father who begets a son. That's the process that Paul is talking about here. He said you became mimics when you became imitators of us and of the Lord. A wonderful thing happened when that happened. As you followed the pattern we set for you and the Lord set for you, without even knowing it, you yourselves became a pattern for others to mimic, to follow. You see, they didn't seek to become an example. They were seeking to be what? Followers. Followers. But in the becoming followers, one of the blessed by-products is what? They became a model. They became an example, and that's what Paul is talking about here. So these two things are inseparably joined.

Beloved, this is so rich for us. There's so much meat for us here. Notice Paul uses them in one verse in several places. We will only look at one of the instances, 2 Thessalonians 3:9. He uses the two words together. They're inseparably joined. You'll see them. "[N]ot because we do not have the authority,"--he says, 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 9–"but in order to offer ourselves as a model"—that's the same word, ‘tupos’—"for you, so that you would"—what? ‘mimētḗs’-- “imitate us”--mimic us. Now, what do you mimic? What do you imitate? You imitate the model, the example.

So Paul says in this passage, ‘we are the model you are to imitate, and as you imitated us, you became an example, a model that others began to imitate and began to mimic.’ Now there are negative examples we're warned against. 1 Corinthians 10:6 speaks of the children of Israel in their idolatry, their immorality, and it says, "Now these things happened as”–‘tupos’--“examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved." An example here to what? To shun, to avoid. But, this is speaking about being an example in a positive way as Paul says in Philippians 3:17, mark–“look for those who walk according to the–‘tupos’ you have in us–" the pattern you have in us.”

Now in a very peculiar way, this responsibility of being an example is intensified for those who would aspire to places of spiritual leadership, and I want to say a word about that. It's interesting that the same word for model, example, is used three times with reference to those who take leadership in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12, "show yourself as a model"—‘tupos’, same Greek word—"to those who believe in word, conduct, love, faith, and purity." Be an example, Timothy. Be a model, Timothy. Be an embodiment of the truth you preach so that others following you will, in reality, be following Jesus Christ.

Titus, he says Titus in Titus 2:7, "in all things show yourself to be"—same word—"a model of good works, with purity in doctrine, dignified." 1 Peter 5:3 says to the elders, "nor yet as lording it over those allotted to you, but being"—what?—"examples,"--‘tupos’--"to the flock."

Now, do you see why the first requirement for the elder, the under-shepherd in the church is this? Titus 1, “if any man is”—what's the next word, the first word?—“if any man is beyond reproach”--blameless, no just cause of censure. Paul under inspiration puts at the top of the list the manner of life: beyond reproach, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of dissipation or rebellious, for the overseer must be beyond reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of dishonest gain, but hospitable, loving, so forth and so forth. And then you get to verse 9 and he speaks of doctrine, holding fast the faithful word, holding fast the faithful word.

Beloved, Paul does not disregard or undermine or push aside doctrine, it's quite the opposite. Look at the first half of Ephesians: all doctrine. But he says in essence, you might have a church full of men who've got their doctrine straight, full of them, but if that doctrine can't be preceded by a life that is exemplary, they are disqualified at the outset. They are disqualified at the outset.

And I say to any young man considering the ministry, don't forget the biblical order. A life beyond reproach is at the top of the list, and to cultivate a life beyond reproach means that you are determined by the grace of God that you're going to be a man of prayer, you're going to be a holy man, you're going to be a man of consistent life, a man when he stands to teach in the presence of his wife and children, they will listen to him because they know there's no contradiction between what comes over the pulpit and what they see in the living room and in the kitchen. That's why, at the top of the list, you became a model. It's not only the truth conveyed by spiritual leaders, but by the life in which that truth is couched that is of tremendous importance.

I must close tonight. Let me close by asking, are you a model? Are you an example? Now, you're being an example to others regardless–either a negative or a positive, a good or bad example. What kind of an example are you? Fathers, mothers, young people, married, single, older ones, are you being the example that your younger brothers and sisters follow, a path of blessing? They're following either for good or for evil.

Oh beloved, may the Lord help us to so receive His word as His people that, becoming imitators of the Lord and of His servants, we may in turn become models, models for others to follow. So, as Paul rejoices in the Thessalonian church that the gospel came not only in power but in the Holy Spirit, he rejoices that having received the Word, they became imitators of the Lord and of His faithful servants. In turn then, they became examples, models for others to follow. May God grant that as we receive the Word from week to week, that it will be producing more and more in us this twofold effect by becoming imitators and then models. May God grant that it will be true for His glory and for our profit.

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

We began to look at this account last Lord's Day, this account known as the triumphal entry of our Lord Jesus Christ into the city of Jerusalem, just four days before He would be suspended between heaven and earth, impaled upon Calvary's cross, before He would offer Himself up as the Lamb who would take away our sins. And last Sunday, we focused primarily on the manner of His coming into the city, and we saw together that He came as a king. He came as the king. The way that He rode in spoke of the fact that He was Israel's king, just as Zechariah the prophet prophesied in Zechariah 9:9. This is how He rode into the city.

John tells us, the Holy Spirit, through John, presents it to us this way, verse 15: "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt." So He rode in on that colt that had never been ridden before, reserved for royalty, reserved for a king, and so the way He rode in spoke of Him as the king who is to come, the king of Israel.

The way the crowd were treating Him as well. We saw that last Lord's Day, laying down their garments in front of Him, laying down palm branches in front of Him, gathered together with this great exuberance, great rejoicing, and crying out, Hosanna! Salvation has come! Salvation is here! And this spoke of Him as the king of Israel, and it bothered the Pharisees so much—so much—that they called upon Jesus to rebuke His disciples, tell them to stop! This isn't right! And Jesus said that if these were to be silent, even the rocks would cry out. No way to silence this. This is fitting. This is proper. This is right.

So Israel is without excuse, because the very way that Jesus comes into the city cries out from God, behold, your promised King. This is your promised King. He came as the king, and He came also, we saw together, as the deliverer. Zechariah says, rejoice, but the Holy Spirit, through John here in this account, interpreting Zechariah 9:9, says, “fear not”. “Fear not”. Your fears now are able to be removed. Your sins will be now forgiven, gone, dealt with, the wrath of God averted for all of those who put their trust in this promised King. For all of those who look at this King as their Savior, you will be forgiven. The wrath of God, which is due you, is averted.

He comes to deliver them from the wrath that is coming by the shedding of His own blood. He comes as the Lamb. He comes as God's Passover Lamb, our Passover Lamb. We talked last time about how the very day that He entered Jerusalem, the 10th of Nisan, was the day of the Passover lambs were selected. And He rode in, and as He rode in on His colt, no doubt before Him, lambs being driven into the city of Jerusalem, behind Him, around Him, and here He is, the Lamb of God, the Chosen One who would save us, making His way into Jerusalem, not coming under any illusion of national repentance and faith in Him as Savior, but rather coming knowing fully—fully well—that He's making His way to Calvary, to die.

Indeed, this is the reason why He's come. He's come to give His life a ransom for many. He's come to lay down His life for the sheep, the manner of His coming.

This morning, I want us to begin with the 16th verse and see the meaning of His coming, the meaning of His coming. The Bible says, verse 16, "These things His disciples did not understand at the first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered these things, that these things were written about Him, and that they had done these things to Him." John tells us something very interesting here, very interesting. He tells us that the disciples, and John was among them, that the disciples took part in all of this. They're with Him. They took part in all of this, they witnessed all of this firsthand experience.

This was something that they witnessed firsthand, but at the time that it was happening, they did not understand it. They had no clue. They didn't understand what was happening. They never really perceived. They never really grasped. They never really understood what was happening, what was really happening, until after the death and the resurrection and the glorification of Christ. And what this means is that the Holy Spirit of God, at a later time, gave them insight into the events that they were a part of at an earlier time.

It's the Holy Spirit sort of saying, do you know what you witnessed? Do you know what you were a part of? Do you know what you participated in? And He gave them insight. He gave them understanding. This happened just as the Lord Jesus, by the way, said it would happen. In John 14 and verse 26, we'll get to this verse, Lord willing, in the future, Jesus said, "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." And when the Holy Spirit is given, He will interpret for you what you have seen. He will shed light on what you have heard. He will bring it to your remembrance, and He will make sense of it for you. He will enable you to grasp it, to understand it.

That's what the Lord is doing as John writes this gospel. The Lord is giving him insight. This is done under inspiration, under the guidance, the superintending guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is not the only place, by the way, where you see the Lord opening the scriptures to His disciples after the event that they participated in. Turn with me to Luke chapter 24, that familiar account. This is fascinating. You find an example of this after the resurrection of Christ, before His ascension.

All of this information was there in the scriptures for them. All of this was there for them to understand, to get it, but they didn't get it. They didn't understand it. They didn't perceive it. And the Lord had to open their eyes. It just didn't dawn on them just like this in the future. It wasn't like something, oh, you know, oh, oh, oh, we get it now. No, it wasn't like that. The Lord Himself opened their understanding so that they could perceive these things.

Look at verse 13, "And behold, two of them"—Luke 24:13—"Behold, two of them were going that same day to a village named Emmaus, which was sixty stadia from Jerusalem. And they were conversing with one another, with each other, about all these things which had happened. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus Himself approached and was going with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. And He said to them, 'What are these words that you are discussing with one another as you are walking?' And they stood still, looking sad."

By the way, have you ever had someone ask a question that just makes your jaw drop? That's sort of a sort of thing that happened here. Jesus asked this question, and they just stand still, and they just look at Him, and they look sad.

Verse 18, "And one of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, 'Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?' And He said to them, 'What things?' And they said to Him, 'The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a mighty prophet in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. But also some women among us astounded us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and not finding His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also said. But Him they did not see.'"

“And He”, the Lord Jesus, “said to them, 'O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken.'" In other words, if you just understood the scriptures, if you just understood the scriptures that you have in your hand, you would know. You would know what's going on.

Verse 26, "'Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?' Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He interpreted to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures." Wouldn't you have loved to have been in on that conversation?

“And they approached the village”, verse 28, “where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. But they urged Him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.’ So He went in to stay with them, and it happened that when He had reclined at the table with them, He took bread and blessed it. And after breaking it, He was giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him. And He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was opening the Scriptures to us?’ And they stood up that very hour, returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven of those, and those with them, who were saying, ‘The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.’ And they were relating their experiences on the road, and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of bread.”

Back to John 12. In the same sort of way, beloved, the disciples didn't understand what they were witnessing on this day, when Jesus rode in the city of Jerusalem. They didn't understand, they didn't get it, they didn't know, until later, when the Holy Spirit opens to their understanding exactly what they had been a part of.

Do you realize, beloved, do you realize something very similar to this is happening down to our own day? Do you realize that? That there are people every day exposed to the power and the working of the Spirit of God. There are people who are exposed to the teaching of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures, but what they see and what they hear is completely lost on them. Even to this day, they see, but they do not perceive. They hear, but they do not understand, they do not comprehend, until that day—until that day that the Lord brings them salvation.

That day, when the Lord removes the scales from their eyes, and then the lights are turned on. Then those things that they heard, but did not hear prior to this, now they understand. And the things they saw, but they did not see before, now they are able to perceive with the eyes of faith. It happens all the time. It happens all the time when someone is saved. They look back and they say something like this: Oh, you know, I heard the gospel. I sat Sunday after Sunday and I heard the gospel, but I never really heard it. But I never really heard it. And I saw the working of the Holy Spirit, but I never recognized that working for what it was.

Let me put it this way, beloved. There's a depth of truth present in these events that we're reading about. There's a depth of truth there that the people who witnessed these things did not grasp, did not understand at the time. And that even now as we read these things, even today as we read these things now, as we're doing this together, we won't understand the depth of truth that is present apart from the enlightening work of the Spirit of God. We won't.

One of the things they didn't understand at the time we began looking at last Lord's Day is that Jesus was entering Jerusalem, not just as the King, but also as the Passover Lamb of God. And I want us to think about this, the meaning of His coming, the Lamb of God. We need to get a hold of this. We have to understand something about the Passover if we are to understand the meaning of His coming. So with that in mind, please, let's go back to Exodus 12. And this is really important for us because He came in not only as the King of Israel, He came as the Passover Lamb on that day when the lambs that sacrificed are being selected. Behold Him, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

You know the feast we keep reading about here, for example, it says in verse 12, by the way, of John 12. “On the next day, the large crowd who had come to the feast”, the feast talked about is the Jewish Passover, followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And so we need to understand that. So Exodus chapter 12, you remember, the Passover has to do with the way that God, Yahweh, delivered the children of Israel out of their bondage there in Egypt.

Look at verse one. We're going to read, by the way, quite a few verses. So stay with me, read with me, follow with me. And this is absolutely important. And it is for our edification, it's for our profit. So this is really important.

Exodus 12, verse one: "Now Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 'This month shall be the beginning of months for you. It is to be the first month of the year to you.'" So this is now Nisan in our calendar, March, April. "'It is to be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers' households, a lamb for each household. Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to apportion the lamb. Your lamb shall be a male without blemish, a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. And they shall eat the flesh that night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roast it with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the Passover of Yahweh. And I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am Yahweh. And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and I will see the blood and I will pass over you, and there shall be no plague among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to Yahweh; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a perpetual statute. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. Now on the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be done by you. You shall also keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall keep this day throughout your generations as a perpetual statute. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses, for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your places of habitation you shall eat unleavened bread.’

“Then Moses called for the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Bring out and take for yourselves lambs according to your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and touch some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the doorway of his house until morning. And Yahweh will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and He will see the blood on the lintel and on the doorposts, and Yahweh will pass over the doorway and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you. And you shall keep this event as a statute for you and your children forever. And it will be when you enter the land which Yahweh will give you, as He has promised, you shall keep this new slavery. And it will be when your children say to you, 'What is the meaning of this new slavery to you?' that you shall say, 'It is a Passover sacrifice to Yahweh who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but delivered our homes.'" And the people bowed low and worshiped.

Then the sons of Israel went and did so; just as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.”

Verse 29: "Now it happened at midnight that Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. Then Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead. Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, 'Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel, and go, serve Yahweh, as you have spoken. Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have spoken, and go, and bless me also.'"

That's the Passover.

Keep your thumb here, and I want us to briefly go to Leviticus 23, but keep your thumb here. You want to come back to this.

Verse four: "These are the appointed times of Yahweh, holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the Passover of Yahweh. Then on the fifteenth day of the same month, there is the feast of unleavened bread to Yahweh. For seven days, you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work. But for seven days, you shall bring near an offering by fire to Yahweh. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work."

Back to Exodus 12. Here's what I want us to notice. I want us to notice some things, some of the details about the Passover. First of all, from this portion, first of all, a lamb—notice with me—was to be selected according to each man's need. A lamb was to be selected according to each man's need. There was an individual element to this. There was an individual element to this.

Notice it says in verse four, notice what it says: "Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to apportion the lamb." So there's an individual element involved in the Passover. Even though it involves families and it involved the children of Israel as a whole, there's still this individual element—”according to what each man should eat.”

Secondly, notice with me, the lamb was to be a young male, a year old, the Bible says, without blemish—without blemish. Verse five: "Your lamb shall be a male without blemish, a year old."

Thirdly, the lamb was to be selected on the tenth day of the month, the tenth of Nisan, and then kept until the fourteenth day of the month. Verse three says, "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, 'On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their father's household, a lamb for each household.'" Verse six: "And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month."

The fourth thing I want us to notice together is that the lamb was to be killed at twilight. The lamb was to be killed at twilight. Verse 6b: "Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight"—at twilight of that fourteenth day. Literally, in the Hebrew text, it is "between the evenings," twilight—between the evenings.

Now, there's some discussion as to what exactly that meant. Some say it had to do with the descent of the sun towards sunset, somewhere between 3 and 5 p.m. Some say it was from the setting of the sun until dark. But all of the evidence points to the former one to be the way to be taken. Because one, number one, it allowed time for all of those lambs to be sacrificed. And also, we know from Josephus, the Jewish historian, who tells us the Passover lambs at the time of Christ were being sacrificed at about 3 p.m. in the afternoon. And by the way, that is when Jesus released His Spirit, when He gave up the Spirit and died—3 in the afternoon on the fourteenth of Nisan. Exactly the time when the Passover lambs were being sacrificed.

Fifth, the blood of the lamb was to be applied to the house where the lamb was eaten. Verse 7: "Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat. In which they eat it."

Six, the lamb was to be roasted and eaten along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Verse 8. The bitter herbs are a reminder of the slavery in Egypt and the bitterness of it. And someone might ask, why unleavened bread? Why unleavened bread?

Pastor MacArthur was asked that question, and here's his answer. Quote, he said, "I'm not a baker now, but I know a little bit about unleavened bread. That's about all. I won't try to make any, but I can describe it a little bit." He says, "Bread is made out of dough. And of course, when you make a batch of dough, if you were to take out a piece of the dough, you don't bake the dough, you just keep one little piece. It sours. The next time you make bread, you put that sour dough in it, acts as a leavened bread. It causes it to rise and we eat leavened bread. Leavened bread is bread and unleavened bread is crackers. That's about a close parallel you're going to get. It's flat," end of quote.

Now, in those days, Israel normally, according to Hosea 7:4, they normally ate leavened bread. They ate bread that was rising. They would enjoy that. That was their regular bread. But unleavened bread was enjoined upon them because they were what? In a hurry. They were in a hurry. God was saying, make the bread of haste because you've got to get out of town. You've got to get out of there. Don't take the time to let your bread rise. Bake it, eat it, you're going to leave. You're going to go. And that was done at Passover.

So in the memorial to the Passover in Egypt, when they made their bread in haste and got out of there, in memorial to that, God said, whenever you celebrate Passover, whenever you look back and remember what God did in Egypt, as a memory that you left Egypt in haste, in hurry, and didn't have time for your bread to rise, you eat unleavened bread. And so if you wonder why, why was it unleavened? Well, they didn't have time for their bread to rise. It was in haste that they left. Remember that you're to eat it in haste.

And by the way, that's the seventh thing that I want us to notice. The lamb was to be eaten with haste—with haste. We were told in verse 11, it was to be eaten with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, your staff in your hand. And God promised that He would be at work in this. He would pass through the land of Egypt that night, and He would strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And whenever the blood had been applied, He tells us, He would watch over, and He would pass over, and watch over so that death would not actually come into that home. Those homes would be spared from the plague.

Look back, back to John 12, back to John 12. Now I want to see the connection. What I'm saying to us, based on the word of God, last Sunday and today, is that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, when He rode into the city of Jerusalem on the 10th of Nisan, He was entering not only as the promised King of Israel, but as the Passover lamb, the true Passover lamb that was pictured in the Passover that we just read about in Exodus 12. Behold the Lamb of God.

Now stop for a moment and think about it. Think about the Passover in Exodus 12. Isn't that a strange way to save people? I mean, why all the ceremony? Why? Why the careful selection of the lamb? Why? And why does the lamb have to be unblemished? Why does God want this to be a memorial practiced throughout the generations? Why would the blood of an animal, a lamb, would be instrumental in delivering the people who believe God and actually did what He told them to do? Why? Why would God choose to save His people that way?

The answer is because that was pointing to something far, far, far greater. This was simply an object lesson, an object lesson. This was something just to teach them, to give them faith in the One who was going to come to die for their sins, to die for our sins. Jesus was being pictured all the way back then. What happened in Exodus 12 was a giant arrow pointing to the Lamb of God.

Stephen Charnock, Puritan preacher, recognized that. Listen to what he said, and I quote, "'And indeed, if we consider all the circumstances in the institution, they seem not worthy of the wisdom of God.'" Let's just stop for a second and let that sink in. He said, you know, if you just looked at the Passover without the Lord Jesus, it wouldn't be worthy of the wisdom of God, it wouldn't. If you were to look at the Passover without Jesus.

He goes on to say, "'Nor are capable of having any reason rendered for them, if they be not referred to some other mystery, and what can that be but the Redeemer of the world represented thereby? Why should so much care be in the choice and separation of a lamb? What virtue had the blood of a poor animal to secure the house, and the life of the firstborn against the sword of a strong and an invisible angel?'” I love this. “'Was the sprinkling of blood upon the post a necessary mark for the angel, as though he had not understanding enough to distinguish between the houses of the children of the Israelites and the Egyptians?'” And he goes on to say, “'How can we think God should appoint so many ceremony in it, lay such a charge upon them for the strict observation of them, if he designed it, not as a prop to their faith, a ground to expect a higher and spiritual deliverance by the blood of the Messiah, as well as a test of their obedience and a memorial of their temporal deliverance.'" End of quote.

And he's right, he's right. It wasn't just about the temporal deliverance, it was pointing to a greater deliverance to the Lamb of God whose blood would deliver us, those who believe in Him, who would deliver us, redeem us, and keep us from the wrath of God. I know he's right, because God's word says he's right. Isn't that what we read in Hebrews 10, for example? Really, Hebrews 10, 10 and 12: "By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices which can never take away sins, but He”, Christ, “having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God."

And last week we read 1 Corinthians 5:7. Paul writes, "Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover lamb, also was sacrificed." That settles it, doesn't it? He's the fulfillment of the picture. He's the substance. All of that was the shadow. He's the substance. He is our Passover lamb.

And think with me about how the Lord Jesus was pictured in the Passover. Think with me. All of those things that we noticed together from the account in Exodus 12. Jesus was the lamb chosen, set apart for Passover, and chosen not by us, but by God for us. God said, I will provide a lamb. And He did. He did. And Christ died in the prime of His life. He was without blemish, without any sin, without any deceit. There was nothing to be found wrong or blemished in Him. He was the Lamb of God, a lamb without blemish.

This is why God told the Israelites, find a lamb without blemish, because it was pointing to the sinless Son of God. He was presented to Israel on the tenth day of Nisan, and He died on the fourteenth day of Nisan at three o'clock in the afternoon, just when the lambs were sacrificed. And only those to whom His blood is applied will be delivered from the wrath of God, just like the blood had to be applied on the doorpost, on the lintel, in order for those people to be spared.

So the shed blood of Jesus must be appropriated. That is, we must trust in Him by faith, embrace Him by faith. His blood applied on our behalf. Now I want to underscore this, beloved, all those for whom Christ died will be saved. All those for whom Christ died will believe, will appropriate His death on the cross for them, and the reason why they will is the sovereign God who gave these people to His Son before time and sent His Son into the world to redeem them is the same One who will do that monergistic work of regeneration in their hearts, granting them through the new birth repentance and faith in Jesus.

Everyone for whom Christ died will apply that blood—so to speak—to their house, their life, their soul. Everyone for whom Christ died will trust in Jesus. They'll be saved.

Isn't it a glorious thing, beloved, to know why you have believed? Isn't it? Isn't it? That you can't ascribe your faith to yourself? That you can't say, "I'm a believer today because I was smarter than somebody else"? "I'm a believer today because I had a softer heart than someone else"? "I'm a believer today because I was just somehow more naturally wise than another person"?

No. No, no, I'm a believer today because God in His grace saved me. He did a work in my soul that brought me to His Son, and now I understand that I was actually given to His Son before I was ever born, and Christ came into this world to give His life a ransom for many to save His people from their sins—Christ our Passover Lamb.

And another way that Jesus fulfills this picture is they didn't just sacrifice those lambs, they ate them. They ate them. And they were to so take note of who was in the household that nothing was left over. Right? That's what they were told. The lamb was to be completely what? Consumed. Christ is not just our sacrifice, beloved, He is our feast. He is our feast, He is our food, His blood is our drink, His flesh is our meat. We live on Him. What a glorious Savior we have. We live on Him. He satisfies our souls. He is our satisfaction. Not only He's our sacrifice, but He's our feast, and His death for us results in a people who spiritually have left Egypt, and now we're ready to travel for God.

Turn to 1 Corinthians 5 for a moment. I know you've seen it. I trust you understand, but I want us to see it again—again—how Paul applies this in a very practical way to the Corinthian fellowship. Here they are allowing sin to go on in the congregation, and he says to them in verse 6, "Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover lamb, also was sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

How do you celebrate the Passover? Not with the leaven of sin, but with unleavened bread, sincerity, and truth. We are a people, beloved, who have been redeemed by the grace of God, by the shedding blood of the Lamb of God, redeemed out of Egypt, and now we are walking with God, leaving Egypt behind in haste, ready to walk with God. This is who we are. This is how we're to live.

And if we really understand that Christ is our Passover, if He really is our Passover, then we're ready to travel with Him, aren't we? To leave behind our old life, to leave behind the world, the pleasures of sin, and to walk with God, and to live for God.

Back to John 12. So we see the manner of His coming. He comes as a King. He comes as a Deliverer. He comes as a Lamb, the Lamb of God, who takes away our sins. We see the meaning that's bound up in it in His coming, deeper than just what lies on the surface. His own disciples didn't understand the fullness of what they were participating in until later, and now we, with the help, with the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit, as we look in the fullness of the revelation that God has given us in His Word, we're able to behold it, to look at it, and see that there's a depth to it, there was a fullness to it. He came not just as the King of Israel, but as the Passover Lamb, our Passover Lamb. And now, blessed be God, we're able to see that.

The third thing I want us to know is, very briefly, the message of His coming. Verse 17 and 18, "The crowd who was with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to bear witness about Him. For this reason also the crowd went and met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign."

Even as He's coming, making His way into Jerusalem, He's coming and there's this expectation there, because those who witnessed the sign, the miracle, just continued to talk about it. They continued to bear witness—the message of His coming. This sign that He had done concerning Lazarus, they continued to talk about it. Some of them have been converted as a result of seeing it. We've seen that in our studies before. But most of the people who were gathered here, with all of this enthusiasm, had no real idea of who Jesus was and why He'd come.

This group largely consisted of those who gave a claim to Jesus because they thought of the temporal benefits that He could provide for them. They thought that He could usher in the age of freedom from Roman tyranny, peace, and prosperity. And their hopes were fueled by those who had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, telling others about the spectacular miracle. In their mind, if Jesus had done this for Lazarus, surely He can meet all of our needs.

Which leads to the last thing that I want us to see in verse 19: the misunderstanding of His coming. So the Pharisees said to one another, "You see that you are gaining nothing." Now stop right there. "You see that you are gaining nothing." Isn't it amazing? They don't cease to amaze you. They still think they're somehow in control. They still think somehow they're in control. You know, fellows, we should have listened to Caiaphas long ago, because we've got nowhere with this tact we've taken. We're going to have to change our strategy.

Do you realize, beloved, that within the sovereign plan of God, the very way that Jesus enters Jerusalem is going to be used by God to goad these evil men into action—to express their evil heart? So they say we must act. We must act. We must do something. Notice how they've misunderstood His coming. "Look, the world has gone after Him."

Remember what they said, what Caiaphas said—actually, what they said and Caiaphas responded to it earlier, in the previous chapter? "If we let Him go”, John 11:48, “like this, all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." And now here they are. Watch Him. They watch Him coming into the city of Jerusalem, and they see the enthusiasm. They see the fervor. And they are coming to the conclusion that what they feared is coming to pass and that He's coming as some political figure and they're going to lose their influence.

They had no understanding whatsoever at all of why Jesus was coming. In fact, we find out from the synoptics that on His way into Jerusalem, He wept. He wept. He wept because how He would have gathered them together, but they would not. They could not see. They did not understand. I wonder, oh, I wonder if the Son of God would weep over you. I wonder. I wonder who's here this morning that He would gather you, but you will not.

Listen, God is sovereign in salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. Every person who is saved, it is God's doing alone. But when a man or woman or young person resists the gospel and they are lost, I say to you this day on the authority of the Word of God, it is their responsibility. When someone is saved, it is God's doing. When someone remains in unbelief, it is their own doing—completely, solely.

You've heard the gospel. You've heard the gospel. Christ died for sinners. He's been raised from the dead. The way is open. The arms of the Savior are wide open. The invitation is issued. If you will turn from your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall be saved. You will be saved. Now will you come? Will you come? You won't come until you understand. You won't come until God's light has shone in your heart to give you the knowledge of His glory in the face of His Son.

Have you ever come to Christ as your Passover, your Passover lamb? Have you ever seen that if you die in your natural condition, that you will spend eternity in hell? And there is no way out. There are no redos. And that there's the only way—the only way, only way—for your sins, those sins that have brought you under the judgment of God, that there's only one way for your sins to be forgiven. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, died for sinners. He died for people just like you.
And would you even today, right now, acknowledge your true condition? And with a broken heart, cry out, O Lord Jesus, I will turn from my sins to follow You, trusting in You and You alone as the Lord who saves. Trusting in Your shed blood, Your sacrifice for the forgiveness of my sins. Trusting in that righteousness that You clothe me with as I believe, as You promised.

Trusting in Your righteousness for a right standing before a thrice holy God. Not trusting in any way whatsoever in myself and my doing to make myself acceptable to God, but placing all of my weight for all of eternity on the doing and the dying of Jesus Christ and Him alone.

I'll tell you today, if just Jesus is not enough to make a man, woman, boy, or girl right with God, then I will perish one day because there's nothing—absolutely nothing—I have to offer. But I'm thankful that He is enough. He is enough. That His shed blood has answered for all the sins of all of those who have ever and ever will trust in Him as Lord and Savior.

And every believer can say, I have trusted and so I'm saved. I love Him because I'm saved. I see Him for who He is because the Holy Spirit has worked salvation in my soul. Have you ever understood? Have you ever come to Him? We said it last week, when someone really understands the gospel, grasps the gospel by the enablement of the Spirit, they don't come to Jesus reluctantly. They don't come to Jesus half-heartedly. They don't come to Jesus with reservations. They run to Him. They see who He is and they run to Him—flee from the wrath that is coming.

Where do you run if you flee from wrath? Where do you run? You run to the One who delivers you from wrath, Jesus Christ. You run to Him. Have you ever run to Him, holding nothing in your hands, with nothing to offer, just running with your poor, broken life, knowing that He'll receive you as you are, but He won't leave you as you are? Have you ever come to Him? Even today, even right now, you can look to the Lamb of God and be saved.

And those of us who have been saved, oh, how we should bow low. How we should live for Him. He gave His life for us. He called us out. That's what the church means, the word ekklēsia—called out—to leave the Egypt of the world and to walk with God and to shed and leave the leavened bread of sin and to live for Him. Is that too much to ask? Behold the Lamb of God.

Oh, how you and I, with a renewed, resolute heart, that we would say, oh Lord, here's my life, body, soul, all of my faculties, mind, heart, will, it's all for You. Oh, how we should bow low and say together, all glory be to God that He has saved such a wretch like me. How we should be like Mary. Here, Lord, You are worth it. I give You my all. I give You the best of me, all of me. My time, my energy, my faculties, my thoughts, my words, my all. I give You my life, this all that I could do.

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

We're back to this incredible epistle, 1 Thessalonians, where Paul writes this epistle to this beloved church, and he gives thanks to God. He tells them, always, for all of you, and he does this because he remembers some things, and he knows some things, and he remembers, without ceasing, their work of faith, their labor of love, steadfastness of hope. And then he knows that these brothers, beloved by God—he knows, first of all, they're beloved by God, and secondly, he knows they are the elect of God. The reason he knows that is not because he was able to peek into the secret counsel of God and read that into the secret counsel of God, but rather, he knew that he could read their election through their effectual calling, and he could really affirm and confirm the effectual calling by what it produced in them, namely, all of these virtues, all of these wonderful evidences of grace that he lists in the rest of this chapter.

We began to look at this together the last few weeks. Tonight, we come to verse six, and I want us to zero in on this clause: “having received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit”, and we'll pick up the rest next Lord's Day, Lord willing. Having received the word, he says, "'For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, having received the word,'" and that gospel coming, coming in power—he said—"'produced in these people a receiving of the Word.'" You need to see the connection.

Now, what does this little phrase, having received the Word, mean? What does it mean? There are two main words used in the New Testament that can be translated as receive or receiving or received. One of them simply means to accept something, to take something into one's possession without any indication of how it is taken. That Greek word is the Greek word *lambano (λαμβάνω )*. You might receive, for example, a ticket from a police officer when you're stopped. I doubt that you'd receive that with joy or any relish. You just simply receive it. One word in the New Testament that means simply to take something, to receive it, you accept it regardless, *lambano (λαμβάνω) *.

Another word is used which has a strong, strong overtones of receiving rather with delight. To receive with delight. It's a welcoming, appropriating reception. That's the word *dexamenoi  (δεξάμενοι )*, and that's the word that is used here by Paul under inspiration—to accept an offer deliberately, readily, to accept something with open arms, to welcome it, to rejoice in it. He said you received with a welcoming, with an appropriating reception, the Word. In much affliction and with the joy of the Holy Spirit.

This is the word used when it speaks of Simeon in the Gospel of Luke, chapter two, verse 28, translated took—he took, he *dexamenoi  (δεξάμενοι )*, he welcomed, he received with delight—Him, the babe, Jesus, into his arms and blessed God. You recall when Mary and Joseph brought Christ up to the temple according to Old Testament law and Mary came with her sacrifice and he, Simeon, received the babe into his arms. There was a welcoming reception and then that wonderful burst of praise to God for His so great a salvation. That's the word.
Same word is used in Hebrews 11:31, where Rahab, we're told, welcomed the spies. She received the spies. She didn't simply open her door for them. You remember, she cared for them. She hid them. She welcomed them into her home and it was an appropriating reception. Same word used in Acts, chapter three, in verse 21, where it says of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom heaven must *dechomai*—receive, welcome—until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. How had heaven received our Lord Jesus Christ? Well, He was received with joy, with delight as the King of Glory.

Well, that's the word used and it's in that connotation that Paul says here, having received, having received, having welcomed, having welcomed. You received, you welcomed with open arms. Your hearts, in fact, went out and embraced with an appropriating reception. What? Well, notice the word: having received, the Word, the Word. Now, we could spend, really, three, four weeks on just this little phrase, the Word. It's the very word used for the title of our Lord Jesus Christ in John 1:1, *Logos (Λόγος) *. "In the beginning was the Word, the Logos, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." But here, in this passage, as in many others, the term here, *Logos (Λόγος) *, or that phrase, the word, speaks particularly in context of the message of the gospel, the saving message.

Many usages, but here and elsewhere, it means the message concerning salvation, the attainment of salvation, the obtaining of salvation in the kingdom of God through the person Jesus Christ. It's a message that comes declaring man's absolute ruin by the fall. It's included in that message. It's a message which comes declaring man's redemption by none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the one and only Mediator. It's a message that comes declaring the necessity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. It's a message that comes with overtones demanding repentance and urging men to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's the message that Paul proclaimed wherever he went, the message of the gospel. In fact, it's the word used in 1 Corinthians 1:18 for the—some translations have it the message of the cross, but it is—the Word of the cross, the *Logos (Λόγος) * of the cross. He says, "For the Word of the cross is foolishness"—he's referring to the message of the gospel. It's foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is what? It is the power of God." It's the same word used in Colossians 1:5, where we read, "because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth"—and then he specifies—"the gospel," the message of the truth of the gospel. It's the gospel.

Now, going through the Scriptures and finding these references to the word or message of the gospel, then we must ask the question: what did that word or message contain? What is bound up in that Word, in that message? And the only way to find out is to go to the men that preached it. And when you turn to the book of Acts, for example, you turn to the epistles, you find that it was a distinct message. It was a distinct message that had specific ingredients. And you find out also that it was a final, absolute, unalterable message.

So final, so unalterable that the apostle Paul said to the Galatians in chapter one—you remember that passage—he said, even if I come back to you or you have an angel stepping out of heaven and proclaiming to you any other gospel, an *heteros (ἕτερος) * gospel, another of a different kind gospel, any other word, any other message, he says, let him be anathema, let him be accursed. And then he says, again, I say unto you, let him be accursed.

So when Paul says that these people received, they welcomed with delight—they welcomed with an appropriating reception—the word, he was speaking of nothing less than that message that comes from God with specific ingredients concerning the rights of God, the sin of man, the redemption of God exclusively in Christ, and the demands of God for repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That message committed once and for all for the salvation of sinners. This is what Paul is talking about.

And he says, these people here, there in Thessaloniki—he says, they received the Word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Now notice, he says, having received the Word, the *Logos*, having received the Word—not part of it, every word is inspired—not part of it, not a fraction of it, not most of it, not two-thirds of it, but you received the Word, the entirety of the message, all of it, the full counsel. They received all of it.

You know what that means? That means that they received the negative aspects of that message as well, the negative aspects of that message. And part of receiving the message of the gospel is accepting the bad news that it contains as well. That's the backdrop, the bad news, the bad news concerning man's absolute ruin by the fall. No one receives the word who doesn't welcome—even though it's painful—to welcome that terrible indictment that comes from heaven saying, "Thou art a guilty, wretched, vile rebel, a hell-deserving sinner." And until you know this, you haven't received the entirety of the message.

You see, there's no receiving the Word apart from receiving the awful overtones of man's judgment, the terrible scandal of the cross, that in the bloody form of the Son of God, you find the only hope of salvation. The terrible scandal of the cross, the terrible stumbling block, this thing that was to the Jews, that He who was God became weak, was crucified through weakness. He, though being rich, yet for your sake became poor so that you through His poverty might become rich—2 Corinthians 8:9. And yet they received the whole thing, all of it. That message concerning God's way of saving sinners, and they received it into their heads in the knowledge of it. That's involved in receiving it, to receive it into the head, but also to receive it into their hearts.

That's what also took place in the effectual belief of it, and then into their lives in the practical obedience to it, the surrender of the will, the submission of the will. That's what happened here at Thessaloniki. They received the Word—head, heart, and hands—the entirety of the person, they received the Word. Now, to receive the Word in the biblical sense means nothing less than that, beloved.

And may I draw several observations by way of application at this point before we continue, before looking at the little phrase, how they received it in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit? What is the first indication that God is making His Word come with power and the Holy Spirit into the heart of man? What is the first indication? And the first indication, beloved, by way of application is that he begins to warmly embrace the Word. That's the first indication. He begins—the sinner begins—to warmly embrace the Word.

That is bound up in the meaning of the word, *dékhomai (δέχομαι) *, to welcome with open arms, with joy, with delight, and appropriating of the word with that kind of attitude. The first indication of the effectual calling of God is the hearty embrace of the word. Let me illustrate this from a passage of scripture that joins these two together beautifully. In John 6:44 and 45. Remember that passage? We studied it together. Our Lord says, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day." Well, how does God draw? How does He draw? How does God draw men to Himself? That drawing without which men will not come, cannot come.

Well, how will He draw? Does He draw by some kind of a magical coercion? No, He draws by a way that is mysterious to us, but it's not magical. For notice the next words, "For it is written in the prophets, or it is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me." When a man begins to hear and learn from the Father, he is not far away from coming to Christ. So how does God draw? Well, God draws by causing the word to come with power and causing sinners then to begin to welcome the word. There's that warm embrace.

One of the most blessed signs to me as an undershepherd that God is beginning a work of grace is when I see someone who has been so indifferent to the word of God, so indifferent, so laid back, so, well, who cares attitude, to see that person beginning to search the Word earnestly, earnestly, and begin to cry to God that he'd understand the scriptures. Oh, I have high hopes for that person. I don't care how long it takes God to do the work of revealing His Son. He knows what He's doing. You could tell they're hearing, learning from the Father, and when they begin to hear and learn from the Father, won't be too long before they're drawn to the Son.

And that's what Paul recognized in these beloved people there in Thessaloniki. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, he tells them, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit with full assurance, just as you know what kind of man we proved to be among you for your sake. You also became imitators of us and of the Lord. Why? Having received the Word. Having received the Word. The first indication of the effectual call is a warm embrace of the Word of God, a warm embrace of the word of God.  Several examples. We have the principle stated in John 6. Let's look at several examples in the book of Acts where this very word, having received the word, is used. Acts chapter eight, turn with me very quickly. Acts 8:14. I want us to see this together. This is really important for us.

Acts 8:14. We read there, "Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had"—what? See, the same expression—"received the Word of God." Now, what does it mean, received? Does it mean they simply were exposed to the preaching of the apostles? No, for the same strong word is used here, *dékhomai (δέχομαι)*. They welcomed it with delight, with an appropriating reception. They appropriated the word of God from the heart. They welcomed it.

You can read about it beginning with verse five. If you go, if you back up in the same chapter, they welcomed it. Now, Philip, verse five. "Now, Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began preaching Christ to them. And the crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was being said by Philip." Now, go to verse eight. "So there was"—what?—"great joy in that city." There was a warm embrace. There was joy, exuberance, the reception of the word of God.

You see the Father drawing, how? Not magically, in mysterious ways that we cannot put down and trace them out. One, two, three, four. Yes, for the scripture says the ways of the Spirit are like the wind, right? There's an element of mystery, but it's not magic. It's by the means of the Word of God, the living, active Word of God applied, the power applied through the Spirit. And so as the Spirit of God worked in Samaria, people received the Word, and then these blessed fruits followed.

It's the same word used of the Bereans in Acts 17, while we're still in Acts. Acts 17: 11, we read, "Now these were more noble-minded"—Acts 17: 11, with reference to the Bereans—"now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessaloniki, for they received the word with great eagerness." They received the Word. Same thing, same expression. They welcomed it. They appropriated it to themselves.

And now the Scripture states categorically, and I want us to look at it so that there would be no confusion in anyone's mind. This is crystal clear in scripture. The Holy Spirit-inspired record, 1 Corinthians 2:14, is the text that uses the same word, the same word, *dékhomai (δέχομαι)*, where we read, "But a natural man"—the natural man, what is that man? It's the man devoid of the Spirit's operation. The Spirit's operation. Here's the Word. The natural man does not, what? dékhomai (δέχομαι). Does not accept. Does not receive with delight. Does not embrace from the heart. There's no warm embrace. The depths of the Spirit of God. He does not receive the depths of the spirit of God. There's no joyful, delightful, warm embrace of the things of the Spirit. The natural man, the man who's yet a stranger to the working of God in grace, he does not receive the Word. Oh yes, he may be exposed to the Word. He may even have the Word fall into his mental categories. In fact, he may be able to give back the plan of salvation as he heard it. He may be able to give back some of the substance of the word, but the word used here is that same word, dékhomai (δέχομαι), to welcome, to receive into head, heart, and life. And the Bible says he can't, he can't do that. He says the natural man does not accept the depths of the Spirit of God, why? They are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are what? Spiritually examined."

There must be an ability to embrace the Word this way, and this ability is nothing less than the mighty, powerful working of God the Holy Spirit Himself. And so the lesson of this text is tremendous for us. And let me pause and address the parents here in our midst. As you pray for your kids, as you pray for your little ones, what should you consider some signs that God may be beginning the work of grace in them? What should you take as a sign? I believe here's a good one: when those kids begin to show an independent thirst and hunger for the Word of God, they begin to welcome the Word of God with a warm embrace. And you find that even when they know you're not checking on them, and you look out the corner of your eye sitting in a service like this, and you see them sitting beside you or sitting in front of you or behind you, you see them with their mouths open drinking in the preaching of the Word. When you find them of their own accord reaching out after the Word of God, that's when you ought to begin to give thanks to the Lord when you pray for your kids. That's maybe God beginning a work of grace.

Not when they can parrot something. That may be nothing but the work of producing little Pharisees. Not when simply they can model it, but when it is evident that they begin to truly receive it with joy, and there's that warm embrace, and there's that insatiable desire for it. Have you received the Word? Are you receiving the Word this evening, tonight, as you hear? Is your heart reaching out? Are you welcoming it with a glad appropriation? Or are you simply being exposed to it? Are you really receiving it with joy, or are you just can't wait for the service to end? The first indication of God's effectual calling is just that.

Secondly, second application from this little phrase, the primary characteristic of a true Christian is that he has submitted to a specific body of truth. He has submitted to a specific body of truth. Having received the Word, you received it as it came is the implication. You didn't pare off any of the rough edges of the Word, of the message. You didn't tamper with it. You didn't water it down. It wasn't like a spiritual buffet—well, I'll take this, but I'll leave that out. You didn't bring it through the sieve of human understanding. You didn't press it into the mold of human prejudice. You didn't try to shape it after the disposition of carnal desires. No, no, no. Paul said, just as it came to you, you warmly embraced it. And you didn't seek to alter it one bit. That's the reception that he's talking about.

That's a genuine child of God, a man who, among other things, has been exposed to a given message and has embraced that message in total and completely embraced it, and he has sought to receive it as it is, not alter one iota of it. A Christian is a man who has submitted to and embraced a different course of authority, even the Word of truth. Notice what our Lord said in John 17, where He prayed for His own. In praying for His own, He gives us some beautiful descriptions of a Christian, and this is one of them.

In John 17:6-8, we read the following. Our Lord is speaking, I have, or praying—"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your Word." Just as I gave Your Word to them, they kept it. They kept Your word just as I gave it to them. They received and kept it. Now, verse seven: "Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them, The words, the specific words—not just thoughts—but I've given unto them the very words that You have given Me, and what? What's the next phrase? "And they received them." Not some of them, not portions, not bits and pieces, but all of them. That's the Lord's description of a Christian, of a disciple. He has received the words of God. He's embraced the words of God. He seeks by the grace of God to keep the words of God. Fully, completely, all of it.

You don't get to pick and choose. They don't judge those words. They submit to those words. They align their lives with those words. They regulate their lives by the word of God, and under the word of God. They don't tamper with the word. They don't tamper with the message to bring it in line with their thoughts, but they seek to bring their thoughts in line with the message. They don't seek to bring the word to be subject to their own judgments, but they allow their judgments to be subject to the word. They're constantly reforming, aligning with the word, conforming to the image of Christ.

Let me ask you something this evening, dear child of God. Are you convinced—are you convinced—that if you throw off the absolute authority of the Scripture, you have no grounds from now on to even claim that you're a Christian? And I really, I feel myself compelled to speak a word of warning to us as God's people. There's even in our evangelical circles, emerging not a great big red ax over the doctrine of the absolute authority and the inspiration of the Scripture, but you know what there is? There's a little dim gray question mark way up in the right-hand corner, as it were.

Do you see the difference? If somebody came to you this evening after the service with the Bible and had a great big thick red marker and put a big red ax over the whole thing and says, now that's what you ought to do with your Bible, just cancel it out. It is not trustworthy. Discard of it, just get rid of it. It's not trustworthy. I mean, your eyes would be up in horror, wouldn't you? But now if he held it out and said, the whole thing is the Word of God, but a little fuzzy gray question mark over a word here, a word there, and this and that and the other, right-hand corner, you may be tempted to kind of overlook that as pretty harmless, and I feel that's what's happening even in evangelical circles. Little fuzzy question mark.

Oh, yes, that the Bible, you know, seems to teach fiat creation, that God actually broke in and created life, created everything out of the womb of nothing, but there's a question mark. There's a question mark. Maybe the Genesis account of creation really isn't that literal. Maybe it's not that reliable. Maybe evolution is real. You know, God is behind it, but maybe it is, maybe not. The Bible seems to teach this, but, beloved, listen, a Christian is someone who has received the Word as it has come to him in its totality with all of its difficulties as well as with its promises of joy and blessing, and I don't want to belabor the point, but I do want to state it sufficiently to make the point.

Would to God, would to God, that it could be said of us every time we opened the Word, we opened the Scriptures, every time the Scriptures are proclaimed and read. Now, what Paul could say of these people as he does in 2:13—we'll enlarge on it, Lord willing, more when we come to that. Notice what he says. Same letter, 1 Thessalonians 2:13. Would to God, this could be said of us every time we opened the word of God. 1 Thessalonians 2:13: "And for this reason, we also give thanks, we also thank God without ceasing that when you received the Word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the Word of God, which also is at work in you who believe."

What a wonderful thing for a servant of God to be able to say that about a congregation. And he says, this is what makes me thankful to God above all else, that when we came saying, thus says the Lord—now remember, Paul simply opened up the Scriptures, the Old Testament Scriptures. Remember the setting of this in Acts 17, the birthing of the church? He went into the synagogue, he reasoned out of what? Out of his own, you know, imagination? No, no, out of the Scriptures. Verse by verse, phrase by phrase. But he said, when you people saw me, going through the scrolls, and proving from the scrolls that Jesus was the Messiah, you saw beyond the scroll and the parchment, you saw beyond the messenger, you saw the God who made you. Receive the word with joy.

He says, thank God you received it as the Word of God. And I trust, beloved, when you sit here Sunday by Sunday and see beyond the black book and beyond the messenger, and you receive it as the Word of God. Do you? If you do, do you know what's gonna happen? You're gonna be an imitator, an example. And from you, the Word will sound forth. And all these other effects will follow if you have the cause, having received the Word of God.

Two principles, then, I see in that phrase. The first indication of the effectual call is a warm embrace of the word. Secondly, a Christian is one who received a definite body of revealed truth, all of it. And the third thing, I'll only touch on it briefly, because I do wanna get to the little phrase "in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit."

Thirdly, the only hope for such a reception of the Word in ourselves and others is what? The only hope to have that kind of reception of the Word, that warm embrace, in us and in others, is the mighty, the mighty work of the Holy Spirit. There's no other way around it. The mighty work of the Holy Spirit. Paul says, our gospel came in power, you received it, and the two are inseparable. If it doesn't come with power, it will not be received like this. Or it may be received in the first sense of that other word, like *lambano (λαμβάνω )* I received a ticket begrudgingly. I'll admit that's true, but it won't be received with the warm embrace and appropriation.

Why? Because the Bible tells us, "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him." Well, let's press on with the remaining time that we have.
What circumstances attended that reception of the Word? What circumstances attended the reception of that Word? Paul touches on them here, there are two. He said, having received the Word, how? This is the first one, in much affliction. That's the first set of circumstances. And the second one, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.

Someone said, and I quote, it's a good reminder, "an age out of fellowship with martyrs is neither noble nor blessed, however prosperous." End of quote. It's hard for us to understand this little phrase, having received the Word, in much affliction. Much affliction. It's hard because most of us, for the most part, do not know experimentally what much affliction means. This is the word used throughout the length of scripture, translated in some places, tribulation. It's the Greek word that we're familiar with, *thlipsis (θλῖψις) *. *Thlipsis (θλῖψις) *. It means to crush, to press, to compress, to squeeze. Which is from the Greek word, *thlao (θλάω) *, to break, trouble, tribulation, affliction. Often a metonym for evils, by which one is pressed, calamity.

Paul, and it's strange to say it, but Paul assured all of his converts that just as surely as they had a common lot in their sinfulness, common lot in their Savior, in their hope of heaven, he always assured them that they're going to have a common lot in their affliction, in their suffering. Notice what he said, new converts there, Acts 14. From a human perspective, what a strange thing to tell a bunch of new converts. If you want to get them discouraged and send them back to the leeks and onions and garlic of Egypt, just tell them what Paul told them. What a way to confirm the disciples.

But look at this, Acts 14: 22. Well, let's back up to verse 21. In verse 21, Luke, under inspiration, said this, that they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, places where they preached the Word of God before. Now, verse 22: "strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, 'Through many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God.'"

I thought you'd go to new converts and tell them how wonderful it is that everything, you come to Jesus, and everything's gonna be blessed and happy and joyful and peaceful, and it's gonna be, I mean, a smooth ride, a smooth sailing, a walk in the garden. You receive Christ, and you're just gonna be like sitting by the French Riviera, putting your feet up, sipping iced tea. No, no, they went back and strengthened the souls of the disciples by telling them the truth, saying, roll up your sleeves. Through much affliction, you will enter the kingdom of God.

He told the Philippians, in Philippians 1:21, it has been granted, it was a gift of grace to you, not only to believe in His name, but to suffer also for His namesake. He told these Thessalonians in this first letter, chapter three, verses three and four, I'll only read them because we hope to come to them eventually and expound them, "so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. For indeed, when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction, just as it happened, and as you know."

How could Paul be so sure that everywhere he went, he told these people, sooner or later, face it, you're gonna have a tough time? You're gonna face it. On what basis could he make such an assertion? And I believe, personally, he had conveyed to him the words that our Lord said to His disciples shortly before He went back to heaven.

Remember what those words were in John 16:33: "In the world, you have, *thlipsis (θλῖψις)*, you have tribulation, *thlipsis (θλῖψις)*, afflictions, but take courage; I have overcome the world." And if our Lord Jesus says to His own, "you have tribulation," then Paul had no qualms that wherever he went, saying, listen, sooner or later, if you're not in the crucible now, you will be in it, you will— and remember the word, **thlipsis (θλῖψις)* tribulation or affliction comes from a word which means to put pressure upon, to squeeze, to press. That's what affliction is. It's experiencing the vice-like jaws of pressure.

The pressure may sometimes come through actual physical abuse. That's what happened to those early converts. You remember Paul had been, hardly had been long enough to establish residence when affliction started. They grabbed the fellow who was taking care of him, being his host, they wanted to abuse him, and he had to give them some sort of a surety, sort of a payment to get them off his back, and Paul had to leave town quickly. The gospel was planted in the midst of affliction, persecution. These people knew experimentally that through much tribulation, they had to enter the kingdom of God, and it would seem according to the words of our Lord that just as all believers have a common lot in poverty of spirit, in meekness, in mourning, in hungering, in thirsting, He says in the last beatitude in Matthew 5: "'Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.'"

Now, there are times when perhaps that pressure does not come so much with physical abuse, but it comes, how? It comes through the pressure of what? Being cut off, ostracized, canceled out, pressured out of the circle of friendship, and it's a terrible commentary in Human Depravity how people can be so nice and yet make it obvious that they're so called to us. That's affliction, that's real affliction, that's real suffering.

In fact, I think the suffering of rejection is perhaps the deepest form of suffering there is, is that the inner suffering and affliction that comes with it, why? Because you see, the Christian exposes the world, the worldling, because of his culture pattern, because of the common grace of God restraining in society, he may not feel free to pick up a stone, his culture, his society said, well, you must, you know, smile, but in his heart, you sense the pulse of his heart as well as see his mocking, empty smile, his heart is a heart that says, if I could, I would pick up a stone.

Scripture says all Christians will have a part in that one way or another, the affliction, the tribulation of rejection, openly, overtly, or covertly, it matters not, and perhaps this is why this church was so influential, how the word sounded forth. For you see, when people are recruited in time of war, they don't join the army to see the world through, you know, a vacation or a portal, the 19-year-old who signs up, who knows, who knows in six months' time where he's going to be, and you may not get so many volunteering, but those that do, they know what they're in for, and they make better soldiers.

 And in the history of the church, one of the great principles that unfolds is this, that when the church of Jesus Christ has been at war, and the lines have been clearly drawn, and the forces of hell and darkness have been arrayed against the people of God, and the persecution and affliction break up above ground, you don't have as many, quote, volunteers. Those that know that they're in for blood, possibly for death, they make far better soldiers. And, beloved, it may be true—many of us, where we are, are going to be called upon to prove the reality of our profession, our faith, our reception of the Word, by seeing if we still welcome it in much affliction, however way that comes. Because you know what affliction does? Affliction reveals whether or not you're merely retaining the word on the surface of the life, or whether you've received it into the very fiber of your being.

And, young people, you face this in your university classes, on campus, day in and day out. You have this **thlipsis (θλῖψις)*, the pressure, to conform or be canceled out, and here's what affliction does. Affliction reveals whether or not you've merely retained the Word on the surface of life, or whether you've embraced it, received it into the very fiber of your being. Let me give you chapter and verse to prove that statement. Please turn to Matthew 13.

Matthew 13—and this struck me so forcibly in preparing for tonight. Notice the parable of the sower, and it says that those that received the word on the rocky places, stony ground, that they received the Word with joy. You know, it's interesting. They received the Word with joy. Do you know that the word translated "received" is not the word *dékhomai (δέχομαι)*, it's *lambano (λαμβάνω )*, *lambanō*. They welcomed it, but not with warm embrace, and they're exposed a little bit later, so there's this initial excitement, the surface excitement, forgiveness, eternal life. Oh, wow, this is glorious.

What happened? Well, the sun rose. It wasn't long before the sun beat down upon the little plant. It shriveled up, withered. What happened? It died, it's gone, and our Lord is going to interpret this parable, and then He says in verse—notice verse 20 and 21 in Matthew 13—"And the one on whom the seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy—*lambanō*, right? Not *dékhomai *—and yet he has no root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away." See what happens?

It's the picture of the one who receives the Word, retains the Word, but he's not to the roots of his being attached to the Word, and when the sun of tribulation, persecution arises, what does it do? It reveals clearly that there was no root, no root. There was retention, but no root, and when persecution arises because of the Word, because of his association with the Word, with Christ—but will you identify with Christ if it means your skin, your wife, your children, your life, your possessions, your work? Wait, wait a minute, wait a minute. I'll save my skin. You can have my Jesus. You can have my Jesus.

I'm deeply concerned for professing Christians whose whole Christian experience has not a single trace of self-denial, not a single trace. They can never say no to a plan, to pleasure, to anything for the sake of Christ. I fear that they are merely retaining the Word, and when the real tribulation, persecution comes because of the Word, they'll fall away. Beloved, let's not wait till it rises to see whether or not we have roots, but let us ask the Lord to show us, Lord, have I truly received the Word?

Well, they received it in much affliction, and all the affliction did was prove that they are truly, really, they have received it, and then you have this wonderful contrast. I just couldn't believe this. This was incredible. My eyes just opened up. Here's the way that this ought to—I mean, you ought to translate it literally this way: having received the word in much affliction, the Greek word, the next Greek word translated "with" is *meta (μετά) *, and really, you can translate, and it ought to be translated here this way: having received the word in much affliction along with, together with—together with—the joy of the Holy Spirit.

Now, whoever heard of such a foolish, unbefitting couple as affliction and joy? I mean, we've come across this, but it just struck me even more. You know, sometimes you see a couple coming down the street and he's like six foot seven and she's four foot eleven, and you say, how in the world did these two people get together? I mean, it just doesn't quite fit, you know, on a human perspective, in a visual way. Well, here comes affliction down the street, and the long side of her is what? Joy, joy. How do you get those two together? You just don't look like a good match. Well, you see, God delights to put things together that only God could ever think to put together. So we might, you and I might, put affliction with a word like endurance—having received the word in much affliction with endurance of the Holy Spirit. Or we might put together having received the word in much enthusiasm and joy. They fit together. But affliction and joy? How do you get those two together? Well, you see, God just likes to put together things that we human beings would never put together.

Who would ever have thought of God becoming a man, right? And choosing to breathe His first breath amidst the acrid smell of a stinking stable. Who would ever have dreamed of a thing like that? What does God put together? Deity and the smell of dung. And God joins them together. You see, His ways are not our ways—"as the heavens are high above the earth, so His thoughts are above our thoughts and His ways are above our ways." And now He wanted to bring these Thessalonians into joy. How does He do it? He doesn't do it by stepping up the anti-poverty program, giving double benefits of welfare—no, no. He lets them come to the Christian faith in the crucible of suffering.

Why? Because He knows that there's an inseparable relationship between joy and affliction. You say, I don't understand. Well, stick with me just the remaining few minutes and I hope maybe you will. You see, the Word that came to them offering salvation in the Lord, demanding absolute submission to Christ—that's the Word which, when they received it, led them into the arena of suffering and affliction. The moment they received the Word—you read about that in Acts 17—the Jews became jealous, began to persecute them and afflict them and harass them. Why? Because they received the Word about Jesus Christ and about the gospel. But that Word to which they adhered, even though it meant affliction, was also a Word that promised something.

What did it promise? "I will never leave you nor forsake you." A Word that promised, "He that has the Son has life." A Word that declared that "their sins, iniquities will be remembered no more." A Word that says, "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; so I go to prepare a place for you." A Word that says that there's a glorious inheritance of the saints. So for the first time, they had that in the midst of suffering, which they never had in the midst of peace.

Sure, everything was going fine. Thessaloniki was a thriving port city. No doubt, many of these people were feeding on the affluence of the city in a state of idolatry. And now they turn from their idols to serve the living and true God. And they enter into the crucible of suffering and yet joy. Why? Well, for the first time, they had something the idol could never give them. They knew what it was to say, Abba, Father. They knew what it was to say, Hallelujah, found Him whom my soul so long has craved. They knew what it was to say, my sins are gone, gone, gone—yes, my sins are gone. All of them.

No need to come before the idol day after day, week after week, hoping, yearning somehow to get a little bit of peace of conscience. Now in the midst of persecution—I mean, you make them look up and say, Father, the persecution really drives them to look up and say, Father, I thank You that through the blood of Your Son, my sins are gone forever. And they are buried in the depths of the sea. See, that's why they had joy. In the midst of affliction, the affliction came because of the Word, but the Word brought with it the very thing that raised them above affliction and gave them joy in the Holy Spirit.

Does man reject me? It's all right, because God accepts me. And that's a cause of joy. Does man take my earthly inheritance? That's all right. God has prepared for me a heavenly, glorious inheritance that produces joy. Does man frown upon me? That's all right, as long as God smiles upon me, and that produces joy. God is for me, no matter who is against me, and He will right all wrongs—sorrowful yet rejoicing.

So you see, in the midst of affliction, joy. What kind of joy? Oh, he tells us, joy of the Holy Spirit. Oh, the tremendous lesson in this, and I say it tenderly to some of us who may be sitting here tonight feeling, if I only could find the secret of joy. If only I could find the secret of joy. Beloved, here it is. Here it is, beloved. Here it is.

Joy doesn't have one atom to do with your circumstances. Let me say that again. Joy doesn't have anything, not even one atom to do with your circumstances or with your possessions or with having someone in your life or not having someone in, or anything that relates to this life—not a single thing. Joy has solely to do with your relationship to God, to Christ, to heaven, to things eternal, and to the world to come. Joy has nothing to do with what you have here and now. Happiness does. Happiness does. Happiness has everything to do with what you have here.

Now, thank God, in various instances, He gives His children not only joy but happiness as well. Happiness is based upon pleasant circumstances, being around pleasant people, living in health, living in relative prosperity, and the world can have happiness as well as sorrow, but the world can never have joy. Joy is a quality produced by a right relationship to God. That's why it says the fruit of what? The Spirit. The Spirit is joy. Nobody else can give it but God the Holy Spirit. No one else.

Therefore, no one has this gift of joy except the person indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And when he's got it, it's not depending on circumstances because it's the result of what? A right relationship to God, the world to come, spiritual realities. That's why you read in the book of Acts after they let loose Peter and the others, after beating them, in Acts 5:41, what do we read? "So they went on their way from the presence of the Sanhedrin, how? Rejoicing. Rejoicing. Rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for the name."

And this is what has got the ire of unregenerate men up to its boiling point. Whenever there's open persecution, the more they persecute the people of God, the more joyful the people of God become. And they can't get it. They can't understand it. They can't understand this. Why? Because they think if we take away things, we'll kill that fanatical joy. So they take away possessions. And guess what happens? Their joy rises a few degrees. They take away loved ones. Their joy rises a few more degrees. They take away life itself and they die doing what? Like so many of the martyrs, they die, what? Singing the praises of God.

Why? Because all men can do is release them from the prison of this body to go into the presence of God. Oh, beloved, you know, anything of the joy of the Holy Spirit, it has nothing to do with things, circumstances. That's how these people receive the Word, in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit. Oh, may God grant that as they thus receive the Word, that we too, by the grace of God, shall receive the Word.

Every time we open this book, have you received the Word? Are you receiving, welcoming the Word in a warm, hearty embrace? Or are you simply tolerating it, simply retaining it up here in the head until such a time it will be convenient to flop it off? May God grant that we shall be receivers of the Word, that it may be written of us, having received the Word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit.

And may it never be said that when tribulation and difficulties arose, they fell away. May God deliver us, each and every one of us, from fair-weather Christians. May we serve our Lord, if necessary, even when it means the sealing of our witness with our own lives, to serve Him faithfully, to serve Him consistently, and to serve Him with delight.

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

The time has come for the public ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ to culminate in the cross. It has reached its climax, and He will now present Himself as the King of Israel in the most public and most official way. This is one of the very well-known events in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ on this earth, known as His triumphal entry. But while it is well-known, it is also an event that has often been misunderstood. Because while it is true—and it is—that our Lord clearly presents Himself here and meant to present Himself as the King of Israel, He knew all along that He was also presenting Himself as the Passover Lamb of His people. Behold the Lamb of God.

He entered Jerusalem this day not expecting that there would be massive national repentance and that Israel would embrace Him as her Savior King, but He understood this entering into Jerusalem will ultimately lead to His death on a cross. This is His first step towards the crucifixion. What He's doing here, He's doing it in a very deliberate way. Very deliberate. The purpose of what He's doing, the timing of what He's doing—it is all in accordance with the divine plan that is unfolding with precision.Can't help but think of His selflessness, His love for us—love so amazing, so divine—love for us that is utterly selfless, sacrificial.

He's enjoyed two great days in Bethany among friends. They held a dinner in His honor, and there you remember He was anointed by Mary, an expression of her love, her devotion, her understanding of His mission. The next day, great crowds come out to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead, and to see Jesus, and many believed. And so the shepherd is seeing His sheep gathered to Him, even those for whom He would soon lay down His life, gathered to Him. It had to be a two days of great satisfaction to Him, great joy, peace, rest.

But now on this Monday, He willingly leaves this place of rest and joy to enter Jerusalem and to do it in a way that would ultimately lead to the cross. So we come to the triumphal entry of Jesus, and as we come to this account, there are some issues that we come face to face with that you can't really avoid if you really study the Word of God. And I have to tell you that in my study this week, when you consider all of the Gospel records about this final week of His life, and when you read all of the faithful, godly expositors and scholars, you discover there's disagreement about the timing.

What day did this occur on? Some actually say—some minor position—but some say, well, it took place on the Sabbath, that it was on a Saturday. Most have said that this occurred on Sunday, Palm Sunday. Thus we have Palm Sunday, the observance of the idea that He entered Jerusalem on a Sunday. Some have said this happened on a Monday. So much disagreement about the timing among godly expositors, so many arguments involved, so much counterpoint, that we literally could have spent the entire day today just talking about timing and setting forth the various arguments and presenting the various positions.

And I have to tell you, in preparing this week it was difficult to decide exactly how I wanted to approach it, because I do like to think through these issues together with you. But after thinking about it prayerfully, I don't think that would be the most profitable use of our time. There are few places where this is going to really affect the interpretation in a very, very insignificant, minute way. And I believe when you see so many godly people taking different positions, that's always an indicator to me at least that there must be something here more central that the Holy Spirit intended for us to lay a hold of. And that's what we want to do. That's where I want to spend our time—not talking so much about the timing of the events as getting to the meat that is found here and learning really together what our Lord really wants us to understand, wants us to learn.

I will say however, however—parenthesis—that after looking at the issues, the position that I've reached is that our Lord entered Jerusalem on Monday, 10th of Nisan, and that He was crucified on Friday, the first month of the year, their year, Nisan the 14th day. Now, if you want to do more study on your own and you want to really look into this further, I encourage you to do that. I think this is the case for this position that has been set forth thoroughly, convincingly, and thoroughly by Harold Hohner, H-O-E-H-N-E-R, in his book *Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ*. And so, if you are interested in it, you can get that book and look into it—*Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ*—connecting it to the prophecy in Daniel 9 and so forth.

But following this timeline, let me set forth the events that we're going to meet with in the four Gospels as we look at this final week of our Lord's life leading to His crucifixion and then the resurrection. So here's the timeline. On Saturday evening, Jesus is anointed at Simon the leper's house. On Sunday, a great crowd comes out to Bethany to see Lazarus and to see the Lord. On Monday, our Lord enters Jerusalem. He visits the temple, looks around, and then returns to Bethany. The day that He enters Jerusalem is Nisan 10. And this is a significant day because it is the day when the lambs were selected for the Passover. And we'll talk about that in a minute more today and next Lord's Day, Lord willing. On Tuesday, He leaves from Bethany to come again to Jerusalem and curses the barren fig tree and cleanses the temple. The religious leaders begin to seek how they might destroy Him, and then He goes back to Bethany.

On Wednesday, the disciples see the withered fig tree, the tree Jesus had cursed. At the temple, Jesus has a day of controversy with the religious leaders of the Jews. That afternoon, Jesus makes His way to the Mount of Olives, and there He gives that well-known discourse, the Olivet Discourse. He predicts that in two days He'll be crucified at the time of Passover, and it was on Wednesday that Judas plans the betrayal of Christ with the religious leaders.
On Thursday, He had His disciples prepare the Passover lamb. They observed the Passover meal according to the Galilean time frame. We're going to talk about this as we get further into it. The Judeans reckon time differently than the Galileans, and so literally there were two Passover observances, one on Thursday and one on Friday. Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples on Thursday. They had their Passover meal in the upper room, and leaving the upper room, Jesus had a discourse with His disciples and then He offered intercessory prayer for them.

Then they get to the Garden of Gethsemane, and there Jesus suffers in agony as He contemplates the cup that He will soon drink—the cup that awaits Him, the wrath of God. Later that night, He's betrayed, arrested, and during the night He is tried, first by Annas and later by Caiaphas, with the religious leaders. Early in the morning on Friday, Jesus is tried by the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod Antipas, and then Pilate again, and then He was led to the cross and was crucified at 9 a.m. Six hours later, 3 p.m., at the very time when the Passover lambs were being slaughtered, sacrificed, He died. He gave up His spirit, and He was buried later that day.
On Saturday, His body is lying in the tomb during the Sabbath, and the Pharisees secure Roman guards to keep watch of the tomb. Then Sunday, Christ was resurrected from the dead, fulfilled the type of the offering of the firstfruits which was offered the day after the Sabbath. He is the firstfruits of those who will be raised from the dead. This is what we're going to see in this final week from Monday to Sunday, Lord willing.

You'll notice when it comes to the triumphal entry itself, John gives us in his account a rather brief summary of this day compared with the synoptic Gospels. So we're going to keep our attention here in John's account. So if you want to look at more of the details of His triumphal entry, you'll find them in Matthew 21, Mark 11, and Luke 19. But this morning we're going to focus, and next Lord's Day, Lord willing, we're going to focus particularly with some cross-references, but particularly on John's account.

And there are four things that we want to consider together as we begin to really look into this account of the triumphal entry of Jesus. Number one, we're going to look together at the manner of His coming. And secondly, we're going to look at the meaning of His coming. Thirdly, at the message of His coming. And fourthly, the misunderstanding of His coming.

So let's begin this morning with the manner of His coming. That's all we will do this morning, the manner of His coming. And we'll pick it up where we leave off today, next time, Lord willing. The manner of His coming, and this is bracketed by verse 12 and verse 15. Let's look at these verses together now.

"On the next day, the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, 'Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.' And Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, 'Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey's colt.'"

The manner of His coming. He entered Jerusalem on this day, Nisan 10. And the first thing I want to point out here is that He came as a King. The manner of His coming, He came as a King. He came as the King. He came in such a way that it was evident He was and is the King, the King of Israel. Everything about His entry was designed to point to Jesus as the true and promised King of Israel.

The way He rode into the city, He came in on a young donkey, a colt. The disciples found this colt. Jesus told them that they would. He gave them specific instructions. He sent them into a village, and He said that they would find it there, and they did, and were told in the other accounts that this colt has never been ridden before. And you know, kings don't use used things, they don't. And so in keeping with royalty, this colt has never been ridden before until Jesus Himself rode it into the city. And so this colt was especially set aside for this purpose, this royal purpose.

And what Jesus does here is a literal fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy given to us in Zechariah 9 and verse 9. John notes that in verse 14, Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it as it is written, quoting Zechariah 9:9. Verse 15: "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." And so when He came in riding on this donkey, it was a literal fulfillment of the prophecy concerning Israel's King.

The prophecy there in Zechariah 9:9, we read the following: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Make a loud shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, Lowly and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a pack animal." And so He comes in such a way as to say, this is the King of Israel. This is the long-awaited King.

We also note, we need to note, not only does He come in a way that really displays Him clearly as the King, but the way that He entered spoke of what kind of a King He was. It spoke of what kind of a King He was. He doesn't come with a sword. He doesn't come as a King might enter with a sword, with pomp, with power. He doesn't come riding on a horse ready for battle. He doesn't come riding on a chariot. Rather, He comes humbly. He comes peaceably, not to conquer with a sword, but to conquer by His shed blood. The blood of His death.
And so, the way that He rode in, He said clearly that He was the King.

Not only that, but the way that the crowds were treating Him. Also, if you look at all the accounts, the picture that really emerges is that Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem from Bethany with people, with an entourage of people. And after He's seated on this colt, they begin to break out in praise. There is this enthusiasm. And in fact, they're so excited, they're so enthusiastic, they put their garments on the colt and then they begin to lay their garments before Him.

As He makes His way down the Mount of Olives, they begin to lay their garments in front of Him. And then John tells us these palm trees are being waved. And by the way, palm branches—not trees, rather, branches—in the Scripture are a symbol of joy. We find them in Revelation 7:9. They're throwing down these branches before Him, a symbol of joy. You are our deliverer. You are the source of joy. You are our triumphant King.

The chief priest had already said, if you see Jesus anywhere, report to us because we want to arrest Him. We're going to arrest Him. Well, they had long forgotten this warning and they were caught up in the emotion, the hysteria of the moment. The entire place is lit up with enthusiasm, with expectation. The long-awaited hour has now come. The Messiah from God has come to us. And they are literally paving the way ahead of Him, ahead of His entrance, His path for His entrance. And they are receiving their King with open arms.

Spurgeon makes the observation that it's not insignificant. He said it is significant that John is the only one of the four evangelists who mentioned the palm branches. Others refer to branches, but not particularly palm branches. And he makes the connection. He says, and it was to John that the vision was given in Revelation 7:9 of the great multitudes which no man could number, of all nations, kindred, and people, and tongue, who stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands, and cried out with a loud voice saying, saying, salvation to our God who sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

So you have this group of people now coming with Jesus from Bethany to Jerusalem, laying their garments before Him, palm branches, this excitement, this joy, jubilance. And then you have now another group coming out from Jerusalem now to meet Him. And together now, you have this outbreak of praise and enthusiasm as Jesus makes His way into Jerusalem. And they're shouting. They're shouting what? What are they shouting? A portion of Psalm 118.
When they began to shout, verse 13, John 12, "Hosanna! Blessed"—blessed— "is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel." And the verb "began to shout" is in the imperfect tense. And it really pictures the crowd beginning to shout, kept shouting, crying out, and continuing to shout over and over and over and over again the following Old Testament passages.

Of course, the bitter tragedy, the ironic, the tragic irony is that here the Jewish crowd is welcoming the long-awaited Messiah and King, but only a few days later the same crowd would cry out—using the same verb, imperfect tense—away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him. John 19:15. The fickle crowds went from crown Him to crucify Him.

But here they're shouting a portion of Psalm 118. When they began to shout, verse 13, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel." Psalm 118, verse 25 says this: "O Yahweh, save! O Yahweh, succeed! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh; We have blessed you from the house of Yahweh." And so they're shouting out scripture that has to do with the coming of the King of Israel.

And by the way, Psalm 118 was the benediction psalm for the Passover meal. So even the very scripture that they're citing, that they're shouting, that's going on is a foreshadowing of the very purpose for which our Lord was coming. He had come to be what? Our Passover lamb. He had come to be our Passover sacrifice, coming not only to present Himself as the King, but to present Himself as well in a moment, as we will see, as the lamb, the Passover lamb, the Lamb of God.

And so you have the celebration, people enthusiastic. They're shouting out with joy, Psalm 118, verse 25, "Hosanna." And by the way, the word Hosanna means save, please. Save, please. Or save now. Lord, save, please. Or save now, Lord. But this word, as it began to be used, pretty soon it came to mean not only would you save, but salvation is here. Salvation has arrived.
John Piper, illustrating this, said, and I quote, "it's like if you could swim and you fell into a pool of water and you were saying, someone please save me. That's how the word was first used. But as it came to be used, pretty soon it would be what you would cry out after the life preserver has been thrown to you already. And now you say, I am saved. Salvation has come. Salvation has come."

And so Jesus is making His way into Jerusalem. This is what they were shouting. Salvation is here. Salvation has come. Here is the King of Israel. He is—here comes our Savior King.

Now the people did not understand what they were saying. Most of them didn't. They had no idea really exactly what they were saying. Because as we know, by the end of the week, most of the crowd will turn against Him and they cry out for His crucifixion.

But nonetheless, God designed this. God designed this to magnify His Son, to exalt His Son. These people were speaking true words, whether they realized it or not. And as we've already seen, haven't we, that God can be at work in someone's mouth, that they would say what's right, even though they don't fully understand it or absorb it. And we saw that in the case of who, you know, Caiaphas, right? When he prophesied the death of our Lord for the salvation of the people, and Caiaphas had no idea what he was saying truly, the full meaning of what he was saying.

In the same way, they're speaking here true words, proclaiming Him to be the King of Israel, proclaiming the fact that He had come to usher salvation, to bring salvation. Powerful words. In fact, these words disturbed the Pharisees, so much so. And some of the Pharisees were present; they were witnessing this, and they were utterly disturbed, offended, in fact.

And in Luke 19, verse 37, we read, "And as He was going, they were spreading their garments on the road. Now, as soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God, rejoicing with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, saying, 'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.' And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, 'Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.'" Jesus, do you hear what they're saying? Do you hear? Do you hear what they're saying about you? They're proclaiming you to be the King of Israel. Do something about it, rebuke them.

Listen to how Jesus, in verse 40, responds: "But Jesus answered and said, 'I tell you, if these were silent, the stones will cry out!'" Stones will cry out. In other words, they're not saying anything wrong. What they're saying is exactly right. It is true. And if these were silent, creation itself would cry out.

So this is designed by God, this is deliberate, this praise that should be given, and God has designed in such a way that Israel will be without excuse. Jesus is coming, just as it was prophesied that He would come, and He's coming in such a way that it screams out, here is your King. Behold your King, O Israel. The way that He's riding in, the way the crowd is responding to Him, clearly, clearly screams, this is your King. This is the King.

So He came as the King, the manner of His coming, the way that He comes, also speaks in another direction. He came not only as the King, but He also came as the Deliverer. He came as the Deliverer. We said earlier that He came in such a way that it not only said that He was a King and the King, but also what kind of a King He was. The way that the Holy Spirit interprets this event through John speaks of this fact, and I want us to see it this morning.

You will notice if you look back at the prophecy of Zechariah 9 and verse 9 and compare it with the verse as the Holy Spirit gives it through John, in John chapter 12, you will notice there's a slight difference. And it was deliberate. Look at verse 15. How does it begin? What are the two words? Fear not. Fear not. "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." Fear not.

But if you read Zechariah 9:9, you don't find "fear not." Zechariah 9:9 begins how? This way: "Rejoice greatly." Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Don't believe any of the liberals. Say, ah, you see, a mistake. No, no. This was deliberate. This was deliberate. Let me explain.
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Make a loud shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, lowly and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a pack animal." Zechariah says rejoice greatly, but here the Holy Spirit interprets this event in the light of Zechariah 9:9 and says fear not. Fear not.

Why does He say fear not? Because this is the nature of the joy that the King brings. This is the nature of the joy that the King brings. He brings deliverance from the wrath of God. He brings deliverance from the wrath of Almighty God. The wrath that we looked at Good Friday, that really expresses the character of God. He is the God of burning holiness and inflexible justice.

This is the nature of the joy that the King brings. He brings salvation from sin. He brings salvation from the judgment of God upon sin. And this is what Zechariah says when he goes on to say He's righteous, endowed with salvation. "Behold, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation." This is why the people are to rejoice. Not because He's bringing political deliverance, throwing off the Roman tyranny. No, no. As He entered Jerusalem, that's not the case. It's because He's bringing spiritual deliverance, not political deliverance. He's coming to accomplish salvation.

And all of those for whom salvation is accomplished, they no longer have any reason to be afraid whatsoever. Why? Because their sins are forgiven. They are right with a holy God. They're no longer under the wrath of God. They're no longer under the judgment of God. They are right with God, with the holy God, the thrice holy God, through the death of the Passover lamb, being clothed with His righteousness.

Now they are at peace with God. Whereas before there was enmity with God, now there's peace with God. No longer fearing the wrath of God. No longer having to fear the judgment of God upon their sins. So now they can rejoice and rejoice greatly—yes, in the language of Zechariah 9:9. But you could also say they don't have to be afraid anymore. Fear not. No reason to be afraid, because not only is your King here, but He is the Savior King and He's come to deliver you from your sins and from the wrath of God and put you at peace with God, reconciled with God, adopted by God.

So He comes as the King, He comes as the Deliverer, and thirdly and gloriously, He comes as the Lamb. He comes as the Lamb. The manner of His coming says that He's come to present Himself—this is deliberate—as the Passover Lamb.

You remember when John the Baptist first pointed out the Lord Jesus Christ? How does he speak of Him? John chapter 1 verse 29: "Behold," — what did he say? — "The Lamb of God." "Behold, the Lamb of God." And what does that mean? "Lamb of God." "Behold, the Lamb of God." Well, the Lamb sent by God, the Lamb chosen by God, this is the Lamb of God's choosing, this is the Lamb of God's electing choice. Now He's our Lamb—our Lamb in terms of the benefit of His death—but He is God's Lamb in terms of His being chosen to lay down His life on our behalf, our substitute.

If you look over to 1 Corinthians 5, 1 Corinthians 5, one of the things that I see in this passage is how practical theology is, how practical doctrine is. Here's Paul, 1 Corinthians 5, having to deal with a very practical matter in the Corinthian assembly. There's this open sexual immorality going on, the church is not dealing with it properly, there's no church discipline, and so here he is dealing with a very practical matter, and yet how is he going to deal with this very practical matter? Now follow closely. He's going to deal with it in a very theological, doctrinal way, and that's an important principle for us.

You see, doctrine applied is how the church is to live. Doctrine applied is how the church ought to live. Doctrine understood, doctrine known, then doctrine applied. That's why we strive by the grace of God not only to be a Bible-believing church, but a Bible-living church. Doctrine applied, that's how we live.

So he's dealing with immorality, and I mean we've got to stop and think about that. How would you deal with an immoral situation? It ought to be the same way, doctrine applied. Look at what he does in verse 6: "Your boasting is not good." They'd actually taken the situation, turned it into something that they were glorying in. Now we could speculate, we don't know exactly how. Maybe they thought of themselves as being very patient or very loving. I don't know how they thought of it exactly, but in some way they were boasting in the fact that this man was still present in fellowship, still living in this way, and they're boasting in the fact that they are the church of Jesus Christ, and all of this is going on, and Paul says it is to their shame.

Pastor MacArthur put it this way, quote, "Look where your arrogance and your boasting here have brought you, because you still love human wisdom and human recognition and the things of the world, you are completely blinded to the blatant sin that will destroy your church if you don't remove it,"
 
"Your boasting is not good," verse 6. "Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump." Stop here for a moment. Passover. Passover. Nisan 14. Do you know what began at the same time, then went on for seven days afterwards? It was the feast of what? Unleavened bread. Unleavened bread. We'll talk about that next week, Lord willing. We'll deal with it next week, but here it is. Unleavened bread.

But what Paul has in mind here, the Passover, he says in verse 7, "Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ"—what does he say?—"our Passover lamb also was sacrificed." Christ, our Passover Lamb, and everything going on in His life, in His ministry on this earth, all of it—what?—fulfilling Scripture. Fulfilling Scripture. All righteousness must be fulfilled, right? He's our substitute. All righteousness must be fulfilled. Walking according to His Father's plan, doing what He's doing at precise times, precise reasons. Scripture is deliberately being fulfilled. Deliberately.

And in fulfilling the Old Testament Scriptures, He is fulfilling the types, the foreshadows, pictured in the Old Testament. And on the 10th day of Nisan, according to the biblical observance of Passover, on the 10th day, the lambs that were to be sacrificed for Passover were selected. Selected. And for three days, those lambs would be kept with the families, and then they would be sacrificed on the fourth day. And so on Nisan 10th, they're chosen; Nisan 14, they are sacrificed.

On Monday, Nisan 10, Jesus made His way into Jerusalem, and realize that on that day, that very day, thousands of lambs were driven into the city of Jerusalem for selection. Thousands. So it's not unreasonable, in the least, to think that as Jesus made His way into the city, that before Him would have been lambs coming into the city, driven into the city. Behind Him, there would have been lambs driven into the city. Perhaps even surrounding Him, along with the crowd, would have been lambs driven into the city.

And so as He made His way into the city of Jerusalem, you have not only the King, the Deliverer, but here is the presentation of God's selected Lamb. The Lamb of God. Our Passover Lamb.

James Montgomery Boyce captures this beautifully. He says, and I quote, "It was on that day that the thousands of Passover lambs that were to be sacrificed were taken up to Jerusalem and kept there three days in the homes of those who were to eat them. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us that one year a census was taken of the number of lambs slain for Passover and that the figure was 256,500. 256,500. In other words, with numbers this large, lambs must literally have been driven up to Jerusalem throughout the entire day." He goes on to say, "Consequently, whenever Jesus entered the city, He must have done so surrounded by lambs, Himself being the greatest of lambs. Four days later, at the time the lambs were killed, Jesus Himself was killed. He laid down His life, thereby becoming the ultimate Passover Lamb on the basis of those of whose shed blood the angel of spiritual death passes over all who place the trust in Him."

Can you see why the Holy Spirit says, fear not? Fear not. There's a spiritual angel of death. The wrath of God is upon sinners. But don't be afraid because the Lamb is here. The selected one is here. The Lamb whose blood will deliver you, the Lamb who brings salvation, the Lamb who is also the King.

I want to ask you this morning, is He your King? Is He your King? Have you received Him for who He really is? Is He your King? Is He your Savior King? And you cannot divide up Jesus. You cannot divide Him up. You can't cut Him up into pieces and only respond to aspects of His person and of His ministry that you're comfortable with, that you can live with. Jesus is both Lord and Savior. He is King as well as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
And so when someone comes to Christ, they come to Him not only looking at His sacrifice as the answer for their sins—His shed blood for the remission of their sins—but they also at the same time recognize Him as their King, the Lord, their Master, their Sovereign. They come losing their life to gain His. They come bowing before Him, and they come counting the cost and realizing they are not worthy to be His disciples if they won't take up their cross and follow Him daily.

When was it? When was it in your life? What was the time? What was the day when God impressed upon you that you were lost, facing His wrath, because you are a wretched, vile sinner, unable to deliver yourself? But you understood that God has provided the Lamb for Himself, that God took the step necessary to deliver you from God—God from God—and from His holy and just wrath, that He chose His own Son, that He would come to this earth and live a sinless life, and then die a horrible death on the cross, bearing our sin, bearing our shame, bearing the wrath of God to deliver His people from their sins. The Passover Lamb of God.
And you saw this, so that you look not to yourself, but to Him alone for forgiveness of your sins. And you came not standing up, but you came bowing down, not still in control of your life, but losing your life, not wanting your own way, but surrendering your way to Him. You came to Him as the Lord who saves. When has it ever happened in your life? Has it happened? Do you realize that you could have intellectual knowledge that Jesus is the Savior and not know Him? And no one knows Him. No one knows Him who hasn't lost their life to Him.

Are you like the crowds that came out singing Hosanna, but later crucify Him? Maybe you have a surface enthusiasm about Jesus, or maybe you just have a surface allegiance to Him. And you come here Sunday after Sunday. Maybe even you come in midweek and you name the name of Christ and the label disciple is given to you. You have a name that you're alive, but in reality you're dead. And though you're called a disciple, you're not a disciple. Your life exposes you.

Listen carefully. You can know who you really are if you just take an honest stock of your fruit, as we learned last Sunday evening. And there are many, the Bible tells us, many, not a few, many according to Jesus, Matthew 7, who will one day say to the King, Lord, Lord, have we not done all these things in Your name? Have we not preached in Your name? Have we not performed this and that in Your name? Haven't we done this? Haven't we done that? And He will say to them, "Depart from Me." And here's such a key statement: "You who practice lawlessness." So you said you knew Me, but your life told a story. And for a while you said I was your Lord, but you lived for your darling sin, your darling idol habitually as a practice. "Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness."

And what did He say? I—and what's the next word?—never, never knew you. You were never, ever Mine, never. "I never knew you." You may have sang hosannas. You may have clapped your hands. You may have said you were My disciple, but I never knew you—never, ever. "Depart from Me."

Here He is presented to Israel in a formal way according to Scripture. This is your King. This is your Deliverer. This is God's Lamb. But most of them couldn't see it. Most of them didn't understand it. Most of them never responded to Him in that way. Yet Paul was able to write 1 Corinthians 5:7 that Christ is our Passover Lamb. Whose? Those who have repented and look to Him as their Deliverer.

Next time we're going to come back and we're going to understand this in greater detail. We're going to look at the Passover and see how Jesus is our Passover Lamb. We want to really flush this out. This is really critically important. But today the most important question facing each and every one of us is, is He your Passover Lamb? Are you—or are you still under the wrath of God?

Let us not be like those in the crowd that day. Let us truly know Christ within our hearts. Let us not merely sing to the Lord with our lips. Let us not merely profess His name. Let us not merely put our coats in front of Him and our palm branches. Let us truly, genuinely love Him. Let us put our trust in Him. Let us be repenters who have turned away from dead religion. Let us be true believers who by faith embrace the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us receive His salvation. He is endowed with salvation. He is the King who is the Deliverer. And He is not a reluctant Savior.

Let us lay down the coats of our lives before Him. Let us lay down the branches of our wills to do His bidding, to obey Him. Let us receive Him into our lives. Let us rejoice and receive our King into the palaces of our hearts. Let Him be enthroned in our lives. Let us receive Him and incline our will to Him.

Corrie Ten Boom, a brave Dutch woman, saved many Jews from the Nazis during the Holocaust. A devout follower of Christ, she was asked if it was difficult for her to remain humble. And I love her reply. It was simple but salient. Quote, "When Jesus rode into Jerusalem that day on the back of a colt, and everyone was waving palm branches and throwing their garments on the road and singing praises," she said, "do you think for a moment it ever entered the head of the donkey that any of this was for him?" And she concluded, "If I can be the donkey on which Jesus Christ rides in this world, I will give Him all the praise and all the glory."

Child of God, you and I are like that colt at best. The only good thing about our lives is the One who rides upon our lives—the King, the Lord. And lest any one of us think that any praise or any glory is going to us when we do something in the name of the Lord, it is going to the One riding upon our souls by His grace. Let us lay low. Let us be humble and faithful in carrying Christ our King. And may He increase and may we decrease.
Oh, but let us be sturdy colts. And let it not go into our heads, for apart from Him we could do—how much?—nothing. Because I am what I am by—what?—the grace of God.

This is the entrance of the great King into Jerusalem to begin the last week of His earthly life. The sinful heart can be very interested in Jesus. The sinful heart can be very religious until Jesus exposes false religion. False coronations of Jesus go on all the time, don't they? Well, this was one for the most part. But this had a divine intent and purpose. Didn't justify it. Didn't make hypocrisy right. But God used it to bring about His purpose in the giving of His Son.
God is in charge of everything. His timetable is perfect. And in the future, the Lord Jesus, who entered Jerusalem humble and lowly, will return to earth. But it's not going to be riding on a colt, the colt of a donkey. He's going to come back riding on a steed, a white steed, according to Revelation 19, coming out of heaven, followed by the armies of heaven in white, riding on white horses in an astonishing unleashing of the glorious holy powers of heaven on the earth, led by none other than the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

And when He arrives, He will destroy the ungodly in a massive judgment that will sweep across the planet. And then He will establish His throne in Jerusalem. And He will reign there for 1,000 years in the millennial kingdom. And beyond that, forever and ever, because of His kingdom, there will be no end throughout all of eternity in the new heaven and the new earth.
But here He arrives in Jerusalem riding on a lowly donkey. Yes, He is the true King, King of kings and Lord of lords, Son of Man and Son of God, Messiah, Savior, Deliverer. And no monarch, no president, no leader, no prime minister in all of human history remotely compares to the Lord Jesus Christ. There is none so magnificent. There is none so powerful, so wise, so sovereign, just, pure, holy. And all of the elite and all of the monarchs of all of human history collectively, together, stacked on top of each other, wouldn't go high enough to touch the hem of His all-glorious garment.

And when you surrender and submit to Him, the true King, the only King, when you put your trust in Him, you will, as a true believer, say, Lord, give me what You want me to have. Reign in my life according to Your will and not mine. "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." Behold the King, the Deliverer, who comes, the manner of His coming.

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

When I come to this account in Luke, Luke's Gospel, this account of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, there are four things that really stand out, that jump right out of the text, that we cannot ignore, we cannot escape. And as we walk through these twelve verses this morning, I want us to keep our eyes on the lookout for these four things by way of introduction, because they permeate these verses. In fact, they run through the entirety of the chapter. And so, four things that will stand out this morning throughout the entire chapter.

The first thing to set the stage for us, that we need to be on the lookout for and keep in mind as we begin to take this portion of the Word of God verse by verse, I want you to recognize with me in these verses that none of the disciples—first of all, none of the disciples—expected the resurrection of Jesus. Not a single disciple expected the resurrection of Jesus. Now, that's important because that says to me that the idea that they would make up a resurrection story, or that they would fake a resurrection, is contrary to every account we have of their thought process, of their words, of their attitudes, of their mindset, directly following the death of Jesus and even directly following the resurrection of Jesus.

We don't find, we don't have here a group of people who so want to believe in a resurrection that they would actually come up with one, that they would create one, that maybe even they would take a set of facts like an empty tomb and then somehow exaggerate it into a resurrection story. That's not what we find here. That's not what we have here at all. We have people who did not expect it, and in fact, as we will see when they first were met with it, they did not believe it. They didn't believe it.

The second thing I want us to notice is our Lord's work in them. I want us to notice our Lord's work in them. I'm talking about the disciples of Jesus, those who truly believed in Jesus in this account. Our Lord's work in them, His commitment to them is greater, and we need to keep that in mind. His work in them and His commitment to them is greater than their own faith or understanding. And I love this. God does not cast them away due to their lack of faith or understanding when it comes to the resurrection. They didn't understand, they didn't initially believe, but our God did not cast them away.

Instead, what does He do? What does He do? He takes the initiative to make sure that they get the resurrection, to make sure that they understand what took place, what has happened, to make sure that they believe in what took place, what occurred. Our God is taking the initiative throughout this entire account. He's taking the initiative to make sure that His people believe in the resurrection. And that tells me that His work in them, His commitment to them is not explained by them, but by Him. By Him. Salvation is the Lord's work. Salvation is the Lord's work. He is the author of it, and He is the finisher of it. He's the perfecter of it. He's the author and the finisher of our faith. So they don't expect it. God makes sure they're going to get it.

The third thing I want us to notice together is that He, God, takes pains to make sure that their faith in the resurrection is tied to the Scripture; old Testament Scripture and the words of His own beloved Son. Throughout this entire account, God is taking great pains to connect their faith in the resurrection with His words. They're going to meet with some astounding experiences, but every time they meet with these experiences, what does God do? And this is really incredible. He ties their faith, not to the experiences, but to His own sure word. Always.

And the fourth thing that I want us to notice is that the disciples must believe in the resurrection. If they are going to follow Christ, they must know and believe that He's not dead, but He's alive. He has been raised from the dead. Bodily raised from the dead. Even this morning as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, I want to remind us we're not celebrating some concept. We're not celebrating some religious idea. The message of Easter is not new beginnings. We're celebrating what is real, historical fact. He was bodily, physically raised from the dead.

Jesus of Nazareth died and three days after they placed Him in a borrowed tomb, He came out of that tomb alive, physically, bodily, victoriously, triumphantly. It is a fact and God wanted His people to know that. And in fact, if they're going to be followers of Jesus, committed followers of Jesus, they had to know it, they had to believe it, they had to embrace it. That Jesus was raised from the dead bodily and never to die again.

So they don't get it. God makes sure that they are going to get it. God takes the initiative. He ties their faith in the resurrection to His word and they must get it. They must believe it. Now, those four observations that we see throughout, really, these verses and throughout the chapter have lasting meaning for every believer in this place. Lasting meaning for every single believer in this place. It reminds us that God's work in us is not explained by us, beloved. It's not, but by Him. And God's work in us is greater and more certain than our expectations, than our faith, than our understanding, than our maturity.

Aren't you grateful that God doesn't cast you away when your faith is weak? Aren't you? When your understanding is limited, He doesn't cast you away? When your expectations are far too low based on God's promises, aren't you glad that He doesn't cast you away? That He doesn't let go of you, believer, but His work in you is certain? And what He has begun, He's doing, and He will indeed finish. Aren't you grateful for that this morning? That God is doing more in our case than we will ever understand? That He has done more than we'll ever understand? That He's doing more than we will ever understand? That He's at work in us?

It also reminds us in this place today that where God wants our faith stationed and anchored—where's that? Right here. In His Word. He wants our faith stationed, anchored in His all-sufficient Word. You see, I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ because I believe the Bible. And the Bible is God's Word. He says it, that settles it. That's it. It's His Word. It's all-sufficient, inerrant, infallible. He wants our faith stationed, anchored in His Word.

And even where we meet with experiences—see, I know that the Lord has transformed my life. At the age of 19, I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. He transformed my life. But let me tell you this: my faith is not anchored, is not tied to my experience. It's not. My faith is tied to the Word of God. That's where He wants my faith anchored. It's what God wants.

It also reminds us in this place today that the resurrection of Jesus is not an aside. It's not a throwaway item when it comes to the Christian faith. Beloved, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is central. It is essential. It is non-negotiable. That's it. Non-negotiable. Period. Paragraph. No ifs and buts. If you don't believe that Jesus was raised from the dead bodily, you are not a Christian. That's it. You're not. You cannot be a Christ follower and deny the bodily resurrection of Christ.

Because He was raised from the dead, we know He was who He said He was. Because He was raised from the dead, we know that He accomplished what He said He came to accomplish. Because He lives, all the sins of all of those who trust in Him have been completely forgiven. If Christ was not raised from the dead, we are still in our sins. And because Christ was raised from the dead bodily, we know that one day we're going to be living with Him forever and ever. We are alive now spiritually, but we're going to live one day with Him physically.

And I want to remind us that our hope as believers is not just eternal life in the present, but we know from the Word of God that one day we're going to have a body, a new body, that matches the new us. Philippians 3:20-21, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by His working through which He is able also to even subject all things to Himself." We too will experience one day a physical resurrection, and we're going to live body and soul with our Savior in the new heavens and the new earth forever and ever. That's the hope of the Christian.

Because He lives, our King not only rules in the present from the heavens, but He will rule forever and ever and ever. And we live in the expectation of His return. Because Jesus lives, there is no sting and death for all those who are in Christ. When we die, we go to sleep in death. We close our eyes and we open them in the presence of God. Because Jesus lives, we know the power of sanctification. The same power that raised Him from the grave is the power at work in our lives now, transforming us from glory to glory into the image of Christ.

Beloved, this is not a throwaway doctrine. This is at the heart of the Christian faith. 1 Corinthians 15:14, "And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain." I mean, if Jesus wasn't raised from the dead, then I'm going to stand here right now and say, Church, dismissed. Just go home. No need for a message. No need to sing. No need to sit here.

1 Corinthians 15:17, "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is” – what? – “worthless” – Empty. Empty. Worthless – “you are still in your sins." If Christ has not been raised from the dead, every person in this room still is unforgiven. You're still laden with all your sins. And we saw Friday that we have a God who is a God of burning holiness and a God of inflexible justice. So this is the most important matter we could ever consider on this Sunday.

This morning, what we witness in these 12 verses is how God begins to establish the faith of His people in the resurrection of Jesus, and we see really the transforming power of the resurrection really at work in the lives of His people. What we have is not, strictly speaking, an account of the resurrection itself. You'll notice by the time they discover the resurrection, it has happened already. The tomb is empty. Jesus is not there. So this is not, strictly speaking, an account of the resurrection itself. Luke doesn't describe that. In fact, none of the gospel writers describe the actual resurrection of Jesus. What he's describing is the aftermath of it, as the people of God come in contact with the knowledge of it, how they initially respond to their knowledge of the resurrection. That's what we have here the initial response to the resurrection of Jesus.

This morning I want to point out in these 12 verses six responses on the part of the disciples. Six. Six responses to the death and then the resurrection of Jesus. So the first thing I want us to see together as we look at the response to the resurrection of Jesus, number one, devotion, verse one. Devotion. So I'm going to use words to describe the response of the disciples to Jesus. The first one is devotion. "On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared."

Now, the word day “they” in that verse, verse one, refers back to the previous chapter, chapter 23 and verses 55 and 56. "Now the women, who had come with Him from Galilee, followed and beheld the tomb and how His body was laid. Then after they had returned, they prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment." Next verse: "Now on the first day of the week"—that's Sunday—"at early dawn” – these women – “came to the tomb bringing the spices which they,” – those women, – “had prepared."

These women had witnessed, we know from the parallel accounts, Joseph of Arimathea taking care of the body of Jesus, the burial of Jesus. They had already determined that, you will remember, they were going to come back after the Sabbath and do a better job of preparing His body, anointing His body. And so what did they do? Well, they returned to the tomb. When do they do it? The text says early Sunday morning, at dawn, at daybreak, the earliest part of the day.

Well, why were they coming? Well, to prepare His body. Well, they have no expectation of a resurrection. So they come to prepare the body, they're expecting a body there, right? So there's no expectation of a resurrection. But what motivates them to come? What motivates them to come is love. Love.

And I want to say this, I want to say this to us to remember as we look at these verses: these true disciples, even though their faith was weak, these women, and their understanding was off, you still see the marks of genuine faith. You still see that. You still see the marks of genuine salvation. How? They loved Jesus. They loved Jesus. That's what motivates them on this early Sunday morning. They're going back to prepare the body. Why? They love Him. They love their Savior. They love their Lord. And they're devoted to Him even when their hopes have been crushed. Devoted to Him even as they are overwhelmed with grief. And so their faith is weak, their understanding is under-informed, nevertheless they loved Jesus. We see devotion. So these women are devoted to their Savior. And we can learn a lot from them, from their devotion to the Savior also.

The second response that we see to the death and then the resurrection of Jesus is discovery. Discovery, and that's found in verses two and three. "And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus." So they make their way to the tomb early Sunday morning, and they discover something. They find something, and there's something also that they don't find.

What do they find? Well, they found the stone rolled away. They didn't know, by the way, a Roman guard had been stationed at the tomb. That happened on the Sabbath day when they were resting, and they had no knowledge of that. In fact, the women were wondering how they're going to get the stone out of the way to prepare the body. We know that from Mark's Gospel, 16 and verse 3. They arrive at the tomb, the stone is rolled away, and we know from Matthew's account that there was an earthquake, and we know that an angel rolled away the stone, Matthew 28:2. So they're not aware of this, and they just find the stone rolled away.

And they find in verse 3, going in, what do they find? Well, they find the body of Jesus is not there. The body of Christ is gone, which leads to the third response we see as they initially encounter the knowledge of the resurrection, and we see that in verse 4: perplexity. Perplexity. Devotion, verse 1, they come motivated by love to prepare the body of Jesus. Discovery, they discover the stone rolled away, and they also discover that the body is no longer there, and that leads to perplexity, verse 4: "It happened that while they were perplexed about this"—they were perplexed about this.

Luke, under inspiration, is telling us about their emotional, mental reaction to what they found, and he tells us they were perplexed; ‘Aporeisthai’ is the Greek word, not knowing how to proceed, not knowing how to speak, or act, or to determine. That is, to put it in the vernacular, is they were at a loss. They were confused. They don't know what to make of this. They had no explanation for this. They had no idea what had happened, and the word translated perplexed is used in John 13:22. Remember in that scene, the upper room, Jesus tells His disciples that one of them is going to betray Him, and we read there they were perplexed about that. They didn't understand it. They were confused.

A form of this word is used in the book of Acts, Acts 25:20, when Festus presents Paul's case to Agrippa, and he admits he doesn't know what to do with the charges brought against Paul. He's perplexed—same word about it. And also a form of this word is used in the book of Galatians. When Paul says to the Galatians, in Galatians 4:20, that he is perplexed about them.

So far from expecting a resurrection. When they first meet with the evidence of the resurrection, they don't make any connection at all. They don't see a stone rolled away in an empty tomb and think, ah, resurrection. That's not what comes to their mind. No, they see a stone rolled away, they see an empty tomb, and frankly what they're thinking is, someone must have stolen the body perhaps. They're confused. They're perplexed. They were befuddled. They don't know what to do with this. Utterly baffled by what they find, which leads to the fourth, the fourth response, verses 4 through 9: clarity.

Devotion, discovery, perplexity, and now clarity. Verse 4: "And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing, and when the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, 'Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” And they remembered His words, and when they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest."

Now under this heading, clarity, I want us to see several things to see about this clarity. I want to say a few things about this clarity. Number one, this is gracious clarity. This is gracious clarity. God is having mercy upon them. God is having pity upon them, isn't He? God is doing this. This is God now. God is doing this. This is God's message to them.

And remember what angels are, right? They're messengers. They're holy messengers. They're messengers of the living God. They are dispatched from the presence of the thrice-holy God. They didn't come on their own initiative, right? They didn't come in some independent fashion. You don't have like two angels, you know, saying to one another one day, you know, we're bored. How about we kind of go down and just explore and see what's... No, no, no. These angels are sent deliberately by God to do His bidding. And so they are His messengers, they are His mouthpiece, and they are giving His message, and God is giving them a clarifying word about what they are witnessing.

He doesn't owe this to them, does He? This is God loving them. This is God instructing them. This is God guiding them. This is God establishing their faith, fortifying their faith, pouring steel in their faith. This is God taking initiative to make sure that His people get what they are witnessing, that they grasp it, that they understand it, that they don't miss it. And oh, this is gracious, beloved. This is gracious.

We did not deserve Jesus. We did not deserve His coming. We did not deserve His living. We did not deserve His dying. We did not deserve his any explanation concerning Him, and we didn't deserve an explanation of His resurrection. And yet, yet, God gives and gives and gives and gives and gives and gives. He's gracious, and that includes the graciousness to guide His weak people into an understanding of what He has done for their soul. That's what He's doing.

Let me show you and tell you what I've done for you, My people. So this is gracious clarity, but this is also striking clarity. Striking. I mean, God does this in a memorable, striking fashion. How? By sending these two angels, because, I mean, look at this, verse 4, their dazzling appearance is noted. They “stood near them in” – what? – “Dazzling clothing”. I mean, their close proximity to the holiness of God, the brightness of the holiness of God, and here they are now.

So God gives them a visual aid to help them understand where this message is coming from, where this information is coming from. So these angels have a human form and appearance, and yet their dazzling appearance also says they're not mere creatures like men. They are created creatures, but they are from the presence of God. They're angels coming to do the bidding of the Sovereign One. So moving is this that the women have a sense now of fear. They're terrified, they're frightened, verse 5, – “and they bow their faces to the ground”. They are now, they realize this is God's doing. This is from God. This is from God.

So there's this heavy, thick sense of the presence of God, and God is making sure that this is memorable, it's striking, driving this message home. So you have this clarity, gracious clarity, striking clarity, but I want us to see also that this is a quizzical clarity, a quizzical clarity. God leads these women into this knowledge through a question, and it's a memorable question. The angel says to them in verse 5, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead?" Don't you love that? Don't you love that? "Why do you seeking the living One among the dead?" It's sort of like a gentle rebuke, isn't it? It almost has a tinge of humor in it.

Didn't you? Didn't you hear Jesus? Weren't you listening? Didn't you know He was going to be raised from the dead? Well, why are you in a graveyard? You're in the wrong place, aren't you? If you want to find the Living Savior, well, He's alive. "Why are you seeking the living One among the dead?" So God wants to be sure at the same time through these angels, He wants to be sure His people don't miss it. So you have emphatic clarity as well. Emphatic clarity, because now He just states it. He just states it. Not just a question. He states it in verse 6. "He is not here, but He has risen." He is risen.

God is so kind through these angels. He doesn't leave any room for misunderstanding. No wiggle room whatsoever. He puts it in a memorable way, but then He puts it in an unmistakable, simple, straightforward statement. "He is not here, but He has risen." He is alive. Alive. But now notice something, and this is what I mentioned earlier about tying their faith to His Word. The Old Testament Scripture, we'll see that later. You see that in the chapter. But here are the words of His Son particularly in verse 6, and so we call this refreshing clarity.

This is refreshing clarity. "Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered"—and that takes us back to the Old Testament Scripture, right? To Isaiah 53—"He must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third day rise again."

This is refreshing clarity as God, through these angels, refreshes their memories. He wants to make sure their faith is tied to His words, the words of Christ. The words of Scripture. In Luke 9, we read that Jesus told them earlier, verses 18 to 22. He tells them after He asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” And they answered John the Baptist, and some say Elijah, and others, one of the prophets of old. And in verse 20 of Luke 9, He says, "And He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' And Peter answered and said, 'The Christ of God.'" But He warned them and directed them not to tell this to anyone, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day."

I mean, this is something that Jesus had mentioned again and again and again. And this entourage of women were around Him, were around the disciples ministering to their needs constantly. So He told them in unmistakable terms, but they had forgotten. He told them on more than one occasion, but they didn't remember. And so here they are, though they are devoted to Him, when they discover this empty tomb in the absence of the body of Jesus, they are perplexed instead of actually believing.

And so God graciously gives them this clarifying word in a memorable, striking, quizzical, but emphatic fashion. "He is not here, but He has risen." Don't you remember? Don't you remember His words? And so what does He do? He refreshes their memories. Don't you remember what Jesus told you when you were in Galilee? You followed Him all the way from Galilee? Ladies, don't you remember what He told you?

So we see devotion, talking now about responses to the initial encounter with the knowledge of the resurrection. Devotion. We see discovery. We see perplexity. We see clarity. But now we see something else that's actually sad. We see unbelief. We see unbelief. Look at verses 10 and 11. You see, these women received this clarifying word from God in verse 8. They remembered His word. When they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest, not just the eleven, but to all the gathered disciples, all those followers of Jesus beyond just the apostles. So they shared it with everyone.

Verse 10: “Now Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the rest of the women with them were there; they were telling these things to the apostles.” This is really amazing, isn't it? Amazing. It's amazing that, first of all, that the first people—I mean, this is a message by itself—who had knowledge of the resurrection given by God in this fashion were these women. What an honoring, exalting thing that this was, that women would receive this first testimony, that they would be the first ones to be able to report the resurrection. They were the first messengers of the gospel.

Then they go and report the resurrection to these men, these men who were chosen by Jesus to be the foundation for the church moving forward. I mean, these are—think about this, this is stunning—these are the leaders of the Lord's church. These are the men who have been especially prepared by Him to lead His church into the future. And they're told this report by these women that He's been raised from the dead, and yet they meet with this report of the resurrection. And what's the response? They don't believe. They don't believe. Stunning. They don't believe.

It reminds us again of our weakness, of the fact that salvation is not our work. It's God's work, that what God has done in our case is greater than anything that could be explained by us. Salvation is mercy. It's grace. And their weakness is a testimony of that. In fact, we're told in verse 11 what their attitude was. Look at their attitude, and this is, like, stunning. “But these words appear to them as” – what? What do you have in your Bible? – "nonsense." “Nonsense,  and they were not believing.” ‘Lēros’ is the Greek word translated in the LSV, nonsense, idle tale, tattle, pure nonsense. That is, oh, you know, these ladies have been probably under great stress, and they have been very sad, and their emotions got the better of them, and it must be their imagination. It must be.

You know, I don't know what they were thinking exactly, the apostles. I don't know how they explained this, but in some way they took this to be made up like an idle tale and nonsense. They flat out don't believe it. They don't. But the twelfth verse tells us something more encouraging. There's someone who is, in hearing this report of the empty tomb—well, look at his reaction. Something in these words that drives him to, and this is our last word, hope, hope.

“But Peter”. – I love that. – “But Peter stood up and ran to the tomb”. We know from John's account, it tells us that also the apostle John was with him as well. They “ran to the tomb; and stooping to look in, he saw the linen wrappings only. And he went away by himself, marveling at what had happened.” John tells us that as soon as he himself walked into the tomb and saw what he saw, he followed Peter in, and he tells us he believed. John believed. Peter is ‘thaumazōn’, marveling, to be struck with awe, amazement, astonishment.

I don't know what point he comes to full grips with what he has seen and just everything coming together, but at this point, he is pondering at least what he has witnessed, and he is amazed and gripped by it. You talk about evidence of genuine faith even when there's enormous weakness. Talk about evidence of genuine love for Jesus even when there's a weak understanding. Peter is exhibit A.

Here's a man who has denied the Lord three times. Here's a man who, when he hears the news of an empty tomb, cannot stay in his place. He must go. He must see. He rises, he runs, he runs to the tomb. Why do you run to the tomb, Peter? Well, because you see, he does love the Lord Jesus. He finds the grave closed, and he returns amazed by what he has seen.

With the remaining time that we have, I want to ask a few questions by way of application and implication. What do we see in these verses? What do we have in these verses? What do we see here?

Beloved, we see an almighty and altogether gracious God tenderly leading His people into an understanding that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior, is not dead, but He has been raised from the dead just as He’s promised. His work is greater than these weak little ones that He has saved. They don’t understand. They don’t get it. They don’t remember. They don’t believe. But He Himself has granted them genuine faith. Though it’s not a perfected faith yet, what He has begun, He will complete. He will complete.

And here He is, a tender Father, leading His people into an understanding of what He has done to save them. They will get it because He’s going to make sure they will get it. They must get it. And this is just the beginning of them getting it. For beginning in verse 13, the Lord Jesus will take the initiative to make sure they get it too. One of the most astounding passages we’ll ever read as Jesus teaches about Himself from the Old Testament scripture on the road to Emmaus.

So this is what I ask each and every one of you this morning. Have you gotten it? Have you gotten it? Do you believe that Jesus is not dead, but alive? Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, God the Son? Do you believe that He came from heaven to earth, the eternal beloved of heaven, Son of God, took to Himself a sinless human nature, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life on this planet, on this sin-sick planet, lived a sinless life, then died on a cross as our substitute, as a substitute for sinners like us?

Do you believe that God the Father poured out His wrath upon His own beloved Son so that everyone for whom Christ suffered, everyone who trusts in Christ as Savior and submits to Him as Lord, is and will be forgiven? Do you believe that? So that there’s no condemnation for us. Do you believe that three days later, He rose victoriously from the tomb?

When these women came to take care of His body, they found an empty tomb, and the explanation for the empty tomb is not a dream, it is not a made-up story, it is not a fake resurrection, but Christ is indeed alive. And that, in fact, He has made many appearances over 40 days, and then He ascended back into heaven. The same Jesus who ascended back into heaven is coming back again. Do you believe that? Do you?

And can I say something to you as well? Though your faith in Christ may be weak, child of Christ, child of God, though your faith in Christ may be weak, may lack understanding in some places, every truly saved, genuinely saved person in this place, you not only believe in the resurrected Jesus, but you love Him. You love Him. And the resurrection is not something that you celebrate once a year. The resurrection of Christ is something you celebrate every single day because you know why? The resurrected Christ has transformed your life. That’s 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

You see the difference in your life, in a transformed life, that the resurrection has brought to pass. You see, you just don’t know about Him. You know Him. You know Him. You’ve come to know Him by faith, and now you love Him, and you have a relationship with Him. You have fellowship with God through faith in Christ, through the person of Christ, and the resurrection means that your life has been transformed, radically transformed from the day you met Jesus for the rest of your life. You live for Him every single day. You rejoice in His life every single day. You rest in the finished work of His death and resurrection every single day. Is that your story?

I really have a great compassion for those people who come to church twice a year. They’re known as CEO, Christmas Easter only. Well, they might come to church when they’re in trouble. When trouble hits, well, time to get to church. Listen, I don’t condemn you if that’s you sitting here this morning. I don’t, I don’t. I’m so thankful and so glad you’re here. I am, but I call on you today to move from knowing about Jesus to placing your faith in Jesus as the Lord of your life who saves you, and He will save you. He will forgive your sins, and He will transform your heart from someone who had no real interest in Him or a passing interest or a passing curiosity to someone who now loves, adores Jesus, devoted to Jesus.

And if you were to ask believers in this place, they would say something like this. My faith is still weak at times. I still lack understanding in so many areas, so many places, but what I know as a reality is a love for the Son of God that God has produced in my heart that does not let me go. And He will do the same for you. And no longer would Jesus be for you twice a year interest or just when you’re in trouble, but He becomes your life.

It’s only when you can say that to live is Christ, you’ll be able to say that death is what? What, church? Gain, ‘kerdos’, profit, profit. Death is gain, but only when you can say, Jesus is my life, and so I invite you this morning to make Jesus your life. The resurrected Jesus, He really is alive, and you can really know Him by God’s grace.

The gospel commands men and women everywhere to repent, that is to turn from life as you’ve known it, living in your sin, living in your alienation, in your estrangement from God. You repent, you turn from that life, and you believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Bible gives us this promise that whoever believes on the Lord Jesus Christ is saved. Would you believe this morning? Would you call out to the Son of God, the living Son of God, and ask Jesus to save you?

What a Savior He is. What a marvelous Savior He is. And how does the resurrection change everything? The transforming power of the resurrection? Well, turn to Hebrews 2. I love this portion of God's word, the implication of that day, the power, the transforming power of the resurrection. Easter changes everything. Chapter two, two verses that describe that for us, how the resurrection changed everything. Verses 14 and 15: "Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives."

Beloved, the resurrection changed people. The resurrection changed people from fearful slaves to fearless sons—fearful slaves to fearless sons. You see, this text tells us that Jesus took flesh, He became human so as to die for our sins in our place and then rise again and through His death destroy the greatest weapon and instrument of fear that Satan had—fear of death. Jesus broke the back of all false religion that used the fear of death to keep people enslaved. How? How did He do that? Answer: the power of the resurrection.

The power of the resurrection is freedom from the bondage to the fear of death—freedom. See what made Peter and John, Peter who denied Jesus, Peter who denied Jesus and these disciples who had fled, they shrank back cowardly and fled, what made those cowards such bold witnesses 50 days later before the Sanhedrin? What made them like lions, bold lions? Answer: the power of the resurrection.

Chapter and verse, Acts 4:33: "And with great power the apostles were bearing witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all." Wow. From fearful slaves to fearless sons. What gave Paul, someone who persecuted Christianity, such boldness to face all of his persecutions? Answer: Philippians 3:10, "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death." Fearful slaves had become fearless sons.

You see, this means in every generation in these 2,000 years plus, the same power that made those timid fishermen become unstoppable witnesses is present. It has been present, and the growing amount of time between today and the resurrection of Jesus, the date of Christ's resurrection, has not diminished that power, has not made it fade into a memory because it is omnipotent power. It's renewed and present in every generation.

The truth of the resurrection means this: everyone who embraces Jesus as Savior and King is delivered from the fear of death in two ways. First, if you know your sins are forgiven by the risen, exalted Christ, then you literally have living proof that you're forgiven and that your physical death will not be the end of you. That's why Paul says this: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." And when losing your life is no longer the greatest threat, the greatest fear—ah, beloved, you are an awesome weapon in the hand of God. You are an awesome weapon in the hand of God.

In fact, Revelation 12 describes how Satan is defeated. In verse 11, we read, "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their witness, and they did not love their life even to death." You can't stop a group of people like this. That's the first way. The power of the resurrection delivers you from the fear of your physical death because you know your sins are forgiven. And if you die, blessed be God, it's gain. I'm gonna be with Jesus. It's not the end. It's simply continuation, but amplified continuation of intimate, perfect communion with Jesus—communion now perfected.

But there's a second way the power of the resurrection works. Christians who embrace Christ are not only not afraid of physical death—not only we're not afraid of our physical death—they are not afraid of personal death to a worldly life. Let that grip you. We're not only not afraid of our physical death, but we're not afraid of personal death to a worldly life. In other words, we're not afraid of losing life.

Let me explain. You see, when you're a slave to this life, all that matters is that you gather up the experiences of this world as quickly as you can, as much of it as you can. You know, life is short. I gotta live it up. You must get what this world has: riches and children and marriage and family and fame and achievement, promotion, success and status and possessions and love and sexual pleasure and power and other pleasures. And you must get it. You must get it all. You must get it and you must get the money so you can get it. And you must get it while you still have time—ideally, while you're still in your youth and health and you still have years. And what is that, if that's all you live for? Slavery. Slavery.

Paul says, when you become a Christian, God crucifies the old life in you. He puts the resurrection, eternal life of His own Son into you by His Spirit. And you know that new life is not an earthworm life burrowing through this world, scavenging this dying world for crumbs. You know what it is? Colossians 3:1, this new life: "If you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above." This is where your mind is set as you live here and now. You live here in the light of there. You live now in the light of then. Your mind is set on the things of above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

When you have new life, Romans 6 says, that we were buried with Him through baptism—through immersion—into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in what? “newness of life." That's what He puts into you.

And 2 Corinthians 5:15 says, "And He died for all, so that they who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." And Galatians 2:20, Paul says those words: "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

You see, beloved, in fact, it's everywhere in Scripture, cover to cover. Believers are those who get new life, God's life. And believers are able to experience a continual death to the world, to a worldly life, to a selfish, self-centered life, to a life lived only for this life. And why can they do that? Because of the power of the resurrection.

The power of the resurrection says, die to that life and you'll really live. Try to have the old life, try to grab at that life, and you will experience a living death. That's why the most repeated words of Jesus in all of Scripture—six times repeated—"Whoever desires to save his life in this world will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." The power of the resurrection.

You see, if I'm not only unafraid of my physical death, but if I am unafraid of dying to what the world tells me, what life is really about, then nothing can stop me from sharing this message of life and light and love with the dying world. I am the freest soul on earth. Free from the fear of death and free from the fear of missing out. Free from being chained to my own appetites and low earthly desires, I am the freest person in the world.

Now, unleash an army of these people in every generation with the power of the resurrection. And you know what you end up doing? You turn the world upside down. You change the world. Because these people are living embodiments of the power of the resurrection. 2 Corinthians 4:10: "always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body." The resurrection changed the world. But it didn't change it in the abstract. It didn't change it by accident. It changed it because it changed slaves, fearful slaves, into fearless sons.

Easter's not just a nice Christian holiday. It's quite simply the most important day in human history. But then it has to go deeper than that. It has to go deeper than simply acknowledging that. Have you been delivered from the fear of death? I don't mean, are you blasé about death? None of us is. I don't mean, well, I'm not trying to not think about it. No, no, is death still really an unthinkable thing to you? A deep unknown contemplated with momentary horror?

If that's you, then you need to come to Him who went there and back again. And then have you been delivered from the fear of losing life, the fear that life would slip away through your fingers if you give it to Jesus, that you won't know who you are anymore, that you won't be the person that you wanna be if you give your life to Jesus? If that's your fear, then let me say to you this morning, you've not yet experienced the power of the resurrection because when Christ is yours and you are His, you know the paradox from the inside out. You know that when you die to yourself, you really live. And when He takes your place and His life is your life, it's death—it's a death and a resurrection that you wanna have.

“You are giving up what you cannot keep and gaining what you cannot lose”, Jim Elliot. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you must still come and embrace the risen Jesus as your King. I beg you, do it today. Today. Today is the day of salvation. Receive the risen King as the end of your old life and the beginning of the new one. That's how you go from being a fearful slave to a fearless son or daughter. Be free from the fear of death and let the power of the resurrection transform you as it transformed those first disciples.

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

As you know, we've been giving considerable attention to this opening paragraph which begins in verse 2, begins with verse 2 and down through to verse 10, the end of the chapter, where Paul describes those things which caused Him to give thanks to God with reference to this Thessalonian church. He said in verse 2, —"We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers,"— and then He tells them, He tells us the things for which He gives thanks. “Remembering,”— verse 3, —"without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, steadfastness of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ before” —in the sight of— “our God and Father, knowing, brothers beloved by God, your election." It's what Paul remembers and what Paul knows that causes Him to burst in this word of thanksgiving.

Verse 3, he says, "We give thanks…  Remembering," and then in verse 4, "knowing." And what he remembers and what he knows becomes then the occasion of his giving praise to God. He gives thanks as a result. He burst into this really doxology of thanksgiving to God. We've studied the things which He remembered in verse 3: work of faith, labor of love, steadfastness of hope, and last week we began to consider that which He knows, that which he's assured of concerning this people, these precious people, and that becomes the occasion of praise and thanksgiving to God.

And so in verse 4, we have two statements of things that were true of the people there, the believers in Thessaloniki. One is a very direct statement, the other is indirect. Paul says indirectly he knows that they are beloved of God and then directly he says he knows their election. And so we have really two basic doctrines set before us in verse 4. Number one, the doctrine of election, and it's number two related to it, the doctrine of God's distinguishing love for His people. For in this verse, beloved of God is a title given to the people of God in a peculiar way, and we looked at that last Lord's Day.

Whatever kind of love God may have to all men in general, His benevolent love is His love of benevolence. This term beloved of God is a title, a phrase used only of the redeemed of God. And so I want us to think together concerning the fact that it's individual people who are called beloved of God and elect of God. It's a distinguishing love. Notice He's not speaking in a general way, but He's writing to His specific people. He said in verse 1, "Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church." There's a church, there's a local church, a real church there in Thessaloniki. He's talking about this with reference to a distinct body of people in a particular place.

He says in verse 2, "We give thanks to God always for all of you,” you there, the people of God in Thessaloniki. So he's talking about specific people. Verse 3, "Remembering without ceasing your,”— your— “work of faith," talking about specific people. And by implication, you continue to add this, you can supply this, your labor of love and your steadfastness of hope. So when he comes to speak about election and about being beloved of God, he's not speaking of a love of God that is general, he's not thinking of an election that is vague, that is indefinite, but he is using these two terms, beloved of God and election, in a very personal way, in a very distinct way, with reference to a specific people.

And I point that out because people who believe the Bible to be the Word of God must all admit that the truth that God, the truth of God's special love to His people and His electing grace are indeed truths taught in the Bible. They can't get away from it. It is there. If they're honest before God, honest with the text, they have to recognize they are here. They are taught in the Word of God, those two truths. They cannot even really think otherwise. They dare not even infer that the terms beloved of God and elected of God are not in the Scripture. So what they try to do is to hold those two phrases and they acknowledge and admit they are biblical phrases, but somehow they bleed them of their true life and their true meaning.

And so in the first place, I want us to observe that it's individual people who are called beloved of God and elect. Now, what does it mean to be beloved of God? What does it mean to be elect? We looked at the first one last Lord's Day, beloved of God. Remember, now Paul is not writing to some people who had behind them ten years in the Lord, ten years of theological education. He's writing to an infant church, babes in Christ, a church that just a few months ago had been called together by the preaching of the gospel as we saw in Acts 17 in our study of the birth of this church.

And to this infant church, Paul writes these words. Just right off the bat, no explanation needed: "Knowing, brothers beloved by God,” —His choice of you,— “your election.” Indicating that the truth of the election, their election, is not to be some kind of a contraband possession kept under the counter, hidden, camouflaged. Paul never treated it like black market goods. No, he treated this glorious doctrine as a wonderful truth, as a marvelous truth, and infant Christians, I mean, he talked to them about the subject of election with great freeness and with deep warmth.

There was no concern, oh well, you know, they're babes in Christ and I don't want them to stumble. No, no. With freeness. And so tonight, I believe I'm in good company this evening, teaching on the subject as openly, as publicly as God enables me to do so by His grace. So we're committed, and as we're committed to a verse-by-verse exposition of the Word of God, when we're here in verse 4, we want to understand what does verse 4 say, and we don't want to bleed the meaning, to bleed it of any of its honest implications.

As I mentioned, last week we considered the phrase, beloved of God, tonight let us consider knowing your election, knowing your election. So to do that, I'm just gonna begin with the first question: what is it to be the elect of God? What is it to be the elect of God? When Paul wrote to these people and said in verse 4, "knowing” —beloved brothers, or— “brothers beloved of God, your election," what did he mean when he chose that word, eklogēn, your election?

As Paul was sitting there thinking of the people back in Thessaloniki, he picks up his pen and writes and he says, we give thanks to God for you all, and his mind reminisces, and he thinks of their work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope, then he says, "knowing brothers,"— and now what does he know? And he chooses a word under the superintending hand of the Holy Spirit,— "knowing your election,”— knowing your eklogēn. Now as Paul took his pen and wrote your election, what meaning did he put upon that word by the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit?

That's the whole end of our study this evening, what did the Apostle Paul mean as an instrument in the hand of the Spirit when he wrote your election? And beloved, we must stop at nothing short of discovering what he meant. Well, that raises another question, well how can we do this? Well, what we must do is we must go to the other portions of the Word of God, the analogy of Scripture, we must go to the other portions of the Word of God written by different authors, small a, they're all written by one Author, capital A, the Holy Spirit, under the superintendent of the same Spirit, and we need to see what that word means.

For the meaning of the word is determined by its usage, and the usage of the words in the Bible are determined by the will of the Holy Spirit. “For no prophecy was ever made by the will of man, but men being moved,” —nautical term, moved, like a ship in a boisterous sea moved by the wind.— “but men being moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God,” 2nd Peter 1:21. So what does this word, eklogēn, mean?

Well, first of all, consider with me briefly the general usage of this word. Let's look at a general usage of this word in the Scripture. It's found about 50 times in the New Testament, 50 times in the New Testament, its various forms, various usages, and in the Old Testament when they were translating out of Hebrew into Greek in what we know or call the Septuagint, the LXX, by these 70 men who did this work several hundred years before Christ, the word is used there several times, in fact in very interesting ways, I think begins to give us some idea of the meaning.

For example, when it is said that David went down to the brook, 1st Samuel 17, he went down to the brook, you remember that scene, preparing for the battle with Goliath, verse 40, he came to the brook, he did something, the Scripture tells us. We read, "Then he took his stick in hand and chose for himself,”—eklogēn, same word in the Septuagint,— “chose for himself." Now this is the word, the same word used as we have in 1st Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 4. So, "He took his stick in hand and elected five smooth stones from the brook, put them in the shepherd's bag which he had, even in his pouch, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine." So as David came to the brook, the brook was full of stones and out of the many stones David selected, David elected, chose, picked out of the many five stones that he would use in his conquest of Goliath.

Same word is used in Luke 14 and verse 7 where our Lord spoke of those who came to the feast and that they would pick out the places of honor, same word, they would pick out the places of honor at the table, the chief places, the chief seats there at that feast. There were many seats, some of high degree, some of low degree, and these particular people would choose out, they would select out, would, same word, elect the seats of great honor and rank and importance, same word. It's the same word used in Acts chapter 6 and verse 5 where the early church met the problem of managing the widow's necessities by what? Choosing some servants, and the suggestion was that they find some men out of the many full of faith and of the Holy Spirit and appoint them over this task. Verse 5, Acts 6, "And this word pleased the whole congregation and they,”—eklogēn,— “chose”— in verbal form,— “Stephen." They elected, they selected out of the, amongst all of the qualified men, Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and then Philip and the rest.

Now you begin to get a picture of the use of this word. David selecting out of the many stones five, just five stones to be used, out of the many seats they select some to be the ones upon which they will recline, out of the many they selected these seven who would be appointed over the task at hand. In light of this then, the conclusion we draw from the general usage of this word is that the choice is always, always initiated by the chooser. The choice is always initiated by the chooser. In every instance of the use of this word, eklogēn, the choice is never conditioned or initiated by the chosen, but by the chooser.

In other words, you didn't have five little stones wiggle themselves up out of the brook, stand up on their backside and say, "Well David, I'd like to be part of the conquest, will you choose me?" No, the stones were lying there, either in the brook or alongside the edge of the brook, and all the stones were there and David is the one who took the initiative and made the selection. And these people took the initiative in the choosing of the seats and the multitude took the initiative in the selecting of the seven. That's the first conclusion we draw from the general usage of the word.

The choice was initiated by the chooser, and something that flows from that is this: the thing chosen was in this sense passive in the choice. It didn't have a vote in it, it didn't have a say in it, it was selected by another. That leads us to the second question: what is its distinct biblical or theological use, this word, eklogēn? What is its distinct biblical or theological use? I've looked at its use in general narrative, now how is it used with the relationship to what we would call, you know, theological issues?

Well, very briefly, let me give us three usages, three. First of all, it is used again and again of the Nation of Israel, and we looked at that briefly last week. You remember that passage in Deuteronomy 7, God said there in Deuteronomy 7:6 through 8, "I did not choose you because you were greater or wiser than the rest of the nations or all the other nations, but He said I chose you because I loved you." The Nation of Israel was an elect nation, a chosen nation, and God determined that He would set His affection upon them, and this was in that sense a national election. Isaiah 44 verse 1, He calls Israel His chosen, His elect: "But now here, O Jacob, My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen." And again you come to the New Testament, Acts 13:17, God had to have a nation through which He would accomplish His redemptive purposes, He would build a framework within which He would send His one and only Son to be the Savior of the world, and out of all the nations He chose to use one nation, and the nation that He chose was Israel.

Why? Why? Well, God says why in Deuteronomy 7: "I chose you because”— I chose, period,— “I loved you." Why do you love? Well, I chose you. I loved you.Why?— "Because I loved you.” Not because of anything in you, but because of a purpose that was locked up in My own heart."
 
Another usage, second usage of this word: Christ is spoken of as God's elect, God's elect. Isaiah 42 verses 1 and 2, He's spoken of as God's elect: "Behold My servant whom I uphold, My chosen one in whom My soul is well pleased." And in 1st Peter chapter 2 verses 4 through 6, twice this term is used of our Lord Jesus Christ, "a choice,”—eklektos,— “a choice stone, precious in the sight of God." He was selected, set apart, chosen out for the office of mediator, Messiah, the one who would be the representative of His people, and for His people He would become man, would live, would die, would rise again, ascend to the right hand of the majesty on high.

Now there's another usage of the word elect, and this is the prevailing, and I want to underscore the word prevailing, the prevailing use of this word in the New Testament when it refers to the people of God being elected, and here's the use. It's an election of individual men and women to the blessings of salvation. It's an election of individual men and women to the blessings of salvation, a sovereign selection. It's a sovereign selection of specific individuals to enjoy the blessings of God's salvation. The people of God are called in 1st Peter 2 and verse 9, a chosen family, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God's own possession, the church, the called out ones, believers, God's people, God's children have been chosen by God to enjoy the blessings of saving grace and sovereign salvation. And it's in this sense that the word is used in the passage, not only this passage, but passage after passage in the New Testament.

Now the only reason anyone would ever hold to this meaning of the word is because He is compelled to it in an honest handling of the Word of God. That's the only reason. You're compelled to it. You're constrained to it. There's no other choice. If you do honest, if you have honest handling of the Word of God, this is the only conclusion. It's the only one reason why the church, for example, has believed the doctrine of the Trinity throughout its history. The doctrine of God, that God is one, and yet this one Being, to use the only term we have, exists in three persons, —Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,— yet the one is not three distinct gods, but there are three persons, one God, one, three, three, one, and we say we cannot understand it, but we are compelled to embrace that which is a mystery to us.

Why? Because the Word of God leads us there. Leads us there. The Word of God teaches clearly the Father is God, the Son is God, the Spirit of God, yet there are not three gods, but one God. So the biblical teaching, as it were, squeezes us into this position where we hold that truth, one God, three persons, three in one, one in three, and the only reason we believe that is because the Bible leads us there. The only reason the church throughout its history has believed in the doctrine of eternal punishment is that the Scripture takes us there. The doctrine of eternal punishment is repugnant to human understanding that creatures made in the image of God who have sinned in a lifetime should for eternity be the object of the wrath, the wrath of God, the judgment of God, in conscious torment. I mean, everything within the human personality recoils at such a doctrine in our finiteness. Yet the church has held throughout all of its existence this doctrine.

Why? Why? And this is one of the—this is a hill to die on, because the church has been compelled to it by the Word of God. "And these will go away into”— what?— “eternal punishment,"— Matthew 25:46,— "but the righteous into eternal life." If words mean anything, punishment and life are eternal. "To be cast into hell where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched," Mark 9:47, 48. Revelation 14:11, "and the smoke of their torment goes up,”— how long?— “forever and ever they have no rest, day and night." You see, God's people who are honest with God's Word embrace the doctrine of eternal punishment. Why? Because simply the Scripture forces them to. We're compelled.

Now why does anyone believe the doctrine of election? Beloved, for the same reason that when one's mind is subject—is subject indeed to the Word of God, subject to the truth of God—there is no honest handling of a word such as we encounter in 1 Thessalonians 1:4 except to come to that conclusion. What conclusion? That that word means that God in His sovereign good pleasure has reached down—He took the initiative—He reached down into the mass of sinful humanity, and for reasons known only to Him, has chosen to Himself a great multitude that no man can number. Some out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and for that people He sent His one and only Son, and for that people His Son died, and for that people His Son lives, and for that people He will infallibly bring to Himself that people.

Election is a biblical word, it's a biblical concept, and it is not, beloved, to be relegated to the name of any man, really, fundamentally. When people will say of an individual or a church that believes and does not treat as a contraband possession this doctrine, but gladly confesses it as Paul did here, and they say, oh well, you know, they're nothing but a Calvinist. Oh, he's a Calvinist. Or that church is a Calvinist. Or they're nothing but reformed in their theology. You see, this is a biblical concept, and it was around a long, long, long time before John Calvin ever breathed his first breath. It was around a long time before Martin Luther ever breathed his first breath, before Uldrich Zwingli breathed his first breath, before the Puritans breathed their first breath, and before Jonathan Edwards breathed his first breath.

The Word of God declared, "knowing, brothers, beloved of God, your election." It's right here. Right here. And all of these men, all these men did, all of them, all they did was in their return to the authority of the Scripture, sola scriptura, which had been virtually denied, though confessed with the lips by the Roman Church, in their return, having their minds subject to the Word of God, it's only inevitable that the doctrine of election would come to light in the Reformation. Only inevitable. Why? Because the Scripture came to light, and wherever the Scriptures come to light, the doctrine of election will come to light. Why? Because it's found throughout the length and breadth of Scripture. You cannot avoid it.

That's the reason, that's the only reason. That's the only reason some even here in this congregation have come to embrace this doctrine in the last couple of years, because you've come with a new spirit of inquiry to the scripture. You say, what I've been doing is spreading the words of the Bible through my mind, through my eyes, but what I've really been doing have been stamping upon the Bible the meanings that perhaps I've gotten from my childhood. I was really doing an eisegesis, not an exegesis. I haven't really come to grips with what the scripture teaches, and that attitude which has led you to come to grips with the teaching of the scripture and other issues has led you now to come to grips with what it teaches on this glorious doctrine, the doctrine of election, and you find like with the doctrine of the trinity and the doctrine of justification and the doctrine of eternal judgment, I can do no less than embrace the scripture, for the scripture teaches it, and as a Christian I am subject to the words of the living God. My life is to be regulated by it. My conscience is held captive to it.

And so much then for the general use of the word, theological use of the word, the nation of Israel, Christ the chosen one, individual men and women to the blessings of salvation.

Thirdly, what are we warranted to say then by way of sort of a setting out clearly the meaning of this election as found in the scripture? May I very quickly share with you a few thoughts that I trust will be helpful tonight. Here are the few thoughts.

Number one, I'm going to state the obvious. It is God who does the choosing. God who does the choosing. In dealing with sinful humanity, it is God who puts forth the initiative. Mark 13:20 speaks of the elect whom He has chosen. The elect whom He has chosen. I mean, could words be more simple than that?

Let me illustrate. If I were to speak to you about a certain car that Mr. Smith, I'm being creative here, Mr. Smith has chosen, those words have a very obvious meaning. Mr. Smith either went to the showroom or went to the car lot. He looked around, inspected the cars, surveyed all the cars there, and after that he said, you know, I want that car. I want that car. And he chose that car. And as a result of it, he drove it off the lot and took it home.

If I were to say Mr. Smith chose a 2026 Toyota Land Cruiser I-Force Max hybrid powertrain, would you ever put on my words the meaning that as he sat in the showroom, all of a sudden a 26 Toyota Land Cruiser put itself in gear, drove up alongside of him and said, now Mr. Smith, I'd like to go home with you? Is that what you think? And Mr. Smith said, you know, all right, because you decided to go home with me, I will ratify your decision. I will choose you therefore as my car, take you home with me. Would you ever put that kind of meaning on my words? I mean if you would, I'll be very concerned, but if you would, then all meaningful communication will break down and we'd have it. There would be no meaningful communication whatsoever. And if I say Mr. Smith chose a 2026 Toyota Land Cruiser and you would twist my words to mean that the Land Cruiser chose Mr. Smith and he okayed its choice, well, we'd have a problem. All communication would be, I mean, it would be a breakdown of communication. And yet it's amazing what tricks people play with the Bible. Gymnastics. It says, Mark 13:20, "for the sake of the elect whom He chose,”— for the sake of the elect whom He chose. And they say, oh, but that doesn't mean God has chosen them. What this means is they chose Him and God saw that they would choose Him. And so in turn He chose them. That's what election means.

Beloved, that is butchering the word of God. That's substituting, to use the words of Brad Classen, the voice of God for the voice of man. That's unwarranted twisting of the obvious sense of scripture. And if we did it in the realm of normal communication, we'd say, well, how can we communicate if we're going to handle words like that? In the same way the word of God reveals, it's God who does the choosing. The illustration of David and his stones is a classic one here.

Secondly, it's God who chooses individual people. God's election, not sort of looking through a foggy glass and He just sees shapes and forms and He says, you know, I'll choose something called believers. No, no, no. It's a choice of individual people. Individual people. How do we know? Notice Romans 16 and verse 13. And this is what I mean when the doctrines of the word of God sometimes pop out in the most unusual places, really. They just, as you're reading something and it's a record that, and all of a sudden you have this doctrine, you know, popping up.

Here Paul is giving some directives to send greetings to a bunch of Christians in Rome and he's saying, salute so and so and so and so and so and so. And notice verse 13, Romans 16, "greet Rufus." Notice now the next word, "a choice man in the Lord and his mother and mine." He calls a particular individual one who was eklektos, chosen. Same word in the original, elected in the Lord. It's God who does the choosing. Secondly, it's God who chooses individual people.

And thirdly, God chooses unto salvation. He chooses unto salvation. Second Thessalonians 2:13, "but we should always give thanks to God for you, brothers, beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth." God's election has reference not just to privilege, not just to opportunity, as sometimes some commentator is trying to pull this gymnastic. In fact, one of them commenting, he says, all that Paul meant by this election, 1 Thessalonians 1:4, was that when the Spirit of God didn't let him go into Asia, turned him down, and so that the vision came, the man of Macedonia saying, come over here and help us, he was just telling them that they had an election to privilege of hearing the gospel. That's all.

You don't, I don't read my Bible right, do I, if I only read it that way or see that. This is butchering the Word of God. Beloved, "He has chosen you from the beginning,"— not just to hear the gospel, not just to be exposed to the gospel, but— "He has chosen you to salvation," 2 Thessalonians 2:13.

So then we conclude from the scriptures. First of all, that God does the choosing, Mark 13:20, "for the sake of the elect whom He chose." He chooses individual people, Romans 16:13. He chooses unto salvation, 2 Thessalonians 2:13.

Number four, He chooses in eternity. In eternity. Ephesians 1:4, "He, God, chose us in Him,"— when?— "Before the foundation of the world." Before the foundation of the world. And then, of course, Titus 1:1 and 2. "Paul, a slave of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of God's elect and the full knowledge of the truth, which is according to godliness in the hope of eternal life, which the God who cannot lie promised,"— when?— "From all eternity." God's choice is not a choice in time, but one in eternity.

In the fifth place, God's choice always, always, always, always has reference to Christ. Always. We are chosen in Him. God cannot think of having sinners in a saving relationship with Himself apart from His Son. There's no way. Ephesians 1:4, "He chose us,"— where?— "In Him.”— In Him.— “before the foundation of the world." And I trust I'm not irreverent in saying that God cannot think of this. I believe it's an accurate expression of the truth of the Bible. God cannot think of having sinful man in a saving relationship with Himself apart from His Son. So when He chose, it was in Christ, and it was with reference to Christ, we are chosen in Him, in the beloved.

In the sixth place, God's choice is based on no other basis but His sovereign will. But His sovereign will. Romans 9, the great treaties on this. Ephesians 1:5 declares, according, it's all done “according to the good pleasure of His will.” "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world… according to the pleasure of His will." God has told us, Romans 9:15 and 16, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it does not depend on the one who wills or the one who runs, but on God who has mercy."

And then in the last place, the seventh conclusion we make in the study of this word is that God's choice has as its end His own glory. Ephesians 1:6, He has chosen us in Christ. Verse 4, verse 5, He's predestined us to be like unto His Son. Verse 6, to what end? "To the praise of the glory of His grace which He graciously bestowed on us in the beloved."

If I'm saved, the scripture says I'm saved because I was chosen to be saved. Why was I chosen? Because it pleased God. Well, why did it please God? No answer comes from the scripture. You know what that means? In light of this, it's time now to put your hand on your mouth, put your face in the dust and worship. That's the only fitting response.

Those seven conclusions, we are compelled to them by the scripture, by an honest handling of the text. God does the choosing, He chooses individual people, He chooses unto salvation, He chooses in eternity, He chooses with reference to Christ, He chooses on no other basis but His sovereign will and He chooses to His own glory.

Well, a few more minutes by way of application, what does it say to us in closing? May I address a word to you, believers, the people of God, to us, the people of God, all of us. How can you know if you are the elect of God? How can you know? How can you know? You know we're going to see that in our next studies, how we know. You see, we're going to see that by looking at how Paul knew and that helps us. You see, Paul didn't say, "knowing brothers, your election of God because God allowed me to look into the secrets of His heart and His eternal counsels. That's how I knew." No, no. He said, "knowing brothers, beloved of God, your election," —and this is a good really intro to next study,— "how our gospel came not in word but in power." That's how we knew. That's how we knew.

He said, I read your election in the fruits of the salvation of God in your life. Isn't it amazing how the Lord connects morning and evening service, not planned, not planned by me, by Him. That's how you can know. That's how you can know if you're the elect of God, not by prying into the eternal counsels of God, which are shut to us, but by looking into your own life and seeing if you have the fruits of His salvation. Just to whet our appetite, has the word of God come to you in power? Has it come to you in power? Has it turned you from self and sin to the Lord Jesus Christ? Has it turned you from idols unto Him? You read the entire first chapter, 1 Thessalonians, and you see why Paul was convinced that these people were the elect of God. Because they were attached to Jesus. They were attached to Jesus. They had severed themselves from all their idols and turned to the living God.

And so I say to you who profess to be the children of God, do you have the marks of God's elect? We read our election not in the secret counsels of God, but in the open evidences of His transforming power in our lives, that radical difference. And if we can read those evidences, oh let us be found this evening at His feet in wonder, in love, in praise, in adoration, in thanksgiving. You see the problem many of us had is that we did not get what these Thessalonians got. And when I say we, I'm not using it editorially. God had wonderfully saved me by His grace 37 years ago, but for the first several years of that time I was trying to build much of my Christian life on the wrong foundation. I thought that I became a Christian because I finally decided it was time I ought to be a Christian. But it wasn't until several years later after my conversion, forced by the scripture, warring and wrestling for a period of time over some of these issues, when I finally was brought to the place where I realized, Lord, Your word is clear, I can't avoid it. I can't fight it, nor do I want to. I can't put my own meaning on Your word.

You said Mr. Smith chose a car, Lord. I don't have a right to say that the car chose Mr. Smith. And Lord, the reason I was saved back in my 19th year of age on the island of Cyprus was because You purposed to save me. And when you begin to establish as your foundation, beloved, free grace, free grace, sovereign grace, the whole superstructure becomes different. You'll find that your worship is different. You'll find your witness in measure is different. You find your praying in certain areas is different. And the problem with us in this day where everyone has built a monument to the sovereign will of man is that when we try to build any kind of superstructure of biblical piety, biblical evangelism on that foundation, everything goes what? Amuck. And Paul wanted this young church at its very foundation to have ingrained into their thinking that their salvation was attributed to the free, free, free grace of God.

And so I say to you as God's people, to all of us, including my own heart, let us pray that we shall have that foundation beneath us, solidly laid by God's Spirit in His word.

And what word do I have for anyone who is not joined to Christ this evening? What word is there to preach to those who are not His? Oh, this is filled with words of exhortation and comfort and warning to you who are not savingly attached to Jesus, not savingly joined to Jesus. Does God owe you anything? I ask. I ask. Does God owe you anything? Maybe you're sitting here saying, well, God owes me salvation. God owes me salvation. Well, it's in His hand. He owes it to me. If you talk that way, you're not ready to get saved. You've never seen yourself.

If you sit here this evening, not joined to Christ, not born of the Spirit, and you say it isn't right, why should God choose some and not others? Friend, you've never seen your heart. God doesn't owe salvation to anyone. There's only one thing God owes you and me. That's damnation. Damnation. The only thing that we can claim as our just recompense is punishment. Why? “For the wages of sin is” —what?— “death.” You know wages? Wages of sin? You know, you get your wages when you work for something. We deserve it. That's what we deserve. It's our wages. If we get anything else, it will be the sheer, free, sovereign grace of God.

And so if you sit here this evening fighting, arguing with the doctrine of election because you say it isn't fair, you've never seen your heart. Rather than argue with God, you need to fall on your face and say, oh God, oh God, show me, show me what an ill-deserving, hell-deserving sinner I am. And if you're in that place, you say, oh I see myself lost, undone. I see that God doesn't owe me anything and He can give and withhold salvation according to His sovereign, His own sovereign will. What hope is there for me? Ah, there's wonderful hope for you. For God says in His word and His word becomes the basis of our approach to Him. He says in His word, "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." He says in His word, "him that comes to me, I will in no wise, no way, by no means cast out."

What are God's secret purposes? Including election? I don't know. But His promise is, I know, that they are yea and amen in Christ. "Him that comes to me, I will in no wise cast out." Do you see yourself ill-deserving? Do you see yourself as one who has no claim upon God, His mercy, His grace, undone, hopeless, helpless, doomed, damned? Is that the way you see yourself? Then hear the promise, hear it. "Come to me,” —come to me— “all you who are weary and heavy laden," Christ said, "and I will give you rest."

Your coming to Christ from the standpoint has nothing to do with knowing whether or not you are an elect. Your coming has to do with your consciousness of need and His promise to receive needy sinners. Did you hear that? Your coming has to do with your consciousness of need and His promise to receive needy sinners. If you leave this place complaining and whining, then you see you're not conscious of your need and there is no salvation for you. He didn't come to call the righteous who think that they're righteous, who think they've got a claim upon Him. He came to call sinners who know they have no claim, no claim whatsoever. He receives such.

And so I trust as Paul could write to this young church and thank God for them when He remembered their work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope, and when He could say, "knowing brothers beloved of God, your election," they did not fight the fact that they were chosen by Him. They were the chosen ones. No doubt, no doubt, I like to think that they fell down and worshiped Him. And would to God that you and I should be found in that posture, would be found in that posture, and from that posture of humility and brokenness and an attitude of utter reliance and dependency upon the free sovereign grace of God.

But we should be able to say with the Apostle Paul, "therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake that they may obtain salvation which is in Christ Jesus," that this should fill us with a sense of obligation to proclaim the mercy of our great and sovereign God to all who desperately need Him.

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

We are considering what may be called Paul's paragraph of praise and thanksgiving to God for these beloved Christians in Thessaloniki, these Thessalonians. Beginning with verse 2, going down all the way to the end of the chapter, verse 10, and you look at this portion of the Word of God that we've been really studying together. In verse 2 He says, "We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers." And as Paul gives thanks, He does so, verse 3, “remembering” certain things. And verse 4, “knowing” certain things. And the things which He remembered we have studied together.

You remember those three crown jewels, their work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope. And the things which He knows, well, we will begin considering this evening. The things which He knows, number one, He knows that they are beloved by God. And number two, He knows their election, God's choice of them. We will then consider in the weeks to come, Lord willing, how He knew that they were beloved by God and how He knew that they were the elect of God. But tonight our focus will be the little phrase in verse 4, verse 4a, knowing brothers beloved by God. He says your election.

Well, let's begin with the first part of this phrase, knowing brothers beloved by God. Now just as other certain words become particular words to describe the children of God, so this little phrase here in verse 4a, beloved by God, is a description of the people of God and belongs to no one else. No one else. The word holy, ἅγιος , and or the word saints became a term applied to the people of God and was never used of anyone else.

As you read the New Testament, New Testament letters, you find phrases like this, for instance, in Romans chapter 1, verse 7, "To all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints," ἅγιος, set-apart ones. You see the word saints and the word beloved of God are two particular descriptions of the people of God there in Rome and wherever they are found. In Colossians 3, verse 12, the Apostle says, "So as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." There are the three terms used only of the people of God, elect, holy, beloved, and they're not used of anyone else. He uses these words in a similar way in 2nd Thessalonians 2:13 where He speaks of the people of God as brothers beloved by the Lord.

Now what conclusion do we draw from this? Well, the very obvious conclusion, very obvious, that if a particular people are given a particular title and no one else is given that title, well that title applies only to them and must signify something that's true of them but true of no one else. So if the people of God are called saints, the word saint becomes a particular title for those who are born of the Spirit of God. Now the same way with the phrase beloved of God or by God, it is used only of those who stand in a state of grace. They are the ones who are beloved by God.

Therefore we conclude that in a special way only the people of God are beloved by God in this very special way and blessed be His name, all the people of God with all their weakness and all their failures and all their struggles are beloved by God. Now this conclusion immediately poses a problem to many of us particularly in this day and age in our generation. Why? For we have for many years thought of God's love simply as a general attitude of goodwill and benevolence to all men without any distinction and without any varying degrees. That God loved all men in the same way and that to question that was in essence to question the truth of the Bible.

My objective this evening is simply to expound those words biblically and it is this, my objective this evening by the grace of God to seek to demonstrate from the Word of God that God's redemptive love is a special kind of love to a special group of people which attains special ends and objectives. And we need to do this because it is right here in the Word of God. These are not just words. They're inspired. That when Paul could write to the Thessalonians and say knowing brothers beloved by God that He was calling those Christians there in Thessaloniki beloved by God in a sense that they were the object of a particular peculiar distinguishing redemptive love of God in a way that others were not.

That's my objective, with God's help. How am I going to seek to obtain that objective? Well, twofold way. Number one, first of all, I want to establish by the grace of God the fact and have you look at a number of scriptures with me to see that there is indeed a distinguishing love taught in the Bible in a general way. And by distinguishing, distinguishing love, I mean a love that makes differences. And then secondly, to establish that this distinguishing love that God has to His own people is the love that is inseparably joined to His elective purposes or electing purposes.

First of all then, can we establish the fact that there is in the scripture clear indication of a different kind of love that God has in different relationships? Well, let us look at this together. The distinguishing love taught in scripture. Distinguishing love taught in scripture. First of all, illustrated from human experience. Suppose I were to say to you in the course of half an hour a conversation, I love the color green. Now, we might move to the subject of food and I might say, well, I love bone marrow. Then I might move in our conversation and talk about where I grew up in Lebanon and say, well, I love the mountains there in Lebanon. And then in the course of conversation, an opportunity comes up and I say, well, I love my wife. And then in the course of the conversation, we might be discussing our Lord and I might say, I love my Savior.

Now, in the course of half an hour, I said I love the color green. I love bone marrow. I love mountains. I love my wife. I love my Savior. All the way from color green to my Savior. Now, it's obvious to you, I trust, and you understand when I communicate to you that the love I have to the color green is qualitatively different from the love that I have for my Savior, from the love that I have for my wife. You would never put the same meaning on the word love when I say I love my Savior. I love the color green. Now, I do have an attachment and affinity to the color green, but you would not put the same meaning on the word when I say I love my Savior. I would never die for the color green. I would never bear reproach for the color green. I would never give of my substance and my time and my energies and, if necessary, of my blood for the color green. By the grace of God, by the grace of God, I'd like to believe that I would do that for my Savior.

So you see, even in human conversations, there are degrees of love. There are different kinds of love, and we see this clearly taught in Scripture. First of all, consider that in the Lord Jesus there were different kinds of love expressed to different people. It is said, you remember, in that account in Mark 10, our Lord looked upon the rich young ruler and looking at him, Mark 10 verse 21, "Jesus loved him." Right? That means that our Lord felt something toward this man, this young man, when He looked at him that He did not feel prior to looking at him, and He felt something to him that He didn't feel to other men who were walking around, or else language loses its meaning. Right? If our Lord had the same affection to every young man in that area, then it absolutely makes no sense that Mark should say, "and looking at him Jesus loved him." If it's all the same across the board. You see, that was a particular kind of love directed to a particular person.

Then we read in John 11 verse 5, and the text that we read, that we studied together not too long ago, that "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." Now, if the love that He had to them is the same love that He had to all men, then John is telling us something that makes no sense whatsoever. Why tell us that He loves Martha, her sister, and Mary, and Lazarus unless Jesus loved in a special way Martha, Mary, and Lazarus? And turning to John 13, you have a similar passage in verse 1, that familiar scripture: "Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing His hour had come that He would depart out of the world to the Father”, now notice, “having loved His own who were in the world”, “having loved His own who were in the world," separating His own from the world in general, a love which is directed to His own in particular, "having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them," He loved them, excluding others with this kind of love. Whatever love He had to others, this kind of love was directed to a specific group of people, and it says “He loved them to the end.”

Turn to Revelation chapter 3, and by the way, this is by no means an exhaustive list, this is a suggestive list. There were many passages, I have to select a few. Revelation 3 verse 9, the Lord is speaking as He gives these letters to John to send to the seven churches, this one addressed to the church there in Philadelphia, verse 9: "Behold, I am giving up those of the synagogue of Satan, those who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie. Behold, I will make them come," that's one group of people, "and bow down before your feet and make them know that I have loved you." He says, I'm gonna do something to convince men that I have a particular love for you as My particular people. Down in verse 19, you have a similar thing, our Lord speaking these words to the church at Laodicea, and He says in verse 19, "Those whom I love," setting off a group, those whom He loves, He says, "I reprove and discipline." Does He reprove and discipline all as His children, as we shall see a little bit later? No. Therefore, He has a peculiar love to those who are His own. And then we're told of the disciple whom Jesus loved, the beloved disciple John.

Now, what do all of these references in the life of our Lord tell us? Well, they tell us that our Lord had different kinds of love to different people. They tell us that, that much then, and that's the only conclusion that I want us to draw at this point. Now, is it true of the Father? Does the scripture attribute to the Father a different kind of love to different individuals or groups of people? Yes, the scripture says that the Father has a special love to His Son. We know that, the scripture declares it. John 3:35, "The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand." The Father loves the Son. The Father has a special love for His Son which has moved Him to give to Him as the mediator all things, all things are entrusted to Him. In John 10:17, you find a similar reference where our Lord says, "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again." And here is a special love because of the self-sacrifice, the laying down of His own life. My Father, He says, has a peculiar love to Me in light of My willingness to lay down My life and to take it up again.

And then the scripture teaches not only that the Father has a peculiar love to His Son, but He has a special love to His people. John 17, that high priestly prayer of Jesus, our Lord is praying, and this is His petition, verse 23: "I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know," the world is one group, right, those for whom He prays are another group, "and He says that they may be perfected in unity so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You have loved Me." So His prayer is that the world may recognize that the Father has a special love to His people, that's His petition.

And then, of course, John 14, you have a number of references, one of them is in verse 21: "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him," will reveal, will manifest Myself to him. I don't want to multiply verses, but I want to give you enough to let you know that this is not some kind of a truth that is hidden off in a corner, that there's, there's, there is a real sense, in a real sense, there is a distinguishing kind of love revealed in Christ's own life to others, revealed in the Father's love to the Son, revealed in the Father's special love to His people.

2 Corinthians 9:7, you're familiar with this verse: "Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart," with reference to giving, "not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." God loves me as a giver when I give cheerfully. He loves me in Christ, but there is that love here expressed when I give cheerfully. But if I give grudgingly, under compulsion, He doesn't love me as a giver because I'm not being cheerful, not giving from the heart. But when you give with the attitude, bless God that I have life and breath and salvation and all that is given me, Lord, what a joy to give You from what You have given me because it's already Yours to begin with, and God says, I love that kind of a giver. You see, God has a distinguishing love directed to certain people in different circumstances.

And then that familiar text in Hebrews 12 verse 6, where the scripture tells us, "For those whom the Lord loves," what does He do? “He disciplines.” He disciplines, it's an expression of His love. "He disciplines and He flogs every son whom He receives." There's a special love for His children which leads Him to discipline them. And then He says in verse 8, "But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children, not sons," indicating that not all are disciplined by the Lord. It's only those that He loves with a peculiar love that are disciplined by Him. Well, there's a difference made, some that He loves that He disciplines, others that He doesn't love with that special distinguishing love, He doesn't discipline them, and they're not sons, in fact, they are illegitimate children.

Do you get the feeling, beloved, the drift of all of these passages? They teach and establish the fact that there is indeed taught in Scripture a distinguishing love of God. There is a separating or a marking off by differences in the love which God has to different kinds of people in different kinds of situations. The idea that because God is love, He has an identical affection to all men irrespective of their condition is an unscriptural concept.

Well, now, having, I trust, established the fact that there is a there is in general a distinguishing love, I want to, in the second place this evening, to demonstrate that there is a distinguishing love of God to His own elect people. For notice in our text, these are the two things that Paul joins together. Next Lord's Day we will look at the last part, "knowing, brothers beloved by God”, what “your election," distinguishing love, and here's the point that I want to make based on the scripture: distinguishing love inseparably joined to God's electing purposes. You see, Paul joined them together, these two thoughts, these two truths, that the special object of the love of God and the special object of the electing purpose of God, these are to join together in our text, and they are joined in the biblical concept throughout the entire breadth of Scripture, and what God joins together let no one separate.

Will you turn with me to what I really feel are the two key passages, or believe the two key passages, in the Old Testament which teach in the history of God's people, ancient people, this tremendous truth, that the distinguishing love of God, that God has to His chosen people, these two things are joined together, election and distinguishing love, and they're inseparably joined. And, of course, you have to turn to Deuteronomy 7, right? Deuteronomy 7, the context is clear. God is exhorting His people to obedience, promising that if they obey, blessing will come, if they disobey, the curse will come, and now He's trying to give them motive for obedience, and He tells them in verse 6, we read, "For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God; Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for His own treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth." So here are all the nations, and God says, I set My choice on you, Israel, I set My choice on you.

Now notice verse 7: "Yahweh did not set His affection, He did not set His love on you nor choose you," do you see the two thoughts joined together, set His affection, love upon you and choose you, distinguishing love and particular election inseparably joined right there in the text, verse 7, "Yahweh did not set His affection on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because Yahweh loved you." As God is trying to humble Israel to move her with motives to obey Him, Moses says, now look, God has chosen you to be a special people above all the peoples, and He didn't do it because you were greater, He didn't do it because you were more in number, but He loved you and He chose you for one reason and one reason only. What is it, Moses, tell us? He loved you. He loved you. What do you mean? The only cause is that God chose to set His love upon them. Is that it? Is that the only cause? Precisely, precisely, that's the only reason He gives. Verse 8: "But because Yahweh loved you," that's the only reason that He gives. And because He loved Israel, He chose her for a particular purpose. He chose Israel because He loved Israel. He chose Israel in spite of Israel. So you see, the concepts of distinguishing love and sovereign election are joined together.

Turn with me, while we're in that book, to chapter 10, and you will see the same thing in chapter 10, Deuteronomy, verses 14 through 16. Again, we have an exhortation to obedience in verse 12, and now He's trying to give them motive to prompt them to obedience, and listen to the motive, beginning in verse 14: "Behold, to Yahweh your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it. Yet on your fathers did Yahweh set His affection to love them, and He chose their seed after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day. So circumcise your heart and stiffen your neck no longer." Oh, He says, Israel, Oh Israel, be humble, lay low, and be brought to a place of obedience from the heart as you behold the distinguishing love of God which was joined to the particular election of God. "Yahweh set His affection to love you, He chose your seed after you." And so you see, the whole concept of God's distinguishing love and particular election joined together in the whole history of Israel.
So that when Paul is writing about God's dealing with Israel in the New Testament, in that well-known passage in Romans 11 verse 28, we read, "From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of” what? “God's choice, they are beloved for the sake of their fathers.” Why? “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." They will not be rescinded.

You see the two joined together? Now, what is God doing today? Well, because of disobedience, Romans 11:25 and 26, "a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentile has come. And so all Israel will be saved." God's focus of concern right now is His Church, the called-out ones, the called-out body of His own. And how are they described in Scripture? Well, turn to Colossians 3 and we shall see these two thoughts joined together.

Like Moses with Israel in the Old Testament, Paul is exhorting believers to Christian duty and He seeks to arm them with motives by reminding them that they were the objects of distinguishing love and particular election of God. Verse 12, Colossians 3 and verse 12: "So as” what? “The elect of God.” As the elect of God, “holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." He says now if you remember what you are, this will arm you with motives to be what you ought to be or better, to be what you are. Remember what you are, Paul says, and when you remember what you are, you'll be armed with the most powerful motives to be what you are.

Well, what am I? What am I? You're the beloved of God. You're the beloved of God. You're the elect of God. Oh, you mean God set His love upon me? Why? Let me tell you why. Because He set His love upon you. And being pressed down in humiliation that God in His sovereign grace and mercy should love me, me, when He may have made up His bride, the church out of many others. What does this do? When I'm pressed down in humiliation realizing all of this, me, why me? What does this do? It arms the child of God with great motives for humility leading to obedience to the will of God.

2 Thessalonians 2:13, "but we should always give thanks to God for you brothers beloved by the Lord because God has chosen you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth." Again, the particular love of God, the particular election of God joined together inseparably. And of course the classic passage showing these two joined together, Ephesians 1:4 through 6, "just as He chose us”, chose us “in Him before the foundation of the world that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love by predestining us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself according to the” goodness of our works? According to the what? “According to the good pleasure of His will. To the praise of the glory of His grace, which He graciously bestowed on us in the Beloved."

And so we see in these passages that I try to bring to bear upon 1 Thessalonians 1:4 that when Paul wrote to those Thessalonians and said, "knowing brothers beloved by God your election," he was not speaking of that general love of God that God has for all His creatures. The Lord spoke of that general love of God back in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 where He said in verse 45, "He,” God, “causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous." That's the common grace of God, the general love of God.

Acts 14:17, Paul says, "He,” God, “did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons filling your hearts with food and gladness." That's the general love of God. So no, no, He's not speaking of that, of that love that He mentions elsewhere. He's not speaking of the peculiar love that Paul is talking about concerning the elect. That peculiar love spoken of in John 10 where our Lord says in verse 14, "I'm the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me. I lay down My life for the sheep and I have other sheep which are not from this fold. I must bring them also and they will hear My voice and they will become one flock with one Shepherd." It's the peculiar love of the bridegroom to the bride.

And Ephesians 5, that text often read at weddings, 25 to 27, "Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for” who? For everybody? For the church, “for her”, the church, “so that He might sanctify the church, having cleansed her”, the church, “by the washing of the water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her Glory, having no spot or wrinkle." You see, that love with which the Thessalonian believers were loved was a distinguishing love. It was a dying, sacrificial love. It was a conquering love. It was the love spoken of in Jeremiah 31 verse 3, "I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness." That's a love that is eternal, beloved, a love that is immutable, a love that is efficacious. "Therefore I have drawn you."

It's a love that not only provides redemption, but quickens, quickens a dead sinner. Paul says in Ephesians 2:4 and 5, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, He made us alive. He quickened us together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved." Has God quickened all men? Has He quickened all sinners? No, He quickened some.

This is a love that quickens the sinner. This is a love that releases the sinners. Revelation 1:5, "To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood and has made us to be kingdom priest to His God and Father, to Him be the glory, the might forever and ever. Amen." This God who loves, who loves inexplicably, who loves without explanation, who loves unexpectedly, who loves invincibly, this God who loves immutably, without change, this God of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is at the center of the target of the source of our salvation.

Salvation is only explained by God and His love for us. The scripture contains the theme of God's love for unlovely sinners. How did God express undeserved, unsolicited love for sinners? What did He do? Well, let me sum it up in one phrase for us. Here it is, and you've heard this before: God gave what was most precious to Him, and He gave that which was best for you and for me. God gave what was most precious to Him, and He gave what was most precious to Him, and He gave what was best for you and for me, child of God.

Let me conclude this evening by seeking to establish the practical use of this. Of what practical use was it to write to these people there in Thessaloniki, little babes in Christ? We think about it, little babes in Christ. You say, shouldn't they be concerned with other more practical things than beloved of God, your election? Aren't those mysteries for the theologians, sovereign election? Predestination? Well, apparently Paul didn't think so.

I mean, they were clear on sovereign election, but they were confused on what? Eschatology. Paul had to straighten them out on the rapture, but he didn't have to straighten them out on election. They were crystal clear. I find that interesting. They knew that God saved them, and He saved them on purpose, and He saved them because He loved them with a special love. We're bound to give thanks to God for you, brethren, that God has chosen you from the beginning.

This was a glorious truth.

Now why? Of what practical use is the doctrine of God's particular, distinguishing love for His own? How is that relevant? Well, let me establish very briefly its practical use for the Saints of God. Paul, writing to these Christians in Thessaloniki, and he says in verse 4, "knowing, brothers beloved by God”, beloved by God, brothers beloved by God, “your election." What effect should that have? I mean, some young believer sitting there in Thessaloniki, listening to Paul's letter read by one of the elders perhaps, and he hears, beloved by God. God has a peculiar love to me in Christ. He has a love that I set His affection on me and has chosen me.

What should this do?

I want to suggest it should, number one, it should have its effect of producing deep humiliation in the heart of the Saint of God. It should have its effect of producing deep, deep humiliation in the heart of the Saint of God. That's why God spoke that way to His ancient people. He said, look, there's nothing in you that moved Me to choose you. In fact, it was quite the opposite. In the moment Israel forgot that, she became decadent, as a nation. When she began to think, well, God chose us because of something we were. And no longer walked in humility, recognizing God chose them simply because He loved them of His own sovereign will, sovereign choice.

Israel became proud and haughty and arrogant, and God brought judgment upon Israel again and again. And God said, look, I'm not going to let you choose Me. God brought judgment upon Israel again and again. And decadent Judaism comes to all of its apex in the incident of the man who stands in the temple, lifts up his face to heaven and says, I thank You that I'm not like other men. Why? Well, God, it's obvious why You chose me, isn't it? Why, it's so clear to me and I hope it's clear to You, God. And if it isn't, let me just clue You in, God. You did a wise thing when You chose me to be part of Your family, the family of Abraham. I'm not like other men.Isn't that what he was saying? He was just reminding God that He did a wise thing when He chose him.

Whereas the true sons of Abraham are like that publican who beat upon the breast and see nothing but wretchedness and sin and dare not to look up to heaven, but wonder of wonders, they see that there is grace available. And he cries, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I know of nothing so humbling to the pride of the human heart than to realize that God has set His love upon me. Not because He foresaw what I would be. Not because He saw something in me that distinguished me from others, but He set His love and affection on me according to the good pleasure of His will.

Paul wanted these saints to walk in the grace of humility, that virtue that's called by many theologians the crown of all virtues, the basis of all virtues: humility.

Remember, every time you wake up in the morning, train your heart and your mind to ask these two questions: What do I deserve, and what have I received? And then it would be, to the saints of God, the basis of comfort and assurance, secondly. The basis of comfort and assurance. For you remember, those Christians were getting kicked around there in Thessaloniki. Little babes in Christ, and they were getting persecuted. They were getting bullied and abused.

And that's why Paul sent Timothy to find out how they were doing. He was concerned about them under pressure, the pressure of persecution and suffering. And that's what prompted him to write a letter when he received the report that in spite of the pressure and the persecution that were going on, they were going on with God. And he wrote this letter. What comfort does that bring? Well, I am beloved of God. I'm chosen by God. If I've been on His heart from eternity as the object of His love and as the subject of His electing purpose, I can look anybody in the face and say, “Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies, who is the one who condemns. Christ Jesus is He who died. Yes, rather, He was who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us, who will separate us from the love of Christ. Will affliction or turmoil or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?" (Romans 8:33-35)

And you read the latter part of Romans eight, and it's charged through with this very concept. The recognition that Christ loved me with a distinguishing, peculiar love for reasons known only to Him will produce in the child of God the basis of His comfort. The straight, deep roots of His blessed assurance that the God who started to move toward me in eternity will not cut me off in time.

Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Oh, the love that sought me. Oh, the blood that bought me. Oh, the grace that brought me to the fold.
You've been singing that, child of God, all your life. Right, that it was grace, it was grace that sought you and bought you and brought you into the fold and blessed be God. It's grace that keeps us there because my name from the palms of His hands, eternity will not erase. Impressed on His heart, it remains in marks of indelible grace.

Yes, I to the end shall endure as sure as the earnest is given. More happy, but not more secure, are the glorified spirits in heaven. The work which His goodness began, the arm of His strength will complete. His promises, yea, and amen, and never was forfeited yet. Things future, nor things that are now, nor all things below or above, can make Him His purpose forgo or sever my soul from His love.

Beloved, that's comfort. That's solid comfort. But God has a distinguishing love to me in Jesus Christ, and in closing, to any of you who are not savingly joined to Christ, I trust that this doctrine will send an air of conviction to your heart. Listen carefully. God's love has been expressed in a general sense to the world, providing a Savior. But what is His present attitude to men who remain in unbelief? Listen to the scripture. Let the scripture answer. John 3:36, the words of Jesus: "He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." The wrath of God abides on him.
God in love made provision for sinners, and He bid sinners to flee to His Son. But if sinners do not flee, don't think that the canopy of His love is above your head. The scripture says, "The wrath of God abides on him that does not believe."

Psalm 5:5. "You, Yahweh, God, hate all workers of iniquity." Psalm 7:11. "God is a righteous judge and a God who has indignation every day." And the reference is with the wicked. He's angry with the wicked. Romans 1:18. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness." And you remember the words of Paul in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 3, that “all of us were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” That's what John the Baptist meant when he said, "Flee from the wrath to come that hangs over your head." Flee to Christ for mercy.

Oh, dear young person, adult outside of Christ. God in His goodness, God in His benevolence, sends rain and food and provides you with many good things. Romans 2, 4 says, "the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience." And remember there in scripture, there in Romans 2 and elsewhere. But He says, remember, the whole aim of the goodness of God is to lead you to repentance. Though His wrath hangs over your head, in His mercy, in His kindness, He withholds His wrath and in the meantime showers His benefits upon you. To what end? Why? To make you wake up to your folly. That seeing a God who could judge you in this moment, in this instant, has withheld His judgment in mercy. This should cause you to fall on your face crying out, "Oh, God have mercy. God have mercy." The kindness, the forbearance, the patience of God should lead, Paul says, to repentance.

And so to you outside of Christ, this doctrine should cause conviction to your heart. To think of the love of God as separated from Christ is unscriptural nonsense. Unscriptural nonsense. God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son, His love is joined to the Savior. “God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him.” The only comfort in John 3:16 is for a believer. One who believes. To draw comfort from a love that you think is just a general ooze of sentiment, syrupy sentiment, while you remain in impenitence and in unbelief is to butcher the word of God and bring your soul into jeopardy.

But it not only should strike conviction for any of you here who are tonight conscious that you're not in Christ. Oh, what a glorious doctrine that Jesus laid down His life for His sheep. And who are sheep? Those who see themselves in desperate need of the great shepherd. Who see themselves destitute of any righteousness. Who realize that only the righteousness purchased by the bloodshedding of the great shepherd will do. Do you see yourself in that place? No righteousness of your own, no hope in yourself. Then I have good news for you. Then the great shepherd stands ready and He says, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)  I'll save you with an everlasting salvation.

That's a wonderful gospel to preach, isn't it? That's a wonderful gospel to proclaim. The gospel of the great shepherd who dies for His sheep, who gathers His sheep, who keeps His sheep, who feeds His sheep. Will you be gathered tonight? He says, repent. He says, believe. He says, come. Oh, may God grant that you find discovery, the discovery of the love of God as you are in Christ Jesus. And the only way sinners get in Christ Jesus is to repent and to believe. May God grant that this doctrine shall have its desired effect upon the sinner who's out of Christ and upon us who are in Christ Jesus. Who are children of God, beloved of God.

I didn't even get a chance to really begin to scratch the surface, expound the thought beloved of God. But let me say this in closing. Just meditate tonight. Meditate in closing. Just think about this. Meditate, ponder, muse on this. Meditate on the infinite chasm, infinite chasm between man and God. And then if you can, stretch infinity even more. Because it's not a chasm between God and man, but between a holy, holy, holy God and sinful man. And what bridges that infinite chasm? Beloved of God. Beloved of God. Oh, the love that drew salvation's plan. Oh, the grace that brought it down to man. Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary.

Brothers, beloved of God, may we revel in His love and may that love produce in our hearts such a love for Him that we shall obey Him and serve Him and extol Him and bear witness to Him that others may know of that love and find refuge under the canopy of the love of God that is in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

Last week we began to look at this section in John chapter 12, the first eight verses, and we saw the occasion, the exact occasion: six days before Passover, you have this feast in Bethany in the honor of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we looked at, then, the extravagant worship of Mary. What does extravagant devotion worship look like? And you remember Mary gives it to us here clearly, and notice in her response, just to remind us, her response really concerning her extravagant devotion. What does it look like? Notice her response to grace. Extravagant worship is really a response to grace.

Mary was feeling overwhelmingly thankful, overwhelmingly grateful. She had her brother back from the dead, a new lease on life, and not only just her brother, but Messiah Jesus had given her life, had given her truth, had given her salvation, so great a salvation–no more under the penalty of death, no more under the wrath of God. And, so, Mary is overflowing with joy, exceeding joy, and, overflowing with joy, she does what she does.

What she's doing, no one is forcing her to do it. She's not dragging her feet. She's not thinking, oh well, the things that I could do with this expensive perfume, but here we go. No, no, instead she's just, “this isn't even enough!” She wants to do this. She wants to do more. You see, that shows us worship is always a response to grace, always. Are you a recipient of the grace of God? Worship is a response to grace, grace, grace. God has done it, so we what? Overflow, right? God has done it, we overflow. He did it all, we overflow. “We love Him because He first loved us”, right?--1 John 4:19. You see, this is not something that we create, initiate, invent, or try to work up. We simply reflect on who God is and what He has done for our soul.

You meditate on what would my life be if God had not intervened? What would my life be if God did not initiate? What would my life be if God didn't open my eyes? What would my life be? You meditate on His salvation, on His provision, His protection, His promises, His presence, His person. And as you meditate on all of that, what wells up in you is what? The spontaneous desire to express that love. It's like a man who buys something very expensive and precious for his wife or wife-to-be to express how much he values her. And even that analogy breaks down, but you get the idea, I trust. Yes, this costs me deeply, but you are worth more, far more than the thing I'm giving you.

Now, that costliness can look very different. The costliness to you in adoring God, in loving God, in worshiping God, that costliness to you might be in time, right? It might be a costliness in time. Time always costs, doesn't it? I mean, it costs Mary. She had to make the time to plan this out, to get the perfume, to plan how she would do it, and so for you, time sacrifice is present if you're going to love God, to love Jesus. Giving time when you're tired and you'd rather rest. Time for God when it's inconvenient and it's interrupting your plans and your comfort. Time for God when it takes over personal time, family time, holiday time, time you could be earning, making money, and you give that time to God.

Instead of spending it on yourself, you take that time, you give it to being in the Word, in communion with God, or time given to prayer, or time coming to be with the people of God, to worship God, to be discipled, or time to serving another person in the body of Christ, or time evangelizing some unsaved person outside of this body of Christ. And you say, yeah, it costs me, but He is worth it. He is worth it.

The cost may be in money, right? Mary certainly spent a lot of money on this perfume [that] she could have spent on herself. She broke the flask and poured it all on Christ. Of course, she could have just put the perfume on herself, or she could have used the 300 denarii in some other way, but she gave it all to the Lord to honor Him.

Money. Yes, this could be giving to the cause of Christ, giving to the church, giving to missions, but it could also be money spent on being hospitable to other people in the body of Christ, to break bread with them, and fellowship with them, and get to know them more, maybe spending your gas money to visit another person in need, or to do a Bible study with that person, to help someone else who need help, even helping with housework, gardening, helping the elderly, the sick, the shut-in. It might be money spent on buying books for another Christian here in the body of Christ, buying a Bible for someone that you see doesn't have one. It might be spending money taking out one of the young people here and have spiritual conversations with them. It might be the money you spend on Christian education, making sure you and your children are educated in the Christian way. It costs money, but you look at it and you say, but He's worth it. He's worth it. Oh, He's worth it.

Money, time, maybe the cost would be to your reputation. You see, Mary knew that what she was about to do might be criticized. People might suspect her for having false motives, that perhaps they would cast aspersion upon her character. Maybe they would think it was unseemly for her to be there on her knees next to Jesus, putting perfume, and even more unseemly for her to show and let down her hair. Besides, she was a wealthy woman. Why was she acting like a slave girl? Costly adoration means it costs your reputation at times.

Maybe one of your friends is gonna think you're fanatic. They may think you're part of a cult. Maybe that you've lost your reasonableness. “Oh, He's got Jesus. Oh, she's into church. Going to church again? What? How many times? She's become a church girl.” “Oh, you're becoming too extreme. I mean, you read the Bible every day.” The cost might be, you know, I'm willing to be embarrassed in front of those old friends. I'm willing to even pray out loud in front of relatives who would never have thought I'd ever do something like that. I'm actually willing to even sing hymns to Christ and speak about the saving gospel of Jesus in front of others. That's gonna cost me looking important and good. Cost me that. It costs your reputation.

But what you say, like Mary, is “He is worth it. Oh, He is worth it. In fact, what I give is less than what He's worth–far less, far, far less than what He's worth.” The money, the time, the reputation, and everything else that you put in there that you can think about, it's absolutely nothing to use the language of Paul, in Philippians 3, that was read earlier in your hearing. It's all what? ‘Skubalon’--dung, excrement–compared to the surpassing knowledge of Christ my Lord, who Christ is. Mary embraced the cost because Christ was worth more to her than everything she could ever spend.

Remember the psalmist, what he says in Psalm 63:3? Remember that statement? Your ‘chesed’--”Your loving-kindness is better than life." You know what he's saying? “I take all of life, all of it, all of it, and I put it on this side of the scale and then I put You, You God, who You are, Your ‘chesed’, Your loving-kindness to me, and the scale goes down. You are still worth more, far more, exceedingly abundantly more.”

C.T. Studd was a British missionary in the early part of the 20th century and he had a famous saying, I love this, I love this. He said this–very simple–"If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him." If Jesus Christ be God and He died for me, there can be no sacrifice too great for me to make for Him. It's just a cost issue–extravagant devotion.

Tragically, unfortunately, sadly, this extravagant devotion, this extravagant worship was not the only sentiment in the room. There was a different sentiment also present in that room. So from Mary's extraordinary devotion, extravagant devotion, look with me at the extreme disdain– Judas' extreme disdain–verses 4 through 6.

You know there's an old saying, one that I know you're very familiar with, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That is, what is beautiful to one person, attractive to one person, may be unattractive to another person. And the difference can't be explained by the object because the object is the same, the difference is found in the person who's actually looking.

Mary has taken an expensive perfume, ointment, something worth one year's wages and in expression, in demonstration of her love, her devotion, her adoration for the Lord Jesus Christ, and out of the knowledge that He was going to die, she anoints Him with it. She pours it on His head, on His feet, and she wipes His feet with her hair. And Jesus sees what she does and He praises her for it. It was pleasing to Him, it was attractive to Him, it was beautiful to Him. In fact, He says what she did was ‘kalos’--good, beautiful. "It's a beautiful thing," according to Mark 14:6, but the very reason that He had to defend this woman's act of worship is because there was someone else present who doesn't see it as attractive, doesn't see it as beautiful, doesn't see it as good in his sight.

There's a devil present, and his name is Judas Iscariot. He's about to betray the Lord Jesus, and He has witnessed this pure and loving act of worship and found it to be offensive. We said last week that there are those monumental moments that show the great divide between the people who truly know the Lord and love the Lord and the people who don't. You don't always have these moments. Most of the time, the fruit is demonstrated in a very natural way and in the everyday affairs of life, the flow of life, the routine of life, the mundane things of life, but every once in a while you have one of those moments where it just becomes crystal clear.

This is one of those great contrasts when you see what Jesus thought of what she did versus what Judas thought of what she did. And this morning I want us to look at the contrast, that contrast, and again as we do that, just like we did last Lord's Day, I want to ask as we do that, where are we? Where are we? Do we find ourselves worshiping Christ like Mary, the way Mary did? Or do we find ourselves in the position of the disciples? We'll look at them very briefly this morning as well, but we'll get to it. Or could it be even that there are some Judases in this fellowship today among us? You say that you know the Lord, that you are numbered as one of His disciples, but in fact true and authentic worship is not something that is beautiful to you, not something that is attractive to you, not something that you engage in.

I want to begin with the perspective of Judas. Judas. What does he see in what Mary does? What does he see in what Mary does? In fact, we're going to see his perspective about two things this morning. We're going to see his perspective about two things. His perspective about Mary's deed and his perspective based upon that of the Lord Jesus. What does he see in Jesus? Well, let's begin with his view of Mary's deed. His perspective about Mary's deed.

So here's Mary. She's poured out this expensive perfume, this ointment on the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, how does Judas respond to it? Look at the text, verse 4: "But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was going to betray Him, said, 'Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?'" "Why didn't you sell it? And why didn't you give the money to the poor?" So the first thing we can say about his view of this is it was, in general, we can say it was offensive to him. He was offended. It was offensive. He looks at the deed of Mary, he looked at it, and he said that was offensive.

Remember, Christ tells us this was an act of worship pleasing to God, but in the view of Judas this is something offensive. He's offended by what she did. He recoils from it. It offends his senses. He just can't believe what he just witnessed. In fact, it bothered him so badly he couldn't contain himself. You almost get the impression that he blurts this out. We know it had to be public enough that Jesus defends Mary. The Bible tells us in Matthew 26, the parallel account, that they were scolding her, and it all begins with Judas' perspective, with his view of it. I mean, we'll find out from the other account that the disciples pick up on it, but he's the ringleader. It starts with him. He's offended.

In fact, the Bible uses another word, the word “indignant.” Mark 14:4, "But some were indignantly remarking to one another, 'Why has this perfume been wasted?'" Matthew 26:8, "But when the disciples saw this, they were indignant, saying, 'Why this waste? For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.'" Well, Judas started all of that talk. He was indignant.

He was offended. But why was he offended? Why? Why was he offended? Well, the second thing we could say about his perspective of it is, it was foolish to him. It was foolish to him. It offended him because it seemed entirely foolish to him. It made no sense to him whatsoever. “What a foolish deed”, he thought. He thought it to be, the word that's used in the text is what? "Waste." "Waste." What a waste. He thought it to be a waste, something to be mocked, something to be criticized.

Who would do what you just did? Who in their right mind would do this? I mean, that was his attitude, which gives you a third thing we could say about it. It was wasteful to him. It was wasteful to him. It was foolish to him. It was wasteful to him. That's the estimation of a costly, extravagant service. A waste. He deemed it, waste. Do you know a waste is the very opposite of sacrifice? Sacrifice is high cost for something that's worth it. Waste is high cost for something that's not worth it.

From a practical point of view, without the spiritual perception of Mary, without the spiritual values of Mary, this would seem to be an utter waste of money. I mean, you take something valued at one year's wages and you just squander it. You just pour it out. Just pour it out. Now was it wasteful? Was it wasteful, beloved? No. Of course not. Absolutely not. But from a lost man's point of view, it seemed wasteful–even from a saved man's point of view, wrongly influenced. Because the disciples pick up on it and it seemed wasteful to them.

Oh, but if you had the eyes of Mary, huh? If you had the understanding of Mary, if you had the values of Mary, oh, it wasn't wasteful. It wasn't far enough. And her values apparently matched the values of God because Christ was pleased with it and He memorialized it and said it would never ever be forgotten. And here we are talking about it today.

It's offensive to him, it's foolish to him, it's wasteful to him, and something else that we could say, it seemed misdirected to him. It seemed misdirected to him. This perfume, couldn't it have been used differently? Now we have to ask, “Judas, in what way is it misdirected? And what would you have her to do with it? You think it's wrong that she would express her love for Christ and pours it out on Him? What would you have her do with it, Judas? Please tell us.”

Well, this is where you see that he was a liar. What's the reason that he gives? [Matthew 26] Verse 9, "For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor." Doesn't that sound pious? Doesn't it sound, like, noble and godly? But was he telling the truth? No. Thanks be to God for this fourth gospel, this fourth gospel writer, because we have insight here that we wouldn't have otherwise. We know why he said what he said. John tells us, well, the Holy Spirit tells us through John–verse 6, “Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor." Mark it down, beloved. Mark it down. Realize, just because someone talks about something, it doesn't mean that they really care about it. It doesn't.

He used the poor as his reason to be offended and upset, but he didn't really care about the poor. It wasn't really about the poor. You see, behind this seeming piety, there's actually a heart of cold disdain. Judas had no sympathy for her acts, for her worship, for her acts of adoration for Christ. And here's why. Because he has none. He has absolutely none. You see, beloved, loveless people are turned off by the love of others. Loveless people are turned off by the love of others. It nauseates them because Judas has another love and the text tells you what his other love is.

He loves what? Money. Money. I wonder, couldn't help but wonder, how many times in evangelical churches people have been upset about things that they weren't really that upset about, really wasn't what they said, it was something else. And, in his case here, it was something else, of course. “Now he said this,” verse 6, “not because he was concerned about the poor.” Why? What's the reason? “Because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to take from what was put into it.”

Can I say this? Judas was an influential person. He was an influential person. He had to be. You see him influence all the disciples on this occasion, but you also find that they'd made him the treasurer. He kept the money box. He was in charge of the funds and the Holy Spirit tells us here that having charge over the money box, he used to help himself to what was put into it. On an ongoing basis, he was pilfering, he was stealing, he was pocketing some of the money that was put in the box. And so when he says, “this could have been sold, the money been better used”, he doesn't mean better used on the poor, he means better used on who? Himself. “I could have had that. What a waste.” That's what he was thinking. “I could have had that.” So it seems offensive to him, it seems foolish to him, it seems wasteful to him, and in his view it's misdirected. This is not how it should have been used in his mind. That's his view of Mary's act, her deed, her beautiful deed, but in his eyes it wasn't, it was the opposite.

Now in that attitude, you also see his view of Christ. So not only his perspective concerning Mary's deed, but also you see here his perspective of Christ in that attitude that he demonstrated. What Judas says here reveals his perspective of the Lord Jesus Christ. It tells us two very clear things. Number one, he had no idea about Christ's true mission. No clue. No idea about Christ's true mission. He had no understanding of what Jesus had really come to do.

Now you might at this point say to yourself, “well how could he have possibly known that Mary was doing this because of His impending death? How? How could have Judas or any of the disciples known that she was pouring this upon Him out of an understanding that Jesus would soon die? I mean, could anyone have known that?” Well, do you realize they didn't go straight from Ephraim, end of chapter 11, to Bethany, chapter 12? If you read the other gospel accounts and put them together, you'll find out that before they came to Bethany, they actually first went to Jericho. That's where He met Zacchaeus. That's where He met blind Bartimaeus and healed him.

This is on their way to Bethany and on the road up to Jerusalem through Bethany, Jesus had a very straightforward, unmistakable conversation with His disciples. In fact, knowing that people out there were looking for Christ, ready to turn Him over to the Pharisees for arrest, you would have expected Jesus to kind of be holed out and just kind of walk in the shadows. But as they're walking down the road, He's out in front, nothing to hide, no fear, and He's having this conversation. Turn with me to Mark chapter 10.

This is really helpful–Mark chapter 10. This is the conversation: verse 32, "And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem and Jesus was walking on ahead of them;”--He's just leading the way–“and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful.” I mean, this is suicidal, right? “And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him." And what was going to happen to Him? Verse 33, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will deliver Him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock Him and spit on Him, and flog Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again."

So I want to ask you, could you be any more clear than that? I mean, He has told them exactly what's coming, hasn't He? So that when Mary does this, all of those men should have had some understanding. There's going to be something going on here that is unique, there's something going on here that is special, there's something going on here that reflects an understanding of spiritual comprehension. But instead, they missed the boat, they didn't comprehend. In fact, even on the road, they didn't even grasp it. It just like flew right past them.

Look at verse 35: "Then James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus, saying to Him, 'Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.' And He said to them, 'What do you want Me to do for you?' And they said to Him, 'Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.'" Can you imagine? He's telling them He's about to die. And they're concerned about their position.

Verse 38: "But Jesus said to them, 'You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?' And they said to Him, 'We are able.' And Jesus said to them, 'The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. But to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.' And hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John. And calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, 'You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.'"

And He goes on telling them about His passion, about His death, and all they could do is battle amongst themselves over position. Back to John, chapter 12. So when Judas is indignant, influencing the rest, the rest hopping on his bandwagon, he reveals that he has no understanding of the true mission of Christ even though he's about to force the issue, so to speak, by selling Christ, by betraying Him.
 
But he also reveals something else and it's clear to see. Here's the other thing that it reveals. He has no knowledge of the worth and honor of Christ. He has no knowledge of the worth and the honor of Christ, the Son of God, God the Son. Stop and think about what his words did. Here she is in the sight of all, the view of all. She takes this expensive perfume, breaks the flask, pours it out on the Lord Jesus Christ, and they are speaking in terms of waste. Why would you waste that? How did she waste it? On Christ. On Christ–that's the implication. Why would you waste this on Him? Wow.

What is Judas doing? He is dishonoring the Lord Jesus. He's dishonoring the Lord Jesus. If you had any insight at all into the person and the worth and the value of Jesus, you could have never uttered such words. I wonder, I wonder, I wonder, is there a Judas here today? Is there someone here this morning who could never imagine loving Christ and giving for Christ in the way that Mary did? You can't imagine that kind of enthusiasm. You can't imagine that kind of sacrifice. You can't imagine that kind of uninhibited abandon that was expressed in what she did. You think about those people who serve Christ in such an uninhibited way. How does it appear to you? How do you view it? Does it seem like fanaticism? Does it seem like that they sort of got out of their mind?

There are some of you here today that your family, they think that you've gone out of your mind, that they think you've lost it. But maybe there's somebody here this morning that that's how you think of your own family. That's how you think of your friends who have come, maybe, to know Jesus recently. Or that's how you think of someone that you know who is a Christian like you, you know, you say you're a Christian just as they're a Christian, you just don't take it that far, you say. You just don't take it as, you know, fanatically as they do.

Does it in a sense offend you? Does it seem foolish to you? Does it seem wasteful? Does it seem misdirected to you? Examine how you spend your time, examine how you spend your affections, your thoughts, your life. Are you spending yourself on Christ or does that seem wasteful? So that you spend your life on your pleasures, self-gratification–on self. Or perhaps you want a dose of religion, you want a little bit of Christianity, like fire insurance, but the thought of losing your life for Christ, the thought of spending and being spent fully on Him is foreign to you. And those who live that way, they seem to you, you know, fanatical.

2 Corinthians 12:15, Paul writes, "I will most gladly, not just gladly, but most gladly." It's not simply a willingness, it's a willingness from the heart with joy. "I will most gladly spend and be fully spent for your souls. And if I love you more, am I to be loved less?" You see, he's willing to spend and be fully spent on behalf of people who don't really even appreciate it. Why? Because he loves Jesus.

And Philippians 2:17, Philippians 2, verse 17 and following, Paul writes, "But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering”--fully spent, fully spent, right? Fully spent. “But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. And you also, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me. But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be in good spirits when I learn of your circumstances. For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned about your circumstances. For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus." In other words, “I don't have any servant to send to you like Timothy, because most of the people I know,” Paul writes, “the people I know, they're not concerned about your welfare. They are concerned about their own interests, not the interests of Christ.” Christ's interests. Christ's interests.

May I ask you, whose interests are you concerned about? Whose interests [are] you and I concerned about? So you see the perspective of Judas, Mary's deed is not attractive to him, it's not beautiful to him, it's not good to him, it's not attractive to him, it's foolish, it's wasteful, it's misdirected, it's offensive. Why? Because he doesn't have the right perspective of Jesus, he has no understanding of the mission of Jesus, and he has no understanding of the worth, the surpassing worth and honor of Jesus.

So to spend all, take something of supreme value, and spend it all on Christ–to him, that seemed to be what a waste. Could have been better spent, how Judas? Oh, myself. Not even on the poor, he was dishonest about that. He's a thief.

Now how does Jesus respond to the scolding of Mary? Note with me, lastly, the exonerating declaration, that's verses 7 and 8, “Therefore Jesus said, ‘Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial.’" We dealt with that last Lord's day, that verse. "For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me."

It's interesting, isn't it? Do you notice what He does? Let me ask you this: does Christ know the true heart and character of Judas? He does, doesn't He? He does. He knew he was a devil from the beginning. So does Christ know that Judas is not really concerned with the poor? Of course He does. But, do you notice what Jesus does here? Notice what He does here. He takes the offense at face value. And, He says in effect, “even if you are really concerned about the poor, you're still wrong on this one, Judas” and to the rest of the disciples. I mean, if I'm going to accept what you're saying, that you think it should have been sold and the money given to the poor, you're still dead wrong. What a dishonoring thing that Jesus would be put in the position of having to even say these things, but He says, you're wrong.

And what is Jesus asserting here in that statement? Well, first of all, by saying this, Jesus is asserting that He has, He Himself, has the place of preeminence–first place in everything. Towering over everything. He is the point of everything. The place of preeminence. That it was better that this should be spent on Him than on the poor because He is God.

And He also says this, He says, "For you always have the poor with you." Now, He's not in any way meaning that we should take the attitude that we don't help the poor whatsoever because the poor were always going to be here. That's not what He's teaching. We see contrary teaching to that all throughout the Word of God. We are called, exhorted, and commanded to care for the poor. What He's saying is this: there are unique opportunities to glorify Christ that won't always be available. They won't always be here. "For you always have the poor with you," which, by the way, also speaks to this utopian point of view that somehow we're going to eliminate poverty all over the world someday. It's not going to happen. This is a sin-cursed world. This is a broken world. And as Pastor MacArthur always used to say, “This is a disposable planet.”

But, He says, "But you do not always have Me." “I'm coming to the end of My time here on earth with you. I will soon be crucified, buried, and she's done this in view of that–a unique opportunity to love Me and demonstrate that love and that understanding that I've given to her. This is right. This is good. This is noble. This is beautiful. I take the place of preeminence.” That's what He's saying.

But He's also showing the primacy of the spiritual over the material, over the social. The primacy of the spiritual over the material and the social. The most important thing when you think about reaching the world, the most important thing, beloved, is not that they be fed and clothed. The most important thing is the spiritual relationship with Christ. What think ye of Jesus, right? That's the most important question. This is being lost, beloved. This is something that is an area where the church is really getting off track in recent years, especially. So much going on today in the name of social gospel, social ministry, social reform, and it's not the most important thing.

Listen to what one commentator said, "To many people, hot and eager about social reform and impatient for the betterment of the material conditions around them, the church seems nothing more or less than an irritating irrelevance. Its labor is a sheer nuisance, distracting people and turning them aside from the real things requiring to be done, inciting them to lose their way among and waste their time upon what does not really count or matter one way or the other, while its worship seems to them an absurdity that gets one nowhere. As a matter of fact, these confident critics have no understanding of what the church is doing."

In other words, the world looks at us and says, “Listen, with so many hurting people out there, with so many poor people out there, why are you people gathered together in this place listening to teaching about the Bible? I mean, that's what's really relevant that's going on in this hour. What is really relevant? Why are you here? Why are you listening to the word of God? What is really relevant that's going on in this hour of worship? What is taking place that will really mean anything? Well, why don't you gather up all your resources and go out to the community and start doing what really needs to be done? Putting clothes on people's back and food on the table. I mean, why don't you take care of the stuff that really matters?”

And the commentator said, as I just read, and I agree 100%, “they have no understanding of what the church is really about and the value of spiritual things.” Remember Matthew 11? When John the Baptist from prison sent word by his disciples and said to Jesus, Matthew 11, verse 3, “‘Are You the One who is to come, or shall we look for someone else?’ And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up,’””--and now watch this–“and the poor"--you'd expect Him to say "are fed."-no–"and the poor have the gospel preached to them."

And here Jesus makes the point that these disciples who were grumbling had no understanding of the importance of spiritual things. It was better that this ointment be poured out upon the Lord Jesus Christ than it to be sold and the money given to the poor. This was more important, and beloved, it is more important for the soul to be fed than the body to be fed. And it's more important that a spiritual life be saved than a physical life be saved.

And that is not to ignore the physical needs. No, no. It is to acknowledge simply the primacy of the spiritual over the material and the social. There are things going on in this hour, here, right now, that have the potential to so profoundly impact a life. And it won't just change one life. It will change generations. And that happens every time the word of God is opened up and exposited. This living and active word, sharper than a double-edged sword. And every time this word is opened and shared and read and learned, it is the dynamite of God of salvation. This isn't a waste of time.

Worship, worship toward God is never, ever a waste of time. He is worthy of it. I'm afraid that the same kind of lack of appreciation for spiritual things is seen in many evangelical churches today. That's the attitude that's done away with preaching the Word. The attitude that's done away with Bible study. “We're too busy for those things”, they say. It just takes up too much time. “Let's be busy about the practical matters, you know.” That's what people say. In the name of striving for the practical, we have sacrificed the profound.

So, the perspective of Judas: wasteful. The perspective of Jesus: it's beautiful. She did exactly right. The poor you always have with you. You will not always have Me. That leaves us with the perspective of the disciples, the eleven. I just want to say a word about the perspective of the eleven. I mean, there's Mary, there's Judas, and there's another group witnessing all of this. Now, I just think about the contrast just to see it vividly. Mary gave, Judas stole. Mary focused on Christ, Judas turned attention away from Christ. Mary only thought about Christ. She only cared for Christ. Judas only thought of himself. Mary was pure, straightforward, honest in her loving act of worship. Judas was a liar about his true motivation.

And present at the scene were true believers who found themselves influenced in the wrong direction. The eleven disciples. Instead of joining Mary in extravagant worship, they joined Judas in his foolish scoffing and scolding. And what I want us to understand this morning, in closing, is this. Right now, in this world, there are still Marys. Right now, in this world, there are still Marys. I mean, there are enthusiastic believers engaged in extravagant worship, who will spend and be fully spent for the Lord Jesus Christ. There still are those people in the world.

And on the other hand, in this world, you still have the Judases. They're still here–externally attached to Jesus, in name known as ‘His disciples’, but with no appreciation for His worth and value because they don't know Him. And to live a sold-out life for Christ, to give our very best for Christ, is something that they can't even imagine. It seems foolish, wasteful. It seems to them fanatical.

And then sadly, there's another group of people. They're not Judases. They're saved, but they're living lives that are not as they were saved to live. They're not on fire for Christ, have no zeal for Christ. They're not sold out for the Lord Jesus Christ. And the question is, who's going to influence them?

Listen to Spurgeon, many years ago, had this to say: "Beloved friends, the Church of Christ needs a band of men and women full of enthusiasm, who will go beyond others in devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. We need missionaries who will dare to die to carry the gospel to regions beyond. We need ministers who will defy public opinion, and with flaming zeal, burn away into men's hearts. We need men and women who will consecrate all that they have by daring deeds of heroic self-sacrifice. Oh, that all Christians were like this. But we must at least have some. We need a bodyguard of loving champions to rally around the Savior, the bravest of the brave, immortals and invincibles who shall lead the van of the armies of the Lord. Where are we to get them? How are they to be produced?"

He answers, "The Holy Spirit's way to train men and women who shall greatly serve Christ is to lead them to deep thought and quiet contemplation. Thence, they obtain the knowledge and vital principle which are the fuel of true zeal. You cannot leap into high devotion. Neither can you be preached into it, nor dream yourself into it, or be electrified into it by revivalism. It must, through the divine energy of the Holy Spirit, arise out of a hard stern dealing with your soul and near and dear communion with your Savior." And then he ends with this: "You must sit at His feet. You must sit at His feet or you will never anoint them. You must sit at His feet or you will never anoint them. He must pour His divine teaching into you or you will never pour out a precious ointment upon Him."

Where are we at? Oh, Grace Chapel, where are we at? We come and go, business as usual. We sing a few songs, shake some hands, hug some people, share a little bit of our weeks. Is that what it is? Where are we at? Are we full of that kind of burning zeal that says, Lord, wherever You want to send me, whatever You want to do with me, whatever the cost, whatever the sacrifice, whatever it means, I just want to live for You. I just want to be used for Your great name. Here am I, Lord. Use me. Is that where we are?

To use Spurgeon's language, I can't preach you into it. I can't preach myself into it. You can't be electrified into it through revivalism. No, no. It's going to be when you think deeply, when you sit at the feet of the Savior, when you really contemplate who He is, what He has done for your soul, so that the Holy Spirit deals sternly with your soul and mine.

And in light of such a great, magnanimous Savior, in light of such a great sacrifice, don't you realize that He doesn't have part of you? He has it all. You are not your own. Do you realize that you're not your own? You've been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in that body of yours. Present yourself a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to Him every single day.

Oh, may God lead us, who say we're His people, to realize we really are His people. I mean, we're His, His people, set apart, bought with His blood, meant to live peculiar lives in the midst of a lost and dying generation. Not living for Him partially, but completely, entirely, fully, with all of our heart and all of our ways.

Permit me to close with one commentator. He put it this way, and I just couldn't help it, but share it with you. Concerning this account, "Oh, how I want to be like Mary. But oh, how often it is that it is Judas who so readily appears when I look in the mirror." And I would add, the disciples. He goes on to say, "Only the gospel of my Savior is sufficient for my sin. Sick soul, I strongly suspect that were Mary alive today and we were to interview her and ask her the question, ‘What is your favorite Christian hymn, Mary?’ I strongly suspect she would say, that's easy. It was written in 1707 by Isaac Watts. While Charles Wesley reportedly said he would give up all his other hymns to have written this one. Mr. Wesley wrote over 6,000 hymns. Some say he wrote over 9,000. Now the hymn written by Mr. Watts: "When I survey the wondrous cross." I love all four stanzas, but one and four are especially meaningful to me. Listen, and I'll close with this.

"When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died,  
My richest gain, my richest gain, my richest gain, I count but loss,  
And pour contempt on all my pride.  
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,  
Save in the death of Christ my God.  
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.  
See from His head, His hands, His feet,  
Sorrow and love flow mingled down.  
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,  
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?  
Were the whole realm of nature mine,  
That were an offering far too small, (because He's worth it, right?)
Love so amazing, so divine,  
Demands my soul, my life, my all."

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

In our study of this paragraph that begins at verse 2 and extends down to the end of the chapter, verse 10, we have in a very real sense what we would call Paul's prayer of thanks to God for what he discerned to be the work of God in the believers, the people of God, there at Thessaloniki. And at the very top of the list of the things for which he gave thanks to God in verse 3, we have what I have called the three crowned jewels in the diadem of Christian virtue. A Christian is one to whose life God has worked many wonderful virtues by the grace and the power of His Spirit, and yet it would seem in the thinking of the Apostle Paul under inspiration that the three crowned virtues amongst all of those which God really works in His people are those mentioned here in verse 3: faith, love, and hope. The same Paul who said in 1 Corinthians 13, "but now abide faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love."

Well, we have gone into some detail in studying each of these separately. You recall the work of faith that he mentions here. Paul was grateful that these believers had a living trust in the living Savior that made them naturally produce works of gratitude, works done not to earn salvation, but as the fruit of salvation received by faith as a gift of God. Then he was thankful for their labor of love, that they had love to the triune God that made them engage in sacrificing, arduous labor and toil for the cause of Christ, the cause of the kingdom, the cause of the gospel. And then last time we were in this epistle together, we looked together at the phrase steadfastness of hope. They had a hope, which is not a mere wishful desire as you and I use the word hope today, but rather a confident expectation of promised blessing. And that expectation produced - epimoni- , endurance, perseverance, bearing up under the pressures to which they were subjected as young Christians.

This evening we want to look at the last two phrases in verse 3, which are very, very instructive to us. This work of faith, labor of love, steadfastness of hope, Paul says, all of these were in our Lord Jesus Christ and before our God and Father. And in these two little phrases we have what we might call in the first place, the object and the cause of these virtues. Toward what or whom is this love directed, this faith, this hope directed? Paul would tell us in this phrase that it was directed toward none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, who causes these virtues to be found? Well, also Paul tells us here as well.

And then in the little phrase, before our God and Father, we have this sincerity and the climate in which these graces and virtues were actually worked out or exercised. Were they something that the Thessalonians just put on as it were to simply impress others and impress the Apostle Paul? No, he says they were not in the sight of men, they were not before men, but they were exercised in the sight of God. They were exercised sincerely and in a climate of God-consciousness. And that is very significant. That is very sanctifying.

So these little phrases are by no means just sort of a, you know, they're thrown in there for the sake of filler. These answer a very vital question. If you have in you today these virtues, the work of faith, the labor of love, the steadfastness of hope, where do they come from? And what will sustain them? That's the question Paul answers. If you seem to have them, are they mere sham virtues or are they the real product? Are they a cheap imitation or are they the genuine issue? Well, we can find out if we understand what Paul means in the little phrase before our God and Father as well.

So let's take the two phrases in that order. First of all, the object and the cause of these virtues, these crown jewels. Now you have, we have a little problem in the structure of this in the original, in the Greek text. Notice verse 3. It could mean that Paul is saying this: "I remember without ceasing your work of faith, your labor of love, your steadfastness of hope in the Lord Jesus," and the "in the Lord Jesus" phrase referring only to their steadfastness of hope. This, then, would be a commentary on the kind of hope they had; it was in the Lord Jesus.

But in the original, the word in is not there. It's supplemented. It is not there in the original. It could very well be translated of or in. It could be both. And I believe it is both, and I'll explain why. It is so structured that it could well refer to the entire passage. And I believe it is. Let me illustrate. I might say to you tonight, I'm very thankful to the congregation for the love, the patience, and the grace which it has shown to me and my family. Well, you see, the "shown to me and my family" applies to all of those things for which I'm thankful, not just the last one. All of them.

So we could read the passage this way: "Remembering without ceasing, your work of faith of the Lord Jesus, your labor of love of the Lord Jesus Christ, and steadfastness of hope of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Lord Jesus Christ." And I really believe this is the sense that Paul really communicating here for us. And for the simple reason I say this, whenever the Apostle Paul has opportunity to trace the virtues found in a Christian back to their ultimate source, He delights to trace them back to the Lord Jesus Christ as the ultimate source. The fountainhead from which all of these virtues flow down into our lives, the lives of the people of God, He is the fountainhead and He is the source. He always does that. He traces them back.

You remember in the first chapter of Philippians, Paul prayed for these Philippian Christians that they might be filled with the fruits of righteousness, which he says are, Philippians 1:11, "through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God." It is in Christ, of Christ, through Christ. Always. It's always this way. So in this passage, the Apostle Paul is attributing to the Lord Jesus Christ the fact that there was work of faith, there was labor of love, and there was steadfastness of hope. He was the source. He was the object of these virtues.

Now let's consider them together. Christ is the object of all faith. He's the object of love and the object of hope, which is commendable in the sight of God. Today, all around us, you have these inspirational spiritual gurus. They tell us that if you have faith, it doesn't matter who's the object of that faith, so long as you have faith. But if you have faith and if you have hope, it doesn't matter who's the object of that hope. And if you have love, just as long as you have love and if you have those three things, that's the way you will live successfully. You're good, good to go.

But the Bible never told you that having faith, hope, and love is the way to live successfully. For you see, the emphasis of the Bible is not upon faith itself, hope itself, and love itself as entities in themselves. But the emphasis of the Scripture is upon faith, hope, and love in terms of their object. And the thing that caused Paul to rejoice is that these beloved people had a work of faith, faith which had as its object the Lord Jesus Christ. Just faith of itself is no virtue. It isn't. It's not some kind of a magical kind of potion that if you take it and have it or you have it, all will be well with you. It is not faith in faith.

You see, you could talk about faith and hope and love in any circle today and people think, isn't he nice? He's quite religious. That's lovely. This is what even politicians and heads of state do. They talk about faith and hope and love and all the rest. And you see, everybody will embrace this and love it and say, isn't that nice? You end up with a cultural type of a religion. But you see, the emphasis of the Bible is what's the object of your faith? What's the object of your faith? You see, faith in some kind of a nebulous God or faith in the God revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ, that makes a whole difference. Nebulous God or the God revealed in Jesus Christ? Love to something that you can see to be God or love to the God who's revealed Himself in Jesus Christ? Hope, just sort of a wishful desire that everything's going to turn out all right in the end or hope that is really rooted in the Lord Jesus Christ, the hope of glory in us.

With these Thessalonians, their faith, their love, their hope had as its object the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, beloved, the Christian life is not a self-focused life. It is a Christ-focused life. It is a Christ-centered life. This life, this work of faith, this labor of love, this steadfastness of hope, where it is centered? Where is it experienced? In our Lord Jesus Christ, in Him. One of the great evidences that you've been converted is that your life is not centered on you. It's not centered on you. Faith is not centered on you. Love is not centered on you. Hope is not centered on you. It is not self-wardly focused. It is Christ-wardly focused.

Let's consider them briefly, individually.

Faith, their faith was of or in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, how do we know this is true? How do we know this is true? Remember back in Acts 17? If you turn back there and find the account, the founding of the church, remember how we saw that together and considered it together? We read that when Paul came among them, he did not come with some kind of a psychological emphasis just saying, you know, well, if you just have faith in something other than yourself, then you're going to be fine. All will be well with you. You sort of needed to trust some sort of a higher power, a higher being.

Does that ring a bell? I think that's what Alcoholics Anonymous use as the term. You've got to have faith in a higher power. Now, is that what he preached? You've got to have faith in some higher power? No, no. Listen to his words. Acts 17, verses 2 and 3, “according to Paul's custom, he went to them and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and setting before them that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead and saying, 'This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is that Christ,'" and some of them were persuaded, they believed.

What did they believe? They did not have a nebulous kind of faith and a nebulous kind of a concept of a nebulous God. No, no. Their faith was rooted in the God revealed in Jesus Christ, the Christ of history, who lived, who died, who rose again, who was and is the only way by which sinners could find acceptance before a holy God. Therefore, their faith, which Paul commends, had as its object that unique person, the God-man, Christ Jesus, set forth in Scripture. That Christ, by His work upon Calvary's cross, was set before them. The open tomb and His presence at the right hand of the majesty on high. He's the only Savior of sinners. And they embraced Him.

For notice, he says it was faith of or in the Lord Jesus Christ, giving to Him His full official title, which is a beautiful summary of all that He is and all that He does for sinners. That's what He says to them. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ and He uses the full title. He is Jesus the God-man. He is the Christ, the promised Messiah, prophet, priest, and King, who would teach us by His Word, who would die for us and shed His blood for our forgiveness, and who would rise and be the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is Jesus the God-man. Christ, the promised Messiah, prophet, priest, and King, and He is Kyrios. He is the Lord who sits upon a throne.

And Paul says, we give thanks to God, remembering without ceasing your work of faith of or in the Lord Jesus Christ. Their faith was an intelligent theological faith, and that's the only kind of faith that God will ever commend.

And then their love. Their love was directed to the Lord Jesus Christ. It wasn't directed to just Jesus. You know a lot of sentimental love to Jesus, syrupy love. We like to think of the man of Galilee. It was directed not just to Jesus. And I'm always suspicious of groups or movements who, they talk about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, and don't give Him the full title. It wasn't just to Jesus, and it wasn't just to the Christ. They weren't just preoccupied with the fulfillment of prophecy in Jesus, the anointed one.

Their love was directed to the Lord Jesus Christ. They loved the one who sat upon the throne, who came to that throne by way of a cradle of a cross of a tomb. They loved Him for who He was. They loved Him for what He had done as the anointed Messiah, God's Son. And Paul says he gives thanks to God for their work of faith, because it was faith which had as its object the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave thanks for the labor of love, for that love had as its object the Lord Jesus Christ, and then their hope had as its object the Lord Jesus Christ.

It wasn't a confident expectation in the betterment of humanity. It was a hope that was in and of the Lord Jesus Christ, and there was that confidence that at His coming, and His triumphant coming, there would be then a full realization of all that He had purchased by His own precious shed blood. Spurgeon got this. He had a Christ-centeredness that sprung from a deep personal relationship with the Lord. He loved Christ deeply, passionately, and his sermons are filled with rapturous exaltation of Christ.

Listen to what he said so eloquently, and this is really helpful for us: "If you leave out Christ, you have left the sun out of the day and the moon out of the night. You have left the waters out of the sea and the floods out of the river. You have left the harvest out of the year, the soul out of the body. You have left joy out of heaven. You robbed all of it. There is no gospel worth thinking of, much less worth proclaiming, if Jesus be forgotten. We must have Jesus as Alpha and Omega in all our ministries." Perhaps Spurgeon never put it more succinctly than when he said, and I close with this, "If you take Christ out of Christianity, Christianity is dead." End of quote.

At the heart of his preaching was a desire to exalt Christ and proclaim Christ and Him crucified and resurrected. For Spurgeon, a sermon whose aim was not to bring the people of God to a deeper love to their Savior was a waste and a crime, he said. In fact, he said this: "A sermon without Christ as its beginning, middle, and end is a mistake in conception and a crime in execution." End of quote.

That's what Paul does here. It is in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the object. He is the source. He is the fountainhead. It is all about Him. And it's all directed to Him. But not only is the Lord Jesus the object of these virtues, He's the cause of them. He's the cause of them. Where did their faith come from? And literally, if you were to translate this as given in the original, it would be translated this way: your work of faith of the Lord Jesus Christ or from the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course, it is in the Lord Jesus Christ. That phrase is found other places as well. He's not only the object of our faith, but He is the author of it. That's taught all throughout Scripture.

That familiar text in Hebrews 12 verse 2: "Fixing our eyes on Jesus,” who is what? “The author and perfecter." He's the author of our faith and He's the perfecter of our faith, beginning to end. He authors it. He sustains it. He perfects it all the way to glory. Do we not read in Philippians 1:29, "For to you it has been granted." To you it has been what? Granted. It's a grace gift that we don't deserve. "For Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him," you see? To believe in Him is a granted gift, gracious gift from the Lord, but also to suffer for His sake. And so the Lord Jesus is the author of our faith.

As Paul mentions the blessings that come to believers in Ephesians 1, he says that all spiritual blessings are stored up in Christ and they flow out of Christ. And even the faith by which we embrace Christ is one of those blessings that come as His gift.

And love? What about love? Of course, love has as its source the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 John 4:19, "We love Him because,” what? “He first loved us." “The fruit of the Spirit is love,” Galatians 5:22. Our love to Him is a result of the working of His Spirit in our hearts.

"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing," Romans 15:13, "so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit, taking out of the fullness of Christ, works even in this matter of hope in the heart of the believer.

Oh, do you see, beloved, the emphasis of the Apostle Paul? Do you see it? As he looks at the Thessalonians and sees the virtues of faith that works, love that toils, hope that endures, he in no way is patting these people on the back. Yes, he's encouraging them, but he's not patting them on the back. What is he doing? He's simply delineating those things which were the evidence. The evidence is to him that the Lord Jesus Christ had become the great object of these virtues and not only the object of these virtues, but the very cause of them so that unto Christ and Christ alone would be ascribed all the honor and all the praise and all the credit.

Think of the application of this principle. It's very clear. Let me say a word to you this evening who are perhaps here, but not savingly joined to Christ. All Adam, human nature, unaided by the Spirit, can produce some cheap imitations of these virtues. We can produce something that may look like the work of faith, labor of love, steadfastness of hope, but they are nothing but empty, hollow imitations if they are severed from a vital relationship to the source, Jesus Christ.

So I want to ask a very simple question of you this evening, and I trust you will listen very carefully. Strip away, strip away everything in your life, all the activity, all the religious activity and everything else until there's nothing left but that work that you do out of living faith in a living Lord, that work which springs out of a true love for the living Christ and that endurance that is rooted in a steadfast confidence that He's coming again. Now you see a Christian has got a lot left if you strip away everything but that. For He realizes, yes, I am laboring because my confidence is in Him because I love Him and because I know that He is coming, I endure, I bear under it. Because I love Him, I toil, because I trust Him, I work.

A very searching little book for the refreshing of one's own soul written by Octavius Winslow for the specific state of the declension of the soul, waning of devotion to Christ, and he says something in that little book that really struck me and I want to share it with you this evening, listen carefully, quote, "perhaps nothing forms a more certain criterion of the state of the soul than this. We would be willing to test a man's religion both as to its nature and its growth by his reply to the question, what think ye of Christ? What think ye of Christ? Does His blood daily moisten the root of your profession? Is His righteousness that which exalts you out of and above yourself and daily give you free and near access to God? Is the sweetness of His love much in your heart and the fragrance of His name much upon your lips? Are your corruptions daily carried to His grace, your guilt to His blood, your trials to His heart? In a word, is Jesus,” now watch this, “is Jesus the substance of your life, the source of your sanctification, the one glorious object on which your eye is ever resting, the mark towards which you are ever pressing? Be not offended, reader, if we remark that a professing man may talk well of Christ and may do homage to His name and build up His cause and promote His kingdom and yet rest short of having Christ in his heart, the hope of glory. It is not the talking about religion or ministers or churches nor an outward zeal for their prosperity that either constitutes or indicates a true spiritual man and yet how much of this in our day passes current for the life of God in the soul? Oh, that among God's dear saints there were less talking of ministers and more of Jesus, less of sermons and more of the power of the truth in their souls, less of I am of Paul and I of Apollos and more of I am of Christ."

Is He the source of your joys, the object of your love, of your devotions? That's the question I had to ask myself afresh. Beloved has the work of the hand somehow weaned the heart from devotion to the person of Christ? Maybe you're busy doing different things. Has that weaned your devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ? You see, Paul would never rejoice that these people were simply busy, simply loving, simply hoping. It was that their working was a work of faith in Christ, that their laboring was a labor of love to Christ. Their hope was one which caused them to endure because it was a hope of Christ. He was the central object of all of these virtues.

And oh, dear brothers and sisters, and I speak to myself as well, we must remind ourselves that these virtues thrive and develop only as they are fed by the streams of vital, vital attachment to Jesus. Am I weak in faith? Am I weak in love, weak in hope? I must go to Christ. And as I view Him as He's revealed in the Scriptures, coming from the presence of the Father, humbling Himself to become a babe in a manger, humbling Himself further to die on a tree, coming out of the tomb triumphant, going back to the right hand of the Majesty on high, as I view the Lord Jesus Christ as revealed in the Scriptures, then faith is strengthened. And when faith is strengthened, I find myself working more diligently, more earnestly, more from the heart.

As I think of Him and His love to me, my love to Him will burn with a deeper glow, and out of that there will be a more willingness to toil for His kingdom. As I think of His promise to come back again, that promise will fill me with endurance and the confidence that all will be well at the end when He comes, that the best is yet to come. But if you cut away vital heart attachment to Christ, contemplation of the person and work of Jesus Christ, you have, as it were, dried up the streams from which these virtues flow.

I confess to you this evening at times those streams were awfully, awfully low in my life and how futile it is to try to somehow pump new water into the streams. You can't do it. I can't do it. You can't correct the stream by concentrating on the stream. You've got to go back to the place from whence all this flows, vital heart attachment to Jesus.

That's why God gives us the Lord's day, one of the reasons that we might in this day as we come together pray, O Lord, O Lord, for fresh revelations of Christ, more of Christ, the worth of Christ, the value of Christ, a higher view of Christ, O Lord, for new love to Christ, new hope in Christ, new faith in Christ, more of Christ. And as God grants those, then the work, the labor, the endurance will be the blessed byproducts.

Must hurry on to the second thought and spend just a few minutes on it. In the little phrase of the Lord Jesus, or in the Lord Jesus, we have the object and the source of these virtues. And then this last phrase, what an amazing phrase, "before our God and Father”, “before our God and Father." We have what I have called the sincerity and the climate of these virtues.

Again, again, you have a problem. What does this little phrase refer to? Some say it could refer to Paul's prayer, saying in verse three, "remembering without ceasing, before God, your work of faith." They would say then that Paul just sort of stuck this on at the end to tell them that where He remembered was in the place of prayer. Others would say, well, it's just a general statement of God's omniscience. God is omniscient, He knows everything. You know, all that they did, their work of faith, labor of love, was beneath the eye of God. God sought, God took recognition of it. Psalm 139, “He knows our sitting down, He knows our rising up."

Well, there's a third possibility, and I believe this is the proper interpretation. What He's saying is that this work of faith, this labor of love, and steadfastness of hope, that only had the Lord Jesus Christ as their object and source, but the consciousness of the presence of God created in these virtues a true, genuine sincerity, and in the hearts of these people, it's what gave them that desire to continue in them—the fact that they were living in the sight of God, God and their Father, Coram Deo.

Now, these virtues were not produced for the eye of men, but rather in the sight of God, before the eye of God, before the presence of God. Remember our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount, He said, don't be like those hypocrites, the Pharisees. What do they do? Well, they do in order to be seen by men. That's why they do. They do to be seen by men. What you do, you should do for one reason, He tells them. And He tells us, remember? “Before your Father.” “Before your Father, who sees in secret”, Matthew 6. Giving, praying, fasting, our Lord emphasizes three times.

The concerns of the true Christian is what? The Father sees. The Father sees. The Father sees before God and Father. It is before God, Coram Deo. That's what concerns me. The Father sees. Well, that produces what? It produces sincerity. That produces honesty. That produces frankness. That produces authenticity. We who've been on the way a while need it. We need it desperately. You get, you see, you're walking with the Lord and it's been so many years and you're a cruise control and you get a reputation of being rather spiritual and maybe rightly so, then all you do is you keep up your reputation. You don't care about the reality of the thing just as long as your reputation is maintained.

Paul says, no, no, no. The work of faith, the labor of love, the steadfastness of hope was in the sight of God. It was in the sight of God and Father. There was a sincerity about it that carried it on even when men were not there to see. Basically, what He's driving at is that this was the climate in which they exercised them. The climate of God consciousness. God consciousness. There was this pervasive awareness of the presence of God, a pervasive consciousness of the presence of God, the eye of God upon them.

You'll notice in verse nine, it says that they turned to God from their idols. That was their conversion. And what will a true conversion produce? What will it produce? When a man truly turns to God, then He will seek to live as in the sight of God. Right? When a man truly turns to God, He then seeks to live as in the sight of God and that thought is not a burden to Him, rather it is what? A delight. A great delight. That's just another way of describing what? Let me give us a synonym. That's another way of describing the fear of God. That's what it is.

What is the fear of God? What is the fear of God? The scripture says in Acts 9:31 that "the church going on in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it continued to multiply." We're told in 2 Corinthians 7:1 to "perfect holiness in the fear of God." Hebrews 12:28, we're told to "offer to God an acceptable service with reverence in awe." 1 Peter 1:17 declares that we're to "conduct ourselves in fear during the time of our sojourn." What is the fear of God? Notice the little phrase. He says, "before our God and Father.” “Before our God and Father."

You see, that fear is not the fear that we should have if God is not our Father through Jesus Christ. If we're outside of Jesus Christ, the fear that we should have of God should be one of pure trepidation, pure dread, pure dread. Moses says in Psalm 90 verse 11, "who knows the power of your anger and your fury according to the fear that is due you?" He's the almighty God who's a consuming fire. And if you're here this evening not savingly joined to Jesus, you ought to fear God with a holy dread for He is a God of justice and wrath and anger. It is a fearful thing to fall in the hand of the living God. And yet, blessed be His name. He pleads, He exhorts, He entreats, flee from the wrath to come by coming to my Son.

But this is the fear that a child of God has. It is walking in the sight of God before God and our Father. He's our Father. It is that blessed godly fear which regards Him as our Father through Jesus Christ. And yet, He is still our God even though He's our Father. And with all His rights to our absolute devotion to the love of the whole heart, mind and soul and strength, He is our God. He is the end of our existence. He should be the object of our desire, the source of our delight. He is our God, but He's not a God against us in His wrath, but He is the God who is for us as our Father through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Now, to walk as in His sight is to walk in the fear of God. And the fear of God is that fertile soil in which holy living is produced. Where to walk in His sight and to walk in His sight is to walk in the fear of God and to have a constant regard to His demands, to His glory, to His will, to His purposes, to please Him. And that's what delighted the heart of the apostle, that these young Christians had learned to walk in the sight of our Father.

Now, that's entirely opposite to man by nature. For Romans 3:18 says that the natural man, what? "There is no fear of God before their eyes." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." If you have any thoughts of being in the sight of God, if they have any thoughts of being in the sight of God, they want to dismiss those thoughts quickly. They want to dull the conscience. They wanna get rid of it. They suppress the truth in unrighteousness. They want to stifle every remembrance that all that I am is open and naked before the eyes of Him with whom I have to do.

But to the child of God, oh, to the child of God, this is a delight. Do you find it a delight to cultivate the consciousness of God wherever you go? Do you? Wherever you are, whatever you are doing? It's like that person who said to his pastor, I just can't get out of my mind, God out of my mind everywhere I go. I just can't get Him out of my mind as if that was something negative.

That's wonderful. That's wonderful. That's wonderful if what you're doing, you want to be doing in His sight. The only time that's bad is when you try and cheat on God to get away with something. Then it's haunting. It's haunting. Isn't that right? It's a haunting thought.

You see, the child who's doing the things that pleases his father is never bothered that his father might be looking out the window. He's happy that his father cares enough to watch him. Daddy, look, look at this. Oh, look at this. Mommy, look at this. You know how children are. Now, if they're doing something that they shouldn't be doing, they look around and make sure that Daddy and Mommy aren't looking. They don't want to do that in the sight of Mom and Dad. And so the true child of God, he cherishes the thought of the presence of God, the eye of God upon him. And that becomes one of the governing principles of his life.

Like Joseph, when he was being seduced by Potiphar's wife, he said, remember, he said, "How can I do this thing and sin against God?" Well, he knew that he did what he did before God, that he lived Coram Deo. He lived in the fear of God. Oh, Potiphar may not know. My relatives, my family may not know. They're hundreds of miles away, but I am living in the sight of God. I am living before the eye of God. How can I do what is wicked? I am conscious of His eye on me. And this became one of the governing principles in the life of Joseph that kept him in that totally heathen society with no other influences external, but there was that internal influence of the fear of God within him.

Do you have that? Do you seek to exercise these virtues and live as in the sight of God and our Father? That was the thing that brought delight to the heart of the Apostle Paul, that they had this work of faith, this labor of love, this steadfastness of hope, not merely in the sight of the elders of the assembly, so that when one of the pastors was coming to visit, the wife and husband all of a sudden got all sweet and lovey, and they'd just been pouring out some words that had a lot of hostility in them, cutting words, but now all of a sudden, oh, everything's wonderful, everything's sweet.

But we want to have a work of faith, labor of love, steadfastness of hope in the sight of others, but God sees the heart, beloved. God sees the motives. God sees the attitude. You see, that's what the Day of Judgment will reveal, that nothing mattered but what He saw, what He knows. That's basically a definition of the Day of Judgment, a revelation of the truth, that nothing matters but what He saw. Nothing matters but what He saw.

That's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4, verses two through five, "It is required of a steward that one be found faithful, but to me, it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even examine myself, for I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted, but the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore, do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and make manifest the motives of the hearts, and then each one's praise will come to him from God."

You know, wonderful relief comes when you're seeking to live in the sight of God and the Father, wonderful relief. You're sitting with your friend, you're sitting with your spouse, you're sitting with, you know, talk about certain things you're deciding to do, and she turns to you and she says, but honey, so and so will think, but how about so and, it doesn't matter what they think. Are you in the revealed will of God doing it? Yes. Are your motives right in doing it? Yes. Do you believe it's yes? Then who cares? You do it. God knows, you know, praise God, nothing else matters. That's wonderful freedom.

Do you know that freedom, beloved? I really pity the person who's got to all times, as it were, be playing to the crowd. Well, I've got to impress this one, and that I am this, and I've got to impress this one, that I'm not this, and I've got, oh, that's terrible bondage. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. And one of the most blessed liberties with which Christ sets a person free is to live in the sight of God the Father, and if He smiles upon you, then let the world frown. Who cares? Wonderful release. Do you know that release?

And you young people in this place particularly, young people in this place, do you know that? Who cares what your peers think? Who cares what they say? Is it pleasing in the sight of God? That's what's important, isn't it? Does it please Him? That's what's important. Who cares what mere men think? Oh, what a blessed release, and I trust we know it. And if we do, then it's because God in His grace has worked the same virtues in us that He's worked in the Thessalonians.

And I trust that our somewhat detailed and lengthy study of this third verse will prove helpful to us, that we might know that which as Christians we should emulate, that which we should seek to experience by the grace of God. Thank God for this letter. A faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that will produce work, a love for the Lord Jesus Christ that will produce labor, and a hope in the Lord Jesus Christ that will produce endurance. And see them carried out in the climate of a God consciousness that will make us men and women who do not play to the crowd, who do not seek to live a role that will get us in good standing before the eyes of our peers, but that we should walk in the fear of God and in the company of the Holy Spirit.

May God bless His word to our hearts. Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

This morning, we will take a look at this passage before us. And if you have your bullets in hand, you can see the outline for the message. This message is entitled, Who Are You Living For? Who Are You Living For? The outline, as you see there, we will touch on two ways of life. And then the vital expository context for verse 36 is in the verses leading to it.

And as we go through this passage, I pray that you will give your full attention to the Word of God. When we're under the preaching and teaching of God's Word, it is not just for information. It is not just for education. It is not just for our edification, which it is, it's for our transformation. When we come under the Word of God, whether it's right now, this morning, or when you listen to preaching, when you open your Bible and read, when God's Word speaks, it's for change. It's not just information. It's not just head knowledge. It's not so that we can be delighted in knowing the God of the universe and what He’s thinking. And we love that. And these things are good. But what it's really for is change.

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And He said, He spoke, and change took place. And when you see this through scripture, when God speaks, things change. He spoke reality into existence. So when you are reading your Bible, it's so that you can change. When you read your devotion, it is not just to check a box, I did my devotion for today and I go on my way. And I can say, I did my devotion. It's for change.

And in this passage, we are going to see two ways of life. Two ways of life. And my prayer, as I've been preparing, has been that all of our hearts would change today. That we would be transformed today. That our lives would be different after we leave today. Not because of me. At all. But because of Him. Christ is all. All in all.

So we're going to begin in Mark 8:36, briefly. And then we're going to go to verse 27 and work our way back to verse 36. Let's begin. Verse 36: "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?" This verse is our focus today. And it reflects Jesus' point of view on one of the two ways of life. This verse, in its context, contrasts two ways of life. An existential view and an eternal view. An existential view and an eternal view.

This verse is a question, you will notice, and it's a question for the ages. It's a question that every human being who has lived, is living, or will ever live, has to answer. The implications of this question are profound and transformative. And right from the beginning of scripture to the end, underneath this question is another question. Who are you living for? Who are you living for? Implicit in the question of verse 36 is that question. Who are you living for?

Now the contrast in this verse, we can see it's a contrast because it begins with the word for. So what is the for there for? It's because it's connected to the preceding verses. It's inextricably connected to the preceding verses. The context is critical to understand this verse. Now the context is well known, but it's not always associated with this verse. This verse is often taken out of its context, and people will be talking, and maybe it's a believer speaking to an unbeliever, who says, what will it benefit you if you gain the whole world and you lose your soul? And it's thought-provoking in that context, in that conversation. But as I say, it's often wrenched out of its context.

There's a deeper meaning here than the way that it's typically used, and we're going to learn that today. But as I said, we don't want to just learn this. It's for change, change, transformation. So this question in verse 36 that has an implied question underneath it, who are you living for, is what we're going to explore today. So to begin our exploration, for your heart and mine, we want to look at the context, this vital expository context.

So let's now look at verse 27 through to verse 30, and I'll read these verses, and then we're going to go through them one by one. Verse 27: "Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He was asking His disciples, saying to them, 'Who do people say that I am?'" And they told Him, saying, "John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets." And He continued questioning them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ." And He warned them to tell no one about Him."

Now in verse 27, you see right away that Jesus and the disciples are headed for Caesarea Philippi. They're on their way, and if you look quickly at verse 22, you'll notice that they were in Bethsaida, and they're heading north within Israel. And actually, if we're honest, what we have to really say is that this is a land that is not in Israel's hands. It's dominated by Rome, it had been dominated by Greece, and before that the Persians, and before that the Babylonians, and before that the Assyrians. It's not their land. But they're moving through, and Jesus has been preaching and teaching and doing miracles in this land, and if you glance back to the prior chapters and based on the headings in your Bible, you'll see He's been doing miracles. But they're moving north towards Caesarea Philippi.

Caesarea Philippi was a region of a lush landscape at the foot of Mount Hermon. It's a lush region, but it's a region that was steeped in Baal worship, and you can see that in Joshua 11:17 and Judges 3:5. This region had been steeped in worship for millennia, for hundreds of years. Even when it was in Israel's possession, it was steeped in Baal worship, the northern part of Israel. Under Greek occupation, the area was related to the Greek god Pan, and you may have heard of this Pan, the half-god, half-goat deity, so-called, who played the pan pipe. We get our English word panic from this god, and he was a frightful god who had a thirst for carnal pleasure. It was a place of pagan worship, a lush place at the foot of Mount Hermon, but a place of idolatry.

Under the subsequent Roman occupation after the Greeks, it was named Caesarea, after Caesar. It was named by Herod's son, whose name was Philip, and he wanted to differentiate between Caesarea that's on the Mediterranean and Caesarea up north, so he called it Caesarea Philippi, to distinguish it. So this is the setting, and we see this in verse 27. The disciples are heading in this direction, Jesus is leading them, and along the way, as we see in verse 27, Jesus asks a question: "Who do the people say that I am?" Jesus is asking the disciples for the people's perspective on who He is. One commentator says, and I quote, "Often Jesus's questions were springboards for new teaching". So He's asked this question, verse 27.

Verse 28, the disciples relate the opinions of the people, so they share. They say Jesus is John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets. The people believe that Jesus was John resurrected. Remember that he had been beheaded by Herod, and there's a story all pertaining to that. And so the people are wondering, is this John? Has John come back? Is that who this is? Or is He a prophet, an Old Testament prophet? And you can see a bit of this discourse in Luke 9:7 to 9. The people thought Jesus was special. Just like many people today think Jesus is special.

I was recently at an ultrasound, and I was talking with the ultrasound technician that happened to be Iranian. This was probably about five months ago, and through the discussion, it came out that I was a Christian, and she said, "Oh, I love Jesus. He's a messenger. He's a messenger." And I was lying there with gel on me, thinking, okay, I want to say something about this. But she's like, let me let her finish, then I'll bring up what I want to say, because I didn't want her hand to go all over. So afterwards, I started sharing a little bit about who Jesus really is. Well, the people in that day are thinking that Jesus is special, but they don't really know who He is.

And Jesus is now going to challenge His followers, His disciples, with the same question. Clearly, the people are wrong. Verse 29, "But who do you say that I am?" We see that question. "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus is asking the disciples, who am I? Who am I? What's my identity? And Peter answers. We can count on Peter. He's got an opinion. "You are the Christ." "You are the Christ."

Now in Matthew 16:15–19, in a parallel passage, there's more about Peter's answer and Jesus' response. But we'll simply state here and note here that Peter's right. It's been revealed to him by God who Jesus is. Jesus is the Christ, and that word Christ means anointed. He is the chosen one. He's the long-awaited Messiah. The Messiah's arrived. Jesus is here. He's the Christ. He's the anointed one. This is cause for jubilation.

The disciples, the Jews, were awaiting their conquering ruler, a leader like Moses or David, who would defeat their enemies. Just a few moments ago, I went through this litany of empires that had crushed this area of the world, one after the other. And there are prophecies concerning the coming of a Messiah. And Peter, under God's illumination, has identified that Jesus is Christ. But while this is true, this is Jesus' identity, it was not His purpose at that time.
And we see in verse 30 that Jesus admonishes and forbids the disciples from divulging His identity. He warns them. The word, the Greek word, is ‘epitimao’. It's a strong word, and it really speaks to Him restricting them from saying anything about His identity. But then He does tell them His purpose. Look at verse 31 and 32a. He tells them His purpose after strictly warning them not to say who He is.

Verse 31: "And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again. And He was stating the matter openly. Isn't it interesting? Peter, under God, has indicated who Jesus is, and Jesus has said, don't tell anyone. And then He tells them His purpose openly. It's interesting. It's interesting.

Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man. And this is essential. This truth is essential. We've just read that Jesus is the Christ. The disciples know this. They heard it, even though they are not to repeat it at that time. And now they're seeing His purpose. But just consider the juxtaposition of knowing who Jesus is as the Christ, having this sense of jubilation, and then hearing this. That the Son of Man is going to suffer and be rejected and be killed, but rise on the third day.

First, Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man, a title used here emphasizing His humanity and His humility. Secondly, and vitally, Jesus uses the word must. Don't miss that. Must. Not maybe. Must. Must what? Suffer. Be rejected. Be killed. The Son of Man must suffer. Be rejected and be killed. Yet after three days, rise again. And He was saying this publicly, openly, publicly.

The disciples were incredulous, incredulous, stunned. Here's the Christ. He has come, one like Moses or David, to overthrow in their context the Roman Empire. We're going to have our land back. He's going to suffer, be rejected, killed. One commentator notes, "This announcement stunned the disciples. If He is indeed the Christ of God as they had confessed, then why would He be rejected by the religious leaders? Why would these leaders crucify Him? Did not the Old Testament scriptures promise that Messiah would defeat all their enemies and establish a glorious kingdom for Israel? There was something wrong somewhere and the disciples were confused."
 
And you can imagine that. You can imagine it. They're confused. They're more than confused. They're indignant. And we'll see this. They expected a conquering Messiah. And we won't turn there, but I'll just give you a couple of passages for reference: Jeremiah 23:4-8 and Zechariah 6:12-13. If you read those passages, you will see prophecies of a coming Messiah who's going to rule. It's those types of scriptures they had in their minds.

So they understood His person, but not His work. They understood He was the Christ, but not what He came to do at that time. This was totally destabilizing. And we know this because of what happens next. We don't have to guess. We don't have to posit that they were indignant because we're going to see it. We're going to see it.

Look at verse 32b. "And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him." Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. The word for rebukes is the same word that Jesus had just used in sternly warning them, ‘epitimao’. Jesus had just sternly warned them not to say who He is. Now Peter uses the same word to rebuke Jesus.

Now turn to Matthew 16:22. Let's see Peter's rebuke. Because here in the book of Mark, it says that he rebuked Him, but it doesn't say what he said. What was the rebuke? What was the content of the rebuke? Matthew 16:22: "And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, 'God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.'" Peter rebukes Jesus. And look at the language of this. He's speaking to the Christ, who is God. And he says, "God forbid it, Lord." Think about this. Here's a human being saying to God, "God forbid it, Lord." It is almost as if Peter doesn't understand the words he's saying.

God is sovereign over all things. Lord, ‘Kyrios, is supreme. He's actually saying, "God forbid, God." That's how indignant he is. He's losing his mind. That's how indignant he is. It's just not computing. It's not, it makes no sense. You're the Christ and You're going to be rejected and suffer and die? They're stunned.

Notice that language: "God forbid it, Lord." Has there ever been a stranger statement? Peter invokes God to forbid God's plan. The audacity of Peter. He's a follower of Jesus. He's been following Jesus. He has seen the miracles. He just identified that Jesus is the Christ. He just identified that Jesus is the Christ under inspiration. Jubilation turns to consternation and admonition. Jesus is admonishing—sorry, Peter is admonishing Jesus.

Can you sense and feel the tension? Can you imagine if you were one of the other disciples? And you're thinking just like Peter, but Peter's the one who says it. As you look at the language and as you study the text, there's almost a part of you that feels like Jesus should say, "Off with his head." Well, He's going to say something worse, actually.

Verse 23, But turning around and seeing His disciples, He, ‘epitimao’, rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind Me, Satan!"..... "for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's.’" "Get behind Me, Satan."
 
Peter had rebuked Jesus. Jesus now calls Peter Satan and directs him to "get behind Me." Get behind Me. And it's that same word in the rebuke, ‘epitimao’. Jesus refers to Peter's admonition. Jesus refers to Peter's admonition, right, forbid it, as influenced by Satan.
Now, we don't have time to go there. But when you read the broader account in Matthew, and I alluded to it already, Peter had just said that Jesus was the Christ. But in the other account, Jesus says, flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but the Father in heaven. So here is Peter. He has just identified Jesus as the Christ, illuminated by God. Jesus tells him and them His purpose. Peter rebukes Jesus: forbid it. God forbid. Forbid it, Lord. And now Jesus says, "Get behind Me, Satan." Peter was having a day.
They were having a day, like no other day.

But do you see the two ways of life? You see it? Jesus is the Christ. This is His purpose. Don't go that way, Jesus. Get thee behind me, Satan. You see it? Now, I want you to notice this, because the juxtaposition of these two ways of life is in this verse.

Look at the text. "For you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." This is Jesus speaking. He's speaking to Peter. He's just told him to get behind Me, Satan. You are not setting your mind on the things of God, one way of life, the things of man, the other way of life.
 
God, one way of life, the things of man, the other way of life. Take note. Two ways of life.
This is a contrast for the ages. And this contrast is not just that these are two ways of life, and it's just two options. These are two contrary ways of life. They are diametrically opposed to one another. Setting your mind. Setting your mind.

Turn to Genesis, Genesis chapter 3. And as you turn, remember the title of this sermon. Who are you living for? Who are you living for? Two ways of life. In Genesis chapter 3, we see the origin of this. Look at verse 6. And what do you see in verse 6a? Eve is looking. She saw. And she coveted the fruit. And she took the fruit.

Who influenced Eve? What's in the first five verses of this chapter? In verse 1, it talks about a serpent. Two ways of life. That's where it starts. Genesis 3:6. Eve had in her mind God's direction. Don't eat of that tree. Or what? You'll die. She also had in her mind the serpent's temptation. If you eat of that tree, you will not die. But you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Two ways of life.

You will notice in verse 6, Eve is not saying anything. Where's the epicenter of her decision making? Her mind. Her mind. And you will notice Eve saw. Input to the mind. Input to her mind was the word of God. Don't eat of the tree. The word of the serpent. Go ahead. It's no problem. And that's input. But she looked. Input. Input to the mind. Input to the mind influences the mind.

As an old IT guy, garbage in, garbage out. Garbage in, garbage out. What do you put in your mind? What goes in your mind every day? If we were to pause and hand out sheets to everyone and say, I want you to write what you think about every day. And I want you to write what comes into your mind every day. What is your mind set on? What is your mind set on?
When you make decisions. When you consider your aspirations, your hopes. When you're working, you're at school, in your relationships, in your friendships. Are you setting your mind on the things of God or the things of man?

From the Garden of Eden to that lush foothills of Mount Hermon, to your heart and my heart, God's interests, man's interests. Setting your mind is the pivot point for your life. Setting your mind is three words in English. In the Greek, it's one word, ‘phroneo’. And it means to exercise the mind, to interest oneself. To put another way, self-interest. What are your interests? Because you see, you set your mind on your interests. That's what Peter was doing. But Jesus has just said, don't set your mind on the interests of men. Set your mind on God's interests. You see it? Jesus rebukes Peter for setting his mind on his own interests. God's interests, self-interest.

What's your mindset? What's your mindset? What's your mindset each day? As I mentioned, when you make decisions, what's your mindset? As you think about your life; you're raising your children; you're driving your car; you're on the TTC; you're at home; you've put your head down at night and before you fall asleep and you're thinking about many things. Are those God's interests or man's? Do you see how crucial this mindset is? What goes on in your mind?

So Jesus is now going to powerfully illustrate and exhort the disciples and the people as to the implications. He's called Peter out and He's indicated you're setting your mind on man's interests, not God's. Now, someone might say, okay, so what? Jesus is going to answer that question.

But before we look at that, I want you to turn to Romans 8. Romans 8. The Apostle Paul writing to the church at Rome. I love the way he articulates this very same motif. Romans 8, verse 5. Look at this text. Romans 8, verse 5, down to verse 8: "For those who are according to the flesh set their minds – the same word ‘phroneo’ –  on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit."
 
Listen carefully now in verse 6: "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh are not able to please God."

Peter was displeasing to God, to Jesus, so much so that He said, get behind me, Satan. And just parenthetically, the language of get behind, it's as if Jesus is saying, get behind me and go the other way. Get behind me and turn backwards. And He used that term Satan, and the Greek there is the word for accuser. In effect, Jesus was saying to Peter, you're acting like an adversary. So it's not only that you set your mind on the things of men, you're actually acting against Me.

When you and I set our minds on our own self-interest, we are not serving God, living for God, walking in His ways. Who are you living for? Who are you living for?

So now, back to Mark 8. Jesus is going to illustrate the implications of these two ways of life. In the outline, we're now at the implications of following Jesus. Mark 8:34 and 35. Verse 34: "And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.'" If anyone wants to follow Jesus, three things: deny themself, take up their cross, follow Me. God's interests.

First, Jesus' teaching continues. He summons others to listen. You notice that all of a sudden, there were disciples headed to Mount Hermon region. While there clearly were other people around, Jesus actually summons the other people. He says, come on over here. Come. He summons the crowd. He summons the crowd. He summons the crowd to listen. And it's only in this, of the parallel passages, it's only in Mark where there's this unexpected crowd mentioned. The presence of the crowd.

One commentator put it this way: "Mark alone notes the unexpected presence of a crowd up here near Caesarea Philippi in heathen territory. In the presence of this crowd, Jesus explains His philosophy of life and death" – Jesus explains His philosophy of life and death – "which is in direct contrast with that offered by Peter. And it was evidently shared by the disciples and the people. So Jesus gives this profound view of life and death to them all."  There's a crowd. Jesus is going to teach the implications.

Second, notice the word if. If. As you look at the text in verse 34. If. If anyone wishes. If. Why does Jesus say if? Because Jesus is explicating the implications of setting the mind on God's interests and man's interests. If. God's interests, man's interests. Two lines of implications are in the following verses.

Third, Jesus' next word is anyone. If. Anyone wishes to come after Me. Anyone. And it reminds us of John 3:16. Whosoever. Whosoever. Anyone. Jews. Gentiles. Doesn't matter. Anyone. Anyone.

If you're here today, you're an anyone. I'm sorry. I was just thinking all the people out there are anyone's too. Anyone. Anyone. Anyone. Not just the Jews. The Gentiles as well. Again, think of the disciples. They're Jews. Jesus has just said, "If anyone wants to come after Me." Don't miss it. Don't miss it. The Jews in that crowd would have went, what? Anyone? We're Your people. Anyone? Yes, anyone.

So already in this teaching when He says, "If anyone," this is more destabilization. Don't miss it. Don't just keep reading. If anyone. If anyone. If anyone what? What's the next phrase? Wishes to come after Me. Wishes to come after Me. The Greek here is really interesting because it's very similar to the words forget behind Me. Think about it. Someone says to get behind you, they mean get behind them. If someone says come after Me, they mean come behind Me. The language is very similar, but the nuanced difference is that this is coming behind and following Me. Not getting behind like get lost. Or go away.

The two paths of life, either one, you're going to be behind Jesus. The question is, are you going to be following Him or are you going to be going away? Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.

Fourth, you see in verse 31 that Jesus, and I said it before, but just catch this, when Jesus was speaking about Himself, He said He must suffer, be rejected and killed. But note where the must is here for those who wish to follow Jesus. They must deny themselves. They must take up their cross, and they must follow Jesus. You see it? The must for Jesus is suffer, rejected, killed. The must for believers is deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him. There's what Jesus must do. There's what we must do. This is not if here. The if was above that. We're now down the path of following Jesus, and that's where the must comes. Must.

Let us look briefly at each of these three elements, just briefly. Time will not permit us to really dig into each one of them. The first is to deny yourself or deny themselves. The Greek word means to utterly deny, to disown your self-interest. Deny yourself, disown your self-interest. One commentator puts it this way, and it's the same commentator I'm going to quote for this portion and the next. This commentator says, "Negatively, one must deny himself decisively, turning away from the idolatry of self-centeredness. And every attempt to orient one's life by the dictates of self-interest".

To deny yourself is to turn away from the idolatry of self-centeredness. In effect, putting yourself first. Deny that. Deny yourself. And don't orient your life towards self-interest.

Second, take up their cross represents lifting up a cross. Now, is Jesus saying that you're going to have to be crucified like Him? It says take up, it doesn't say take up My cross, it says take up your cross. Figuratively, this means self-denial. Now, you might say, deny yourself and take up your cross. Sounds like they sort of mean the same thing. Listen to the same commentator. "Negatively, the first part, deny yourself, means eschewing self-interest. Taking up your cross positively means decisively saying yes to God's will and way." So just picture this. The believer is one who is shunning self-interest, must shun self-interest. Conversely, is taking up God's interest. Gotta leave one, pick up the other. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, make no provision for the flesh. Do you see that?

Believers must set aside self-interest, take up God's interest. Come what may, come what may.

The third is "follow Me." And I love the word, the Greek word means accompany, accompany Me. It's not a word we use a lot today, accompany. But it sort of gives the motif of sort of someone putting their arm around you and saying, "Let's go." Let's go together. We're together. I'm leading, you're coming with Me. Accompany.
It's a present imperative. The word for follow is a, the Greek word is a present imperative. It means keep following Me. Keep following Me. Say no to self, yes to God, follow Jesus. And keep following.

Turn to Philippians 3:7. Let's have the Apostle Paul describe this to us a little bit further. Philippians 3, verse 7: "But whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ." You see it? "The things that were gained to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ." Verse 8: "More than that, I count all things to be loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God upon faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."

Paul understood what it meant to follow Jesus. Count all things as loss. Self-interest is gone. Took up his cross. God's will is everything. Follow Him. Do you see the self-denial in that passage in Philippians? Do you see him taking up the life of Christ and his willingness even to suffer? Do you see Paul's devotion? It’s God. And what's the benefit? Knowing Him, the power of His resurrection, and being resurrected oneself.

If you're a believer here today, if you're a follower of Jesus, can you put yourself in this passage? Can you put yourself in this passage? Look at it again in Philippians 3:7: "Whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss." You have a great education, doesn't matter. You have great skills, you've got lots of money, you've got land, property, you're living your best life now, doesn't matter. That's not the purpose of life. Two ways of life. Now those things aren't bad, but they can't have your heart. Two ways of life.
Many of us are pursuing those things out of self-interest, and that is displeasing to God. We are to be pursuing God's interests. So all those things have their proper disposition in our lives. They're not the goal of life. Jesus is the goal of life. That I may know Him, adore Him, love Him, live for Him who saved your soul. Who are you living for? Where are you setting your minds?

Peter and the disciples, they were believers in Jesus Christ, but their minds were set on self-interest, not God's. Not God's. But by His grace, Jesus taught His disciples the mindset required to follow Him. It may sound strong that He says, you've got to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me. But that's grace. He's actually saying, you're not stuck going away behind Me, Satan. Here's how to follow Me. Here's how to follow Me. And that same Peter, who was a fisherman, gave up his job. On the day of Pentecost, he preached and thousands were saved. Peter was incarcerated, beaten. Peter learned what these words meant. He denied himself. He took up his cross and he followed Jesus, come what may.

Look at 1 Peter 4. Let's listen to Peter. Let's listen to Peter. 1 Peter 4, verse 1: "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh," – this is Peter speaking to other Christians – "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose." Notice that. Arm yourself. Jesus suffered. Arm yourself with the same purpose. "Because He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lust of men, but for the will of God."

Look at verse 12: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed." – If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you're blessed. –  "Because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you."

You see the two ways of life? Following Jesus must include disowning your self-interest, pursuing God's interests, His will, His way, come what may, and accompany Jesus through this life to glory. Believers here today, brothers and sisters here today, how are you doing in the enabling of the Holy Spirit? How are you doing in the enabling the Holy Spirit to disown your own interest and to follow Jesus' interests in every area of your life?

Who are you living for? Can you look at your life and see the denial of your self-interest and the taking up of God's interests in every area of your life? And are you doing this continually? Are you following Him? Present imperative, continual action. Conversely, if you're a believer here today like Peter in Mark 8:32, seeking Christ to do your will, seeking God to do your will, because that's what Peter had in mind, right? He wanted Jesus, but he wanted Jesus who's a conquering Jesus. He wanted God to do his will.

If you're a believer who is always praying, God do stuff for me in one way or another, you're on the wrong track. He's God, you're not. You're setting your mind on self-interest. You're setting your mind on the interests of men. And what does that do? It puts you behind Jesus. Get behind Me. What are you setting your mind on each day? What do you read? What do you watch? What do you listen to? What goes into your mind? Remember Eve saw. What goes into your mind? What's your mindset? Do you have a mindset that honors Him? How do you process life? Do you process life biblically or based on your opinion or someone else's opinion? Or on your upbringing? When you set your mind and you do, it's not like, well, we don't. We do every day, all the time. Where are we going to go? What are we going to do? Got to decide about this, decide about that. Constantly. Our minds are going all the time. What do you set your mind on?

What happened to Peter when Jesus' plans didn't fit his plans? What happened to Peter when Jesus' plans, suffer, rejected, killed, didn't match Peter's plans? Jesus rebuked Peter. If you're a believer like the Peter of Mark 32, 8:32, your approach is displeasing to God. It's worthy of rebuke. But there's hope. There's hope. As we see in verse 34, it's a call to repentance, actually. It's a call to repentance. If you want to follow Me, you must turn away from your self-interest. Pursue His will, His interests, and follow Him. That's repentance.

As Jesus continues, He continues to express more implications. Look at verse 35, and we're coming towards the end of our time. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it." Do you see the two ways of life there? Whoever wishes to save their life, man's interests, will actually lose their life. And the one who wants, then the one who is willing to lose their life, set aside their self-interest, actually gains.

This is a word for the crowd. Look at 35a, the first part of this. Implicit in this phrasing is that those who pursue self-interest are doing so to save their lives. Self-preservation. They want to control their life. They're trying to save their life, meaning they're trying to have life go the way they want. What's the outcome of that? They actually end up losing their life. Their lives are self-directed and self-preservation is what's on their heart. Their minds are set on themselves. But Jesus teaches that this pursuit does not lead to actually saving one's life. The thing they're pursuing will not result in what they're seeking.

And the word for lose, look at the text. "Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it." It's almost in the English not strong enough. The Greek word under that word lose is the same word in John 3:16 translated "perish," which means utterly destroyed. It means to destroy fully and by implication in hell. Setting your mind on your interests attracts God's rebuke, and if you're a non-believer, you're headed for hell. You will perish.

If you're a non-believer here today, this is Jesus' message to you. Seeking to live for yourself to save your life is literally a dead end. Literally a dead end. But look at 32, sorry, 35b, "but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospels will save it." This is the gospel. In fact, this whole passage is the gospel. Theological, doctrinally, Jesus is preaching the gospel.

There's two ways of life. This is good news. If you repent, turn from sin and self-interest, turn your mind to Jesus. And through believing He's the Christ, and that He suffered and sacrificed and died, which He had just said, you will save your life. Put more accurately, He will save your life. You will obtain eternal life.

John MacArthur puts it this way. "This paradoxical saying reveals an important spiritual truth. Those who pursue a life of ease, comfort, and acceptance by the world will not find eternal life. On the other hand, those who give up their lives for the sake of Christ in the gospel will find eternal life."

Who are you living for? Verse 36. We're back at verse 36. Now you've seen that vital context that helps us to understand really what verse 36 means. "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?" You've now seen this verse in its context. What Jesus is saying to those who set their minds on self-interest, what is Jesus saying the implication is for those who set their minds on self-interest? Even if you could have everything under the sun that you like, what good would it be if you lost your soul?

But there's a deeper meaning here in the context. The Jewish disciples were thinking He was going to take over the world. Now think about this. If Jesus doesn't suffer, be rejected, and killed, but He conquers Rome, there's no Savior. Every soul is forfeited. You see it? Did you catch that? If Jesus did what Peter said at that time and did not go to the cross, did not die, every soul is forfeited. What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? That's the meaning of this verse. It has those two applications.

For the crowd and those here today that are unsaved, if you obtain everything you want, everything your heart desires, as you try to sustain and preserve your life, but you forfeit your internal soul, what benefit is that?

Alexander McLaren quoting here, "The men who live for self are dead." – Very blunt. The men and women who live for self are dead. – "As Christ has been saying, suppose their self-living had been successful to the highest point. What good would it do if they're dead?"

And if you need biblical examples of this, read the book of Ecclesiastes and watch Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, doing whatever his heart desires. Chapter after chapter. And you'll notice if you read that book as an illustration of this principle, you will see he literally says it. I set my mind to do everything I wanted to do. I went wherever I wanted to go. I did whatever I wanted to do. I built stuff. I bought lands. I did this. I did that. I had wealth beyond compare. I had everything this world had to offer. And I still had my health and I was still the king. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, says the preacher.

Read Ecclesiastes. If you want another example, in Luke 16, the rich man and Lazarus. Luke 16, you can read it there. The rich man had all that this world had to offer, ends up in hell. Lazarus was poor, took the crumbs off the table of the rich man. He ended up in heaven, Abraham’s bosom. Powerful illustrations, one from the Old Testament, one from the New.

So for the crowd, what will it profit you if you gain the whole world, you lose your soul? If you're here today and you're not saved, what good does it do you if your self-interest leads to hell? If you're here today and you're not saved, what good does it do you if your self-interest leads to hell? If you're here today and you're not saved, what good does it do you if your self-interest leads to hell? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. You can do that right now, today. Your life could be transformed today.

Who are you living for? For Peter and the disciples and those here today who are seeking God, you're a believer, but you're also seeking self-interest. You want God to do your will. If Jesus did your will, if Jesus did not go to the cross, we would all lose our souls. What profit is that?

One commentator put it this way, listen carefully: "One who decides to maintain a self-centered life in this world by refusing Jesus' requirements, deny yourself, take up your cross, follow Me, will ultimately lose his life to eternal ruin. Conversely, a person who will lose or deny themself, their life, their preferences, in loyalty to Jesus and the gospel by accepting His requirements will actually preserve their lives forever. If you're a follower of Jesus, you are an heir to eternal life forever with God." So, set your mind on the things of God in every area of your life.

So, as we conclude, may we all ask ourselves this question every day. Ask yourself this question. Who am I living for? When you lay your head down at the end of the day, it's quiet. Ask yourself, who am I living for? When you wake up, ask yourself that question. Who am I living for today? God has just given me the beginning of a new day. Who am I living for today? Set your mind on the things of God, not on the things of men.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

After giving general greetings to the church there in Thessaloniki, reminding these people, these precious saints, that it was Paul and his companions who were sending this letter, sending the greetings to them in this general apostolic salutation, we have then in verse 2 through 10 what is basically an inscription of thanksgiving to God for particular characteristics which mark the people in the church there in that city at Thessaloniki. And in giving to us these characteristics which caused his own heart to rejoice, the Apostle is giving to us several very valuable things which are really the fruits of the grace of God. He says in verse 2, "We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing." And then he mentions those things which caused his heart when he came into the presence of God to rejoice and to give thanks to God.

Now Paul did not rejoice as we saw together and give thanks primarily for those things which are common to all men in the common grace of God, but when he wrote to a church he was giving thanks to God for those particular things which were distinguishing marks of the special grace of God, in the saving power of God, operating in the lives of those precious people. And so we have those things in verses 2 through 10 which are in a peculiar way the fruits of grace, and in giving them to us we also have a standard by which we as a church can evaluate ourselves, a standard and a pattern to follow. We have a goal toward which we should press on by the grace of God to cultivate those fruits of grace in our lives individually and corporately.

Now at the very top of the list of the fruits of grace we have in verse 3 what we have called the three crown jewels in the diadem of Christian virtue. "Remembering without seizing your work of faith," that's the first one, and number two, "labor of love," and the third one, "steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ before our God and Father." And we've studied the first one already, the phrase "the work of faith," and the fact that Paul gave thanks to God that here you have people who had a faith that was not mere idle speculative faith, but it was an operative faith that really compelled them to work. And so whatever you find people who have faith that works, well, it is a fitting reason to give thanks to God for. And so, He thanks God that their work was in no way an attempt to earn the grace of God, but that it flowed out of a principle of faith.

And so wherever you find the people who have faith and works and they have them both in their proper relationship, then you have no doubt a wonderful indication that the grace of God is truly operative at work. For left to himself, you remember, man will either have a work that is not a work of faith, rather is a dead work hoping to commend himself to God by his own doing, on his own merit, which is always, always a catastrophe, or he will have a dead faith, a faith that is merely notional in the head, it resides in the head and it accepts certain facts, but it is not a living principle that produces works of holiness and obedience. But when you have both work, faith joined together, and they're always joined together whenever God does a work of grace, for "we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works," then you have a cause to give thanks to God.

We then looked at the phrase "labor of love." Paul was grateful to God that these people had a love to the triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - that was more than a love that caused them to sit in a rocking chair and think warm thoughts about some higher deity. They had a love for the triune God that made them put their shoulder to the yoke of Christian duty or responsibility and produced in them labor, and you remember this word labor, kopos, is the word that is connected with the English word really travail, wearisome effort. This word means sacrificial, arduous, and sometimes even painful work. Paul gives thanks to God that these people had a love to God that, again, was not merely an emotional thing, but it was one that captivated their whole being, the entirety of their whole being, and brought them under the yoke of Christian duty, which is a delight, a delightful duty, not duty out of obligation, kicking and screaming, but it's from the heart.

Well, tonight we come to the third of these virtues that is mentioned in verse 3 in the LSB, translated as steadfastness of hope. Other translation has it patience of hope. So Paul not only gave thanks for their work of faith and labor of love, but here he says also for their steadfastness of hope. Now, as we look at this and consider this, this evening, keep in mind the word steadfastness is not describing the hope, but rather He's speaking of the steadfastness which had its roots in hope. That's important.

Now, notice the parallel through all of these three phrases. They had a faith that produced works. They had a work that was rooted in faith. They had a love that produced labor. They had labor that was rooted in love. And now he says they had a steadfastness which was the fruit of hope and a hope that produced this steadfastness. Now, for us to understand why this should be a cause of rejoicing in the heart of the Apostle Paul, we must first of all understand what the words mean. That's a basic level. He said we give thanks for your steadfastness of hope.

Now, let's define the words. Well, first of all, what does this word hope mean? Hope. For steadfastness, whatever it is, was the baby, the child of hope. Hope was the mother. Steadfastness was the child. Hope was the tree. Steadfastness was the fruit. So let's begin with the mother. Let's begin with the tree. Let's begin with that which gives birth to the other.

Now, when we use the word hope in our everyday conversations and today's culture, we usually use it in the sense of a strong wish, a strong desire. We say, well, I hope to take my vacation, go to Europe, or I hope I will graduate from high school next year. It's shaky, but I hope - I hope it's not shaky for you if you're in high school. Now, when you say you hope, what you're really saying is I have a strong desire. I have an earnest wish that such and such will come to pass. I hope my favorite sports team wins. Strong desire.

Now, we usually use the word hope in terms of the strong wish and earnest desire, but that is not the way the word hope, elpis, the Greek word, is used in the biblical context. There are in few instances cases where this word is used in terms of a strong wish, but the overwhelming, overriding use of the word elpis in the scripture is poles apart from a mere wish or mere desire. This word hope, elpis, in the scripture means nothing less than, if you want to give it a definition, a good definition, it would be something like this: a joyful and confident expectation of a promised blessing. A joyful and a confident expectation of a promised blessing.

Now, there are many illustrations of its use in this sense in the scripture, but let me take a few that are representative this evening that might help us understand what Paul meant when he said steadfastness of hope. Turn with me to Romans 5, Romans 5, where we find the same word used. Look at verses 1 and 2: "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand," — now notice, — "and we boast in hope," —elpis,— "of the glory of God, in hope of the glory of God." Paul says not only do we have the present tense blessing of being justified and having peace with God and access to God, but He said we boast in hope of the glory of God.

Now, follow closely. Put the word in there, wishful desire. Take the word hope and put wishful desire. "We boast in the wishful desire of the glory of God." How does that sound? Foolish, right? That's the worst kind of torment in all the world. A man who knows that God is holy and knows that he himself is a wretched sinner, who has reason to believe that right now by the grace of God his sins are forgiven through the work of God, through the mighty work of God in justification, yet to think that all of those sins might yet rise up against him and condemn him and press him down to the deepest part of hell, who can only say, well, I wish, I sure hope that one day I'll be with Him and share His glory, that's the most intense kind of misery, isn't it?

But now define it this way, verse 2: "through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the joyful and confident expectation of the glory of God." Right? Now, makes sense, and there's encouragement. He said we not only have this present blessing, that the condemnation of our sins is past, done away with, we have present access, yes, praise God, but above and beyond all of this we have, oh, we have a joyful and confident expectation that we shall gaze upon the glory of God as His redeemed, and we shall share that very glory. Amen.

Now the word hope makes sense. Since we're in Romans, turn to chapter 15 and verse 13. You'll find the same word used in another setting. Romans 15 verse 13: "Now may the God of” — elpis,—  “hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Can you imagine Paul trying, praying that the church would be full of people who abounded in this kind of attitude? Well, I sure hope that I'll be saved. I really sure wish, desire, hope that I belong to the Lord. I don't know, I'm not sure, and you're living every day in torment, I'm sure. Can you imagine him praying that the church would be full of people like that?

What Paul is praying is this: that the believers may abound in hope, not just wishful desire, but in joyful, confident expectation through the power of the Holy Spirit. This joyful, confident expectation of promised blessing is something that the Holy Spirit Himself produces in the heart of the believer. You find a similar reference in Galatians 5:5, where Paul speaks of the hope of righteousness by faith, in Ephesians 1:18, where He prays that believers may know what is the hope of their calling, 1 Thessalonians he says, "as a helmet put on the hope of salvation," Titus 1:2, Paul speaks "in hope of eternal life," and then the classic usage, and I want you to look at this, this one with me please, 1 John chapter 3, this is incredible, 1 John chapter 3, where the word know, to know, and this is incredible, is used as a synonym of the word hope.

1 John 3 verse 1: "See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we would be called children of God; and we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not been manifested as yet what we will be. We know,”— “we know,” he says, we're assured, this is absolutely certain, airtight certain, no wiggle room. — “We know that when He is manifested, we will be like Him," — not we may be like Him,— "we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this,"— what,— “elpis, fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." You get it? We know this hope. We know this hope.

So you see, the word hope is defined as a certain knowledge of future blessing promised by God Himself. There's no ifs and buts. So here you have a very simple and yet authoritative definition given by the Holy Spirit Himself, where John says that this knowledge that we will be like Him is called the hope of the believer. So whenever you come across this word in the New Testament, don't put the 21st century meaning on the word hope, but rather the biblical meaning on it: joyful, confident expectation of promised blessing. Faithful, He will be. Faithful He has been, and faithful He will be.

Now, since most of these blessings that are out there in the future will be realized at the coming of the Lord, it's no strange thing that His coming should be called what? Titus 2 verse 13: "the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior." For you see, all that is future now, salvation, almost all of it, will become ours in experience when our Lord Jesus comes from the right hand of the Father to take us to Himself, that we might be with Him forever.

And so when Paul thinks of the people there, the believers there in that city, that the Thessaloniki, he rejoices that they demonstrated a steadfastness that was rooted in this joyful and confident expectation of promised blessing. I have to say I was surprised as I got studying this to see how much this matter of hope is an integral part of saving Christianity. In fact, Paul goes so far as to say in Romans 8 verse 24 and 25, "we are saved in hope." He said our very salvation is bound up in the concept of hope. And then he goes on to say, verse 24 and 25, he says, "but hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we eagerly wait for it."

Peter asserts essentially the same thing when he says, 1 Peter 1:3, "God, according to His great mercy, has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." So much for the word hope, elpis. I hope you understand what the word hope means. You get the two different ways now I used it, right? When I say I hope you understand, I'm using in terms of our present use. I hope you understand what the word hope means: confident, joyful expectation.

Well, let's look at the word steadfastness. What does this word mean, steadfastness? We're familiar with this word, the Greek word, hypomonēs. We've come across this word, hypomonēs, right? We've encountered that word in our studies, particularly of James, and elsewhere in Scripture. I love this word, hypomonēs. It's that Greek word made up of two words, two Greek words, hypo, the front means under, and the other, monēs, to remain. So, simply put, to remain under. To remain under.

Literally, the word means, and in the case of the etymology, really, it doesn't lead us astray. It literally means to remain under, to bear up under, to endure. So, really, the translation, patience, is too soft, because it's passive. This word is much stronger. You see, patience is what you do when the person who's supposed to give you a ride to church is 15 minutes late or 20 minutes late. Perseverance is what you exercise as a soldier when you're injured and bleeding and waiting for rescue. And you persevere. Hypomonēs is a far stronger word than patience.

It is, you're familiar, is the word we encounter in the Philippines of an Olympic weightlifter. You know, those guys who weigh too much, eat too much, they sweat too much. They go down, they pick up this bar, and they pull it above their head to their, well, on their way up to their shoulders. And, you know, they're getting ready, and they thrust it above their head with all the energy that they can muster. You have this huge amount of weight, but there's a rule. And the rule says that for it to be valid, they must actually, when they lift it up, they must remain under it for a certain period of time.

And so they stand there, and you can see them, their bodies quivering, attempting to keep that weight above their heads until the alarm has sounded, and then they've held it for the appointed amount of time. That's hypomonēs. During that time that they are under that weight, they are doing what this Greek word describes. So it means something far stronger than sitting in a boat, marking time, waiting for something to happen as you're waiting to catch some fish. Basically means endurance, perseverance, to bear up under intense difficulty, stress.

It's the word used in Matthew 24, verse 13, when our Lord says in that context of the tribulation period, at the end of the age, He says, "The one who,” - this is the word, hypomonēs, - “endures to the end.” - Bear up under to the end. - “He will be saved." The one who endures, who perseveres, the one who's steadfast to the end, that one will be saved. It's used in 1 Corinthians 13:7, describing love. "Love endures,” - hypomonēs, in its verbal form, bears up under - “all things." 2 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 10, Paul says, "For this reason I,” - hypomonēs, in a verbal form, hypomenei, that's the verb. - “For this reason I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory."

Now does that mean Paul sat in jail somewhere, twiddled his thumbs, played solitaire, waiting patiently? No, it meant a day and a night in the deep, scourging, starvation, thirsting, hungering. Read 2 Corinthians 11, we see what it meant. He said, I endure, I bear up under the most intense forms of difficulty, that they may be saved. It's the word used of our Lord Jesus Christ in Hebrews 12, verse 2, where it says of Him that He “endured the cross.” He endured the cross. Did it mean just patience? What did that mean? It meant an active submission to the will of God in the midst of the most intense suffering.

So you have the word hope, joyful, confident expectation of promised blessing. Steadfastness means endurance, bearing up under stress and difficulty.

Okay, now let's put them together, right? We're assembling now. Let's put them together. Paul says, "I give thanks to God when I remember your steadfastness of hope." In other words, your ability to bear up under stress and difficulty and affliction, which was rooted in a joyful and confident expectation of promised blessing. Now that tells us something, that these people in Thessaloniki were not living on easy street.

It's hard for us to interpret 1 Thessalonians against the backdrop of our North American Christianity. Here were people who were born in the midst of conflict spiritually. Remember Acts 17 when we looked at the birth of this church? Paul had been there about two weeks when there was a riot in the town. They ran him out of town, stormed the house of the young convert who was actually hosting Paul. And then when Paul writes back to them, he says, notice in chapter 2 in verse 14 of this letter, "For you brothers became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you also suffered the same things at the hands of your own kind. For you also suffered the same things at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews."

What is he referring to? He's referring to persecution. That persecution that arose and scattered the believers. He said, you're in with them. You belong in the same union of the suffering. In chapter 3 he says, I was so anxious when I knew of your sufferings and wondering if perhaps these tribulations have really turned you aside, notice verse 3, "So that no one would be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. For indeed, when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction just as it happened. As you know."

Paul rejoices that these people are demonstrating epimony, endurance, endurance, perseverance, rooted in hope, because He recognized this. He recognized this principle that brings us now to the heart of the message. This is the crux of the whole phrase. Here it is. Paul realized that perhaps nothing more clearly revealed either the sham or the reality of Christian profession as did suffering, tribulation, difficulty, hardship, and affliction. This becomes the laboratory in which the genuineness of the product is either revealed or its ingenuineness, its sham, is exposed and uncovered.

So as Paul thought of those infant professors of Christ there in that city and the suffering that was already their portion before he left them, his heart was filled with deep concern. And he said, I wonder, as I was forced to leave you and thinking about you now, I wondered, do you have the real thing? Were my labors in vain? Is all of this to be wood and hay and stubble? Was your apparent faith a genuine faith? Was your apparent attachment to Christ vital, saving attachment to Christ? Suffering comes along, persecution comes along, and said, I'll tell you whether it is.

And now when Timothy brings back the report that they're continuing on with God, that the suffering has only served to drive their roots deeper into Christ, He says, oh how I give thanks, not only for your work of faith, your labor of love, but your endurance, your steadfastness that is rooted in this hope, this confident expectation of future blessing. He said, I'm so glad that the trial, the persecution, the difficulty simply acted as a laboratory in which your faith has been broken down into its component parts and it's been shown to be the real deal, the real thing, genuine, authentic, dokimos, has character, proven character.

Now that leads us to another principle that is vitally joined to this. Paul saw in these believers the truth that that confident expectation of future blessing was that which produced endurance in present difficult circumstances. What gave them that endurance to face persecution? I mean, just babes in Christ, new believers. What would happen to you, beloved, if after a month, after you professed to be joined to Jesus Christ, you began really to get some serious consequences because of your faith? What would happen? What would happen to us under pressure? Like some face severe consequences in certain parts of the world, serious consequences. It ranges from here to here, from mild to extreme.

I mean, boycotted economically, lose their job and nobody will hire them. They go to buy food, no one will sell food to them. You see your starving kids and your crying, wife, what would you do? I mean, all you need to do is renounce Christ and all will be well. You'll have your job back, you have your tummy full again, your children's tummies full, you'll have your wife smiling again. What would you do? What do they do? Persecuted, ill-treated. You know what they did. They said, well, things may not be good now, but man, oh man, are we going to have glory when He comes? He's going to come back and He's going to right all wrongs. And in the light of what we'll have when He comes, be still my soul. Be still my soul. Let men despise, deride, when our Lord comes back again, all that He's promised will be ours. And in the light of that day, what's a little suffering here? What's a little heartache here?

So their endurance, you see, was fed, sustained, maintained by that confident expectation of future blessings, sustained in the present trial by feeding their souls upon the expectation of future blessings. As we will see later on in the end of the chapter, they were a second coming people. They lived here in the light of there. They lived now in the light of then. They lived on the edge of the return of Jesus. This is one of the clearest contrasts between the Christian and the worldling. The worldling is governed by the now. The now. Here and now. You know this, right? This is called what? Really, this is called the now generation. The now generation. That's the whole pitch in all of the advertisement, social media, social platform. This is the now generation. You've got to live it up now. Everything is now. Everything is live streamed. Everything is like real time.

I mean, you go on vacation. You go. It's like you have to keep even living your life. You always have to update. I woke up this morning. I had cereal. You post the cereal with the bowl and the picture and everything. The now generation. That's the mark of the world. It's a whole concern. The whole concern is now. And now takes in everything involved in time. You see people in the now generation. They're concerned enough about the future to take out insurance and make out wills. But their whole concern is bounded by the little parenthesis of time. And that's all time is, right? But a little parenthesis in the great expanse of eternity.

There is an eloquent description of this in the 17th Psalm. Please turn with me there. Where the Psalm is speaking of the wicked. Notice how he describes the wicked. Verse 14. Psalm 17. He's asking God to deliver him from the oppression of the wicked. And in that prayer he describes the wicked. Now watch this. “From men with your hand, O Yahweh. From men of the world." —Now watch this.— "Whose portion is in this life. And whose belly you fill with your treasure. They are satisfied with children and leave their excess to their infants."

Now take that phrase and write it as the descriptive phrase of our own generation. "Whose portion is in this life." "Whose portion is in this life." We're the now generation. You can live your life by the standards of a God whom you've never seen in terms of values. That you've never seen in terms of a heaven. That you've never seen. You can have all of that. Go ahead, they tell you. But I've got my substance now. And I'm going to live it up now. I'm part of the here and now. The now generation. The Bible says "whose portion is in this life."

That's the worldling. He lives for this life. He will save his life. But by contrast, the Christian is one who in his present existence governs everything. Not by now, but by then. By then. Not by the world that is, but by the world that is to come.

Notice that contrast before we move away from Psalm 17. So you don't have to turn back to it. He says their portion is this life. That's what he's saying. That's all they live for. This life. Their portion is this life. Listen to his cry. “As for me,” verse 15. That's their portion. That's what they live for. “But as for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness. I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake." Men of the world, their portion is now. Me, my portion is there.

See the marked contrast between the true child of God and the worldling? One has his portion now. Therefore, all of his values are determined by now. And here, all of his actions, reactions are determined by now. But by contrast, the Christian has everything now governed by the prospect of the world to come. Treasures in heaven. And that's what hypomonēs, endurance, is. Bearing up under pressure and inconveniences involved in being a child of God in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation.

The Apostle Paul describes this attitude of the Christian so beautifully, in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, I love this. When looking at all of those problems that he had. All of the difficulties that he endured. All of the challenges that he faced. And he had them. You read the extent of them in the verses prior to the one we want to mention. For example, in verse 8, afflicted, perplexed. Verse 9, persecuted, struck down. Verse 10, always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus. And verse 11, constantly, not once, not twice. Constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake.

And what does he call all of this? What does he call all of this? Verses 17 and 18: "For our momentary light affliction." What? How? He calls this momentary light affliction. Persecution, always going about like a criminal, condemned to die, troubled on every side, perplexed, buffeted, treated like the off-scouring of the world. And he says, light affliction? Light affliction? Why? Well, he tells us. He tells us why in the rest of verses 17 and 18. "It is working out for us an eternal weight of glory.” — Eternal weight of glory,— “far beyond all comparison.” — Not even a close comparison to all that I have been facing and enduring.— “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

You see, Paul had the steadfastness, the endurance, the hypomonēs that was rooted in hope. And in light of the unseen world, everything Paul bore, everything he endured, he said, in the light of that is a momentary light affliction. Because in the light of that unseen world; weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth, outer darkness, eternal hell, the torments of the damned, Paul was comparing his suffering to the sufferings of those who are strangers to the grace of God. And he says, in the light of that eternal world, the unseen world, anything that I have borne is a light affliction.

And then furthermore, in the light of what I shall know when I awake with His likeness and look upon my Savior and behold Him, this beaten, pain-inflicted body shall be released from all of the effects of sin. He said, it's just a light affliction, a drop in the ocean of the glory that is promised to me, that inheritance of the saints, that glorious inheritance of the saints.

He looks to that unseen world, and He looks at the glory that is to come. He looks at the world to come, and He looks at what He's been spared from. I've been spared from all of this: weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, the torments of the damned forever and ever. I've been spared of this. And I know whatever I endure here is just nothing compared to the torments of the damned, but also I look forward to that glorious inheritance of the saints.

Light affliction. What sustained Him in those present trials? He said in verse 18, “while we look,” was the gaze of His soul upon the world to come? It was His hope, His joyful, confident expectation as a Christian that sustained Him in the present trial. In Hebrews 11, we have this testimony born to the heroes of faith, of the faith. Hebrews 11 verses 13 and 14, we read those wonderful words: "All these died in faith without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth, for those who say such thing make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own." What country? What country? The world to come. The world to come, the inheritance of the saints. That was their confidence and joyful expectation.

So what did they bear here and now? What did they bear? What did they endure here and now? Well, read the 11th chapter of Hebrews. Let me remind us of what they endured. Some experienced mockings and floggings. Yes, also chains and imprisonment. Verse 36, verse 37, they were stoned. Now watch this, they were sawn into. They were tempted. They were put to death with a sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, mistreated.

What in the world will make a man do this when all he needs to do is simply take the edge off of his witness and say, well, you know, Jesus Christ is the Savior, but you know, maybe not the only Savior. That's all he needs to do. Just take the edge off of the exclusiveness of his faith and confession of faith in Jesus Christ. All the roads, you know, as long as you're sincere. Why would men endure this? Only one reason: a joyful and confident expectation of that which was to come. It is, to use Paul's words, "working out for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison."

Beloved, if you and I haven't learned to feed upon the hope, the joyful, confident expectation of promised blessings, we will deny Him in the hour of trial. Are we too distracted with the here and now, beloved? Are we so preoccupied with this life here on earth? Maybe that's why the world to come isn't too precious to us. Maybe that's why that we can sing songs about heaven with dry eyes. That's why perhaps we can go weeks and months and not think of the glorious world to come for the saints.

Do we think about heaven? We don't think about heaven much, do we? Let me ask you, this is between you and God, how much have you thought about heaven this past week? How much have you fed your mind upon those promised blessings that will be yours when the Lord comes back and when you go and be with Him? That's the hope that should mark the believer, and what delighted the heart of the Apostle Paul was this, that these people had that hope, that hope as a living, active principle that gave birth to their endurance in the midst of hardship.

May I conclude this evening with a word of direction, just very briefly. Maybe you're sitting here tonight and you're thinking, Habib, I have to admit I don't have that hope like they have it. I have to admit it. I have to acknowledge when you asked that question during this past week, if you thought about heaven. No, I haven't. No, I haven't. The glorious inheritance of the saints, beholding His face one day, but preoccupied with things here. Stuff, the stuff of this life now, the here and now, and you know, bills, and houses, and cars, and health, and snow. It's been kind of hard for me to think about heaven. How can I have this hope that will give birth to endurance that these settled Thessalonians had?

May I be very practical, suggest a couple of things. First of all, here's how. Number one, by earnest prayer. By earnest prayer, ask God that He may give you eyes to see and a heart to understand that hope. Pray, ask the Lord that He may give you eyes to see and a heart to understand that hope. That's what Paul did for the new Christians in Ephesus. You remember, for he says in Ephesians 1, 17 and 18, "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory," — He says,— "I pray that He may give to you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and the full knowledge of Him, so that, the eyes of your heart having been enlightened, will know what is the hope of His calling and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." Paul says, I plead with God that God by His Spirit would bring you, you people at Ephesus, to know experimentally the glorious hope of your calling.

If only you knew that to which God was calling you out there, if only you knew more and more, you will live so much better right here. Some may be thinking, well, but we've got to have social concern, right? Sure we have social concerns. A man's heart filled with love for Jesus and the love of Christ is concerned about the world that is now. But He who lives to the glory of God now is He who lives with the clearest vision and prospect of that which is to come. Biblical, true, vital, saving Christianity is vitally concerned with the world which is to come. And those who've served the present generation best have been those who've most lived with their eyes on the world to come.

But it's only as we pray that God opens our eyes that we know what is the hope of our calling that we should begin to understand. Will you pray this day that God may by His Spirit give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation that you may know the hope of your calling, that the truth of that to which He's called you may burn like fire within your breast. Secondly, not only we must pray, but by diligent searching out of our hope. Diligent searching out of our hope. God has given us something that even the people at Thessaloniki didn't fully have at that time. The Old Testament contains a very few beautiful rays of light breaking through once in a while about the world to come, immortality, but the scripture says Jesus Christ has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Job saw a glimmer in Job 19: 25 and 26. "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will rise up over the dust of this world. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall behold God." I know that my Redeemer lives. In latter days I'll be with Him. I will see Him. David said in Psalm 17:15, "As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness. I will be satisfied with your likeness when I awake." But for the most part, death and the world to come was foggy, misty. There wasn't that clear revelation of the hope of the believer. We have it now with incredible clarity. Christ has brought it to light.

He said in John 14, verse 2 and 3, "In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. For I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also." And all those wonderful statements in the book of Revelation, where God Himself shall wipe away tears from our eyes. He shall be with us. He shall be our God. But how often do we feed our souls upon that? It's no wonder that we're so earthbound, for we don't even diligently search out what is our hope.

Let us be found this day, beloved, this Lord's day. That's one of the benefits of the Lord's day. We've been so earthbound during the week, and much of it, I understand, is necessary. Dishes are here on earth. Doing the 40 hours a week to collect a paycheck, to buy groceries, that's an earthly task, and it's a legitimate one. And it honors God.

Now God gives us the Lord's day to get out of that routine and really refocus on Him and on the world to come. So let's take time to pray that we'll understand our hope. Let's take time to diligently search out what is our hope. And thirdly, let us engage in frequent meditation upon this hope. Frequent meditation to ponder this hope, to meditate upon it.

Paul said, "while we look not on the things that are seen, but the things that are unseen." He said, "I fix the gaze of my soul upon the world to come, on what awaits me, what is there for me ahead. I meditate upon that which is to be my portion." It says that those faithful saints in Hebrews 11, oh they looked for that city which had foundations. The gaze of their souls was upon the world to come and longed for the world to come. May I encourage you this day to make this, beloved, your spiritual exercise. Refresh your heart and your mind with what is our hope.

Now is there a word to you here this evening who are not savingly joined to Christ? There is, for the scripture says in Ephesians 2:12, all who are joined to Jesus Christ, well actually it says the opposite. Those who are not joined to Jesus Christ are what? "Without hope." They are without God, without hope. Oh they have lots of wishful desires. They say, well I hope I'll make it. God says they're without hope in the biblical sense.

You may say this evening, well I hope I'll make it, I hope. No, no, that's not biblical hope. You have no joyful, no confident expectation that you will be with Him. And unless by the grace of God you've been awakened to see your lostness, to see that your only hope of mercy is bound up in the person of Jesus, and that you've fled in repentance and faith, laid hold of Him as your only hope of access to a holy God, then and only then you can have a hope, not a hope based upon wishful thinking, but a confident expectation based upon the promises of God, the word of God.

And so I ask you as we close this evening, do you demonstrate this virtue, this steadfastness of hope? Do you find it difficult to bear up under difficult circumstances where the pressure, the heat is on? Well, when you get weak in endurance, it is because somehow we've grown weak in our hope. So the way you strengthen endurance, the way you strengthen your hypomonēs, is not to come directly at endurance and try to pump new strength into endurance. Beloved, you need to enlarge your hope. Enlarge hope. It was the steadfastness, the endurance, that flowed out of hope. And as the strength of our hope is, so the measure of our steadfastness, our endurance will be.

If Paul were writing the letter about you, about me, will He say how I thank my God for your work of faith, for your labor of love, and for your steadfastness of hope? May God grant this virtue shall be wrought in us by the same Spirit who worked it in the hearts of these young believers there at Thessaloniki.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

Oliver Wendell Holmes once said this, "Bigotry is like the pupil of the eye. The more light you pour into it, the more it contracts." Webster's Dictionary defines a bigot as a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinion and prejudices, obstinately devoted to my prejudices, my opinions, my ways, my prejudgments. I'm so devoted to it, I don't want more light. Obstinately devoted to my prejudices, my opinions, my ways, my judgments, my prejudgments. So much so, I am devoted to all of this that I don't want more light. I don't want it.

As the saying goes, don't confuse me with the facts. I don't want more truth. More truth, more facts might persuade me to change my mind. I don't want it. So bigotry closes and shrinks away from more light, shrinks away from more truth, so as to obstinately hold on to its views and not let go.

That's exactly what we see in our text with the leaders of first century Judaism. The Sanhedrin, you remember last time, believed that they had a problem. They were annoyed. We looked at the annoyance. They were annoyed with Jesus and what was taking place. So they thought they had a problem on their hands because from their vantage point, this man, this Nazarene was winning the day.

I mean His miracles, His signs that He was performing, I mean they were so powerful, so convincing. They could not be disputed. Many were believing in Him and so the fear was that the whole nation would believe in Him. And as a result, life as they knew it under Rome would be lost forever. This is what they were talking about in the council, the Sanhedrin. This is what they were discussing. What are we going to do? What are we doing? Verse 47: "For this man is doing many signs. If we let Him go on like this, all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."

Well, there was a man present in their midst, in that council, the Sanhedrin, who believed that he had the answer. So we move from the annoyance to the answer. And that man was the high priest that year. His name was Caiaphas. And though he was thoroughly wicked, we're going to see today that he was unwittingly used as a mouthpiece by God to proclaim the truth of God, the truth concerning the gospel. This is really incredible.

Let's look at verse 49. Let's learn something about this man, this priest, this high priest. "But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, 'You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is better for you that one man should die for the people and that the whole nation not perish.' Now he did not say this from himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad."

Now you will notice verse 49 begins this way, one of them, “But one of them, Caiaphas”. One of them. Now that seems to be a strange way to refer to the high priest, also known as the great priest. Just one of them. I think the explanation may be that even though he was the high priest that year, there was another man. There was another man, his father-in-law, a man by the name of Annas, who was still really holding sway, still held a lot of influence in this council.

And by the way, the word high priest, that title high priest, ‘archiereus’, is a compound word. ‘Archi’, first in a series, the leader or ruler, the idea of rank, degree, and then ‘ereus’ refers to priest, refers to the priest that was chief over all the other priests in Israel. Now what is interesting is originally according to Numbers 35, you will see that it seems to be that the high priest was to serve for life. But by this time, it was not uncommon for a high priest to be removed from the office and replaced by another, another person appointed, another man.

Well, the Romans, in fact, did this very often. They used it like a political office, and if they felt that one man was becoming too powerful, a little bit too dangerous, they would remove him and they would replace him by another man, replace into that office. In fact, when you read here in the New Testament of the chief priests, these chief priests, when you come across that in reading the scripture, they were former high priests that were simply removed and replaced. Even though the Romans appointed Caiaphas, by the way, he was in this office longer than most, he was appointed in 18 AD and held the office until 36 AD. That's a long stretch, considering the circumstances.

Now we'll talk about that more in a moment. And I think it speaks to the fact that he was a cunning man. He was devious and he knew the art of survival. But it seems that Annas may have been serving as the president of the Sanhedrin, because even in John's Gospel you see that Annas seems to have a lead role at that time. Annas also was a vile high priest that preceded him, and he was still living, and actually you can really say that he was really the power behind the throne, as it were.

He appears in the Gospels. Annas had five sons who were high priests and also had a son-in-law who was a high priest, and that was this man Caiaphas. He was the son-in-law of Annas. Look over, in fact, to John chapter 18 for a moment. Look at what it says in verse 12. And this is, keep in mind, this is just after the Lord Jesus is arrested. In verse 12 we read, "So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him," – now watch this, – "and led Him to Annas first." They led Him to Annas first, for He was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. Now Caiaphas was the one who advised the Jews that it was better for one man to die on behalf of the people.

So Jesus is led to Annas first. Now look down at verse 24. "So Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest." So He's taken first to Annas, and then when you go to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 4, this is after, of course, the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts chapter 4, turn there for a moment. This is the early stages of the church, and Peter and John brought before the Sanhedrin, the council, in Acts chapter 4, look at verse 1. "Now as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, being greatly agitated because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to be about five thousand”.

Verse 5. "Now it happened that on the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem." Now notice, "and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of high priestly descent. And when they had placed them in their midst, they began to inquire "By what power, or in what name, have you done this?" And on the account goes. But you will notice here, Annas is mentioned first. And that tells you something about his prominence, his influence, and his power. So again, he retains a measure of power, even though he's not the high priest that year, but nonetheless, Caiaphas is the one who held that office that year, John tells us, that year, particularly John 11:49.

When he says that year, that is the year of our Lord's passion, the year of our Lord's death. So he's in this position of leadership, he's the high priest, he was a cunning man, he was a ruthless man, and he was a hypocrite as well. Go over to Matthew 26, and you get some insight into this man, Caiaphas, insight into his character, what he was like. Matthew 26 sheds light on his character. Verse 57, "Now those who had seized Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together. But Peter was following Him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and entered in, and sat down with the officers to see the outcome. Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death."

Now, just stop for a second and let that sink in. Let that sink in. What are they seeking? False testimony! They're actually seeking false testimony against Jesus. They're seeking anything they can find in order that they may put Him to death. But they found none. So they're seeking false testimony.

Verse 60, "And they did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on two of them came forward, and said, “This man stated, ‘I am able to destroy the sanctuary of God and to rebuild it in three days.” And the high priest said to Him, “Do you not answer? What are these men testifying against You?” But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus said to him, "You yourself said it; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his garments and said, "He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy, what do you think?" They answered and said, "He deserves death." Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him, and said, "Prophesy to us, O Christ; who is the one who hit You?"

Now, realize a couple of things. First of all, the death sentence against Jesus was pronounced when? In John 11. Now keep that in mind. The council gathered together and Caiaphas, as we're going to see in a moment, and what did they say? Well, this man has to die. He has to die. And they begin to make plans to put Jesus to death. So you have these trials. These trials they go through were what? Mockery. They were a mockery. They weren't real in any way. They weren't genuine. They weren't legitimate. The verdict was already predetermined. So that's hypocrisy.

In addition to that, they're seeking false testimony against Jesus. They don't care whether or not they're true. It doesn't matter. They just want something so that they can put on Him so that they can actually justify their decision that they already made to kill Him. And so that's hypocrisy, which means they're wanting to hear something. They're wanting to hear something that would lead to the death of Jesus. And yet this man, this high priest, when he finally hears something that he thinks gives him a reason to give death to Jesus, when he finally hears it, he acts like he's troubled by it. Can you believe it? I mean, look at the hypocrisy. He tears his robes and he says, Oh, we've heard blasphemy. As if he can't stand to hear it. When what he's hearing is the exact thing he wanted to hear and seeking to hear, that's what? Hypocrisy. Ugly, sickening hypocrisy.

This man, the way that he survived with Rome as long as he did, that tells you how. He's a liar. He's a hypocrite. He's a killer. He's ruthless. And you're going to see that in just a moment in his words. So he's a wicked, wicked man.

Back to John 11. This is the man we're about to listen to, Caiaphas. Now, what does he say? Well, we read a moment ago, but let's go back to it again. First of all, after listening to the going back and forth in the council, verse 49, “Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all." Now, as we're going to see in a moment, part of what he says, I need to maintain the two hand in hand. Part of what he says, he's responsible for 100%. Part of what he says, the part that is prophecy, the part that is really the proclamation of the gospel, God is responsible for.

So let's pay attention to what he's responsible for. The first thing you notice concerning his words, you notice these are proud words. They're proud words coming out of Caiaphas' mouth. "You know nothing at all." This is how he begins his speech. "You know nothing at all." Basically, he's saying, you all can just shut your mouth. "You know nothing at all, because you don't know anything. You're ignorant. You're absolutely ignorant." That's what he's saying. If you're done expressing your mind, you can all now just be quiet, because I have here what we need to clear this whole mess up. I have the answer. I have the answer.

Kent Hughes paraphrases Caiaphas this way, roughly translated, he was saying, "you fools, if you had any intelligence at all, you would see that the answer is very simple. It is better that one die rather than a whole nation. He was a cold, calculating, capable, self-sufficient, shrewd, self-satisfied, ecclesiastical climber.” Proud man.

And by the way, this isn't out of the ordinary. This is how the Sadducees dealt with one another. Josephus, a Jewish historian, talked about the behavior of the Sadducees. Now, you have to bear in mind, Josephus was a Pharisee, so maybe it colored his view a little bit, but here's what he writes in The Wars of the Jews, "the behavior of the Sadducees, one toward another, is in some degree wild, and their conduct with those who have their own party is as barbarous as if they were strangers to them. So they treat each other roughly and rudely, and you see this come out in this man's character, you know nothing at all.” Proud words.

But you know it doesn't stop with pride. They're also hypocritical words. They're hypocritical words. Verse 50, "nor do you take into account that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish." That is, he puts forward his death plan in the name of what? The greater good. He puts it forward in the name of the nation. He pretends to be a patriot. He says, in fact, you know what? It doesn't matter if a man is innocent or not. It doesn't matter if we have anything real to charge him with or not. It doesn't matter whether he's performed powerful signs or not. Don't you understand? Apparently he felt like they were being somewhat hesitant about what needs to be done. Don't you understand? It is better that one man dies, no matter how innocent he may be, than for the whole nation to perish.

So he puts forward his argument this way. Either Jesus dies or the nation perishes. And he doesn't present any other option. Either Jesus dies or the nation perishes. Now, nothing from a natural point of view could have been further from the truth. There was another option. There was another option. There was a third option. You know what that is? They could repent. They could repent. They could acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, trust God to take care of them when it came to the Romans. But that wasn't on the table. No. That wasn't about patriotism either, no matter what he says, and you know that as you understand this man's character, you get to see that this was purely selfish. This was about position. This was about position. This was a personal position which they felt was being threatened.

In fact, the discussion prior to what he says captures really what's in all of their hearts. “the Romans," – verse 48, – "will come and take away both our place and our nation." We may lose our influence. We may lose our place, our position. And so when he puts it in these terms, what he's doing is he's putting the face of nobility on what was just purely wicked. And not only does he try to make himself look better in the way he puts it, but you can see how this would be attractive to the rest who want to do the very thing that he's saying, but they also want to believe that somehow they are religious and they are God-honoring. And so they accept these words.

This puts on a good front for them too. Easy on their ears. Yeah, that's right. We're patriots. This is the point. This is the right thing to do for the nation. This is the right thing for our people, even though it's not the nation or the people in their hearts, but rather it's purely themselves.

Don't people do this today, beloved? Don't they do this today? Don't they reject Jesus with the most hypocritical lying words? They say, well, here's the reason why I'm not a Christian. Here's the reason why I reject the gospel. Here's the reason why I don't believe. And no matter what they're saying, it's not really the case. The fact is they have their little kingdom and they don't want it to be disrupted. They don't want it to be disrupted because they love their darling sin and they don't want to let it go. And they would rather hold on to their sin and lose their soul than to let go of their darling sin and have life. Things haven't changed. This is just sinful humanity. This is the wickedness of man. And this is what you see here on display. So they're proud words. They're hypocritical words.

They're also ignorant and self-destructive words. Ignorant and self-destructive words. Do you not understand? "It is better for you that one man should die for the people” not that the whole nation should perish. You see, if we get rid of Him, we won't have trouble with the Romans, with the Romans. All will be fine. If we get rid of Him, the nation won't perish.

John wrote this. God gave this to the apostle John. He wrote this after the destruction of Jerusalem. So He records this. The Holy Spirit has recorded this, and this is the height of irony. I mean, He chose the foolishness of this council that they thought that they would preserve themselves by putting Jesus, the King of Glory, to death, and yet the truth is they lost their place and they lost their nation, their freedom that they were enjoying. They lost all of that in 70 AD. The Romans seized Jerusalem. The temple was destroyed. They lost their place after they crucified the Son of God.

They were ignorant words. They weren't true from the point of view that Caiaphas spoke. He was wrong, dead wrong. How proud Caiaphas is, but how foolish. How certain he is, but how wrong. How strong he imagines himself to be, and yet he doesn'tnknow that even as he's speaking out these strong, arrogant words, "You all know nothing”. Listen to me even as he speaks like this, he doesn't know. He doesn't know it, but is being held as if by a thread in the hand of the sovereign God. As Jonathan Edwards presented the picture, “if God just lets go, he falls into hell, and yet he feels so strong and so confident.”

How influential Caiaphas is. Man, he's influential. I mean, people listen to him, but it's the blind leading the blind, and they both fall where? Into the ditch. And there are people today who reject the gospel, and how proud they are as they reject the gospel, and how certain they are that they are right, and how strong they imagine themselves to be, and how influential they are with others around them. And sometimes they're very bright people, and they have great training, and so they're intimidating if you're actually debating them or talking to them, and they are great at debating, and you would think they win the argument, they win the day, and they don't know. They don't know. But though they win an argument in their minds at least, they don't know they're going to lose their soul forever.

This is what this man is responsible for. These wicked, proud, hypocritical, ignorant, self-destructive words. But, there's a wonderful but. But in the midst of these wicked words coming from this wicked man and from his wicked heart, there was something God was doing. What a powerful God we have! They were pregnant words. Pregnant with meaning that Caiaphas himself was completely unaware of.

Do you notice how the Holy Spirit says it to us in verse 51? This is John's commentary on it under the superintending power of the Holy Spirit. "Now he did not say this from himself." See that? What does that mean, he did not say this from himself? Did he want to say what he said? Yes. Yes, he wanted to. That's not what he means. That somehow Caiaphas didn't want to utter the words that he uttered. No, no. Caiaphas is reasoning, he's thinking, speaking out of his own heart. But God guided him in such a way that the word that he chose expressed truth that he wasn't aware of. What he said had a wicked meaning from his vantage point, but what he said revealed truth from Heaven's vantage point.

Someone as well said, We not only have the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we have the gospels of Christ's enemies. Because on more than one occasion you see where the enemies of Christ expressed profound truth that they weren't aware of. They were saying what they meant, they just didn't understand the full meaning of what they were saying. And this is, this is our amazing God. And this is one of the ways that God glorifies Himself, isn't it? This is one of the ways that God shows His mightiness, His wisdom, His sovereignty, His power.

There is a throne room in Heaven. And there is a throne in Heaven. And that throne is not vacant in Heaven. There's one who is seated on that throne. And He is sovereign. And He's unfolding the circumstances and decisions and details with precision towards an end in view, His goal. This is one of the ways that God demonstrates mankind's absolute need for God, and for the Savior, and for reconciliation. Because He demonstrates how foolish we are, and how in control, how sovereign He is. God will so glorify His Son that even the enemies of Christ will be used by God to unwittingly pay tribute to His Son.

Even when they don't wish to glorify the Son, they do. They do. In Matthew 27, just give you an example of this. Matthew 27. Look with me there. Verse 41. Matthew 27:41, “In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders,” – now as our Lord is hanging on the cross, this is unfolding, –”the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, "He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel. Let Him now come down from the cross and we will believe in Him."

Did you hear what they said? He saved others! I mean they're saying it in a mocking way, but indeed He did. Indeed He had. As they mock Him, they acknowledge the truth about Him. He saved others. And even as He's hanging on Calvary's cross, what is He doing on the cross? He's saving others. He's saving others. What a glorious thing to cast in, in someone's direction. He saved others. Yes He did!

And in chapter 19, look over there for a moment of John. You see another example of His enemies unwittingly giving Him praise. John 19:16, “So He then delivered Him over to them to be crucified. They took Jesus, therefore He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. And Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, "Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews." Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, "Do not write ‘The King of the Jews’, but that He said, ‘I am the King of the Jews’." Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

And so for there for all the world to see, three languages. What did it say on the cross? The King of the Jews. Indeed He is. And Pilate was used by God to pay this tribute to Him. Back to John 11. The Bible says now, verse 51, “Now He did not say this from himself.” That is, the Lord was at work. The Lord was at work overruling in such a way that though He was expressing His wickedness, yet He was paying tribute to the gospel. What an awesome God we have.

It ought to settle your heart, even with all that is currently transpiring in the Middle East, to settle your heart, God is in control. God is sovereign. The Lord is at work. Notice what else it says. “Now he did not say this from himself”. – verse 51, – “but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation.” That is, even though this man was unsaved, God used the office to declare His truth concerning His Son. This man is the high priest. So God used the man in that office to give forth this word of prophecy. Here's a man who doesn't know God, but is being used by God, nevertheless. He's a man who doesn't deserve to be in the office that God ordained, yet God is using the office.

What Pastor MacArthur writes here is really helpful. He explains that Caiaphas, "did not say this on his own initiative. It does not mean that he was forced to act against his will. He was no puppet. He was responsible for his own wicked words, but God providentially invested those words with a meaning that he did not intend. In his capacity as high priest, and hence technically by office, God's spokesman, God ordained an opposite meaning when Caiaphas prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation. He spoke cynical words of political expediency, claiming that Jesus must die to preserve the Sanhedrin's power and the nation's existence. However, Caiaphas unwittingly spoke prophetically of Christ's sacrificial death," – and I love this last part, – "God sovereignly turned his wicked blasphemous words into truth,"

Caiaphas thought he was saying, listen, we've got to sacrifice this one man, Jesus, in order that we all not go under and lose our privileges. That's what he thought, but he was unconsciously summarizing the gospel. One man should die for the people, that the whole nation should not perish. He was unconsciously telling us things that the scriptures tell us with a different sense.

You know there are people who prophesy in the name of the Lord, and who make true prophecies even though they themselves may not believe them. The Lord Jesus speaks about those who prophesy in His name. He will say to them, "I never knew you," Matthew 7, "depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness."

That raises a question at this point for us, by way of implication. How do you want to be used? How do you want to be used? Do we realize that ultimately, when it's all said and done, every human being ever made will in some way be used to tell the truth about God? Do you understand that? Let that sink in. Every single human being ever made will in some way be used to tell the truth about God. Every human being, one day, those who are in hell will be used by God to demonstrate the justice of God, the righteous wrath of God, the holiness of God. We're all going to be used to tell the truth about God. The question is, how do you want to be used?

I thought about this as a servant of Christ, and what a miserable thing it would be to be used by God, to see others come to faith in Christ, and be someone who himself did not know Christ. Wouldn't it be horrible to preach to others and to see others saved and to see others brought into the joy of knowing Christ, others brought into the family, the kingdom of Christ, and yet you yourself not know Him? What a horrible thing.

You, no doubt, have shared the gospel with someone. Those of you who claim to know Christ, you share the gospel, but the question is, have you experienced the gospel? Many years ago, I had someone who asked if they could bring their friend to meet with me so that they could share the gospel with them, and I remember sitting in that coffee shop and sharing the gospel with that individual, that friend, that day. And that friend walked away, but guess what? The person who brought the friend came to saving faith, having heard the gospel.

Have you experienced the gospel? You told someone else about Christ, but do you know Christ? How do you want to be used? I want to be used while loving Him. I want to be used while belonging to Him. I want to be used in a way where I'm willing with my whole heart to serve Him, and I hope that's what you would want, too, as well. Listen, I'd much rather not be a servant of Christ and be a Christian than to be a servant of Christ and not be a Christian. I want to declare the truth of the one whom I love, I know, I serve.

And here's a man, he's in an office, and he's being used, but he doesn't even know God. And what does he say? He tells us why Christ would die. This is the prophecy. Look at it. Verse 51: "Now he did not say this from himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad." Why was Jesus going to die? He was going to die so that others would not perish. He was going to die not only for the children of God who belong to the nation of Israel, but for the children of God who did not belong to the nation of Israel, those scattered abroad, talking about Gentiles, Jews and Gentiles.

It was fitting the call to worship portion from scripture. Back in chapter 10:16, remember the Lord Jesus said, "I have other sheep, which are not from this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice: and they will become one flock with one shepherd." That's included too. The Lord Jesus shall die and also as a result of His death, the children of God who are scattered abroad now shall be gathered together into the family of God. So He's dying for those within Israel. He's dying for those children of God outside of Israel and He's going to die a vicarious death and that is found in this prophecy as well.

That is for the people. That little word for the people. The people. This is what Caiaphas said. Do you not understand? It's better for you that one man die for the people in their place, in their stead. It's how Jesus died. That's why Jesus died. In our place. In our stead. It was a substitutionary death.

I love what S. Lewis Johnson said at this point. He writes, "Well that one man should die for the people, the whole nation should perish not, is to summarize, Caiaphas preaches elimination, but God preaches substitution.” – I love that. He says, “we will eliminate Him in order that we may have our privileges. God says, Yes, the language is the same, but the real meaning is He dies as a substitute. Caiaphas says, Substitute Jesus in order that the nation may live. God says, Substitute Jesus as the sacrifice that men who believe in Him may justly have eternal life because the Lord Jesus pays the penalty for their sins,"

That's what we celebrate today, beloved. Jesus died so that you and I wouldn't. Not only He was going to die a vicarious death, but He was going to die a particular death, a particular death for the children of God. Did you notice how that's put? Who's He dying for? For the children of God who are scattered abroad. They are not yet children of God, and yet in the heart of God they are destined for salvation. And in that sense they are children of God. Same sense in which Jesus said, "I have other sheep, not others fold, and I must bring them also, and they're going to be one fold with one shepherd." Same meaning. Not yet a believer, not yet in the family, yet in the heart and the mind of Almighty God. It has already been planned, settled, and Christ is dying for those who will be saved.

This is particular redemption. This is definite atonement. This is actual atonement. It's not really us who have the limited atonement. It is really the Armenian who has the limited atonement, because we say all those for whom Christ died will certainly absolutely be saved. No limitation in its power, no limitation in its efficacy, no limitation in its saving ability. Those for whom Christ died will be in heaven. Period. Paragraph.

Others would have us believe that Christ died in a general sort of death just hoping that someone would take advantage of it, and so you have millions and millions of souls for whom Christ died according to them, yet they're going to be in hell one day. As Spurgeon once said,"Well they can have their atonement. I don't want any part of it. I believe that the death of Jesus secured the salvation of all those for whom He died. Period."

Isaiah 53:8. You see the scripture, plethora of scripture. Verse 8: "By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And asked for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living, That for the transgression of my people, striking was due to Him?" In Matthew 1:21, "she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Matthew 20:28, "just as a Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” For many. John 10:11, "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life” – for who? –  “for the sheep."

Ephesians 5:25, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her." The church. Titus 2:14, "who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all lawlessness, and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good works." He gave His life for us, for the church, for those who know Him. He gave His life so that He might purify for Himself a people for His own possession.

And of course Hebrews 2:10: "For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of On; for which reason He is not ashamed." – Now watch this. – "to call them brothers saying, I will recount Your name to My brothers in the midst of the assembly I will sing Your praise. And again” –  verse 13, – "I will put My trust in Him. And again" and I love this, "Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me." Christ is declaring, "I and the children whom God has given Me." For His brothers, for the children of God, for those that He brought to glory. He brings many sons to glory and He appears before the Father and He says, "Behold I and the children whom God has given Me." He dies for them. He saves them by His own death. He redeems them. He purchases them. He sets them free.

Caiaphas didn't know what he was saying but that's what he said. “Now he did not say this from himself,” – verse 51 in John 11 – “but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.”

And then God's word says, verse 53, John 11: "So from that day on they planned together to kill Him." And as we read further, we see that the word was put out: If you know where He is, you gotta let us know. We're gonna arrest Him. You gotta tell us. And Jesus retreated until He would make His entry into Jerusalem.

And He retreats because He would give Himself voluntarily at the time appointed by the Father, which leads us now to the aftermath. Back to John 11. The aftermath. Verses 53 to 57. Now the Sanhedrin makes active plans to catch and kill Jesus. In fact, Matthew 26:4 puts it this way: "and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him." You know what I find really amazing? Think about this. A resurrected Lazarus led to a crucified Jesus. Stunning.

Jesus then made sure that He was not walking in plain sight. He takes refuge in a nearby city, Ephraim. But here's the problem. It's Passover again. It's Passover again. And by the way, this is the third Passover in the Gospel of John. Remember the first? He cleansed the temple in chapter 2. The second, He feeds 5,000, chapter 6. And this is the third Passover. This is why we know Jesus' ministry was at least three years.

Passover requires men to come up to Jerusalem, you remember. So what's Jesus going to do? And you got all this speculation. Speculation is rife and is He going to come up? Will He avoid it? He has to come to obey the law of Moses. But if He does come, He's walking into a trap. Verse 57 puts it plainly: "Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might seize Him."

But you know what? We've seen this before, right? You remember? It wouldn't happen a moment before God sovereignly or God's sovereignty decreed it. Not even one moment. When it was the exact moment, the right time, God used the stubborn unbelief of the Sanhedrin to put Jesus on the cross.

And that's why in Acts chapter 2, Peter looks at the people in Jerusalem who had consented to the crucifixion of Jesus and he says this to them in Acts 2 verse 22 and 23: "just as you yourselves know– this Man, delivered over” – now watch the language – “by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of lawless men and put Him to death." Sovereignty and unbelief.

And here as we see their plot, we see that the ways that sinful nature, wicked sinful nature, tries to sustain its unbelief. The Sanhedrin have decided Jesus is a threat regardless of whether He's the Messiah. So they set up a system to eliminate Him, to make sure they get rid of Him. Stubborn unbelief finds a way to maintain its unbelief.

Maybe you're sitting here this morning and you think, well, those were terrible, terrible people, weren't they? Well, let me tell you, they were terrible people, but let me tell you something. It's not something in the past, beloved. It's not something in the past. Think about the human heart. It does the same thing today. It does.

Remember Romans 1:18? It says people “suppress the truth in unrighteousness”. Now think about that. They actually actively suppress the truth in unrighteousness. That's the language of what? Censorship. Censorship. People make sure the truth doesn't get out and annoy them again. Remember too much light in the eye?

So what do we do? Want to make sure the truth doesn't get out and annoy us again, they think. So what do they do? We create ways of life that pretend God is not there. That we're not sinners. That Jesus really never came. Large-scale systems that include our educational systems from preschool up to university to adult education, our whole entertainment industry, our media, our journalism, much of our law today is going in this direction. Our political systems, our scientific establishments, they sustain unbelief and they eliminate God.  They make sure: don't mention God, don't refer to Him, don't pray to Him, don't expect Him, don't worship Him.

Why? Because we despise, we attack, and we want to maintain our independence, our autonomy. It's that self-interest that aggravates unbelief, and we will not have this man to reign over us, and we will not let Him take our place. And if you live in that system from the earliest age, that God does seem unreal, far away, mythical, harmless, but beloved, this unbelief is not something that God is unable to deal with. It's not some separate story that God is not writing. It's part of His story. Oh, it is, it is part of His story.

Every story needs protagonists and antagonists, good and bad, and antagonists, good guys, bad guys, heroes, villains. And so if you choose to continue down that path of unbelief, you become by your own stubborn choice the official opposition. To who? How absurd for a puny, tiny creature of the dust to oppose Almighty God.

Remember Psalm 2? Turn with me there as we conclude. We'll wrap up with this. Psalm 2, the very first verse is talking about this ridiculous posture of unbelief. "Why do the nation's rage and the people's meditate on a vain thing?" It's a vain, it's a vain and empty thing. Really, it's a vain, empty thing to oppose God. It says, "The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together” – just like the Sanhedrin, right? – “Against Yahweh and against His anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!" We don't want them to rule over us. We don't want them to rule us. They plot, they scheme the self-interest of men.

But here, the next, next verses in Psalm 2, here comes the sovereignty of God, the absolute sovereignty of God that accomplishes His will, no matter what. "He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord mocks them. Then He speaks to them in His anger, And terrifies them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain." – I am doing what I want. And no one can stop it. God will triumph. And He says this to His son, in spite of all this plotting, He says to the Messiah, verse 8, "Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth as your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like a potter's vessel."

So with all of that ridiculous unbelief and opposition, and with that sovereignty of God on display, what does the psalmist advise us? Look at verse 10. "So now, O kings, show insight; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Serve Yahweh with fear And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He becomes angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him." In other words, believe in Him while you have opportunity, before it's too late. Give Him His place. Let Him take your place.

Don't fear that when He takes His place as Lord over your life, that it will be a bad thing or a negative thing, because we read in scripture His yoke is what? It's easy. And His burden is light. It will only, listen, it will only remove from your heart that which should have never been there in the first place. A corrupt nature usurping God's place, saying we will not have Him to reign over us. Unbelievable unbelief, driven by selfish stubbornness. But there is a staggering sovereignty offering you today life and peace.

A.W. Tozer said it well when he said this, "unbelief will destroy the best of us, but faith will save the worst of us."

 I want to finish this morning by asking you this, did Jesus die for you? Did He die for you? This is one of the real problems that people have with the idea of particular redemption, redemption or actual atonement. They say well we can't go to the world and proclaim Christ's death if He didn't die for everyone, but you know what's interesting is that when you see the preaching of the gospel in the New Testament, you don't find the Apostles and the disciples preaching Jesus died for you. You just find them preaching Christ died for sinners and He was raised from the dead and if you will repent of your sins and trust in Christ, you will be saved.

So here's the answer to the question of did Christ die for you? Here's the answer, do you want Him? Do you want Him? Are you willing to repent of your sins and run to Him in faith and trust in Him as your Lord and your Savior, giving Him your life? And if that is your desire, I've got news, good news for you, He died for you. He died for you. But if you don't want Him, why do you care? Why do you care? Why do you complain? If you don't want Him anyway, what, what does it matter? You don't have any great interest in His death anyway.

Anyone who wants Christ genuinely, wants the Lord Jesus, know this, you will not be refused. That's the good news of the gospel. That's the gospel that we proclaim. Whosoever will may come. And once you've come, you will realize He loved you before you were ever born and He gave Himself to save you from your sins. That's good news. So come to Him. Delay no more. This is the day of opportunity. His arms are wide open. Resist no more. Postpone no more. Rationalize no more. Give yourself to Him. Repent and turn to Him and be saved. And He will receive you. And He will forgive your sins. And He will embrace you as one of His own. And He will make you part of His family.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

It's really amazing, it's an amazing thing, how two human beings, both blessed with the ability to think, both blessed with the ability to reason, to contemplate, can be presented with the exact same information, the exact same situation, the exact same evidence. If a case is being made, they hear the exact same arguments, and yet these two people who are both blessed with the ability to think and to reason can come to completely, completely different conclusions. We see that around us every day, don't we? It happens every day—human beings exposed to the same information yet come to two different conclusions, opposite conclusions.

Think about all that's debated in our culture. People debate politics, they debate issues that are mentioned in the news about this and that and the other, and they talk about court decisions and what they think is right and what they think is wrong. They debate things that are important, they debate things that are completely unimportant, trivial. And what's often startling when you pay attention to these debates is the ability that people have to only accept the information that seems to agree with the position that they already hold.

How often it is that they come to a situation, they've already had a conclusion in their mind, and so the information that seems to accord with what they already believe—well, they accept that. They hold on to that. How often it is that they come to a situation and do exactly the same thing. And how easy it is for human beings to just sweep away the information that would expose their wrong thinking or that could lead them to a different conclusion. And that's something, beloved, that belongs to sinful human nature.

Do we realize today that only God can give an honest heart? Only God can give an honest heart. Do you realize that only God can give someone a heart that really wants the truth? And wants the truth in a way that we could describe as desperate—a desperate desire for the truth. That is, no matter what it means for me, no matter what I have to repent of, no matter what I have to recant, no matter how it would expose me and make evident that I thought wrongly about something, all that I want is God. All that I want is the truth. I just want the truth. That kind of desperate. Only God, only God can produce that in a human soul.

Because what has happened as a result of the fall in Genesis 3 is that we don't have an honest heart. We don't. We don't have an honest heart. "The heart is deceitful, above all else is desperately wicked. Who can understand it?" He does. Men are not born with honest hearts. In fact, men are born with a hopeless bias against light, against the truth. When you talk about spiritual truth especially, understand it. When it comes to the natural man, to man as he's born in Adam, what is right is objectionable to him. What is wrong is pleasurable to him.

In the language of Isaiah, right is wrong and wrong is right and sweet is bitter and bitter is sweet. Everything is upside down, everything is inverted. And so he takes all the spiritual evidence—man in his fallenness, in his Adamic nature—and he sees it all through the prism of a heart that doesn't want the truth. We've seen that before in the Gospel of John, didn't we? John chapter 3 verse 19 puts it this way: "And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. And everyone who does evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light, lest his deeds be exposed." A hopeless bias against the Light, against the truth, and all the information is sifted through this heart and through this mind that doesn't want to see the truth—a dishonest heart, a biased heart.

I bring this up this morning because we see an example of this right here in this chapter. We see the actions of Jesus, we see the attitudes of Jesus, we hear the words of Jesus, and we're going to even see Him raise Lazarus from the dead. And you have a group of people, all of whom are exposed to the same actions, the same attitudes, the same words, and the same miraculous deed. Yet what you will see in this chapter is emerging two conflicting perspectives. Some have faith, others do not. Some believe, others do not. Some, at the end of the day, are going to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; others are going to leave the scene and tell on Him, report it to the Pharisees. Same information, same evidence, but two completely different, starkly different conclusions. And the way you explain the difference in conclusion is the condition of the heart, the condition of the mind.

We'll see that this morning and next week, Lord willing. But where I want us to begin this morning, I want us to begin with the indignation of Christ to set the context. The indignation of Christ (point number one), the indignation of Christ. And I want us to return to something that was mentioned last Lord's Day because we need to be clear on this, or else we will not rightly interpret the Scripture here, this text. Back in verse 33, when it says that Jesus was deeply moved: "When Jesus therefore saw her crying, and the Jews who came with her also crying," here it is, "He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled."

There's a Greek word translated "deeply moved," and we have to figure out what it means. I mentioned it last Lord's Day; I want to come back to it because it is critical for us this morning. *embrimáomai* (ἐμβριμάομαι) is the Greek word, and this word is used in extra-biblical Greek literature to refer to the snorting of a horse preparing for a battle—the snorting of a horse preparing for a battle. Calvin views it as Jesus gearing up for the conflict as our champion in the battle against sin and death. Literally, this word means to roar, to storm with anger, to be enraged, to be indignant. It expresses indignation against someone.

And you recall last week that was mentioned concerning this verse, that I believe that has to do with indignation—that Jesus was indignant here. He was angry. There's something here that upset Him. But let me say this at this point: there are some really sound interpreters who don't agree with that—men who we greatly respect and greatly benefit from their work in the Lord. One of them is James Montgomery Boyce. He believes that the word here ought to be just understood as simply strong emotion. Here's his point, here's why he takes this position: he says there's nothing here in the context that would explain Jesus being angry. And so he sees it as just a strong emotion. Jesus is moved by the tears of Mary, moved by the tears of the mourners, he says, and so He's just feeling strong emotion here.

The problem with that is that in every other place where this Greek word is used—aside from the extra-biblical literature—but everywhere, in every place that this Greek word is used in the New Testament, you have the idea connected to it, the idea of indignation or sternness. Every other place. And I want you to see those places with me—three other places outside of John 11.

Turn with me to Matthew 9. Matthew 9:27 and following. We read there (a sweet sound to my ear, these pages being flipped, by the way, I just want to mention that, I don't think I have mentioned in a long time), verse 27: "As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, 'Have mercy on us, Son of David!' And when He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, 'Do you believe that I am able to do this?' They said to Him, 'Yes, Lord.' Then He touched their eyes, saying, 'It shall be done to you according to your faith.' And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, 'See that no one knows about this.'"  The word translated "sternly warned" is the same Greek word we have in our text, *embrimaomai* (ἐμβριμάομαι).

Mark 1:40. Mark 1:40: "And a leper came to Jesus, pleading with Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, 'If You are willing, You can make me clean.' And moved with compassion, He stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, 'I am willing; be cleansed.' And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed."
Verse 43: "And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away."
The word "sternly warned" is the same Greek word.
Mark 14:5:  Mark 14:5, we read: "For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii and given to the people." And they were, what? "Scolding her."

The word "scolding" is the same Greek word—actually, in this case, translated "scolding" rather than "sternly warning." And so the previous verse, by the way, describes them as being indignant, and as a result of being indignant, they scolded her.

A. T. Robertson, in his Word Pictures in the Greek New Testament, he says this, speaking of this word, this Greek word. He says, and I quote: "It means to snort with anger like a horse. It occurs in the Septuagint in Daniel 11:30 for violent displeasure. The notion of indignation is present in the other examples of this word in the New Testament, so it seems best to see that sense here and in verse 38," referring to John 11.

By the way, notice the same word is used in verse 38 in our text in John 11, where it says: "So Jesus, again being deeply moved,"—same word—"within, deeply moved within, came to the tomb."

Another Greek New Testament scholar, Robertson, says this, and I quote: "Every other place that it is used," referring to this Greek word, "including the Septuagint translation of Daniel 11:30, where it means violent displeasure—in every other instance, there is this flavor of indignation or anger or sternness."

Another one, Alfred Plummer, the Cambridge Greek New Testament, says this of this word: in all cases, as in classical Greek and in the *Septuagint*, it expresses not sorrow, but indignation of severity. It means, number one, literally of animals to snort, to growl; secondly, metaphorically, to be very angry or indignant; and thirdly, to command sternly under the threat of displeasure. Zodiatis says the same things. He says it means to be enraged, indignant, to express indignation against someone. And so, when you say, we're just going to think of it as a strong emotion, understand that that doesn't really capture what is contained in the usage of this word in every other place where this word is used.

Every other place that it's used, it carries the idea of sternness, scolding, or indignation. So, when we come to this verse, really, one is compelled to say, if we're consistent with how this word is used everywhere else, we have to see indignation here. So that raises the question that Boyce dismisses, and that is, is there anything in the context that would explain the indignation of Jesus? If there's indignation here, is there something here that would explain His anger? And of course, His anger is always righteous anger, righteous indignation.

If there's indignation here, so what is it that would explain that? And I believe there is. I believe there's something in the context that would speak of the anger of Jesus, and we touched on it last Lord's Day. There are a couple of things offered as to an explanation that I don't completely agree with, but let me give them to you just so you can think about those things yourself.

Some say that Jesus is angry here, and what He's angry about is death itself, that He's just upset with what death does. B. B. Warfield compared it to a warrior on his way to do battle with a great enemy. S. Lewis Johnson, quoting Warfield, said, it is the opinion of Warfield that Jesus was not moved by uncontrollable grief, but irrepressible anger. And why? He was angry at the violent tyranny of death, and He was advancing against it as, "a champion who prepares for conflict, gazing into the skeleton face of the world. He saw the awful reign of death everywhere, and He was deeply disturbed". So they say, yeah, He was angry, and what He was angry about is the tyranny of death.

Some say—here's a second explanation—some say it had to do with the mourning of all who were weeping. So Jesus, they're saying, Jesus looked at the weeping of Mary, and Jesus looked at the weeping of the mourners, and the weeping of everyone else, and He was troubled because their weeping didn't reflect faith. That is, they were mourning as those who have no hope. Well, I like this one better than the first one because at least there's a direct connection to weeping. I want you to notice with me, if you just look closely at the verse, verse 33, you have to connect His being deeply moved with the weeping. "When Jesus therefore saw her crying, and the Jews who came with her also crying, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled."

So I see the deeply moved as being connected with the weeping, but the problem that I have with the second one is knowing what we know of our Savior, right? Knowing how He deals with people throughout the Gospels, I don't believe that He would have been angry with the weeping of Mary since it was a sincere weeping. She was sincere in her weeping, and this is why Beuys rejects it. Because is the Lord Jesus angry with Mary as she weeps over her brother? I don't think that's the case at all.

Which leads to the third explanation and the one that I fully embrace, and that is that this anger had to do with the mourning of the religionists, the hypocrites. There's actually a contrast in verse 33. There's the weeping of Mary, which was sincere grief, and then there's the wailing of the professional mourners, a prescribed weeping. And you remember in our studies of this chapter, right? We saw this last couple of times, and we talked about the funeral traditions in Judaism—dead Judaism at this time—how they would hire professional wailing women, the flute players. They would go through the prescribed ritual of mourning over the dead.

And I believe that Jesus saw in that the hypocrisy that really marked the entirety of this decadent Judaism at this time, embodied in the Pharisees. Plummer expresses it very well. He says, and I quote, "What was He angry at? He was indignant at seeing the hypocritical and sentimental lamentations of His enemies, the Jews, mingling with the heartfelt lamentations of His loving friend Mary. Hypocrisy ever roused His anger." And Pastor MacArthur picks up on this. He says, and I quote, "Jesus appears to have been angry not only over the painful reality of sin and death, of which Lazarus was a beloved example, but also with the mourners who were acting like the pagans who have no hope."

And I believe that's the best possibility. Let me share four reasons why.

It  fully agrees with what we know about the superficial way that Judaism handled everything, including death. Talked about last week how they, or the week before, about how they had prescribed a rending of garments for the mourners. You were to rend your outer garment a hand's breadth. And if you were mourning over a child, it would never be sewn up again. But if you were mourning over someone else, then after 30 days it was sewn up again.

You had 30 days of prescribed mourning. The first three were days of weeping. The seven were days of lamentation. So then you have 30 days of sorrow. All of it, so mechanical, so official, so prescribed, so superficial. And the professional wailing women at times would carry this out to the point where they would start pulling their hairs out. It was all prescribed. And as Jesus was angry with hypocrisy—and you will notice in the Gospel—the harshest things that He had to say, what do they always have to do with? Hypocrisy. Duplicity. The hypocritical, insincere, duplicitous external religion of the day.

This explanation connects His being moved with the weeping. It also connects His being moved in verse 38 with the same group. Look at it. Look at verse 37 first: "But some of them said, 'Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind have kept this man also from dying?'" These mourners, they come out with this statement in verse 37. And I'm going to submit to you this morning that I believe there was a mocking in the statement. There was at least, at the very least, sinful questioning in the statement.

And on the heels of that, verse 38, we read: "So Jesus, again being deeply moved within,"—same word, again, angry, indignant—"came to the tomb." So just as He would have been angry with a superficial mourning in verse 33, so now He is angry again, righteously indignant with the mocking and the questioning that came out of the same group in verse 37.  This also explains, would explain, the attitude that's present in verse 37. You see, we have to determine what are they actually saying in verse 37? What is their attitude in their words? What's coming out? What is being shown to be their attitude by their words?

This also, by the way, fully accords with what we're going to see in verse 46. Verse 45—this is after He raises Lazarus from the dead—then we read in verse 46: "Therefore many of the Jews who,"—verse 45—"Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what He had done believed in Him. But some of them..." I mean, think about this, and we'll get there, Lord willing. After all of this, after all of this, "some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things what Jesus had done." There's no doubt but that you have enemies of Jesus present in this setting. You have those with close relationships to the Pharisees now reporting back to the Pharisees about what had taken place.

And so to see Jesus indignant, angry with the religionists of the day, fits the picture. And so we see the indignation of Jesus. And now that leads us to, secondly—and I want us to see this morning—the insults of the Jews, the mocking of the scoffers. Verse 37: if we're right in our understanding of the passage, and I believe we are, then what you have here is a statement made to be insulting, to be undermining, to be mocking. Some of the Jews recognize that Jesus had a love for Lazarus. But others looked at the same actions of Jesus, there in Perea, and the attitude of Jesus expressed in His tears in Bethany, and they looked at the same things, but they had a different sentiment—different sentiment. They had an accusation that they wanted to hurl in His direction, that they wanted to cast aspersion on His character.

What exactly was their accusation? Well, I'm going to give you some possibilities. They may all have an element of truth, but some possibilities as to what they mean—the attitude—in verse 37. One, this may be an accusation concerning Christ's abilities. Verse 37, concerning Christ's abilities. You'll notice they reference the blind man: "Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind man...?" Remember back in chapter 9, the blind man? This miracle must have left a lasting impression on these people. They're still talking about it: "Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man also from dying?"

Perhaps they were still questioning the ability of Jesus to actually perform miracles. Now, I know that seems astounding that anyone could question it, but we know without a doubt that there were people who still would not attribute the work of Jesus to God, right? They would still not admit that He was doing the works of God. And so it could be that they were saying, you know, where was His power when it came to His friend? Does He really have any? He opened the eyes of the blind, but could He have not taken care of His friend?

You say, would people mock Him that way? We know that they would mock Him that way. You know where my mind is going, right? Because what did they say when Jesus was on the cross? Matthew 27:42: "He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him." What were they seeing when He was hanging upon Calvary's cross? Well, they thought they were seeing someone who is powerless, impotent. They thought they were seeing someone who supposedly could save others, but when it came to Himself—well, He can't save Himself. "If You come down from the cross, we'll repent. We'll believe," mocking Him.

That's one possibility. But there's a second possibility in terms of the meaning and the attitude of verse 37. This could be an accusation not concerning His abilities, but concerning His affections. Maybe they were saying, "Look at His tears." Remember, they say in verse 36, "Behold, see, look at the tears," one group said. "See how He loved him. How He loved him." And this other group now would be saying, "Yeah, look at the tears. If He really loved this man, why didn't He keep him from dying? That's real love. Really, real love. Why did He not keep him from dying?" Well, that could be what they were doing—accusing Christ in terms of His real affection for this man. "Could not He have kept this man from dying?"

It could also be an accusation concerning Christ's actions in the third place. Now, you remember Martha and Mary both—they talked about this, no doubt, over the four days. Their brother's dead in the tomb. So that when they come to the Lord, verse 32: "When Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, fell at His feet, saying to Him, 'Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.'" Martha made the same statement, you remember, earlier in verse 21. And you remember, we saw together, this was not a statement of accusation on the part of Mary and Martha. They know that their brother died the same day that the messenger was sent to Jesus. And this is actually an expression of faith. A statement of regret really bound up in it. "We know if You had been here," there's a willingness. "You had a willingness to help our brother. We know that You had the ability to help our brother. If You had been here, he wouldn't be dead." That's how they mean it.

But it may be that these religionists, hypocrites, have picked up on the words of Martha and Mary and filled their words with an entirely different meaning. "Why wasn't He here? Why wasn't He here? Why didn't He come? Couldn't He have saved his friend?" So that you have two groups of people who witness the same tears, same emotions of this perfect man, the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. But they are seeing the same tears, coming to two different conclusions at the end of it.

Now let me ask you this morning, how do you explain the difference? How do you explain the difference? I said it a moment ago, but let me underscore it. You explain the difference based upon the condition of the heart. You explain the difference based upon the condition of the heart. You have scoffers and you have believers. And then you have a third group. They're not yet believers, but they're not scoffing.

Scoffers. Scoffers. Are there scoffers today? Are there people who see the exact same evidence that the Holy Spirit used to bring you and I to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Are there people who see the exact same evidence, hear the exact same arguments, are exposed to the same, the exact same, information, but they don't believe on the Lord Jesus? Absolutely. Absolutely.

So let me close this morning with the remaining time that we have with a word about scoffers. Let's look at the individuality of a scoffer. What marks a scoffer? A word about a scoffer. And if you are a scoffer sitting in one of those chairs here this morning—now you may not be outwardly a scoffer, but maybe you sit here week after week and in your heart you are just scoffing—if you're a scoffer, I pray to God that He would help you to see yourself. To see yourself.

Because there may be a scoffer here with us this morning. There may be someone, a young person who's been brought by their parents, and that's why they're here. That's why you're here. Maybe a husband brought by his wife. That's why you're here. Maybe a wife brought by her husband. Maybe that's why you're here. A friend brought by another friend. You're not a believer, and you scoff at the truth of Christianity. You scoff at the Gospel.

And it's not a lack of information. It's not a lack of evidence that you're not a Christian. It has to do with the condition of your heart. The condition of your mind. And if that's you this morning, I pray, I pray and plead that in the grace and mercy of God that you would be able to recognize yourself. Proverbs 14 and verse 6 puts it this way: "A scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none." "A scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none. But knowledge," and I love this, "but knowledge is easy to one who has understanding." For someone who's been given understanding by the Lord, knowledge comes easy. But for someone who doesn't want to see, they don't see.

No matter how much information, no matter how much evidence, no matter how powerful, undeniable the evidence is—I mean, is this not powerful evidence they're about to see? I mean, how could you ignore that? Is this not undeniable evidence they're about to see? Yet they still go away scoffing, reporting it to the Pharisees. What can we say this morning about a scoffer? Number one, a scoffer takes what is harmless and uses it for harm. A scoffer takes what is harmless and uses it for harm.

If the people in verse 37 are picking up on the words of Martha and Mary, when Mary and Martha said, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died," their words did not contain any venom. Their words reflected an honest lack of understanding, a limited faith, an uninformed faith—not fully informed. They had no idea even after Jesus told them, and we'll see that next time, Lord willing, they had no idea what the Lord was about to do. But in their frailty, in their limitations, they were still expressing affection for the Lord Jesus and an affirmation of His ability to do what only God could do. They're still expressing faith, but it's still limited.

But those in verse 37 had picked up on the same language, yet their words were filled with something entirely different. There was an accusation. There was venom in what they were saying. And this is what scoffers do. They take what is harmless and they twist it. They use it in their minds to justify unbelief. Have you noticed in our times and days and our culture the attack all around us in the media, entertainment industry against the person, the nature of our Lord Jesus Christ? Have you noticed the attack on the idea that He was sinless? Divine? All of this in search of the "real Jesus" sort of stuff?

Do you notice one of the threads running through many of these things—the idea that Jesus had a romantic interest in Mary? They take the anointing of Jesus. They take the washing of His feet with her hair. They take her sitting at His feet, running to Him, falling down. They take all of these things that were expressions of a pure love for the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And what do they do? They twist it. They twist it to make it something impure. They take what is harmless and they want to use it for harm—to attack the truth concerning the Lord Jesus Christ—and that's what scoffers do. Innocent words, innocent acts, innocent deeds, and they twist it to attack the gospel.

There's a second thing that we could say about scoffers, and that is, and by the way, when you think about that, I think of Titus 1:15: "To the pure all things are pure," right? "But to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled." They always ascribe ill motive. But secondly, a scoffer ignores the evidence that would negate his conclusion. A scoffer would always, always ignore the evidence that would negate his conclusion. We talked about it earlier this morning. What does a scoffer do? He does what sinful humanity does. He only accepts the information that agrees with his position, the position he already holds. And he sweeps away anything else that would expose his ignorance and his error. And you see them here exactly doing the same thing. They're attacking the actions of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're saying, why wasn't He here? Why didn't He help His friend? And we've already learned He could not have been here.

Now, let me put in parenthesis, as we know, He could have healed Lazarus with a word from a distance. We know that, but the scoffers don't believe that anyway. So they're not picking up on that. So they're saying, why wasn't He here? Well, you know what? He couldn't have been here. He couldn't have. Lazarus died on the day the messenger was sent. There was no way Jesus could have been there. But we've learned it in our own experience, haven't we? That doesn't matter to a scoffer, does it? It doesn't matter that He could have been this or could have been that. It doesn't matter whatsoever. They seize on anything that they can use and they hold on to it to justify their sinful, unbelieving position.

Let me ask you, I mean, maybe this will resonate with you. You've had discussions, no doubt, with friends, relatives, people you care about, and you make every effort prayerfully to point them to Christ, to lead them to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you notice how they will grasp at straws to hold on to their unbelieving position? They'll seize on anything reported in the media, any failure of any Christian leader, any failure of any believer they know, whether it makes sense or it doesn't make sense, whether it's valid or invalid. It doesn't matter. Looking for something to hold on to where a person can say, I'm justified in not believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Why are they doing it? Because they have a scoffer's heart. Because they have a scoffer's heart, a scoffer's mentality. This is what a scoffer does. He ignores the evidence that would negate his conclusion.

Could that be you today, my friend? Is that the kind of heart you have this morning? Not an honest heart, not a good heart, not the kind of soil where the seed falls, takes root, bears fruit, but rather a stony heart, a weed-infested heart, where the Word of God cannot take root because you're looking for reasons to stay in your place of unbelief.

There's a third thing we could say about a scoffer. A scoffer has no appreciation for the beauty that is spiritually appraised. A scoffer has no appreciation for the beauty that is spiritually appraised. A scoffer has no appreciation for the beautiful things of the gospel, no appreciation for the beautiful themes you find in Scripture, the beauty that's found in God, in Christ. That's why we're warned about casting our what? Pearls, precious things, before swine who have no appreciation—no appreciation for the preciousness, the beauty of the things that have to do with the beautiful gospel.

Even in our text here, isn't it a beautiful thing to behold that the Lord Jesus, the Creator of all things, God the Son, wept? Wept. And we talked about the different words here for crying, weeping. One is *klaíō* (κλαίω),it  has to do with wailing, and the other, the cruel, verse 36, the silent burst into tears of Jesus, out of His love for Mary and Martha and Lazarus. And some, in verse 37, were saying, "See how He loved him." They see in the tears of the Son of God something beautiful. They see in the tears of the Son of God something that speaks of His grace, His love, His sympathy, His mercy, His majesty.

And yet you have another group. They look upon the same exact expression, but they see nothing beautiful there. What they see instead is something to be bothered about. Yeah, yeah, tears, tears—why didn't He do? One group sees beauty, the other group sees something to be bothered at. That hasn't changed, has it? The things that touch our hearts for Christ, the things that move our hearts toward God—isn't it true that our people in this world are absolutely bothered by the same things that move us? I mean, it bothers them, makes them angry. In fact, that which is beautiful to us, they mock, they can't stand.

I mean earlier, just standing here and listening—listening to the voices behind me and the praise of God and the enthusiasm, the heartfelt worship. And you have people who are bothered by this. You people gather on Sunday morning and Sunday night. My goodness, once is not enough? You have to come back Sunday night? How boring is that? Then again on Wednesday, and what do you do? I mean, you come and you sing songs and spend time with each other to pray and to sit and listen to someone talk about a book. These things are beautiful to us, they're sweet. They lift us up—but not beautiful to them.

The gospel, the fact that God has given us the truth—do we have the truth? Do we have the truth? We have the truth. God has given us the truth. What is the truth? 1 Timothy 3:15, "The pillar and support of the truth in this world is the church." What is the church? The pillar and support of the truth—that God has given us the truth. The church is the people, the organism, the body, the place where if you want truth, there the Word of God is taught, there you find the truth concerning life and death and heaven and hell and sin and salvation and reality. The church, the church, the pillar and support of the truth in this world—that's why we want to come together. We want the truth. We love the truth. We follow the truth.

But the world scoffs at that idea. Truth? Like Pilate, they ask, "What is truth?" This is the heart and mind of a scoffer. He doesn't believe in truth. The only truth he believes in is his own, and so what is beautiful to the child of God annoys him, bothers him. It bothers him.

Which leads to the fourth and last thing concerning a scoffer. A scoffer—and this is very sobering—a scoffer is left with the fruit of his scoffing. A scoffer is left with the fruit of his scoffing. We're going to see that more later, but there are some people who had the privilege on this day to see something that very few people ever had the privilege to see. Can you imagine being there? Can you imagine what it was like when Jesus said, "Where have you laid him? Remove the stone," and He puts to calm the concerns of Martha, the sister, "Lord, by this time he smells."

And not as the false teachers do, not with great bravado, and not with some kind of showmanship, not singing subjective man-centered songs until our emotions get to a fever pitch—no, no—but in a very simple fashion, "Lazarus, come forth." And a dead man comes out alive.

Can you imagine being there, and having witnessed what very few people have ever witnessed? There were some who said, "We need to tell on Him. We need to go and tell the Pharisees." Still scoffing instead of believing. And you know what? If that's how they died, they are in hell right now, left with the fruit of their scoffing.

Listen carefully. By far the most terrible and just result of scoffing is a divine taste of their own medicine. Proverbs 3:34, "Though He," God, "He, though He scoffs at the scoffers." Remember Psalm 2? Remember what we read there in Psalm 2? "He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord mocks them. Then He speaks to them in His anger, terrifies them in His fury." Scoffers.
My friend, where will your scoffing take you? What will your scoffing get you? Where will it get you? According to God's Word, it will get you nothing but condemnation, eternal condemnation in hell. But you're offered life this morning. You're offered life this morning. You're offered life in the One who is the resurrection and the life. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.

Do you see the beauty in Him? Do you see the glory of God that's in His face? Do you see here even in His attitudes here in our text, in His actions, the glory of One who is God in human flesh? Do you see the Savior of the world? Do you see the One who is Lord over all? And do you desire Him?

Do you desire Him who is the truth in a desperate way, no matter what it means, no matter what it will cost you, no matter what you have to repent of, no matter what you would have to recant? You just want the truth, and He is the truth. So you'll come running to Him. And I want you to know something. Only God can give you a heart like that. It's not natural to sinful man. Only God. But God is ready and willing to give you, to give you the hope that is all bound up in the gospel—forgiveness of sin. If you turn to Him, will you scoff today? Will you go on scoffing, or will you repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? In the language of the prophet, "Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Come and buy wine and milk without money, without cost."

And listen, why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? You're wasting, squandering your efforts and life on that which does not satisfy by pursuing this and that and the other. There is no satisfaction apart from Him. "Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon His name while He is near. Let the wicked forsake His way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." This is the promise available to you today. God will abundantly pardon your iniquity and your scoffing and your sins. Turn to Him and be saved. I beg you, cease and desist from scoffing and turn to the One who is truth, the truth, the life, and embrace Him as your Lord and Savior. Lest you will reap the fruit of your scoffing—eternal damnation in hell.

Why will you die in your sin? Why will you die in your sin, when you have a Savior with arms wide open, ready to embrace sinners who come to Him by faith?

Oh, and beloved child of God, you who love the truth, you who want the truth, we who love the truth and want the truth and God opened our eyes to see and behold the truth, we ought to fall on our knees and give praise to God because you could have witnessed the raising of a man from the dead and if God had not given you an honest heart, you would have never seen the truth. I would have never seen the truth. God did this for us, for you and for me.

We ought to worship God and sing again and again and again and again, "Behold the man upon a cross, my sin upon His shoulders, ashamed I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers. It was my sin, my sin that held Him there until it was accomplished." And accomplished it was, blessed be God, and He cried out, "It is finished." His dying breath has brought me life, I know that it is finished, forever finished.  "I will not boast in anything, no gifts, no power, no wisdom, but I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer. I cannot give an answer, why? But this I know with all my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom."

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

Last Lord's day, we began to look at verse 1, and we considered the senders being Paul the Apostle, a display of the grace of God in sovereign election towards undeserving sinners. We considered Silas, Silvanus, who is really an example where we see the display of the grace of God shown in his willful willingness to submit and to do the bidding of God's servant Paul to the glory of God, and we saw the grace of God in Timothy on display in his timidity and weakness. Having considered the senders, we want to begin to look at the recipients this evening. And Paul begins verse 1 with how he regards them, and what he writes in verse 1 really reminds us of the supernatural nature of the church.

Beloved, we are living in times where there is a very deficient view of what the church is. You'd agree with me, don't you? A deficient view of what the church is. And as we begin to look at this first verse, I want you to think about your own thoughts concerning the local church. As you sit here, as you consider this together, think about your own thoughts concerning the local church. I want you to think about how you think about the church, particularly this church, this church that you're a part of. What are your thoughts about the church? How do you regard the people of God? In what terms do you think about Christian people as they gather together, as they assemble together to carry out the will of God, to carry out the Great Commission?

How do you think about the church? And compare how you think about the church with how Paul thought about the church and how he describes the church here in verse 1. That's the standard. We don't come up with our own evaluation, right? Verse 1, "Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians, in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace." And beloved, Paul's greetings were not wasteful. They were not wasteful. Oh, well, this is a classic traditional greeting back in the day. No, no, they were not wasteful. This is under inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Every word is inspired, inerrant, infallible. This is God's Word.

I don't know if you ever sometimes just fly by the greeting, but let us not do that because there's meaning here. There's a depth of meaning here. How does Paul describe the church? Well, first of all, he describes the people of God here. He describes those who assembled in the local church. How does he describe them? He describes them, first of all, as a separated group of people. This is how he views the church, a separated group of people. You say, where do you get that from? It's right within that word, translated "church." The word translated "church," this word itself, ‘ekklesia,’ is the Greek word, emphasizes the electing choice of God when it comes to His people, when it comes to His saints. What is the church? It is a group of people who are chosen by God for salvation. A church is a group of people who have been literally called out by God, ‘ekklesia.’ This word, ‘ekklesia,’ is related to the word ‘ekkaleo.’ It's a compound word, ‘ek,’ out of, ‘kaleo’ is to call, therefore, it is “to call out of.” The church is made up of called out ones, elected ones.

Notice verse 4, how he describes them, "knowing, brothers beloved by God, your election” or His choice of you. His choice of you, your election. That's the church. People who have been chosen by God, called out by God. You say called out from what? Called out of what? Well, called out of the world, called out from the kingdom of darkness, called out of the realm of the unbelieving, called out unto faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, called out from to, to be set apart. They are a separated group. That is the ‘ekklesia’ of Christ. That is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are the called out ones. They are a separated group of people.

He reminds them of the true nature of salvation, that out of this international city, thousands upon thousands and thousands of people, there existed a group of people, an assembly of people, and in that large city, there existed an assembly of people who had been called out of the world and brought into the true spiritual union with God through Christ. I want you to think about the city we assemble in. I want you to think about the 353,000 people who live in the city, the largest city in York region, and then realize that gathered into local assemblies all over the city are people who do not belong to the same world system that the majority of the population belong to. But in these local assemblies, if they are indeed true churches made up of true believers, you have people who have been called out by God, elected by God, chosen by God for faith in His beloved Son. That means that the church is not simply or just a crowd. It is not just a gathering of bodies. It's not what the church is, oh, look at the crowd of people on Sunday morning. No, no. That means the goal is not just to see how many seats we can put in this room, how many chairs we can fill in. That means, in fact, if we've got a large crowd but few believers, and we refer to the large crowd as the church, and we don't think about true conversion, true salvation, true faith, then we have completely misunderstood what the church is.

If we take the common mindset about church growth movement that exists in our generation, what do you think is most rejoiced in or more rejoiced in? Do you think there's more joy over how many people showed up on Sunday or how many people are actually walking with Jesus in the midst of the crowd? What's the goal? What's the aim? Just to say we had 200 people or 300 people show up on a given Sunday, that's the goal? Because guess what, if that's the goal, if that's the aim, then let's do whatever it takes to have two or three or four or 500 people show up, and isn't that what basically has happened again and again? Let's do whatever it takes to have so many people show up, and then we'll rejoice in it and we'll call it the work of God, forgetting that there are 20,000 people who show up every time for a hockey game. They must be doing it better, right? If the goal is just how many people show up, where there are large crowds at all kinds of events, and beloved, the church is not a crowd. The church is not a crowd. The church is an assembly of the called out ones, the called out people who have been redeemed, joined to God. That's the church. And anything else, anything else is a mirage if we're calling it the church.

They were a separated group of people. But secondly, look how He thinks of them. He thinks of them as well, not only a separated group of people—He thinks of them as a strategically placed group of people. Because He notes that they are the church of the Thessalonians, right? They're the church of the Thessalonians, the assembly of God's people that are identified as existing in a particular city, in Thessaloniki. Saved out of the population of that city. Saved to exist at this particular time in that city to be a witness to that city and reverberate the gospel and their testimony throughout. There's the church that gathers in Rome, there's the church that gathers in Ephesus, there's the church that gathers in Philippi, the church here gathers in Thessaloniki. This is the people of God who are Thessalonians.

Beloved, do we understand, do we believe that we're not here by accident right now in this city, in this place, at this time, gathered together in this assembly, at this point of our lives? Do we realize there's a strategic purpose to where we're placed, where we are right now, that this is not by happenstance? We've been placed here by God for a purpose, for a reason that has to do with ministry. Do we think in those terms? Why are we here right now? What does God mean to do with us right now? He could have placed us anywhere, but He placed us right here, right here in this place, right now. It's a separated group of people—they're the church. It's a strategically placed group of people—they are the church of the Thessalonians. And thirdly, look how He regards the church, how He thinks of them: they are a supernatural group of people.

They are a supernatural group of people, and this is really the heart of the text, because He describes His church as being—look at the language—"in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

How is the church formed? The church is formed “in” God and Christ. This is the way you're separated out of the world—if you're brought into a spiritual union with God, with Christ. Wherever you find this title—excuse me—this little word translated in English "in" is the Greek word ‘en,’ with reference to Christians being in Christ, or in God, or in the Spirit.
Generally speaking, it refers to union with. This is a good way to put it. You can translate it "union with" every time you see it. In fact, you'll find it helpful to translate it that way here in our text. Let's do it in our text. Look at this: "The church of the Thessalonians —in union with— “God the Father, and —in union with — “the Lord Jesus Christ." A beautiful picture of what it means to be a Christian—to be a Christian and to be part of the church—to be in union with, in union with God, in union with Christ. Powerful ramifications.

He tells the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 6, you're united, you’re joined to Christ, you're in union with Christ. How can you join yourself to a harlot? And you enter into that spiritual union by virtue of the indwelling Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit indwells those who have true saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'll talk more about this in a moment, but notice this is not vague. The church is not made up of people who have some vague faith in God. These are people who are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, in union with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. There is this biblical view of God that has been revealed by God Himself. The church is formed in God and Christ. The church exists in God and Christ. And He describes them in this way, not just to tell them or remind them of how they were formed, but also to remind them how they were now living as a result of this. The church exists in union with God, in union with the Father, in union with the Son. We live our lives with Him as the source of our life, for He is—He is our life.

It's a union that involves the whole person—the entirety of the person: the mind, the affections, and the will. All of me. To be in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ means that my mind has believed and embraced the truth about the Father and about the Lord Jesus Christ. And it also means, as well, that my affections have been drawn out to love this God and to love His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it means to be in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ means that my will has been brought subject to God and to His Son, my Lord and my Master.

To be in union with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ is to have the totality of my being—my mind, my affections, my will, and it goes without saying, my body— to be brought captive, subject to Him, following Him, honoring Him, doing His bidding, and obeying His commands. That's what faith is. Genuine faith is the bond by which we come into this union. That's what faith is. Faith is the activity of the mind embracing the truth revealed, as well as of the affections being drawn out to the One revealed, and the will being brought subject to the Word of God who is revealed.

All three are part of coming into union with Christ. You can't have the first one. You can't have the mind embracing truth, but my affection drawn somewhere else—after something else, after other idols—and the will not being brought subject to the Word of God and being, you know, picky and choosy in terms of, I'll obey this but not that. No, no. It has to be mind, heart, and will. All three. All of me. Anything less than that is not biblical faith. Don't say you believe in Christ unless mind, affections, and will have been brought captive to Him. All of my life brought captive to Him. Anything less, anything less is a pseudo faith. It's a sham faith. It's something less than biblical faith. And will you notice that this union is with God the Father? Now, why does he use the term, the expression, "God the Father"? The concept of God as Father was hinted at in the Old Testament, but as far as its coming out into full revelation, it had to await the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work. It was our Lord Jesus who taught His disciples to pray, "Our Father Who art in heaven." This is a distinctly New Testament concept—that God is our Father.

First John 3:1, "See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we would be called children of God; and we are." All that is bound up in the Father concept of God is that which Paul says was distinctly made known to these people so that they were in union with mind, affection, and will—subject to and drawn out towards God as Father. And we all remember Galatians 4:6, "And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'" And it is the peculiar work of the Holy Spirit to unveil to the broken, penitent, believing soul that He can approach God in that filial freedom of a son to a Father.
Though He is holy, though He is just, though He is sovereign, though He is above me, transcendent, high, lifted up, blessed be God in Jesus Christ, I can come, draw near and call Him Abba, Father. Paul says that distinct position and privilege of this church in Thessaloniki is that they were in God the Father, in union with God the Father. They recognized Him as the One out of whom all good flowed and unto whom all should flow in praise, adoration, and thanksgiving.

Also in this description, this description of them as a supernatural group of people, there's this description of the true nature of Jesus also here. He's described as being one with the Father, and will you please notice with me, and the English really captures it as well, the translation, Paul uses one preposition to modify the statement. Notice how it is, God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, he uses the word in, "in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ," not "in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ," but "in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ," reminding us that the Son is essentially equal with the Father, one in essence in terms of nature, one God existing in three persons. And also as you walk through the chapter, he then refers to the Holy Spirit more than once. So what we have here is we have a Trinitarian view of God, and this Trinitarian view of God emerges right off the bat in this chapter. Look at verse 5 for example, "for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit with full assurance." Look at verse 6, "You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the Word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit." So we have God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and these people have been joined to God, to the Lord. They're in union with God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

And also in that description, the full redemptive nature and work of Jesus Christ is also described. There's so much here in this verse because He's described as the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider the name Jesus. Consider the name Jesus, Isous, Isous, Savior. He's truly human. He's the One who took to Himself a sinless humanity and lived on this earth, Jesus of Nazareth 2,000 years ago. Isous, Yahweh, saves, but not Yahweh above us, not Yahweh outside of us, but Yahweh here among us, one of us, bone of our bones, flesh of our flesh, yet sinless.

God of very God, Emmanuel, God with us, weeping, sighing, crying, bleeding, dying, standing among us, tempted in all things like we are, yet without sin. And Paul says to the Thessalonians, listen, you're in union with One who is Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. They had lovingly and firmly embraced the doctrine of the two natures in the one person, Jesus of Nazareth. Not Yahweh simply up there outside of us, above us, and beyond us, but standing among us in His true humanity.

He says, you are in union, you are in union with Jesus, that Jesus is the Lord, that Jesus who lived on this earth is the Christ, the Christ, ‘Christos,’ the anointed one, the Messiah, that Jesus is the promised Messiah. He is Jesus, but He is also the Christ, the Messiah. He's the promised One who would fulfill God's redemptive plan. And Paul tells the Thessalonians, you are in union with the Christ who binds old and new revelation together. Oh, dear Thessalonians, you are in union with Christ, the anointed One, the true prophet, priest, and king. But He is not only Jesus, God with us. He's not only Christ, the anointed, promised Messiah, but He is ‘Kyrios.’ He is the Lord, the Creator, the Sustainer, the Sovereign Ruler, King over all. He is the highly exalted One, given the name which is above every name. He is the I Am. And Paul says, you Thessalonians, do you know what your position is? Do you know? Do you know concerning your supernatural nature as a church? It's not only one of loving, receiving, embracing Emmanuel—God with us—Christ, the anointed Prophet, Priest, and King, but you are in union with the One who sits upon the throne, the sovereign, triumphant King, Lord of lords, and King of kings. Your minds have received that truth about Him. Your hearts have been drawn out to that kind of a Christ, and your wills have been brought subject, willingly from the heart, subject to Him—a supernatural group of people.

So their position is one of union with the Father and the Christ of Christian theology. Imagine with me, imagine what this would have meant sitting there in the assembly of God's people in Thessaloniki on the Lord's Day morning, and one of the elders stands up to read this letter that has come to them from the Apostle Paul, and it's addressed to the church of the Thessalonians. What is he going to say next? What is he going to say next? They're waiting eagerly. I mean, this is the one who had to leave, torn away from them, and now he writes them this letter to the church of the Thessalonians, and they're eager, sitting on the edge of their seat. What is he going to say next? How is he going to describe them? And he says, "In God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." What a position. What a privilege. A supernatural group of people. This is the ‘ekklesia.’ This is the church. People have been called out. People have been strategically placed. People who were formed by virtue of their union with God the Father through salvation and exist in union with God the Father and the Son. Not God in some vague sense, but God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ with the joy of the Holy Spirit.

This is the church. A separated people. A strategically placed people. A supernatural group of people. Also, we can say in verse 1, they are a specially cared-for group of people. Because what he does is he prays for them. What does he pray for them? How does he bless them? "Grace to you and peace." There's so much here, and I'm going to leave that probably for next week. But he ends the letter, by the way, the same way when he says in chapter 5, verse 28, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you." And earlier in verse 23 of that chapter, he says, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely." The God of peace. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.” God's grace. God's peace. Peace. What kind of peace? Peace with God and peace of God. The peace that surpasses all understanding. This is what the church is able to know and experience and live in. This is the ‘ekklesia.’ This is the called-out ones.

Now I want to move on to some of the specific implications of this at this point, beloved. First of all, there are several doctrinal implications. Doctrinal implications. And number one, number one of the several doctrinal implications: wherever there's a forsaking, wherever there is a forsaking of the revealed truth about God, you cease to have a true church. Mark it down. Wherever there's a forsaking of the revealed truth about God, you cease to have a church, a true church.

He says to the church of the Thessalonians, "In God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ," and you Thessalonians never forget it. The minute you begin to cast off the Father as revealed to you in Scripture and your mind no longer embraces the truth revealed concerning Him, your affections no longer go out to Him, your will is no longer subject to Him—the minute that happens, the minute you cast off what the Scripture reveals about the Lord Jesus Christ so that your mind will not embrace it, your affections will not be drawn to it, your will will not be subject to it—you're no longer the church. You can have an empty building. You can have a full building. You can have a packed building. You're not the church. You're no longer the church. And beloved, if there's anything that I would want to cry from the housetops this evening, it's that truth that there's no church, no church where we forsake the doctrine of the Father and of the Son. That's the Word of God. That's not being narrow-minded. That's the Word of God standing in judgment over the church.

Second great doctrinal implication of this, and it is this: wherever God is rightly worshipped, wherever God is rightly worshipped and served, it will always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always be as Trinity in unity and unity in Trinity, always, always. John 4:24 says, the Father seeks men to worship Him, how? "In spirit and truth," right? What does it mean to worship God according to truth? It means to worship Him as He's revealed in Scripture.

So the Thessalonians sat there that morning, and they got this letter, and they were reminded that they are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and if the two are not one in the triunity of the Godhead along with the Holy Spirit, that's blasphemy, blasphemy. Imagine saying to Grace Chapel of Markham, "In God the Father and the archangel Michael." Absolute nonsense, absolutely ridiculous. So when Jehovah's Witnesses are trying to tell us that our Lord is nothing but the highest created being, sort of a chief angel, don't listen to their blasphemous words. It's just that—blasphemy. The church is a people in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and this was a people who worshiped God as God was revealed in Scripture. How? Father, Son, and Spirit—Trinity in unity, unity in Trinity—and wherever He's rightly worshiped and served, it will always be this way, always. First John 1:3, John says, "What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed, our fellowship is," — where? Where, John? Tell us. —"with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." You can't have the one without the other. And so 1 John 2:22–23, "This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also."

Third doctrinal implication: wherever a church is truly born, it's always, always, always the result of the work of God, always. It's God's doing, not man's doing. To be called at once at Thessaloniki—how did that happen? How did that church get formed, get born when He says, "To the church of the Thessalonians"? How did they come to be that church? Not because a few people got together and said, you know, we ought to have a church. No, no. The very word ‘ekklesia’ forbids such an interpretation; forbids it. The town Crier, as it were, came to the city of Thessaloniki. Oh, you mean Paul? No, no. He was just the instrument through which the true town Crier did His work. And he tells them about it later on. He says in verse 5, "For our gospel did not come to you in word only,” —but as it were, the true town Crier called you together, we read, —"but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full assurance." That's how they came together.

Have you heard the voice of the town Crier with the ears of the heart? Why are you here this evening? Some may be here because, well, it's a thing to do, to be here. Even Sunday morning or Sunday evening, it doesn't matter. Some may be here because your husband is here, your wife is here, your mom is here, your dad is here, your friends are here. Maybe because you've heard the voice of tradition, you grew up in that and you're here. Some of you are here because you've heard the call of conscience. The only ones who truly belong to the church are those who have heard the voice of God with the ears of the heart. You can say in the words of the hymn writer, "Vain world be gone from me to depart. The voice of God hath reached my heart." And the question is, has God reached your heart? Is that why you're here this evening? Because you heard God calling you out of darkness, out of sin, out of selfishness, and He brought you into a living relationship with His Son. And you're here this evening because you are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Those are the doctrinal implications. And I want to hurry to conclude with several practical implications for us. And first, what we have here is a word of instruction. A word of instruction under the heading "several practical implications." And the first one is this: one's views of God, one's views of God are the acid test of spiritual experience. They're the acid test of spiritual experience.

Beloved, the acid test of spiritual experience is not how you feel. But it's your evaluation and judgment regarding Jesus Christ and God the Father. Chapter and verse, here it is, 1 Corinthians 12:3. Paul says, "No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit." It's our confession of Christ that is a test of the validity of our experience.

1 John 4:1–2: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." Well, how are you going to test the spirits? Notice what he says: "By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God." You test the spirits by what? A doctrinal standard. You evaluate the professed experience by objective truths about God, about Christ. Don't forget that. You don't start with the experience and then draw a conclusion as to spiritual truth. You evaluate the experience by the biblical standard. Paul writes to them and he says, you are a church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And that which makes you a true church is that you confess God as Father, you confess your Savior and Redeemer as the Lord upon the throne, the long-promised Messiah, Christ Emmanuel, God with us. And all that theology is bound up in that confession.

Second practical implication, and this is now not only a word of instruction, but there's a word of exhortation—more than a word of instruction, a word of exhortation. And I hope that we listen very carefully. Here it is: Beloved, be content with nothing less. Be content with nothing less than being in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And we must accept and receive people into this local assembly on the basis of a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But mark it down, God accepts none into that true church except on the basis of a possession of God and of Christ. If that's you here tonight, don't be content that you're in this local church if you're not in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Has your mind been opened to see the glory of that God? Has your heart been drawn to love Him? Has your will been brought subject to Him? That's the word of exhortation this evening: be content with nothing less—nothing less than being in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, well, how do I get into Him? How do I get into Him? It's only as the Spirit of God is pleased to unite us to Him. Well, how does He do it? By enabling us to see our sin and repent of it, turn away from it, and to see the Savior and embrace Him. Not see Him with these eyes, but see Him with the eyes of the soul. And then the last implication is a word of encouragement. And I believe there are some who need this this evening.

The practical implication of instruction may not be, perhaps, right now relevant to you. The word of exhortation, maybe. But will you listen to the word of encouragement? Put yourself back in that assembly again in Thessaloniki, persecuted. And we're going to see that later on as we read on. They were just babes in Christ, didn't know too much, didn't have too much experience in their walk with the Lord, yet they had the fires of persecution burning. They were an afflicted church. Imagine sitting there and being told that you, part of that little, despised, afflicted group whom God, the great town Crier, had called out—you're told you are in God the Father. Think of it. God the Father. You're in union with God the Father, Creator, Sustainer of the universe. I am in union with Him. "To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father." We nobodies were called out. Babes in Christ, persecuted, rejected. We're in God. I imagine they broke into some hallelujahs before Paul got to grace and peace. Beloved, we too are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about this: infinite resources. Infinite resources. Ephesians 1:3, right? "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” Jesus. Infinite resources. The mighty God, the mighty Savior. Deliver and conquer.

Oh, what word of encouragement. What word of encouragement. All that I can ever need. Every problem that I can face. Every perplexing situation. Read Philippians 4:19 back into 1 Thessalonians 1:1: "My God will fulfill all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Oh, dear child of God, if you're in that true church, if you're in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, why are you living the way you're living if you're downcast? Why are you going around destitute, downcast, defeated? Why are you going around with, as it were, holes in your pocket and with shabby shoes—going around like a spiritual pauper? You are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Infinite resources. And God have mercy on us if we don't face collectively and individually the problems, the needs that we face in these days with a holy confidence. If we don't do that, God have mercy on us. Has God called us out and called us together as a church? Has He? Are you convinced of that? Are you convinced that we are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ? This is the Lord's doing. If we're convinced that this is the Lord's doing, then let's have the spirit of a David who can look at all the Goliaths. We've got a whole regiment of them as we look at the days ahead in our culture, in our world, in this broken world.

What are we going to do? Are we going to be like Saul and his crowd, stand in the corner and shake? Or are we going to say, who are these uncircumcised Philistines to defy the armies of the living God? We're in God the Father. Do we understand that? We're in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We're joined to One whose resources are limitless, whose panoply for the battle is sufficient. Do we limit Him with regards to time and location and ability as we saw this morning?

God grant that we shall, as an assembly of God's people, be filled with that kind of encouragement that ought to be ours when we realize who we are in Christ. "Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace." A separated group of people. A strategically placed group of people. A supernatural group of people. A specifically cared for group of people.
And then we've looked at the implications theologically. Only as we maintain the doctrine of God, God the Father, of God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, are we a true church. And wherever God is rightly worshipped, always He will be worshipped as Trinity in unity, unity in Trinity. And wherever there's such a people, it is God's work, God's doing. He is the great town Crier that has called out His people, as Peter says in 1 Peter 2:9, "So that you may proclaim the excellencies,” —not of your little puny men who made a decision, no, but— “of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." May God give us the language of the Bible. May God give us the language of the Bible. Let me say this, when we give our testimony, we don't tell what we did, we tell what He did. He calls us out of darkness into marvelous light.

And then the practical implications. A word of instruction. The test of spiritual experience is, what does it do with my understanding of God? Is it scriptural? Then the word of exhortation: be content with nothing less than being in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And then a word of encouragement. If we're in God and Christ, all that we could ever need is there. May we reach out—and I say this reverently—tap into that infinite supply by faith.

Let me ask you as I finish this evening, what about that description? What about that description? A separated group of people? A strategically placed group of people? A supernatural group of people? A specifically cared for group of people? What about that description would not be true of this church, Grace Chapel? What is there in that description that would not be true of this church? You know the answer to that. The only thing not true of this church is the fact that they were in Thessaloniki, and everything else equally applies to us 2,000 years later. It applies to us here in this city and every other church that has existed throughout the church age. Is it true to say that we are called out, a called out group of people? Is it true to say that not only we are called out, but we have been formed by virtue of union with Jesus Christ and the Father? Are we a supernatural group of people in that sense? And is it true to say that though they were placed in Thessaloniki, God has saved us right where we are? Or we may have been saved some other place in times past, but He's moved us together so that right now we are the church of the Markhamians? Or however you want to put it. You see, this is still true of us, but do we think of ourselves that way? And then I wonder, what will we do with our reputation? Back to last Sunday's message, right?

Sometimes it's difficult to hear what people find wrong with this church—what they object to in this church, what bothers them about this church. And what I don't get to express as much as I really would like to and want to is what I see in this fellowship that I know for certain only the living God could produce. And, beloved, permit me a few more minutes. I see a lot of that. I see a lot of that. Through the years that God has given me here, I've seen the Lord do things in you, through you, around you that could only be explained by the living God. And sometimes, if I am away and people ask about this church, I tell them about this church. I tell them what a loving church this is, what a giving church this is, and more than anything else, what a faithful church this is. And the ways that you have loved us as undershepherds in this church, the ways that you've expressed love for one another when there are times of crisis and bereavements and challenges, the way that this church has exhibited the love of Jesus Christ—soli Deo gloria. And that ought to encourage us, but not in a way that we rest on it. In a way, rather, that stirs us up to continue in it and excel still more. I mean, that's who we've been. But what are we going to be by the grace of God moving forward?

Do we imagine we can live off of what we've been by the grace of God? Beloved, we can't. We can't live off of what we've been. Obedience is for today. Faith is for today. Walking with Christ is for today and tomorrow and the day after. You can't live off of what you were. I can't live off of what I was. And so what we have to ask is, is our reputation still up to date? We are known for these things, but are these things still true of us? Do we have a name that is different from the reality? Do we have a name that we're alive, but in fact, there are things that are dying? And what do you do if you have a name that no longer reflects where you are or who you are? Here's what you do. You brokenheartedly repent. You brokenheartedly repent. And you ask the Lord to make it as fresh today as it was yesterday. And you do that every single day you walk with Jesus.

May I ask you on a personal level, what is dying in your life right now? What is dying in your life right now? Where have you abandoned the principles that you were once known for? I'm talking to individuals now. I'm talking about your own walk with God. Beloved, we are just a corporate gathering. Though we are joined together by virtue of our union with the Lord, we are the corporate gathering of individual believers. And I'm compelled, beloved, to challenge us and say that we can't live off of what we've been. Praise God for what we've been, but we can't live off of that. In fact, what we've been is not perfected. What we've been has not been everything we could have been, should have been, want to be in Christ. So we can't live off of that. What is the Lord going to do here now? What is He going to do in the future? What are we ready to walk in?

But we also need to be protected and put on the full armor of God and be vigilant, watchful, and prayerful, because if you think that the enemy of our souls does not battle against a church that focuses on truth, we're gravely mistaken.

I read and understand it sometimes—why it is that, and I'm not talking now about anything specific, just in general—why is it that we can read the New Testament and understand and process that this was happening then, but we don't make the same connections now? You say, what do you mean? I mean this. Were there attacks on the truth then? What makes us think that there won't be attacks on the truth now? The churches had to battle through issues then. What makes us think we won't have to battle through issues now? Beloved, it hasn't changed. The ministry is the ministry, and the Word of God is the Word of God, and the salvation of souls is the salvation of souls, and the enemy of our souls, he is the devil, he has never changed and he never will until he's destroyed in hell. Are we ready, if need be, to persevere through much opposition? Be encouraged. The Lord has done good work in you, in us, but be challenged. That good work is to continue today and into the future. "To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you, and peace."

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

I know that you will join me this morning in saying that I am thankful as a child of God, very thankful, that God has not worked in my life only to the degree that I've believed in or only to the degree that I've understood in. There are times when God does that, true. There are times because of His training work in our life, growing us, His training work in our life, that He doesn't go beyond our faith, that He teaches us that we must believe Him, trust Him. And so there's a sense in which He teaches us by waiting until we believe Him, until we learn to trust Him. But there have been many other times when God works in our lives in a gracious way despite our lack of faith and despite our small understanding, our limited understanding, our fluttering hearts.

We look back and we're able to see how weak our faith was, how small. We're able to see how small our perspective was and yet God was at work doing great things. And I can't help but think about that when I look at these verses because it's obvious that Christ was working here in a way that went beyond the understanding of His disciples and that went beyond the faith of His disciples as well. When Jesus announced that they were going back to Judea, to Bethany in Judea, His disciples were afraid. They couldn't understand it. They thought it was an unwise decision. They thought it was a bad decision.

At first they misunderstood Him. You remember He said Lazarus was sleeping, and by that He meant that Lazarus was dead. Well, they thought that He meant that Lazarus was literally sleeping. And so they thought he's going to get better. While he's sleeping he's going to get better and recover. This is a good thing he's sleeping. We don't need to go and disturb him, let him rest. And after all, Lord, have You forgotten that they were trying to stone You there in Judea? We don't need to go there, do we? It's not a good idea.

And then He said to them plainly, "No, no, you don't understand. Lazarus has died, and I must go to awaken him." Lazarus has died. And even after they understood that Lazarus had died, even then, you remember Thomas' response, which was a response of faith. Nevertheless, Thomas says, "Well, let's go with Him so that we may also die." "Let's go and die with Him." So their perspective is, this is very dangerous. It's a dangerous decision. And they don't have any idea, even though Christ has taught them this right here in this text, they still don't understand that He's walking in the light as He's doing His Father's will.

He's exactly where the Father wants Him to be and that there's no reason for fear, there's no reason for trepidation, there's no stumbling as long as you're walking in the light. And they don't understand that. And so He's working in a way that goes beyond their faith, that goes beyond their understanding. They have no idea that He's going to raise Lazarus from the dead. They have no idea about how the power of God is going to be put on display to the glory of God. The glory of God, the power of Christ over death, the ability of Christ to give resurrection life. They don't have any understanding of this.

So He's not working according to their understanding. He's not working according to the limits of their faith. He's working according to the eternal purpose of God, what God had ordained to do. But not only do we see Him doing this work beyond their understanding and their faith, you also see the Lord doing this work. He's working beyond the understanding and the faith of Martha and Mary as well when He arrives on the outskirts of Bethany in Judea.

And that's what we're going to see this morning as we look at this text. Just to give you the overall picture to have it in mind before we delve into it this morning and next Lord's Day, Lord willing, and we'll see how we do with that. But if you were to look at the scene, we can break it up in this way. You see Jesus coming to Bethany. You see Martha coming to Jesus. That's the second scene. And then you see Mary coming to Jesus. That's the third scene. And finally, you see Jesus' interaction with the Jews. So that's pretty much what we have here in our text.
So this morning we're going to look at Jesus coming to Bethany, and then we're going to look at Martha coming to Jesus, by God's grace. And as we do this, I want you to recognize with me how they don't understand. And in fact, even after He explains, they don't fully grasp. They don't fully get it. Their faith is still uninformed. It is not fully informed. We could say it this way: they don't really believe in the fullness of what He's saying to them. They don't grasp it. They don't grasp it. Yet He's at work doing what He's determined to do.

Notice first of all with me in verse 17, Jesus coming to Bethany. We read, "So when Jesus came, He found that He had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother." Now let's stop here, and really it is striking, and there's so much richness in the Word of God, and sometimes we just really overlook it. We glance over it, and we miss certain things, and many things at times.

But notice the first thing that I want us to see together. It says, and there's a note here about the timing of the death of Lazarus, and we'll get to it. It says that when Jesus came, He found that He had already been in the tomb four days. Now look at this verse. A couple of things stand out here. One, there's a note here, at least in my mind, that expresses the marvelous mystery of the Incarnation. You see it? It's right here in the text, because it says that Jesus found. Wow! Jesus found that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days.

Now He already, and we know this, don't we? He already supernaturally knew that Lazarus had died. Nobody had informed Him, but He's able to tell His disciples, when it's time to go back to Judea, two days after He was given the message that Lazarus was sick, He's able to tell His disciples He's died. And He's able to do this because He is God omniscient. He's God the Son. So He knows this, yet the Bible says that when He came to Bethany, He found. He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

And I pause here, and I marvel at the mystery of the Incarnation. There are places in the Word of God where you recognize that something unique and amazing happened when God came to earth in the person of Jesus. He still possessed all of His divine attributes, all of them. It's a huge mistake if you think that He had laid aside any of His divine attributes. He did not. Absolutely not. He was as much God on earth in the flesh as He was when He was in Heaven. But what He did do when He was on earth is He voluntarily submitted the exercise of some of those attributes to His Father. And so it could be truly said of Him in His humanity that there were times that He learned things, that He learned things through a normal means of information.

For example, Luke chapter 2 and verse 52, speaking of the growth of Jesus as a man, it says, "And Jesus was advancing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men." How does God incarnate advance in wisdom? How does He increase in wisdom? I mean, that's a mystery, isn't it? It goes beyond our puny ability to really wrap our brains around it, to fully grasp it.

And then also, what you have in Mark 13 and verse 28 and following, it says, "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away." This is Christ speaking. Verse 32, Mark 13: "But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone."

How could Christ say that only the Father knew this, that the Son doesn't know this? And again, beloved, He's speaking of Himself in His state of humility, voluntary humility, when He was on this earth. Oh, the mystery of the incarnation. He still possessed the attribute of omniscience. Had He wanted to, had He willed to, He could have called to mind anything He wanted to, to call to mind in His humanity. And yet, in some way, He voluntarily limited Himself in order that at certain times He may not know in His humanity, as here in this case.

And I confess to you, beloved, I don't fully grasp all of that, but we do see it in the Word of God. Fully God, fully man, and in His humanness, you find Him really setting aside the use of His of certain attributes. And here it is, it says, He found that He, Lazarus, had already been in the tomb four days. In fact, notice something else that is interesting in verse 34 in our text. He said, "Where have you laid Him?" “Where have you laid Him?” Where is He? Where is His grave? Where is the tomb? "Where have you laid Him?"

And so you see the mystery of the incarnation. Something so high that's beyond us to fully grasp. And I will also add this. It is critically important, very important, and we need to underscore this, that we keep this in mind. Christ Jesus, the God-man, in His humanity, was never, ever, ever, ever in error. Ever. If someone wants to extend this to the point that they say that there were things that He was misinformed about, that He was wrong about—unequivocally, it's a no. Absolutely not.

He is God incarnate, and the only way that He selectively limited the independent use of His divine prerogatives were ways that were meant to glorify God the Father in His mission as God incarnate, as the God-sent God. He was in no way in error. His knowledge in all was perfect, but somehow in His humanity, His humanness, there was a place for learning and growth in a way that we don't fully grasp.

Well, there's a second thing, a second reason why this note about the timing of Lazarus' death is important, and it is this. It explains some things for us. It really explains some things for us. Some things that we might not understand if we just came to this passage, and we didn't know when he died, when Lazarus died. So this is important.

Remember I told you that Bethany, Judea, was a day's journey from where Jesus was, from Perea, and this is when He got the news—that's the place where He got the news that Lazarus was sick. And so they sent the messenger. If you were to go back to the account—so follow closely—they sent the messenger, that's day one. Day number one, Jesus receives the news. Jesus waits for two more days, then He travels back—that's day four. Day four. So when He arrives on the outskirts of Bethany, Lazarus had been in the tomb four days.

Now what does that tell you, as you read this account? Well, it tells you that Lazarus died the day that the messenger was sent, right? In fact, Lazarus may have been dead before the message ever got to Jesus, but perhaps while the messenger was en route. It's very possible. Now why is this significant? Well, one thing it tells us is that Jesus wasn't waiting in Perea until Lazarus dies. The extra two days that He spent there, He was not waiting for Lazarus to die—Lazarus had already died. So that's not the explanation for why He waits.

Well, there are reasons that aren't told to us in God's Word. No doubt there are things that we don't know about. But one thing is certain: knowing the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing how He viewed His mission and His time on the earth, one thing for certain we could say—whatever He was doing for those two days, He was walking in the center of His Father's will. He was doing what His Father gave Him to do. It was purposeful, and there were things accomplished in those two days that were meant to be accomplished in those two days. He was here to fulfill His Father's will.

Remember John 4:34, He said, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work." John 6:38, "I've come down from heaven not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me." We know that. But another reason this is important is to explain also the attitude of the sisters—the two sisters—when they come to Jesus. Notice what Martha says to Jesus in verse 21: "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."

Now, if you don't know the timing of Lazarus' death, right, so how could you take those words if you don't have that in mind—the context? Well, you could understand her to be saying, "Why weren't You here?" Right? "It's Your fault. Why weren't You here?” I mean, if You had come when we sent the messenger, if You hadn't waited two more days, our brother would still be alive." You see what I'm saying, beloved? You could understand the words that way unless you recognize that Lazarus already died. So this is not what they're saying. This is not in any way accusing Him.

Notice that Mary says the same thing. Mary comes and falls down at the feet of Jesus in verse 32, right? When she came where Jesus was, she saw Him, fell at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." This is in no way an accusation against the Lord Jesus. It is not an accusation. This is in no way questioning His decisions. The reason we know that is because the sisters knew that their brother had died the day the messenger was sent. So this is very important to note for us really to grasp what's going on here in this account.

Something else is given to us here in the text, and it is the location of Bethany of Judea. Look at what it says in verse 18: "Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away." That's about three and a half kilometers, about two miles off. That's important for a couple of reasons. One, it tells us that Jesus was really in a dangerous zone. He's in a dangerous area, dangerous region. It's only three and a half kilometers away from where? Jerusalem. The hub of troubles, right? It's only three and a half kilometers away from where they were ready to do what? To stone Him last time He was there. So His disciples were not wrong when they thought that this decision, humanly speaking, was a dangerous decision. It wasn't wise at all. He's in a dangerous region.

But also this note tells us that this situation presents a strategic set of circumstances as well. This is now going to be a very public miracle. When He raises Lazarus from the dead, it tells us it's going to be a very public miracle. It's going to be a miracle that the enemies of Jesus will not be able to deny and they will not be able to ignore. In fact, because it's close to Jerusalem, when Lazarus died, many of the Jews had come out from Jerusalem to comfort the sisters. This is what you see in verses 18 and 19: "Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother."

So you have present here not only some believers in Jesus, but you would also even have present there some of the enemies of Jesus as well. Some of the Jews who were not believers, no doubt, were gathered there as well. And you see this after the miracle. The response was what? They believed, some of them. The response of others was what? Well, they went back and they informed the leaders of their nation in a way that would endanger Jesus.

So this is in the providence of God, in the sovereignty of God. This is all orchestrated in such a way that this miracle, the crescendo of the acts recorded by John in this Gospel—this is the seventh sign recorded, and the greatest one yet—this is going to be done in such a way that is absolutely undeniable, unable to be ignored by the enemies of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem. In fact, you see this as they gather together for counsel after He performed the miracle. Go down just for a minute to verse 47, where we read, "Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Sanhedrin together and were saying, 'What are we doing? What are we doing? For this man is doing many signs.'" You see this? They cannot deny that something supernatural had occurred. They can't ignore the miracle. That is beyond dispute.

Verse 48: "If we let Him go on like this, all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." So, the timing of Lazarus' death is given to us. It's very important that we recognize that. But also the location of Bethany in Judea, only three and a half kilometers from Jerusalem, is also important as well. It is a dangerous region. It's also a strategic place where this miracle will be really forced and thrust upon the enemies of Jesus in terms of their consciousness. They cannot ignore it. They cannot deny it.

Now there's something else that we need to be aware of as we look at these verses this morning and next Lord's Day, Lord willing. We need to know why is it that all of these people are still gathered with Mary and Martha four days after their brother died. Have you ever thought about that? Why are they still there? I mean, he's buried. He's in the tomb. Four days later, they're still there.  I mean, you know what it's like, right? In our culture, usually, you have a funeral and after the funeral, there'll be some sort of a get-together, perhaps a meal, a time to be together, and after the funeral and the meal, they'll comfort one another, but then everybody goes home. So you have the service, you have the internment, you come back, usually, for a meal together. The people comfort the grieving family, and then everyone goes home.

In fact, very often, the most difficult time for people is after the funeral because now they're left to themselves and by themselves, really, to deal with the grief, to deal with the mourning and the emptiness and the loss and all of that.

Well, that wasn't the case in the culture of Judaism. It was different, and we need to understand that because it really gives us more understanding of the context. Like everything else in Judaism, there were very specific customs for how to deal with death and funerals and sorrow and grief. It was spelled out like everything else in their lives, even down to how they ate. It's unbelievable. There were traditions and customs about how you handle death and how you handle comforting people who are in mourning, and it helps us to understand the passage. Now, I'm not going to go on forever with the Jewish customs regarding funerals, but there are a couple of things that we need to know that are helpful for us. The first thing you need to know is that mourning had an official time period in Judaism. It had an official time period. People were supposed to mourn for a certain amount of time.

The traditional mourning period was 30 days. Thirty days. And those 30 days were even broken down. I mean, the entire period was known as days of sorrow, days of sorrows. So you had 30 days of sorrow, and you had the first three days called days of weeping, and then you had the seven days called days of lamentation. So they had 30 days broken down. You're going to mourn—three days of weeping, seven days of lamentation, and then the rest, all days, days of sorrow. A funeral was a very public matter in Jewish life. In fact, it was more than a public matter. It was a community matter. The entire community really was involved. Of all the things that were important in Jewish life, how you dealt with someone who's grieving and mourning was very high on the list in terms of you expressing piety.

If you're a godly person and wanted to be a godly person, you were a person who wanted to keep the law and be a righteous person, then you were obligated to take care of those who were mourning. Alfred Ersheim, who was really an expert on these sort of things, had this to write in a book entitled, Sketches of Jewish Life in the Days of Christ. Listen to what he writes, and this is really helpful:  "As the funeral procession passed, everyone was expected, if possible, to join the convoy. Similarly, all reverence was shown toward the remains of the dead, and burying places were kept free from every kind of profanation and even from light conversation. It was held that the law of God only prescribed mourning for the first day, which was that of death and burial, while the other and longer period of mourning that followed was enjoined by the elders. So long as the dead body was actually in the house, it was forbidden to eat meat or drink wine, to put on phylacteries, or to engage in study. All necessary food had to be prepared outside the house, and was, if possible, not to be eaten in the presence of the dead. The first duty was to rend the clothes, which might be done in one or more of the inner garments, but not in the outer dress. The rent is made standing and in front, and it is generally about a hand breadth in length. In the case of parents, it is never closed up again, but in that of others, it is mended after the 30th day."

Let me just pause here. Let me just insert a thought here, and we're going to see this later in the text, and we'll see it next Sunday as well, that Christ was literally indignant over the hypocrisy that was present in the mourning. Indignant. Think about it. Can you imagine living in a culture where you were even told how to rend your garments when it came to mourning a loved one? How to tear your garment, and how some, in the case of parents, it wasn't to be mended, period. And in the case of others, it was to be mended after 30 days.

It's a really sad picture when you look at the Judaism in the day that Christ arrived on the earth—dead, decadent Judaism. Let me go on reading what Edersheim said: “Immediately after the body's carried out of the house, all chairs and couches are reversed, and the mourners sit on the ground or on a low stool except on the Sabbath. A threefold distinction was here made. Deep mourning was to last seven days, of which the first three were weeping. During these seven days, it was, among other things, forbidden to wash, to anoint oneself, to put on shoes, to study, or to engage in any business. After that followed a lighter mourning of 30 days.” End of quote.  So mourning had an official time period.

It was the obligation of those who are mourning with these sisters to remain around, especially during the first seven days of lamentation, those first three days of weeping, and the seven days of lamentation. So now you can imagine, now you understand, right? So here we are, they have a full house, four days later. But not only did the mourning have an official time period, what you also need to know is that mourning had a prescribed form. It had a prescribed form.

Let me explain. That is, along with the natural mourning, the genuine mourning of family members and friends, it was expected—it was expected, according to Jewish custom—that even the poorest family was to hire at least two flute players and a professional wailing woman. This is if you're, like, really poor. But if you're really wealthy and a family of means, then you had many more professional mourners. So present here were not just friends of the family; they were also professional mourners who were present as well.

And we can surmise from the gospel accounts that Lazarus, Martha, and Mary may have had wealth, and so we don't know how many professional mourners were present, but it may have been a significant number as well. Now, we don't know for sure, but it is true that Martha and Mary were believers, and Lazarus was a believer. But nonetheless, you can see here they were Jewish, and the way that they were going through the mourning was very, very Jewish as well.

Something else, a side note really here for us that's interesting, is that they did not, in Judaism, allow you to mourn apostates. They didn't allow you to mourn apostates. And in fact, in the case of an apostate from Judaism, people would wear white at times to convey just the opposite of mourning. Now, what that says to us is that even though Lazarus, and Martha, and Mary were believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, they were not at this point at least treated as apostates because they were still going through this mourning ritual just like the rest who live in that culture.

So here we are, three and a half kilometers away from Jerusalem, a dangerous region, but a strategic location. Christ is at work. He's working in a way that His disciples don't understand, working in a way, as we're going to see in a moment, that Martha and Mary don't fully understand. But He's nevertheless at work. He's doing the work of the Father, and the stage is set as in the midst of their mourning. The house is full, for many have come from Jerusalem, and they're going through this grieving. They're grieving the way the culture grieves.
So the stage is set now that leads us to Jesus and Martha, that encounter in verses 20 through 27. We'll begin to look at it this morning very briefly. When Martha hears that Jesus has arrived—look at verse 20—"Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary was sitting in the house." Now here we come to these two sisters again, Martha and Mary. Martha and Mary. And they act really according to their personality, and you see them here acting according to their temperament.

You know, one of the things you see in the Gospel of Luke is the difference in the personalities of these two sisters. Remember—well, we talked about that already—when Jesus taught Martha a lesson about what's really important when He was visiting in their home in Luke 10. There's Martha, you remember, she's rushing around, busy, she's serving, cooking, doing all sorts of things to be hospitable. And where's Mary? She's at the feet of Jesus. And how does Martha feel about that? Well, she's not happy about it, you remember. "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the preparations alone? Then tell her, tell her to help me" (Luke 10:40). And Jesus said to Martha, "Your sister has chosen the better part." She's chosen the better part. She's doing the right thing. She's fine. She's chosen the right thing.

And what you see in that picture is, here you have one sister who is what we would hear in our culture described as a type A personality. She's busy. She's a doer. She's out front. And then you have the other sister who's very contemplative. She's very pensive. She sits at the feet of Jesus. And she listens to the Word of God. In fact, you even see a difference in this passage here. You can see it carried out here. Because Martha comes to Jesus, and there's nothing in the account close to what you see really of Mary when she comes.

When Mary comes to Jesus, what does she do? Well, she does what she always does. She falls at His feet, right? She's at His feet. But she falls down at His feet. She falls down at His feet, broken in this case. She may have been the more emotional of the two sisters. This certainly appears to be the case. So here's the point. Martha may have gotten—it looks like she's gotten—the news first as the older sister. And she would be the mistress of the household. She would have gotten news that Jesus was on the outskirts of Bethany. And it looks like she didn't even tell her sister at this point. She just went out on her own. She took the lead. She went out to meet Jesus.

And that seems to be a correct explanation in light of verse 28, which seems to indicate that Mary doesn't even know Jesus is there. She doesn't find out until Martha comes back and tells her. She's just caught up in the loss of her brother, agonizing loss of this brother that she loved dearly. So Martha gets the news that Jesus is coming. She doesn't wait. She runs to meet Him. And here's what she does. Look at verse 21: "Martha then said to Jesus, 'Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now, I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You.'"

And there are two things I see in her words. One, I see a regret mingled with grief. Regret mingled with grief. The regret of Martha. We must look upon Martha's words as the expression of really poignant grief, regret. So one, I see regret—the regret of Martha. And when Mary comes in and says the exact same thing, what that says to me is that they were talking about this in these four days. They were in conversation about this, the two sisters. These two sisters had talked about this. What would it have been like if the Master had been here and not had been in Perea?

What would it have been like if You had been here, Lord? And she expresses here the confidence that if Christ had been present with them, their brother would not have died. That Jesus would have healed him. That confidence in Him. Now that speaks both of her confidence that Jesus Christ was willing to help them, her confidence that Christ had the ability to help them. And so she expresses not only regret, but also I want us to see that she also expresses faith. She expresses faith. She expresses faith not only in what He could have done had He been there in Bethany, but notice when she goes on to say in verse 22, "But even now I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You." Even though we are where we are, I know, Lord, You can offer us help from God for the situation.

Now, here's what's interesting about this. Even though, beloved, that she expresses faith, even though she expresses faith—and here's what I meant earlier in the message when I said not only our lack of understanding, but the weakness, the smallness of our faith—Christ works beyond our faith. Christ works beyond our weak faith and the smallness of our trust.  Because even though this sounds like a great statement of faith—I mean it sounds like literally she's saying whatever You would ask for, I know God will give it to You. Your Father will hear You, Lord, and He will give it to You.

Even though that sounds like this great expression of faith, it becomes very obvious as you go on to read the verses that she did not consider that Christ would raise her brother from the dead on the spot. That was not part of her consideration. And not only did she not consider it, but there has to be some weakness in her faith here. Because even when Christ tells them—we're going to see later in the passage—to roll away the stone so that He might call her brother out of the tomb, what does Mary say? What does she say? She says, hold on, wait, wait. In a sense, that's what—hold on there, Lord. He's been dead for what? Four days. By this time there'll be an odor, right? In other words, she doesn't get it, does she? She doesn't understand what He's about to do.

Pastor MacArthur on Martha, he said this, and I quote, "Although obviously heartbroken, she was not rebuking the Lord for failing to prevent Lazarus' death. The sister's message had arrived too late, humanly speaking, for Jesus to have returned to Bethany in time to heal him. Martha's words,” he goes on to say, "were simply a poignant expression of grief mingled with the faith she expressed in her statement, 'Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.' That confidence, however, evidently did not extend to Jesus' ability to resurrect her brother, as her later hesitation when the tomb was opened makes clear (John 11:39). She seems to have had faith in the Lord's power to heal, but not in His power to raise the dead. Perhaps the possibility had not even crossed her mind," end of quote.

So even though she says, "Lord, anything You ask, whatever You ask from the Father, God will give You," there's still a limitation in her mind. And that's what I want to mention here for a moment. I want to pause here and ask the question, what do you see here in her words? What do you see here in her words? You see regret, you see grief, you see respect, but also notice you see a lack of understanding and a smallness of faith. Beloved, she has limited Christ at least in three ways. Three ways.

One, she has limited Christ in terms of time. She's limited Christ in terms of time. "Lord, if You had been here," but guess what? Guess what? He's here now, isn't He? He's here now. He's standing there in front of her now. She's living in regret. She's thinking about what might have been. In her mind, there was something He could have done back there, but He can't do right now. Back then, but He can't do right now. So she has limited Him in terms of time.

Not only has she limited Him in terms of time, but secondly, she has limited Him in terms of location. In terms of location. "Lord, if You had been where? Here. Here." Isn't it interesting? I don't know for certain that they had been informed of this, but honestly, I'd be quite shocked if they hadn't been informed already about this. Do you remember when Christ healed someone on His word, right? The Roman centurion said to Jesus in Matthew 8, "Lord, I am not good enough for You to come under my roof, but just say the word and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to this man, 'Go,' and he goes, to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." And Christ marveled at that man's faith, that he understood that, and said, "Truly, I say to you, I've not found such great faith with anyone in Israel." Do Martha and Mary not understand that, that Christ didn't have to be present? All He had to do was to be informed. And with a word, their brother would have been healed. "If You had been here," what might have been? So they limit Him in terms of location.

But thirdly, she limits Him in terms of power. In terms of power. Because she doesn't understand or consider that He's able. Christ is able, that He has the ability right now to raise her brother from the dead. Though she says, "Whatever You ask," she doesn't think in those terms. In her own mind, there are certain things, certain ways He's able to minister to them right now. But one thing she didn't consider that He was able to do—to bring her brother out of the tomb. It's not in her mind.

How do we know this? In fact, notice another indication it's not in her mind. Verse 23—we're going to see this next week, Lord willing—Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." And where does her mind immediately go, right? Does she say, "Oh, oh, I'm so thrilled, Lord. I'm so thankful. I can't wait. I know whatever You ask from God, God will give it to You. So let's go to the tomb, Lord. Let's do it." Is that what she says? Well, what did she say? "Oh, I know that he will rise again." When? When? "In the resurrection on the last day." So she doesn't think in terms of a miracle right then. She's thinking about His words as being comfort concerning what? The future.

By way of application, I wonder, beloved, I wonder. I wonder, do we ever do this? Do we ever do this? Do we ever limit in our minds the Lord in that way? Do we? Do we think, you know what? There was a time when if I had done this or done that or been more responsive to the Lord than I was, there was a time when God might have done a great work in my life. But now the time has passed. You want to know what is a wonderful thing to realize? And as I say this, I'm not dismissing at all the fact that there are missed opportunities. There are things that we look back on even after we're saved and we regret. Anybody know that to be true? But you know what is really amazing, what is wonderful? It is never too late to do the right thing. It is never too late to do what is right. It's never too late as long as you're alive, as long as the Lord gives you opportunity. It's never too late for you, dear one. To this day, God can do a marvelous work in your life if you will turn to Him with your whole heart.

And we might limit the Lord sometimes in terms of location. We have someone we're burdened about. We know their spiritual condition, and it breaks our heart. And we say to ourselves, but I can't be there. I can't go there. I can't be there to talk to them as I want to. I can't be there to minister to them as I want to. Beloved, do you realize God is not limited by location? And your prayers—your prayers are used by God. They are means that God has chosen to work through. And your prayers have an effect half a world away. God is not limited by location. God is not limited by time. God is not limited by time. God is not limited by time. Half a world away, God is not limited by location. Do you limit God not only in terms of time? Do you limit Him in terms of location? And then do you limit Him in terms of ability? Ability.

He could do this, but He can't do this. He could have dealt with this problem, but He can't really deal with this problem. You say, well, how do I do this? Well, sometimes someone tries to encourage you with the truth in the Word of God concerning something that you are going through. And you say something like this perhaps: but you don't know my situation. But you don't know my situation. You don't know what I'm facing. You don't know what I'm going through. Beloved, I know someone who does. And the One who does know what you're at and where you're at and what you're facing and what you're going through—guess what? He is Himself unlimited power. He's all-powerful.

"The hand of the Lord is not shortened, then it can't save." Thank God this is true even when we don't believe that. Thank God this is true even when we don't understand that. Just as Christ was working beyond their understanding—the understanding and the faith of His own disciples in Perea, and beyond the understanding and the faith of Martha and Mary in Bethany—so He has worked in my life and in your life beyond my understanding, beyond my small faith so many times. But you know what? It never ever honors Him for us not to believe Him. Never. May the Lord grow us in our understanding. May He grow us in our faith to understand that He's not limited by time, not limited by location, or in any way limited in His power.

And I want to finish this morning with two questions for us. Number one, do you trust that God knows what He's doing in your life right now? Do you trust that God knows—our God knows—what He's doing in your life right now? We've talked about it all morning, how He works beyond—God works beyond, Christ works beyond—greater than our faith. Do you believe He's doing that in your life right now? And do you give Him praise? For He's done that in your life all along. Can you look back at your life and see where you faced big decisions, life-altering decisions, and even when you made the decisions you weren't certain about, you wanted to do the will of God, you sought the face of God, but you weren't certain that you had it right, and yet you can look back now and see how He was guiding you every single step of the way, and He brought you to where you are right now? Do you understand that He hasn't stopped working in your life like that, child of God? He's at work in your situation this morning, just like that. Do you trust Him? Can you rest in that truth? Do you give Him praise for it, working out His plan for His glory in your life, and you know that you don't understand it all?

And perhaps you would never have even considered all that He ends up doing in your life. It wasn't even on your radar screen. You didn't even think about it. But He's done it. He's done it. Blessed be God, He's done it. We've got to give Him praise for that, beloved. This is for the glory of God. This is God's glory that He works like that.

The second question, and we already talked about it in depth, but I just want to underscore it again by way of reminder. It's a biblical practice to remind. Are you guilty of limiting Him in your mind and heart like Martha and Mary? May we ask the Lord to enlarge us, to grow us in our understanding, in our faith. Lord, oh dear Lord, grow my faith, grow me in my trust toward You. There are going to be some times because our Lord, our Father, is disciplining us and training us that He's going to teach us. Child, I'm not going any further with you until you believe Me. There are times like this in His training of us. Not because He can't, but because it's part of His training in your life.

Will you trust Me? It's a glorious truth that all of God's children can see and say amen to. You never trust God and end up disappointed, ever. You never trust God and end up disappointed. So where is God calling you to trust this morning? Where? Do you even know that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly? Do you believe it? You see this message this morning, it hits the hearts of His people because we understand these things. And I want to remind us of Paul's words in Ephesians 3:20–21: "Now to Him who is” what? Able. Able. “Able to do far more abundantly above all that we ask or understand, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."

Let me summarize what Paul is saying here and that really goes by way of application to what we're learning this morning. He's saying to us, God has the power to do. And he's saying to us, God has the power to do what we ask. God has the power to do what we think or imagine. God has the power to do all that we can ask or think. God has the power to do beyond all that we ask or think. And one more. God has the power to do infinitely beyond all that we ask or think.

Far more abundantly—and Paul uses a compound Greek word you remember in our studies there in the book of Ephesians—which means surpassing, super-abundantly, surpassingly, beyond measure, exceedingly, quite beyond all measure, overwhelmingly, over and above, more than enough. It describes an extraordinary degree involving considerable excess over what would be expected. It's the highest form of comparison imaginable, this word. It means immeasurably more than, quite beyond all measure, infinitely more than.

There is no limit. There's absolutely no limit. God has the power to do beyond all that we can ask or imagine—infinitely beyond. Whatever your doubts, whatever your spiritual struggles, God can do infinitely more than you can ask or even imagine. If it is something in line with His purpose revealed in His Word, if it is something in line with His intention to make those who know and love Him into the image of His Son, there is no shortage of His power.

But maybe there's somebody here this morning that you don't know anything about this because you don't know Christ. You don't know the Lord. And maybe even you said to yourself, you know, there was a time when I heard the Gospel, there was a time when I could have come to Jesus Christ, but it's too late for me now. If that's you—if that's you, my sinner friend, my lost friend—then why are you sitting here this morning? Why? Why does the Lord have you here today, this morning? Would you this day realize that Jesus Christ came into this world, God incarnate, to live a sinless life, to die on a tree in the stead of sinners; that He was buried in the borrowed tomb; that He was raised from the dead; He ascended on high; and now the good news is being published all over the world by God's will—that there is a way for sinners to be reconciled to a holy God, and that way, His name is Jesus.

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," and He will do exceedingly, abundantly beyond what you think or imagine in your life. He will breathe life into your dead soul. He will turn the light on in your heart and mind, and He will forgive your sins. And He will adopt you into His family, and He will make you joint heir with Jesus Christ. And one day, you have that glorious promised inheritance of the saints that would belong to you, and you will leave this place today forgiven, with a conscience purged and cleansed. Will you not trust Him? Will you not embrace Him? Will you not rest the weight of your soul upon Him? Will you not believe Him?
Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

1Thessalonians should stand in our memory as a reminder of the truth that God's mighty work, that God's saving work is sufficient. God's saving work is sufficient. I mean where there's real salvation, where there's real birth from above, where the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in a person's life, where there's a new creation, where there's a new nature in Christ, beloved, that work continues. God doesn't save someone only to turn them loose. We know this. And let us be reminded of it. What God begins, God finishes. What God begins, God finishes.

It's a testimony to the sufficiency of the Gospel, the sufficiency of Christ, the sufficiency of the Holy Spirit's operation, work, in a person's life. And this church in Thessaloniki, this beloved community of God's people, stands as a great testimony to the sufficiency of salvation. This church stands as a testimony to the sufficiency of the Gospel, the sufficiency of Christ, the sufficiency of the indwelling Spirit of God, God the Spirit, the reality of a new nature when the Lord really truly saves someone and transforms someone.

Because when you study, as we did last time in our introduction, how the church came to be, this beloved church, what you discover from the book of Acts, chapter 17, is that Paul did not have the opportunity to spend much time with them. You remember Paul had a witness in Thessaloniki on his second missionary journey. This was a large influential city of approximately at least 100,000 residents. So it was a large city, large Jewish population. They had their own synagogue. And from all that we can gather from the account in Acts, Paul was there for three Sabbath days, I mean three weeks preaching in the synagogue.How long he was there thereafter, we cannot be certain about, but we know that Jason had received them into his home and there was some kind of a ministry going on there during that time. But the point being, when you read the account, that he wasn't there for very long. And so when he leaves, he leaves these new believers. There they are without the benefits of, for example, the 18 months' worth of teaching and ministry that he gave to the Corinthians. They did not have that.

We learn from the book of 1 Thessalonians that after having to depart from them, he sends Timothy to them in order to find out how they're doing. He was concerned about them and the way he left so abruptly, he wanted to ascertain as to how they're doing and how they are managing. Timothy brings news to Paul at Corinth, and when Paul receives news from Timothy as to their condition, then he pens this letter under inspiration. And so that's sort of the background as you come to the book of 1 Thessalonians.

He's dealing with the people who are new in the faith. They haven't had a great amount of instruction, but he's rejoicing at what he's hearing because it is truly evident that they really did receive the Word of God with joy. It is evident that God has really done a saving work in their lives. The fruit of this church is truly an encouragement to his heart. Now that is not to say that they didn't have their issues, they didn't have their struggles. And, as we study this letter together, we're going to see that they had their struggle. Some of that came from just not a lot of instruction—simply, they were not well informed when it came to certain things. For example, one of the things they struggled with was what happens to a believer who dies before the return of Jesus Christ. What happens to a believer who dies before the coming of the Lord? If, when the Lord comes, we are alive, what will be our relationship to those who have preceded us in death? They didn't know, they didn't understand. And so he says, brethren, 1 Thessalonians 4:13, "I don't want you to be uninformed." "I don't want you to be ignorant about this." And he goes on to instruct them.

And we also learn from the letter itself that apparently they were struggling in the area of purity and sexual behavior and holiness, being sort of a pushback into the mold of their culture. And so he's going to address that in this letter. Some of them had become also idle. They weren't working, they stopped working, perhaps misunderstanding what it meant to believe in the imminent return of Jesus Christ. And so, not thinking about His return in the right way, in the right kind of way—the biblical way—not only caused problems when it came to those who died in the Lord, but also some of them had begun to use the return of Jesus Christ as an excuse to stop working and just waiting. So they stopped being responsible in this earthly realm. And so he had to address that. He has to address that.

So as new believers, I mean, they were struggling with issues, but the overwhelming attitude, the overwhelming atmosphere of this epistle is a positive one. So Paul receives news from Timothy as to the well-being of these believers, that he hadn't spent a lot of time with them, and he's marveling. He's rejoicing at the clear fruit that says that their salvation is indeed genuine. As I read this letter all the way through and began to prepare, there were five words that my mind really captured. They summarized the entirety of the letter, and so we're going to do a flyover this evening a little bit.

Now there's a theme you're going to find in this letter again and again, and yeah, you're right, it's the second coming of Jesus. You find in every chapter of this book some reference to the return of Jesus Christ. So that is definitely a major theme in this book. But really, if you look at the book, if you look at it as a whole and you ask, what is the attitude of this book, what is the atmosphere of this book, I want to submit to us tonight there are five words that stand out. And I'm going to give them to you briefly, and then we're going to use those five words tonight as our study, taking this flyover of 1 Thessalonians.

And the first word is ‘affection’. Affection. And not just any kind of affection. When you read this letter, you see deep, genuine affection—the kind of affection that parents have for children, the kind of affection that makes separation very difficult. And as we'll see in a moment, Paul, in fact, describes his relationship to them much like the relationship that a mother or a father would have toward their own flesh and blood. So his affection for them is real, and it is stressed throughout the letter.

The second word is the word ‘thankfulness’. Thankfulness. But a kind of thankfulness that is very specific. It is thankfulness for the clear, undeniable evidences—the clear, undeniable fruit—of genuine salvation. It is thanking God for His work in the lives of these people, and it runs throughout the entirety of this epistle–thankfulness.

Third word is the word ‘concern’. Concern. More than once, Paul emphasizes—and he does this in the strongest kind of way—he wants to see them face to face. He longs to see them face to face. Now, why does he want to see them face to face? Well, I mean, obviously, he loves them. He cares about them. But the number one reason he wants to see them face to face is to discover really firsthand how they're doing spiritually, and it's a concern for them that creates this longing to be with them. So running through this epistle is this attitude of concern, gratefulness that they're doing well, but concern that they continue to do well by the grace of God, that they continue to grow, that they continue to advance in their walk with God.

The fourth word is the word ‘instruction’. Instruction, because the letter is instruction, and what you find in this letter is both doctrinal instruction and dutiful imperatives. There are areas where he knows they are under-informed, and he says, "I don't want you to be uninformed, brothers." And so he's going to pass on information, truth, that they need to know, and getting the report from Timothy—no doubt from that report—Paul now has a knowledge where they are under-developed, under-informed. So he wants to give them instruction, the instruction that they need. At the same time, though, this letter is a letter of exhortation. Exhortation. Throughout the letter, he's saying to them, this is how you must live, this is how you must live, this is how you must think, this is how you ought to think about this, this is how you ought to feel about this, this is how you want to decide about this, here's how you must live as believers in Jesus Christ.

So he instructs them, but then also added to that—I already mentioned it—it's the fifth word, really ‘encouragement’. Encouragement. It's a letter of encouragement. I mean, throughout the letter, he tells them about the good that he sees in them and that others recognize in them. He doesn't hesitate to tell them about the power of their testimony. He's not afraid to correct them, he's not afraid to command them, but everywhere he can, he commends them as well. One of the things that you learn from the book of 1 Thessalonians is that Paul loves to be an encourager. I mean, when he can encourage, he does, he doesn't hold back. And as we study through this book, we will see it every step of the way.

Now tonight, as you're aware, we're not going to read the entire letter, but I want to encourage you—and this will help tremendously as we study through the book together—I want to encourage you, it's a short book, read it through several times, whenever you can. Just read it through. Read it through several times, make your own mental notes about it as you walk through it. And as we come together on Sunday evenings, Lord willing, we will have a more fruitful and fulfilling study together.

But what I want to do tonight is I want to take those five words that I've just mentioned, because not only do these five words represent the attitude, the atmosphere that run throughout this letter, I really believe that these five words also represent a model for what it means to have a ministry to people. They represent a model of what it means to have a ministry to people. This was Paul's ministry to them, and if we recognize these attitudes in Paul as he ministers to the church at Thessaloniki, then I want to take from that the fact that these are also attitudes that ought to be present in me as an under-shepherd, as I strive to minister to God's people in this place. But I really don't want us to think about it tonight just in terms of us as under-shepherds, as elders, our ministry to the flock of God here. I really want you to think about this tonight in terms of your ministry to others, and that is really important.

So let me begin by asking the question, where do you have a ministry? If you're a Christian, you have a ministry. Where do you have a ministry? As we sit here this evening, as we consider this book, where do you have a ministry, child of God? God didn't save you to sit and do nothing. Where do you have a ministry? Recognize that what we're going to see tonight applies wherever you are engaged in ministry, and I'm talking about a husband's ministry to his wife, a wife's ministry to her husband, a parent's ministry to their children, the ministry you have to a Sunday school class, to nursery, the ministry you have to a friend that you are seeking to disciple and bring along in the faith, and so forth and so forth in your sphere of influence.

These five attitudes are absolutely essential to any effective ministry on any level. So this is not just for Paul and Timothy and Silas. These are not attitudes for the under-shepherds of Grace Chapel. This is for every believer. So as I examine myself on many different levels, I want to call on you to examine yourself on many different levels and ask this question: have you learned this model of ministry? So we can entitle this study, Attitudes Necessary for Authentic Ministry. Attitudes Necessary for Authentic Ministry.

And the first attitude is this: genuine affection. Affection. Affection. Genuine affection. Here's an example of it. Turn to chapter 2, chapter 2 verse 8. Actually, let's go back. Let's begin at verse 6. Verse 6, Paul writes, "nor seeking glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you. But we proved to be gentle among you,”--and he's taking them back now to the time when they spent with him, and he's reminding them of his ways–and he says, “we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. In this way, having fond affection for you, we were pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become beloved to us.For you remember, brothers, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as to not to be burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly and righteously and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and bearing witness to each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”

You see what he's saying? He says we were like a mother, we were like a father. He says, “having fond affection for you,” verse 8, “we were pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but our own lives.” Let's learn from that. If we don't genuinely love the people we are seeking to minister to, we will have no real ministry. No real ministry. Beloved, if we don't really care, genuinely care, if we don't have a genuine affection for the people that we are seeking to minister to, all we become is, at the best, some cold conduit through whom God is doing something, but we are not engaging those people in ministry ourselves. And that is something less than what God designed for ministry to be. We have to genuinely care for the people we're ministering to.

So husbands, let me ask you tonight, does your wife sense genuine affection from you? And do you express that? And wife, does your husband sense genuine affection from you? Do you express that? Parents, do you express to your children how much you care for them? Do they sense your relationship to them being one of duty or one of affectionate desire? Is there love that is running through everything you're carrying out toward them meant to be by God–ministry?

Now we've got to be careful. I mean, the application is, you know, there's ripple effects here. But now we've got to be careful, having said that, whenever we talk about affection in the context of ministry, we always must beware of over-sentimentalizing ministry or really emotionalizing it. Because let us remind ourselves that even while Paul says he longed to see them—and he does, he says that he has a strong desire to see them face to face—even though he says this, let us not forget he didn't go to see them. He sent Timothy at that time. And that says to us that while Paul had a genuine affection for this church, a genuine affection for this church, he still had to operate his life and ministry according to Holy Spirit-set priorities.

It's possible to have a genuine affection for someone, and yet at a particular time and season to delegate a ministry to them. You genuinely care for them by making sure that their needs are met, even if you can't see to it at that particular moment personally. There's still a place for that in ministry. But what I'm saying is this: just like, let's take the illustration that Paul uses—a mother, a father. Something's wrong, really, with parents who don't have genuine love for their children. Something is desperately wrong. Something's wrong with a parent who would not gladly sacrifice themselves for their children. But if a parent takes affection and they turn it into an excuse for not having a proper sense of priority as they raise their kids, if they make the child the center of the universe—let me say that again—if they make the child the center of the universe and their affection is not in any way bounded, regulated by Holy Spirit wisdom, they will not be helping the child, they will be destroying the child. You love your children desperately, but you still must deal with them in a way that is wise and holy and best for them. There will be times that you correct them, there'll be times that you say no to them, there'll be times that you set boundaries around them, and it is not a godly love that has no sense of priorities attached to it.

So Paul loves them, but at this particular time, it wasn't God's will for him to see them face to face. It wasn't. So he sends Timothy to minister to them. Nevertheless, it is still genuine affection. In fact, I think one of the reasons why he stresses his affection so much for them in this letter is because he did send Timothy, and he doesn't want them to think in any way, shape, or form, "Well, you know what? Paul must not really care about us." No, no. He wants them to know, "I truly, genuinely, love you." But at this time, it was God's will for Timothy to carry out this work toward you.

So I'm not talking about some over-sentimentalized or over-emotionalized kind of thing. I'm just asking the question: do you genuinely care for the people that you have a ministry to? And do you express that? Is your affection real? Is your heart in it? And if it isn't, then you're missing one of the attitudes vital to authentic ministry. And I really wish, beloved, I really wish that every person who didn't genuinely love the church, but finds himself in some position of ministry—I wish they would just step out and let someone occupy that position who does genuinely love the church.

The second attitude is thankfulness. Thankfulness. Paul stresses this in the opening verses. Verse 2, look at it: "We give thanks to God always for you”--for all of you–“making mention of you in our prayers; remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ before our God and Father." In other words, he says, I thank God for you all the time. All the time.

Look down to chapter 2, verse 13. He stresses it again. He says, "And for this reason we also thank God without ceasing without ceasing that when you received the word of God which you have heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also is at work in you who believe."

Look at chapter 3, verse 6: "But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always remember us kindly, longing to see us just as we also long to see you, for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith;” Verse 8, "for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord. For what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God because of you, as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see your face, and may complete what is lacking in your faith?"

What is he saying throughout the letter? I thank God for you. I thank God for you. I thank God for what He's done in you, and I thank God for what He is doing in you. It's oozing with thankfulness to God for these people. Beloved, this is a proper attitude for ministry—the attitude of thanksgiving to God. Thanksgiving to God. Ministry—ministry at home, ministry with your wife, with your husband, with your children, with your friends, with those who you are trying to disciple in the church, and in every area of ministry in the church, in every area of influence in your life—thanksgiving. I'll put it this way: wherever you're engaged in ministry, let me ask this question. Do you feel blessed, or do you feel it's become a chore? Do you feel blessed? Do you feel like it's a burden? Or do you feel like you're very blessed? Are you counting all the difficulties and rehearsing those things before your mind, and it becomes weary, wearisome? Or are you taking note of all that God is doing and remembering those things in your mind so that your heart is full of joy and your prayers are full of thanksgiving to God? Notice, he keeps using words like "without ceasing," "always," "day and night." I mean, Paul is living in a continual atmosphere of joyful thanksgiving. Child of God, is that you in your ministry?

Now again, let's not think just about the church. Let's think about your ministry at home. Could we say that your home, your house—could we say that your home is a place full of thanksgiving and affection? That in your family there's an atmosphere of genuine affection and there's an atmosphere of genuine thanksgiving? Why do we give thanks? Because, simply, we recognize who the source is for all true effectiveness in ministry.

Paul understands it, doesn't he? How is it that he could be with them such a brief time, send Timothy back to them, and get such a glowing report about how they're doing? How could that be the case? How could that be so? Because God. Because God is the one who has accomplished what has been accomplished in these people. And so he couldn't help himself. He has to give thanks. That's why you give thanks. Because He is the one who does the work. He's the one who accomplishes what gets accomplished. And wherever you see good fruit, beloved, wherever you see the Lord's blessing, do you stop and really take note? I mean, if you see it in your spouse, if you see it in your children, if you see it in your Sunday school class or nursery, if you see it in a brother or sister—wherever you see the Holy Spirit producing fruit—do you stop and understand that it is not explained by us, no matter what kind of effort we put into it? It is explained by the Lord. And do we give Him thanks for it?

I think this is something especially that parents need to be aware of and concentrate on. If you see a son or daughter walking with the Lord and in their life there's a sense of integrity, responsibility, and they're committed to a life of holiness and pursuit of Christ and living for Christ, be careful. There are far too many Christian parents who pat themselves on the back and say, "Well, honey, didn't we do a great job?" Now, they would never maybe say that out loud. Hopefully not out loud. But they sort of think that way perhaps, and they're raising their children in such a way that they hope the children will turn out to be a good testimony about them, about their methods, about the way they go about raising their kids. When instead we need to realize something: there is nothing good in any person's life except it to be the product of God's grace. God's grace. He no doubt uses means. Parental training is important. We ought to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and the fear of God. But do you understand, if your son or daughter is walking after the Lord, get on your knees and give God thanks. Give God praise. He's the One who's done that. He's the One who's done that. And in church, He's the One who's done that.

We only—I only—we as elders, as deacons, as people serving, we can only take credit for the failures, not for the success. In a Sunday school class or in a nursery or whatever it is, He's the One who's done it. And as you disciple individuals, He's the One who's done it. Now Paul understood this very clearly. 1 Corinthians 3:7–9 he says this: "So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything." Reminds me of those very deep, deep words that H. P. Charles' daughter said to him: "Daddy, remember, you're nobody. You're a nobody, daddy."

"So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything,"--now watch this–"but God who causes the growth.” God. “Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor." You see, he doesn't diminish the fact that there are laborers and there's work. He doesn't diminish that. He doesn't diminish that at all. But what are we? What are we? Workers. We're workers. Verse 9: "For we are God's fellow workers;"--now watch this–"you are God's field, God's building." He's the One who does the building. He's the One who gives the growth. We just have the privilege of working in the field.

The same can be said of a family just as it is said of the church. We have the privilege of being workers, but God is the One who gives the growth. Give Him thanks. Give Him thanks. What do we give thanks for? We give thanks for fruit. We give thanks for spiritual growth. We give thanks for the evidences of grace, the evidences of salvation. There's a place for boasting, but it's not boasting in self. It is boasting in who? The Lord. It's glorying in what He's accomplished. You know, I said earlier, Paul is not shy about telling the good things that he sees in them, but when he tells them the good things that he sees in them, who is he boasting in? He's boasting not even in them. He's boasting in the Lord. "Oh, look what the Lord has done. Isn't God great? I look at this fruit in you. I look at your growth, and you're doing amazing. Isn't the Lord great?"

What are the attitudes of authentic ministry? You genuinely love the people you minister to, and you minister to them in an attitude of thanksgiving, and you give God thanks for every good thing that you see God is producing in them.

A third attitude for authentic ministry is concern. Concern. He's concerned about them. And so he writes in chapter 4, verse 9, because you'll see another example of it here. He says, “Now concerning love of the brothers, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another, for indeed you do practice it toward all the brothers who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to excel still more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will walk properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.” Verse 13, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.” And he goes on to give them this teaching that we're familiar with concerning the rapture and the coming of the Lord for His church. And so in what context does he do this teaching? Well, he is very concerned that they understand correctly, that they understand right, that they believe right, that they live right. This is why even though he could not go to them face to face, he sends someone who will look after them, he sends someone who will take care of them. He's genuinely concerned. There's genuine concern here for their spiritual well-being. You see, this is the kind of genuine affection we're talking about. It's not just genuine affection in the context of friendship. It's genuine affection in the context of faith. Spiritual sibling-ship.

Do you really care about your people? Do you really care about them, not just on some friendship kind of level? Is your genuine affection for them about the condition of their soul? Not just to sit down and have a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy time together and you can talk easily. No, no, no. It's beyond that. Is it in the context of faith? Is your genuine affection for them about the condition of their soul? How is their walk with God? Where is their understanding of doctrine? Is their behavior one of holiness? Are they living lives that are a testimony to the world? See, that's what it means to really have a heart for the people you minister to, no matter what realm we're talking about. Is the chief focus of your concern the condition of their soul?

How many parents spend more time concerned about their child's grades or social status or reputation than they care about their child's walk with God? When's the last time you talked to your child about their schoolwork? And when's the last time you talked to your child about their soul? How much time have you spent this last year talking about issues that have nothing to do with their walk with God compared to the time that you sat down on their bed before they went to sleep and had a face-to-face conversation about the temperature going on in their heart toward Jesus?

And I'm not just talking about information. Beloved, listen, our children can spit out information and have a heart that is so far away from God, especially if they've grown up in a Christian home, sat in a Bible-teaching church, if they go to a Christian school. I mean, they can have a lot of stored-up information that has been in their mind but has never been assimilated into their own life and their own heart. And oftentimes when you talk to your kids about sermons and they give you the main points, you know, after the service in the morning, you're driving home, you say, "Oh, kids, let's talk about the sermon. Do you remember the main points?" "Oh, yes, yes." And they give you the main points, and they give you the main points very specifically and precisely. I want to encourage you to follow up by saying, "Great, that's a good outline, but what does that mean about your walk with God?" What effect is that going to have on your walk with God today and tomorrow and the day after? Are you walking with the Lord? Are you staying close to Him? Are you spending time in prayer? Are you spending time in the Word? Are you having those conversations with your kids? And, then, expand that out to wherever you have a ministry. When was the last time you asked someone in your sphere of ministry, "How's your walk with God?" Concern, affection, thanksgiving.

Fourth, instruction. Instruction. If we have genuine affection for people, if we understand that it's God who does good work in people—thanksgiving, right?—and if we have a true concern about their spiritual condition, if all those things are true, then what do we do in ministry to them? What's the chief thing that we do? We instruct. We instruct. We instruct them. We give them the Word of God. And I don't mean apart from prayer, obviously, and all the other means. But what you find Paul doing in this letter, in the letter in which he expresses affection and thanksgiving and concern—what does he do here particularly? He teaches. He teaches. He teaches them biblical teaching. If it's from a genuine heart, it's an expression of our affection for the people of God. See, it's all interconnected. It's an expression of our belief in God working in them. It's an expression of our true concern for the well-being of their soul. How am I concerned about your soul? By giving you the Word of God. How do I give God thanks for what He does in you? By trusting in the sufficiency of Scripture. And how do I show I really love you? By bringing the truth to bear upon your life.

We can put it another way. There are many people who claim in the name of Christ to have a love for the church, but they don't labor to teach the Word of God to their people. You say, "I really love my children." Well, what have you taught them? And, if you really love your kids, wouldn't you teach them the Scripture? Listen, if you love people, if you care about their soul, if you understand God's the one who does the work—well, what instrument does He use? What instrument does He use? What is that instrument that is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, that gets down between the bone and the marrow and works in a person's heart to a depth that we could never do on our own? What instrument does He use? The Word of God. The Word of God. And yet we say we care about people and we never speak truth into their life very often or sometimes. The right attitude for authentic ministry is an attitude that says, "Beloved, I will love you, I will care about you, and I will trust God's work in your life by trusting in the sufficiency of His Word in the hand of His Holy Spirit."

I want to teach the truth of God. But we know this, don't we? To be a teacher of truth, I have to be a learner of truth. Right? I have to be a learner of truth. I can't be a teacher if I'm not a student. I can't be a teacher if I'm not under the authority of the Lord Himself and if I'm not willing to be taught by others. The kind of teaching ministry that will impact people—the people that you love—is not one where you're always the teacher, but also where they can see you, that you're also a learner. When the day ever comes that I'm studying this book just to give you a message, I will cease to have the right understanding of this book.

Before I can say anything to you as God's people, it first has to speak to my own heart. God has to deal with me. My heart has to be brought to a place of submission to the very thing that I'm about to share with God's people and teach God's people. You don't teach the Word of God standing on it; you teach the Word of God standing under it or sitting under it. So that I'm never striving to stand here and say, listen, that's what you need to do. No, no, I'm saying by God's grace, here's what all of us need to do. Even when I use sometimes the "you," it's not that I haven't also been brought under the sound of God's Word myself. Here's what the Word of God says to me first and foremost, and then to you. So every bit of Bible study we ever do ought to be, ought to be, ought to be devotional.

You know people like to talk about devotional Bible study? How's your devotion? Do you have a devotional Bible study? Study Bible? What is a devotional Bible study? Well, here's a simple definition: it is studying the Word of God while you love the Lord. That's it. It's studying the Word of God while you love the Lord. And every bit of Bible study, every bit of it, ought to be devotional even when you're digging into the nuts and bolts of difficult passages. It's not out of, If it's not out of communion with God, if it's not out of genuine communion with God, listen then, beloved, close the book. It is a waste of time. This book was never meant to be just some kind of academic study like you're studying history in a classroom. This is fellowship with God. This is where we meet with God. This is where we hear the voice of God in the Scripture.

And I wonder if we don't teach our children the Word of God because we aren't learning it ourselves. What happens when you study the Word of God while you love the Lord? Oh, let me tell you. You get so excited about what the Lord is doing in your own heart and it just spills out. It pours out. It pours out. And please allow me to say this. When this happens, when you get so excited about what the Lord is doing in your own heart, when you study the Word of God while you love the Word of God and you get so excited about what the Lord is doing in your life, it just pours out. Nobody can shut you up. It is fire in your bones. So how can we have days and weeks go by in our families, in our interactions with others, where we don't talk about the Word of God? How can that happen? It's got to be because it's not pouring in. Right? Because if it's pouring in, what happens? It pours out. Can't help it. It pours out. It overflows.

Well, I must hasten to conclude. Affection, thanksgiving, concern, instruction. The fifth attitude is encouragement. Encouragement. Ministry must include exhortation. Must include exhortation. We are called not just to teach, not just to correct, but to encourage, to exhort. Whatever Paul could encourage, whatever Paul could encourage God's people for, he did. And when he did that, he was simply following the example of Christ Himself, His Lord.

And I think of a great example of this in the seven letters to the churches in Revelation. Because there, our Lord, the living, resurrected Christ demonstrates His love for His church through correction. You remember those seven letters. He corrects the churches there, doesn't He? He tells them what He sees that isn't right, that needs to be aligned or realigned. But what is also amazing about those seven letters, even when He's correcting some very serious things in those congregations, in most of those seven letters He also, what? Has commendation. Commendation. "Here's what I see in you that is praiseworthy."

Well, just to give you one example. Revelation 2. Look at verse 1: “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: This is what the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says, ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot bear with those who are evil, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, you also have not grown weary.’”
How does He begin? Commendation. “I know you're doing all these things.” Well done. Wonderful. I acknowledge them. I see them. I commend you for them.

Verse 4: “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first. But if not, I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent.” And what do you have there? Firm, stern correction. That's love too. That's love too.

But notice how He finishes. Verse 6: “Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” And what is that? Commendation. Commendation.
How much exhortation, beloved, goes on in your ministry? How much encouragement comes from your lips? Do you love those people that you serve? Do you let those people that you're seeking to minister to know that you see what God is doing in their life? We have to ask ourselves, do we see the Lord doing good things? And if the answer is yes, then we have a responsibility to encourage. If the answer is yes, then we have a responsibility to encourage, to exhort and praise and not just correct.

When was the last time you told the person that you have a ministry with—husband, wife, child, brother, sister in Christ—when was the last time you told them what you see God doing in their life? Good things that you've seen the Lord produced in them–evidences of grace, growth in areas in their lives.

And Paul is not stingy with encouragement. Read this letter and you'll see what I'm talking about. His encouragement to these people is really throughout the letter. And it has to be authentic. I'm not talking about something we put on. We're not talking about something artificial. I'm talking about something from our hearts—genuine, real.

Let our affection be real. Let our thanksgiving be real. Let our concern be real. Let our teaching be authentic. Let our encouragement be real. Beloved, make no mistake about it: if you want to be effective in ministry, those five attitudes are absolutely essential. And may the Lord, beloved, grow each and every one of us to live out those five things that we see in the apostle as he writes this letter to these believers. Take stock of your ministry.

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

One of the things that is so amazing about our God, and we know about our God, is that He's multitasked. And He is a God who is doing many different things at the same time. It's not ever really as if God is doing just one thing.

I mean, we look at this account here, and we know that Lazarus is sick unto death—not ultimately unto death, as Jesus is going to raise him, ultimately unto the glory of God—but he's going to die. And his sisters sent a message to the Lord, Jesus.

Jesus is, you remember, a day's journey away. And they sent a messenger with the confidence that if the Master knows that their brother is sick, if the messenger tells Him that he whom You love is sick, that Jesus will heal him. And so they send the messenger, and Jesus receives the message, and we read here, He stays where He is for two more days.

Now, on the surface, none of this seems to make sense. You wonder, well, what is the Lord Jesus doing? What is God doing in the midst of this situation?

Well, the fact is, He was doing more than one thing—more than one thing. He's going to glorify Himself. When Jesus heads to Bethany in Judea two days later, when He arrives there on the fourth day since Lazarus died, God is going to be glorified. He's going to be exalted in the raising of Lazarus. And the disciples are going to learn something through this, that Jesus says that He's glad that He wasn't there for their sakes, for the sake of the disciples.
Look at verse 15 (John 11): "I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe." So that in the raising of Lazarus, there's something that's going to be done in the lives of the disciples. God was doing something. Our Lord was doing something.
So there's the glory of God in the raising of Lazarus, and there's a lesson for the disciples in the raising of Lazarus—more than one thing that our Lord is doing.

But there's also something else that's being accomplished that I want us to see this morning, that I want us to fix our attention to this morning. There's a lesson that He's going to pass on to His disciples that takes place before the raising of Lazarus. Look again with me at verse 7.
We read, "Then after this He said to the disciples, 'Let us go to Judea again.' The disciples said to Him, 'Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?'"

You see, this doesn't have to do with Lazarus. This doesn't have to do with Lazarus. This has to do with what? Judea. Judea. This has to do with the safety of the Lord Jesus. And by the way, this also has to do in their minds with the safety of the disciples, because when Jesus insists on their going to Judea, notice what Thomas' response is down in verse 16.
Look at it: "Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, 'Let us also go," —now watch this—"'so that we may die with Him.'" So this isn't about Lazarus. This is about something else.

And Jesus, in the midst of all of this, has a lesson for them. He says in verse 9, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of the world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." There's the lesson.

And this morning, I want us to think about this lesson, and I want us to think about it not only in terms of what it says about the life of our Lord Jesus when He was here on earth, and what it said to His disciples. I want us, beloved, to think about it in terms of what it says to us—as a church, as believers, as individual believers, and as a church together—because there's a lesson here about time, specifically about our time on this earth. It is fitting, beginning 2026, to consider this. A lesson about the time of Jesus on this earth, yes, but also a lesson about the time of His disciples on the earth, and about our time, as well, on this earth.

And I want us to consider six things that I would like to point out this morning from this text about this lesson, and the first one is this: our time as disciples of Jesus Christ, our time as believers, our time as children of God—and this is only true of children of God—our time is a classroom. Our time is a classroom. Our time on this earth is a classroom. That is, the Lord is teaching us during our time on this earth. He's teaching us.

We face things, all of us do. We face a variety of circumstances, situations. We face decisions we have to make. We face opportunities, tests, difficulties, hardships, trials, et cetera, et cetera.

And in the midst of all of it—whatever has happened in your life this week, even, whatever is taking place right now in your life—and some of these things you weren't even expecting, some of them may even have seemed strange or extraordinary, and in the midst of all of it, you need to know, beloved, that God is in control. God is sovereign. God is faithful. He's the God of lovingkindness, the God of *hesed*, as we were reminded last week. We need to remember that God is in control, that in this world of time, God is ruling. God is reigning. That you and I can really stand with confidence on this reality and the truth.

In the midst of all of this, the Lord reigns, supreme. That there's a throne in heaven, and that throne is standing, and that throne is not vacant. In this world of time, God is ruling. He rules over time. This is a freeing truth. He rules over time. He rules over the events that are taking place in time, the events in your life that are taking place in time. And when it comes to His children, in the midst of all of those things taking place in our lives in time, well, He is teaching us. He's teaching us. It's not random. Things just don't just happen. He's teaching us.

Lazarus is sick. This is a reality. He's going to die. This is a reality. He's going to be raised. It is a reality. But that's not the only thing taking place in the midst of these circumstances. So also something for the disciples to learn, and Jesus is going to teach them. So this setting is a setting of learning. This setting turns into a classroom, and there's something that Jesus has to teach them. And I think this is a great lesson for us, beloved.

The first question that we ought to ask, you and I—train your heart to do this, as I need to train my heart to do that—when anything takes place in our lives that we notice, that gets our attention, the first thing we ought to ask is, what is God teaching me in this? Naturally, we default into, why? But we need to train our hearts. What is God teaching me in this? What does God mean for me to learn through this? Whatever that is.

Jesus makes a decision, verse seven. He says, "Let us go to Judea again." And I want to emphasize, this is teaching time. This is teaching time. Because the very way—if you look at the text, especially in the original—if you look at the text, the very way that He words this is meant to turn their minds toward the danger.

I mean, think about this. He said, "Let us go to Judea again." Now, He could have said, "Let us go to Lazarus." But He didn't. He doesn't say that. He could have said, "Let us go to Martha and Mary." Well, He doesn't say that either. You say that would have turned their minds toward compassion, if He were to say, "Let us go to Martha and Mary." That would have turned their minds to compassion in the direction of concern. But He doesn't say it that way either.

He doesn't say, "Let us go to Bethany." Because even that would have evoked thoughts that were what? Nice, pleasant, right? I mean, this is where they live—Martha, Mary, Lazarus. This is where He had stayed with His disciples. He could have said it that way. But He doesn't say it that way. He simply says, "Let us go to Judea again." And the disciples know what they just left in Judea. They know exactly what they just left.

You go back to John 10, you remember, you look at verse 31: "The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him"—in Judea. So it wasn't the first time. Also, verse 39: "They were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp"—Judea. You see, this is something that's going on again and again and again. They're seeking the life of Jesus in Judea. They wanted to put an end to Him.

So when He says, "Let us go to Judea again," notice the reaction of the disciples in verse eight. "The disciples said to Him, 'Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?'" And by the way, that is in the emphatic position: "Are You going there again?" The end of the statement there—*Kai palin*—Are You going there and again? That's where it's placed, in that emphatic position. And again, Lord, You're going there? They thought this is suicidal. They thought this is something that would literally mean that He would lose His life.

That's why in verse 16, Thomas said, "Let us also go, so that we may die with Him." I will talk about that in the future, Lord willing. His bravery and courage is admirable, but you'll see his perspective of it, right? This means He's going to die. That's what he thought. Judea—death.

Now, why does Jesus put it this way? Why does He bring it up the way He does in the words that He uses? Why does He do that? Because, beloved, He's teaching them something. He's teaching them something. And I want us to realize that no matter what it is that you're going through in this world of time as a child of God, as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord is at work in your life—actively at work in your life—teaching you, growing you, molding you, shaping you, conforming you into the image that pleases Him, the image of His own Son. He's committed to that end.

So before we go any further this morning, just stop and reflect on what you faced this past week or what you're facing right now in your life and ask yourself the question: What does the Lord mean to teach me through this? Because He's teaching you something.

Which leads us to the second thing I want us to see. Not only is our time a classroom, but our time is determined by God. Our time is determined by God. Jesus says something to their response. "Are You going there again?" He says in verse nine, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?" Interesting statement. Now it may have been a proverbial statement. They may have said this to communicate a point in that day. But one thing is clear though: the Jews divided the day into 12 hours. And so for them, there were 12 hours of daylight. And those 12 hours were fixed. Fixed.

Man does not determine time. God long ago determined time. So Jesus is saying, listen, there are 12 fixed hours in the day, aren't there? Hasn't God fixed the time? Isn't God the One who set these 12 hours in their place? Isn't He the One who controlled all of that? Do we have any control over that? Hasn't God done that? And something you see emphasized in the Word of God is that when it comes to time, God is the Master of time. God’s the One who’s determining the time. God is the One who set the timetable. The world, beloved, is on a divine timetable. Men aren’t controlling it.

I read this week about some clock that some scientists created when atomic weapons were developed. It’s called the Doomsday Clock. Maybe you’ve heard of it before. And they move the hand ever so often to say, now we’ve got so many minutes until midnight, and so forth. But what’s amazing to me is that they keep moving it back and forth. I mean, sometimes it’s 12 minutes to midnight. At some point, it’s seven minutes to midnight. In fact, in the 1950s, it was actually two minutes to midnight. And what they’re saying is that we are now closer to some sort of a nuclear holocaust or destruction.

Listen, beloved, we know how the world is going to end. Don’t we? We know how the world’s gonna end. And where do you find that? In Scripture. You find it in God’s Word, and it’s not going to be global warming that does us in. God is in control of this world. God is in control of the times. Remember what we studied recently, Galatians 4:4, "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law." When did He come to this earth? In the fullness of time, when the time arrived. Not one minute before, not one minute after.

Mark 1:15, after the arrest of John the Baptist, Jesus was preaching this: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." In John 7, when His brothers were urging Him to go up to the feast and make public that He’s the Messiah, wanting Him to be more public than He had been with His claims, we read in John 7:6, "Jesus said to them, 'My time is not yet here.'" Verse 8, He said, "Go up to the feast yourselves; I am not going up yet to the feast because My time has not yet been fulfilled." Chapter 7, verse 30, "So they were seeking to seize Him; yet no man laid his hand on Him." —Why? —"Because His hour had not yet come."

And this is not just true of Jesus. Do you realize this is true of all of us, beloved? You know, don’t you, that all of your days and my days were written down by God before you lived one of them? Isn’t that what the Scripture tells us? Psalm 139:16, "Your eyes have seen my unshaped substance; and in Your book all of them were written, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was not one of them." Our times are determined by God. Our time on this earth is determined by the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. Just as He says there are 12 hours in a day—God determined that—so your lifespan has been determined by God.

This leads to a third thing that I want us to recognize from this text. This time that we have is a classroom. This time that we have has been determined by God, and therefore, flowing out of the second lesson that we see here, our time cannot be shortened. Our time cannot be shortened. And that seems to be the main point of the comparison. You can't shorten time. You can't.

The day lasts; it always lasts as long as God has ordained. We don't have control over that. You and I don't have control over that. And what He's dealing with here is the fear that His disciples are experiencing. He wants them to know that they don't have anything to be afraid of. He's walking according to His Father's will, and until the Father's time for the Son on this earth is done, is complete, until that time is finished, Christ is untouchable, indestructible. There's nothing that can happen to Him until His Father's time for Him is done.

Isn't that what He tells Pilate? "You have no authority over Me." John 7:30—we just read it a second ago—They sought to arrest Him, but they were not able to arrest Him. Why not? "Because His hour had not yet come." It wasn't God's time. It wasn't. The time is coming, Jesus told the disciples, when the night will arrive, when His time on the earth will finish, and the cross is looming ahead, but it's according to God's timetable. But until that time, He has nothing to be concerned about. He just walks in His Father's will, and He is safe.

This is the main point of the statement: there are twelve hours in the day. It is fixed. There's no shortening of it. And as long as He walks in the Father's will, there's nothing to fear.
A. W. Pink, commenting on the statement, he says this:
"The great lesson for us in these two verses is this. No fear of danger or unpleasant consequences must detour us from doing our duty. If the will of God clearly points in a certain direction, our responsibility is to move in that direction unhesitatingly, and we may go with a double assurance that no power of the enemy can shorten our life till the divinely appointed task is done."

Commenting on this, James Montgomery Boice—listen to what he said:
"An important conclusion follows from this. We need not fear what people can do to us, or let me say it another way. If the prolonging of our days is in our hands, then we must be extremely careful in all we do."

Did you grasp that? I mean, if your day is saying, if the number of your days is determined by you, then you better be very careful, very afraid. He goes on to say:
"We must be cautious if that is the case. For instance, are you sure that you really want to make that trip by auto that you have planned for next summer? Many die on the roadways. You may be safer at home. Or again, are you sure you want to eat the kind of food that's served often at local restaurants? Perhaps it's not good for you. You may want to get on to health foods. Or again, are you sure you've had sufficient medical checkups? Perhaps you should have a checkup each month, or better yet, perhaps you should just check into a hospital permanently. Above all, be sure that you do not anger anyone. The person you anger may be the kind that kills people. Be careful not to stand for anything. You see my point."

He goes on to say:
"If God is not in control, if you're in control, then be fearful. On the other hand, if God orders the duration of your days, and if nothing can cut them short, then you can be bold to serve Him as Jesus was."

Now, obviously, we wholeheartedly agree with what Boice  is teaching in the context of the full counsel of God, and he's making a point here. There is some wisdom, though, that has to be applied to that truth, and we know that from Scripture. But we have to apply that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit to say that our times are in the hand of God, and therefore it makes no difference. For example, what we do with our health is not wise. It's unwise. To say you never have to have checkups and you don't need to watch anything—well, no. There has to be wisdom here.But the fact is that if we're walking in the will of God, there's nothing to fear. That's the point. There's nothing to fear because our days have been fixed by the Lord. No cutting them short. Our time is a classroom. Our time is determined by God. Our time cannot be shortened.

And there's a fourth thing that we see here, but before we move on to the fourth thing, let me quickly say also that this doesn't just have to do with the duration of your life. It also can apply to the duration of your service somewhere.

Sometimes people say, you know, if I take this stand at work, or maybe they work for themselves and they've got a business, and they say, you know what? If I make this decision and that decision, here are the potential ramifications. Here are all the bad things that could happen to me. Listen, don't you understand, beloved? Your life is in the hand of God. You seek first God's kingdom, you obey Him, you walk with Him, and you have nothing to fear. If you're doing His will, you have nothing to fear.

Fourth, our time is not unlimited. It is not unlimited. Just like our time cannot be shortened, our time will not be extended. There are only twelve hours in a day—not thirteen, not fourteen, not fifteen. And what we see by that is we have limited opportunity. We have limited opportunity. There's a sense of urgency about our lives. I didn't say panic—not panic, not panic—but an understanding that actually time matters. It matters. Time is important.

In fact, do you know that it's a reflection of one's spiritual maturity and wisdom, what they do with their time? Jesus pointed this out in chapter 9, verse 4. He said to His disciples, you remember, "We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." My time on this earth is—it has an end. It's limited. And we must be about the things the Father has given Me to do, He tells them.

And the psalm that was read in your hearing earlier, the call to worship, Psalm 90, verse 12, Moses wrote, "So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom." What is necessary for a heart of wisdom? The understanding that you don't have forever. The understanding that you don't have forever. What is necessary for a heart of wisdom? The understanding that your days are limited. The understanding that you're to number your days, that you're to make the most of the time that you have, to redeem that time.

Why didn't Jesus leave immediately to go to Lazarus? Right away? Why did He wait two more days? Well, maybe some will say, well, He was waiting for him to die. Well, no, that's not true. We've already seen that, haven't we? Lazarus was probably dead by the time the messenger even got to Jesus. And if he wasn't, he certainly died on the same day. It was one day's travel to Jesus. Jesus waited for two days, and it was one day's travel back. And when He arrived there, Lazarus had been dead for four days. So he had to die the same day the messenger was sent.

So therefore, that's not why Jesus waited. But one reason we're learning this morning—He had a lesson for His disciples. Right? But beyond that, do you realize Jesus also had something else to do for those two days? I mean, there was something the Father had given Him to do that required Him to remain where He was.
Beloved, your time is not unlimited, and wisdom is learning to number your days and to make the most of your time, which leads us now to the fifth thing. Our time is sufficient.

Our time is sufficient. That is, God gives us enough time to do the things that He's called us to do. Our time is sufficient. Did you hear that? God gives us enough time to do the things that He , that He has called us to do. Do you believe that this morning? Do you believe that? Do you believe that God would call you to do things that He doesn't give you the time to do? Or supply the strength to do it? Or He doesn't give you sufficient time to accomplish what He has for you to do?

Luke 24:44, "Now He said to them, 'These are My words,'" —Jesus is speaking—
 "'which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms,'" —here it is— "'must be fulfilled.'" The life of Jesus on earth was not going to end until everything—everything—written about Him in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms, was fulfilled.

And don't you get a sense when you read the Gospels? Don't you get a sense that Jesus was on a mission? I mean, all that He's doing, all of His decisions, marching forward on a divine timetable, on a divine clock, on a divine timetable towards an ultimate end. And I love the way it is worded in John 4:4, when He went to meet the woman at the well, "And He had to pass through Samaria." He had to pass. I mean, He's on a mission.

And then you take that lesson about our Savior, and you think about us. Does the New Testament teach us that we're to have a sense of mission? That we're to have a sense of importance—the importance of time? That we're not to be wasteful when it comes to these days that the Lord gives us?

Ephesians 5:16, you remember there in our study of that book, speaking to us, the disciples of Christ, we are called to redeem the time, to make the most of the time, because the days are evil. Colossians 4:5 says, "Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, redeeming the time." Make the most of the opportunity. Only so many hours in a day. Only so many days in a lifetime. And wisdom is to redeem our time, to make the best use of our time—the sufficiency of time. God gives us the time necessary to do His will. Are we using the time wisely?

Now, let me pause here, and I want to hopefully have some boots on the ground here. I want to underscore, this becomes something very practical for us, because when it seems like you have 24 hours' worth of things to do, and only 12 hours in the day, you only have two choices. And I want us to think about that. Two choices. You have either 12 hours of fluff or junk in there somewhere, or you're not managing your time wisely.

Anybody ever feel that way? You have 24 hours' worth of stuff to do, and 12 hours to do it in? Let me ask you, what in your day, what in your schedule, is not really what God is giving you to do? What is it that you're doing that God hasn't given you to do? This becomes very, very practical. This goes to church attendance even sometimes, or as well sometimes. Just to use an illustration, midweek prayer meeting rolls around, someone says, "Well, I just couldn't be there. I had something I had to do." And beloved, listen, there are cases where that happens. That happens. And you are indeed, as you hear very often from this pulpit, providentially hindered. I know there are things that come up that just cannot be avoided.

But here's the question that we want to wrestle with, each and every one of us before God. How many of the things do we sometimes elevate to the category of unavoidable tasks that are truly things that cannot be avoided? And here's the question: Was that really on God's agenda for you? That was really what He wanted you to do? And those of you perhaps in our midst who have control over your schedule, you're in business for yourself, or you have the kind of job where you have freedom with your schedule, are you making wise choices with what you're doing? Some of these things that seem so important, is it really on the same place on God's priority list for you, as you put it?

These are all questions. This is not designed to make anyone feel saddled with guilt, but really self-examination under God to really evaluate my time in my life.

Am I—and I'm not just talking about church as well. I'm talking about time with your family when I say church attendance, but also I'm not talking about only church attendance. I'm talking about time with your family. I'm talking about time with the Lord in His Word. Does the Lord really have you so busy that you feel like you can't spend time in His Word?
"Oh, I'm so busy. There's so many things. The Lord understands. I'm not going to read. I'm not going to be in prayer. I'm not going to be in the book. I'm not going to be on my face before God." You can't find time in your schedule for time alone with God? Does God really have you that busy? How much of this represents a divine assignment? How much of this represents misplaced priority? So that's one possibility when it seems like you have more to do in a day than you have time for. How much of it is stuff that you've added and it's not God's priority for you?

But there's another way to look at this as well. That is, sometimes it is due to mismanagement of our time. It's not that we don't have enough time. It's that we don't use our time wisely and we don't learn to say no to certain things or delegate.

Something you learn over the years: some of the busiest-looking people you'll ever see in your life—some, some, not all—some are the most inefficient people you'll ever meet in your life. The reason they always look busy is because they don't know how to manage their time. They don't know how to prioritize and get things done.

There are 12 hours in a day. God has something for us to do in those 12 hours. And yes, it's true, it's true to say that they won't be cut short. There's safety, but they won't be extended. So there's priority. Do we know what it is to find from the Word of God what the priorities of God are for my life so that my life is lived in such a way that reflects wisdom? See, that requires me to study the Word of God and figure that out. Lord, teach us to number our days so that we may present to You a heart that is wise, and wisdom is reflected in how we manage our time. Our time must be used wisely. God has given us enough time to do what He's called us to do.

Couldn't help but think of Jonathan Edwards. Wrote down a list of goals so that he could walk in biblical wisdom. He called them his resolutions—70 of them. He began writing his resolutions in 1722, less than a year after he came to know the Lord Jesus and when he was about 18 years of age. Eighteen. He wrote 21 of the 70 in one sitting, and he steadily refined them and wrote additional ones for about a year, completing them in August of 1723 before he was 20.

Here are some excerpts from his finished set. Quote, "Being sensible that I'm unable to do anything without God's help, I do humbly entreat Him by His grace to enable me to keep these resolutions so far as they are agreeable to His will for Christ's sake. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory and my own good profit, in the whole of my duration, the whole of my life." He says, "Resolved, to live with all my might while I do live. Resolved, never to do anything that I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life. Resolved, to always be finding out fit objects of charity and liberality." In other words, people whom he could help financially. "Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly, and frequently that I may find and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same." He said, "Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be." In other words, never give up. And then there's this one: "Resolved, never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it the most profitable way I possibly can."

And resolutions are a wonderful tool, but they're ineffective if you never look at them. And so Edwards, at the beginning of his list, he writes this: "Remember to read over these resolutions once a week." Elsewhere he said, he wrote, "Resolved, to ask myself at the end of every day, week, month, and year wherein I could possibly in any respect have done better."
Beloved, a wise life is an examined life. It's a life in which opportunities to pursue biblical wisdom are not wasted. And by the way, that includes as well times of rest.

The last thing I would mention this morning as we close is that our time in God's will is a place of safety. Our time in God's will is a place of safety. And this is important for us to keep in mind.

Notice what He added here, our Lord, back to John 11 and verse 9: "Are there not twelve hours in the day?" And so here's the application—here's His application: "If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."

And it's pretty clear there's a double meaning here, right? There's a double meaning in His words. If you take the physical illustration, He's saying, when you walk in the daylight, that's not when you stumble around. So when you're walking around in the night, that's when you stumble. I've got to remember that we're pretty much used to streetlights. You drive around and there's streetlights everywhere, unless you go somewhere really away from the city. But we're pretty much used to streetlights. But in this day and age, there weren't any streetlights. And so if you're walking around at night, you can't see very much. The darkness is very dark. And that's when people stumble. That's when people would be injured.

And so He's saying, listen, I'm walking in the day. I'm walking. And here's the double meaning of His words: I'm walking according to My Father's timetable. I'm walking in the will of the Father. There's the daylight. When you walk in the will of God, there's the daylight. There's the daylight. And someone who walks in the day doesn't stumble. In other words, there's safety.
Though it may seem dangerous, though from a human vantage point it may seem risky, there's safety. There's really only one thing that any of us has to determine: Father, is this Your will as revealed in Your Word, with the principles that You've given me and Your Word in my hand? And if it is His will, there's no danger in it. There's no danger in it. There's safety in it.

Now, beloved, that doesn't mean there won't be persecution in the way of God. That doesn't mean there won't be martyrdom as we walk in the will of God. We've seen in church history. That's not what He means. It's not physical safety necessarily. There's nothing to fear when you are in the will of God, which is good, pleasing, and perfect. Don't fear him who can kill the body, right? But fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. But if now we have peace with God, there's nothing to fear. And you know, our time can't be shortened. No one can lay a finger on you. You are immortal until your time and your ministry and your purpose on earth is complete. Do we have to fear going back to Judea again? Not if that's the Father's will. Walk in the light. Walk in the daylight.

Now, here's what you need to fear. You need to fear life outside of the light. You see, you need to fear life outside of the light. And here's another meaning of the word. Christ is the light. Doesn't that come to mind when you read the light of the world, "the light of this world," verse 9? Don't you think of the Lord Jesus Christ? And He's ultimately that. And we've already seen that in the book of John, John chapter 8. And you see it in the book of 1 John as well.
To walk after Christ, to follow after Christ, to walk in His will—that's light. And that's a life of fulfillment. That's also a life of safety. Christ is God's light. And we're safe as followers of Christ. But then there are those people who walk outside of the light, outside of God's light. They don't have light in them. They're walking in darkness. They don't have proper understanding of the times. They don't know that their time, their life is in the hand of God. They don't know that their time is determined by God.

In fact, sadly, tragically, they foolishly think that they have some hand in how long it is they're going to live on this earth. Maybe there's even someone who thinks this way here in our midst, who thinks in themselves, "You know, I'm going to live till I'm 100. I'm going to make sure of it. I'm going to exercise, work out, eat healthy, eat the right thing. I'm not going to do certain things. I'm going to do everything that I can to live a long life." And then all of a sudden—boom. They're gone. Healthy a moment ago, but now dead. How foolish that is. How dangerous that is to think that you have your life in your hands.

But someone who's walking in the light understands just the opposite. My life is in His hand. My life is in the hand of God. My times are fixed by Him so that I can boldly serve Him without fear because He is in control.

I want to ask you this morning as we close: Are you in the light? Or are you in darkness? Are you in the light? Do you have Christ, the light of the world? Do you know God? Have your sins been forgiven, wiped away completely through the shed blood of Jesus on Calvary's cross? Do you know the resurrected Son of God? Do you know Him personally? Do you have a relationship with Him? Do you walk in His will?

Do you know God? Are you in the light? Or are you in the darkness, stumbling around trying to figure out the meaning of life, thinking that your life is in your hand, that you are the master of your own ship, the captain of your own ship? Is that you? Do you know that God fixes your times? Do you live your life boldly—not foolishly, not unwisely—but confidently, knowing that God has your life in His hand? And are you prioritizing your time according to the will of God revealed in His Word?

Do you say along with Moses, Lord, teach me to number my days so that I can present to You a heart of wisdom? It's not a waste of time to go to work. God has ordained that we work to support our families. It's not a waste of time to do many of the things that we do. But beyond those things, and even how we handle those necessary things, it ought to reflect our knowledge of God, our knowledge of His truth, our knowledge of the brevity of life, our knowledge of the eternity to come. We ought to be living our lives in light of eternity, beloved. That's wisdom. Is that how you're living your life?

Only when you walk in the light, only when you know the Lord, only when you know Christ Jesus, the Light of the world, will you ever be able to approach time the way that it really is. May God help us to do that, 2026. Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

So we have been considering this text together for the past two Lord's Days, and we have sought to open up the text by making some general observations, and three of them to be more specific. And I'm just going to mention them just to refresh our memory. And the first one is that this text really is universally extensive. It applies to everyone at all times. It is absolutely binding to everyone at all times, and it is definitively applied. It has to do with this matter of the transgression. This sin, the kind of sin, which is open rebellion. Open rebellion. High-handed rejection of God's word, disobedience, against a known precept of the living God.

Then we began an exposition under the specific explanation, an exposition of the negative statement of the text, where it divides itself into negative and positive. And the first portion is the negative: "He who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper." You remember we dealt with question number one: What does it mean to cover transgression? And it simply means, upon the discovery of sin, the knowledge of sin, upon the discovery of transgression, to refuse a full, honest confession of that sin before God. It is to refuse to seek forgiveness Godward and, where necessary, manward.

And then we dealt with the second question: What do men do to attempt to cover their sin, to conceal their sin, their transgression? And we saw biblical examples of various ways in which men attempt to cover, to conceal their transgressions. And just again, I'll mention simply the statements, the examples, the various cloaks by which men seek to conceal their transgressions: the cloak of silence in Psalm 32; the cloak of transfer of responsibility and guilt—you know, blame shifting—in Genesis 3; the cloak of rationalization in 1 Samuel 15; the covering of religious activity as in Mark 12 and Isaiah 58. And then, of course, you have the covering, the garb of misconceptions of God in Psalm 50. And then you have the covering of the framing of lies, as in the case of Cain, Joseph's brethren as well, and others.

We then considered the third question, question number three: What is the result of the concealing of transgressions? What is the result of that? And the result is stated in the simple words, "shall not prosper." End of the first part of the verse: "He who conceals his sins will not prosper," "shall not prosper." And the general meaning of the word "prosper" has to do with the concept of flourishing, faring well, succeeding, obtaining success. And so Solomon says the man who covers his transgressions, no matter what covering he uses, he shall not have success, shall not fare well, he shall not flourish, he shall not prosper. And the words have to do with those things that are spiritual blessings, without which a man cannot truly live now and without which he cannot really face the world to come.

We then consider the question: What do those words mean in relationship to the unconverted, those who are outside of Christ? And we saw from Scripture together that this meant at least a number of very frightening things. It means that they shall not prosper now, nor shall they prosper in the future. They will know nothing of a pacified conscience through the blood of Christ, nothing of the peculiar joys of the people of God. And then in the future, they shall die without the comforts of Christ and go to judgment without the protection and the advocacy of Jesus Christ. And then they will pass into the everlasting state without the presence of Christ to become an eternal exposition of the meaning of the text. And I'm talking, when I say "without the presence of Christ," I'm talking about fellowship, communion, and intimacy. "He who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper."

And having considered how it is that the unconverted who cover their sins and their transgressions do not and cannot prosper, we began last Lord's Day to consider the application of the text to the converted, the people of God. And we just touched—really, we introduced—the first one last Lord's Day evening. It is tragic, a tragic reality, come to think of it, that the people of God, the converted, those who are bought with the precious blood of Jesus, are also involved in this dastardly work of making coverings for their sins at times.

And let me pause for a minute and underscore what I mean when I say the application of the text to the converted, the people of God. To the people of God, I mean nothing less than those who are born of God, born from above, those who, in the language of the Apostle Paul, have been made new creatures in Christ through union with Jesus Christ.

I'm not speaking of those who have merely made a profession of faith in Christ, who have merely conformed to a religious heritage that has brought them into proximity with the people of God, nor am I referring to those who simply engage in a certain number of religious duties that are connected with the church of Christ. When I use the term "converted" or "the people of God," I mean nothing more or less than those men and women, boys and girls, who by the work of the Spirit of God through the Word, have been brought to a conscious awareness of what they truly are by nature. And what are they by nature? Lost, rebel, guilty, undone sinners, who by the same Spirit, the same Word, have been brought to that glorious discovery of God's way for pardoning sins and sinners through the work of Jesus Christ.

And by the same Word and Spirit—Spirit of God—not only have they made that discovery of their desperate need and that discovery of God's remedy for their need to be found in Christ exclusively, but they have been brought, in the language of Acts 20 and verse 21, to deep inward repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They have been constituted new creatures in Christ. That's what I mean by the converted. That's what the Bible means by the converted, the people of God, because that's what the Scripture means when it speaks of such. Now it is to such people, those who have had that new principle implanted within that commits them to righteousness and holiness and Christ-likeness—to pursue that, to have the beginnings of God's mighty work in conforming them to the moral likeness of Jesus Christ. That's who we're referring to.

It is to such people who are the recipients of such mercies, who have such glorious destiny, but—shame of shames, shame of shames—are yet guilty of covering their transgressions. And whenever they do, the people of God will find this text coming down upon them with inescapable authority: "He who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper." Even though he's a child of God, he shall not prosper. Last week we began to consider some of the ways in which a child of God does not prosper when he covers his transgression. And as I thought about this again this week, I really want to do so under the concept of forfeiture. Forfeiture.

Let me explain. As I was preparing for this week, I really sought a word that would most powerfully and clearly set forth the teaching of the Word of God. And the word that I was fixed upon is this word: forfeiture. Now when you forfeit something, you give up something, right? You relinquish something because of a crime or a fault or neglect. You're guilty. And so when the child of God covers his transgressions, his non-prospering is seen primarily in terms of—I want us to think beyond a loss to forfeiture. He forfeits it.

And the first one, so we can put it this way, that we looked at, we began to look at last Lord's Day, is that the—and this is perhaps most important—is this: that there will be the forfeiture of the enjoyment of God. There'll be the forfeiture of the enjoyment of God. Last week I said "the loss." I want to change that word "loss" to "forfeiture of the enjoyment of God." And we looked at that. We began to look at that together.

Psalm 51, verse 8. David, in this psalm of confession, this penitent psalm, "Make me to hear joy and gladness. Let the bones which You have crushed rejoice." See, there was a total loss of the enjoyment of God as long as he kept silent. This is the same psalmist who could say, "In Your presence is fullness of joy" (Psalm 16:11). And if that is true, then the opposite is true. In Your absence is full—what? Misery. And for the Christian, there's nothing more tragic, more painful than the loss of the enjoyment of God. It lies at the root of most prayerlessness and most neglect of Scripture. Because you have this mirror, you don't want to be exposed, right? So you just don't have the appetite for it. You avoid it.

In the second place—and I must say, I mean, this is really closely connected—and I was wrestling whether to keep it under the same heading, but I just want to expand on it. You can see it as a double-sided coin with the first consequence for a child of God covering his transgression. So we can put it this way: there will be, as fulfillment of this text, also the forfeiture of joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. There will be the forfeiture of joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. And they're closely connected. But I want to elaborate a little bit. This is quite important for us.

Next to love, these are the great fruits of the Spirit. One of the great truths of Galatians 5, verse 22—we read, "The fruit of the Spirit is" what? "Love, joy, peace." You see them closely connected. See how they're put at the top of the list? You find a similar centrality of emphasis in the passage, the likes of Romans 14 and verse 17. And you remember in that context, Paul is treating the whole subject of Christian liberty and of things indifferent, and what a Christian ought to do with things that are not clearly condemned by the law of God.

And in this setting, the things were external matters. And Paul wants to inject a principle that ought to govern all such discussion. And so he says this, Romans 14:17: "For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking." It doesn't consist, in other words, in these external things. But, he says, this is what it consists of: "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." “Righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”.

You see, the predominant characteristic of those who have been introduced to the kingdom of God is that they stand upon the ground of an imputed and alien righteousness in the favour of God. And they have the inward delight of joy and peace imparted by God the Holy Spirit. And when the child of the kingdom transgresses and does not flee to Christ for cleansing and have his conscience sprinkled afresh, sprinkled anew, what happens? What happens in that instance? There's the forfeiture of that joy and peace of the Holy Spirit.

A classic example, of course, is given to us in none other than David, King David. David, whose psalms are full of joy and peace, which are really the hallmark of those in the kingdom of righteousness. What happens? What happens to those commodities that are found again and again in psalm after psalm after psalm? When David sinned, you remember, we find in the language of Psalm 32 that they were the forfeiture of this joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. Turn with me to Psalm 32. Notice the language of Psalm 32, one of David's great penitential psalms. In the first two verses, he speaks of the blessedness of those whose sins have been covered by God. But then he reflects upon the misery of those who cover their own sins and will not confess them and will not forsake them.

Notice how vigorous is the language. Look at verse 3: "When I kept silent about my sin." “When I kept silent”. There was not that agreeing with God about the heinous nature of his sin. There was no confession. There was no brokenness that led to confession. There was casting over the cloak of silence, of rationalization to cover it. "When I kept silent about my sin," what happened? "My bones wasted away through my groaning all day long." Now watch this: "For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the heat of summer."

See what he said. In place of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, there was what? Misery, disturbance, and inward disruption of the soul. There was agony, inward disruption of the soul. He describes his condition in the language of groaning all day long. Groaning. Think about this. All you need to do is hear a person groan once a day and that's enough to help you really never forget it. The groan of pain, the groan of disappointment, or the news of some tragedy.

What he said, he groaned not just once a day, but the whole day, the entire day. And it was so opposite of his state of joy that he said his vitality was changed into the drought of summer. When a man cries himself until there are no more tears to come out, he has nothing but the dry sobs of a broken spirit, shattered spirit. What happened? Oh, he sinned. He transgressed. And instead of confessing and forsaking his sin, his transgression, what did he do? He covered it. He covered it. And in covering it, God said, "He who concealed his transgressions shall not prosper." And so he forfeited joy and peace in the Holy Spirit.

Mark it well, mark it well, dear child of God, no true joy and peace will ever be found but in righteousness and the true penitence that leads to righteousness. Now there's a false peace and false joy that bypasses and honours dealing with sin. The heart is deceitful. This is one of the major complaints against modern movements that claim to have a monopoly on the work of the Holy Spirit and get people all happy and joyous and excited and mushy and syrupy and all of that, you know. They do not deal with sin. They avoid dealing with sin. Replace it with an experience, seek an experience.

And as one of the writers said, it will be like having gin in your orange juice. And they talk about tingles down up your spine and when someone lays hands upon you and the feeling of what they call liquid love flowing over you. But here's the question: where is the dealing with sin? If you forfeited joy and peace because of sin, there's no way to its restoration but to go to the place where the Spirit of joy and peace was grieved and renew communication of those blessed commodities. And having dealt with those points of controversy, dealings with God, then plea that the Spirit of God will impart those graces again.

And isn't that what we find in Psalm 51? Look at the language. Psalm 51. Psalm 51. David having owned his sin, which is right after Nathan said to him, "You're the man, David," and David said, "I have sinned." Having owned his sin, and not until then, not until then, mark it, not until then. The first seven verses are preoccupied with the reality and the ugliness and the guilt of sin.

If you look at the first seven verses, what do you have? I mean, you can see him preoccupied with the reality and the ugliness and the guilt of sin. "My transgressions," he says, "my iniquity, my sin." In other words, my guilt, my wickedness, my uncleanness. Verse 7, "Purify me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow." Then and only then would he pray for the restoration of joy.

Now he dares to say in verse 8, "Make me to hear joy and gladness, let the bones which You have crushed rejoice." Oh Lord, it was my transgression that brought the forfeiture of joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. David knew that to seek the restoration of joy without dealing with the occasions of its forfeiture was to try to make mockery of God. And dear one, you could try to encourage yourself—or to put it this way, to chuck yourself under the chin with a hundred verses from a promise box that is supposed to make you happy and feel good. But if you're covering sin, you shall not prosper in having true joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. It'd be like a band-aid solution.

Now false peace can be conjured up by the flesh as well as promoted by false prophets. You just read the book of Jeremiah and you see that Jeremiah's great complaint was every time he tried to tell people, you've warned them concerning what is impending. I mean, you've got peace, but that's not peace, he tells them. He warns them against this false peace. He says, you've got peace—well, it's not really peace. It's not the peace that is “kissing righteousness”, to use the language of Psalm 85, the psalm that was read in your hearing earlier in verse 10.

The false prophets came along and, in the language of Jeremiah, said, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:14). You better fear peace and joy that are divorced from righteousness as much as you fear hell itself, because "he who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper."

Child of God, may I ask you this evening, what sin is worth the broken bones of forfeited peace? If "the joy of the Lord is our strength," in the language of Nehemiah 8:10, then the absence of that joy is what? Our weakness.

What sin is worth being so weak, so crippled? I plead with us, all of us, including myself, hear the Word of God from the pen of Solomon: "He who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will receive compassion."

Thirdly, the child of God shall not prosper when he covers his transgressions, because he comes to the forfeiture of access to God in prayer. The forfeiture of access to God in prayer. When the child of God sins, transgresses—particularly in the area of transgression, conscious of his area of transgression against the law of God—and he does not immediately flee for cleansing to the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, and renewing, quickening by the Spirit of Christ, one of the first ways in which he no longer prospers is precisely in this area. There's the forfeiture of access to God in prayer.

No privilege, no privilege of the child of God is of greater worth to him than the liberty of access to his God in prayer in the Spirit of Sonship. Listen to the Word of God. Galatians 4:4, "And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father." And one of the surest marks that you are a Christian, a true Christian, is that when I say something like there's no privilege of greater worth to the Christian than the privilege of access to God in prayer, your heart leaps out and says a spontaneous, Amen. It is so.

What is wealth? What is health if there's a brassy heaven? But if there's an open heaven so that when we pray, we are conscious of having access to God, entering into the most intimate form of communion possible to the sons of men here upon the earth, we are conscious of the unspeakable privilege of that access—that God hears us, God inclines His ear. He delights to hear the prayers of His children.

But, and here we must be careful to understand the teaching of the Word of God and follow closely, beloved. This is really important. Though the ground of this access to God in prayer is outside of us, in Christ, the condition of that access is a good conscience within us. Let me say that again. Though the ground of this access is outside of us, it is in Christ. The condition of that access is a good conscience within us.

Turn please to 1 John 3:21. And I want us to see this connection. 1 John chapter 3 in verse 21. We read the following, beloved: "If our heart does not condemn us” - right?- “If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God and whatever we ask, we receive from Him because." Because. Here's a cause-effect relationship. "Because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight." You see it? See what John is saying?

Now John is not saying that we have built up a certain amount of merit by our own obedience that now makes our obedience the ground of access to God in prayer. No, no. It's not what he's saying. Remember, it's John who recorded the words of Jesus: "I am the way, the truth, and life. No one comes to the Father but through Me." It is John who said, "We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 2:1–2). No, no. John has not forgotten his theology of the objective provision for sinners—being found in Christ and Christ alone in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

But John is saying that there's an inward personal condition if that access is to be enjoyed. And here it is: "If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. And whatever we ask, we receive from Him because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight." And what is the opposite of keeping His commandments? Well, surely it is covering our transgressions. For whenever sin or transgression is detected in a believer, the commandment of God comes home to his conscience that he is to confess that transgression. He is to turn from it. He is to acknowledge it before his God and seek cleansing in the blood of Jesus.

Therefore, when our text says, "He who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper," in its application to the child of God, it is saying this: Child of God, when you transgress, and rather than go through whatever kind of spiritual agony is necessary to come to true confession before God—and where necessary, before men—anything short of that, you're covering your sin. And you're covering your sin and covering your sin, you shall not prosper. There will be the forfeiture of access to God in prayer.

The psalmist stated it in those well-known words in Psalm 66:18, "If I see wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear." The Lord will not hear. If I see—that is, if I am conscious of its presence—but I throw the blanket of rationalization over it, I throw the blanket of shifted responsibility, I throw the covering of a lie, I throw the covering of refusing to drag it out into the blazing light of the law and the gospel. If I regard iniquity, if I countenance iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.

Now, I did not say that God will paralyze a Christian so that he cannot say a prayer. Many of us have gone to our closet many times to say our prayers, that prayer closet, but there's been no access. There's been no experimental communion with God. Why? Because God is going to be true to His Word: "He who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper." And because we've covered transgression, regarded iniquity, God has refused to us the blessing of access.

There's no Christian who has walked with God for any length of time at all who does not know to his bitterness how real this is. He attempts to draw near to God and do something more than say his prayers. He wants to engage God in prayer. He wants access, and every time he gets down to serious business with God, as it were, that sin that he's been covering, that transgression that he knows he's been really covering, looms before him, really just gnawing his conscience.

Perhaps you are a living monument of the text. You're covering transgression. Oh yes, there's been some clever rationalization. There's been some very, you know, delicate, fancy footwork as you've woven your lies, perhaps as you spun out that very clever shifting of responsibility, but you're covering your transgression. You're a living monument to this text: "shall not prosper." Why? For some of you, perhaps, maybe, it's been weeks and months since you've accessed God in prayer that you once knew in the past. And now you say your prayers, but you have no access. Why? Because, beloved, God's Word is true: "He who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper."

Child of God, this text is for our warning. Is anything worth the forfeiture of access to God in prayer? Is anything worth that? Not if you've tasted it. Not if you've really tasted it.

Well, that leads us to the fourth way this manifests itself or the consequence. There will be the forfeiture of usefulness in the service of God. There'll be the forfeiture of usefulness in the service of God. Psalm 51:12–13, David again in that psalm, "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation. Sustain me with a willing spirit. Then"—right?—"Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You."

The Lord Jesus said to Peter in Luke 22:31, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat. But I have prayed earnestly for you that your faith may not fail. And you, once you have returned"—that is, when you have turned again, when you are brought to deal honestly with your sin of denial—He says, "strengthen your brothers." Usefulness. "Restore to me, then I shall teach." "Once you have returned, strengthen your brothers."

When we begin to understand the clear teaching of Scripture—that every member of the body has a distinct and special function of ministry, both to the saints and to the world—what a tragic thing it is when sin is being covered, when transgression is being concealed. For whenever there is the covering of sin, there is no prosperity. You shall not prosper, child of God. There will be loss—the loss of usefulness in the service of God. There will be inability to see needs that you, under God, are able to meet. Or, if there is ability to see it, there will be no heart to meet it. And if there is ability to see and a heart to meet, there will be no enablement from the Holy Spirit to perform. And without all three, there is no true ministry.

"He that conceals his transgressions shall not prosper." The loss of enjoyment, the loss of joy and peace in the Holy Spirit, the loss of usefulness in the service of God.

Fifthly, there may be the forfeiture of assurance that one is a child of God. The forfeiture of assurance that one is a child of God. David had to pray in verse 11 and 12 in Psalm 51, "Do not cast me away from Your presence. Do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation."

And again, I must say this, even though we've been studying John together and marvelous truth that we've studied again and again and again, let us be crystal clear again. The Scripture never teaches that a child of God ever falls away from grace. What God begins, He completes. We're saved forever. But my assurance that I'm in a state of grace can fluctuate due to my covering of sin.

And if we know our Bible, we know that our Scripture teaches that no Christian lives under the dominion of any sin. He's fighting sin. He's engaged in a battle. He may fall into sin, but he does not live in the dominion of any sin. Sin no longer reigns in us. It remains in us. There's the remains of sin, but it doesn't reign.

For you see, when there's a sin that's been covered for a period of time, then you have reason to begin to question, is that merely the fall of a man in grace? Or is that the revelation that there's no grace to begin with? And a man's assurance will be what? Shaken. And when a man of God who's known true assurance has that assurance shaken, he's like Bunyan's pilgrim when he lost his roll. He was filled with grief and sought it with tears until he found it again and placed it in his bosom.

If you have known a well-grounded biblical assurance based upon the sure promises of God's mercy to those who believe in Christ—an assurance based not only on the objective promises, but the evidences of a transformed life and the witness of the Spirit of God— I mean you could draw very little comfort from the objective promises when your life is questionable and when a grieved Spirit withdraws His presence in terms of His favor and power upon your life.

Now, the way you're going to start back is to hold tight to His promises when you're prepared to deal and have dealings with God concerning your sin. But you're trying to suck sweetness from the promises while you're still covering your transgression, dear one. You're turning the grace of God into a license to sin. And the conscience of a Christian when he's wrestling with some concealed transgression will try to get adjusted so it may find comfort in the promises and in the doctrine of the preservation of the saints. And that, beloved, is a butchering of the intent for which God gave those promises. They were meant to encourage us in the pursuit of holiness, not in the clinging to sin.

Am I talking tonight to someone who has known the blessed assurance of his standing—grace—but who this evening, under the convicting power of the Spirit of God, sees that the whole issue is up for questions? Why? Because sin has been covered. Sin is being covered.

In the sixth place, the child of God shall not prosper in that he will not only forfeit the enjoyment of God, forfeit joy and peace in the Holy Spirit, forfeit access to God in prayer, forfeit usefulness in the service of God, forfeit his assurance that he's a child of God. I mean, you could see the consequences. Is it worth it? But also, he will provoke the rod of God. He will provoke the rod of God.

Turn to Psalm 32. Look at verse 3 and 4: "When I kept silent about my sin, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For.” - See that little word For? It's really key.- “For day and night, Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the heat of summer."

Listen to what one commentator writes concerning this little word "for" here in this context: "'For,’ and I quote, explains why David wasted and groaned. It was retributive punishment directly from God. God's finger can crush us. What must His hand be? And pressing heavily and continuously. Under terrors of conscience, men have little rest by night, for the grim thoughts of the day dog them to their chambers and haunt their dreams, or else they lie awake in a cold sweat of dread." And he ends with this: "God's hand is very helpful when it uplifts, but it is awful when it presses down. Better a world on the shoulder like Atlas than God's hand on the heart like David." End of quote.

When you're dealing with a Christian—1 Corinthians 11—God determines that he shall not continue to cover his sin, that his sin shall be brought into the open, that he shall be brought back into the way of pursuing a life of holiness. And so Paul there in 1 Corinthians 11, dealing with the specific sins of the Corinthians, he writes this in verse 30: "For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world."

In other words, you Corinthians, by the sins you've committed, the sins you've covered, you provoke the rod of God's chastisement, God's discipline. And some of you are afflicted physically. You're weak. You're sickly. You find yourself afflicted with physical maladies. And some are, in fact, asleep. That is, they've come to death because God is so determined that He won't let you continue down that path, no longer bring reproach to His name by the sin that you've been covering.

Child of God, do you have a healthy fear of God's rod of correction? Do you fear your Father's rod? God's spankings come with sufficient severity that the child of God has a wholesome fear of the rod of His heavenly Father—loving heavenly Father.

Now, word of caution—and we've seen this before—but again, it is important to underscore here: again, not all sickness is an expression of the rod of God due to sin covered or transgression concealed. Some sickness is evidence that a man is walking blamelessly before God, and Job is the classic example. He was afflicted not because he was covering his sin, but because of his godliness—that his love for God was not circumstantial.

And so we must not say that if we see someone constantly afflicted physically, "Aha, they must be concealing sin." No, no. You ask yourself when affliction comes, "Lord, is it because I fail to judge myself?" And God wants us to know—it's like a puzzle. It's not like a puzzle. It's not like He's trying to hide it from us. He wants us to see it and deal with it and have dealings with Him.

So we ask Him, "Is this evidence of the truth of Proverbs 28:13, that “he who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper?"” “Lord, am I weak, and am I dealing with all of this because I've covered transgression?” Let us judge ourselves before whose eyes all things are naked and open.

There are other manifestations of the fulfillment of this text, and I'll close with this tonight. "Shall not prosper" with respect to the present. And time will not permit us, but anyways, I want to close by saying that, child of God, you shall not prosper with respect to future prospect as well.

You cannot be covering sin and maintaining a joyful anticipation of the return of Christ. So we can put it this way: there will be the forfeiture of a joyful anticipation of the return of Christ.

You see, the two are utterly impossible—concealing sin and maintaining a joyful anticipation of the return of Christ. The two are impossible to maintain. Turn with me to 1 John 2:28, and we'll close with that tonight: "And now, little children,”- look at it - “Now, little children, abide in Him so that when He is manifested, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming."

You see it? You know, child of God, as well as you know your own name, that there will be no rationalization, there will be no transferal of responsibility, blame shifting, there will be no equivocation. If you're a child of God, if you're a Christian, you know when your eye meets the eye of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a flame of fire, all coverings will be consumed and you have to face your sin honestly.

If you're not living conscious that His eye is upon you—*Coram Deo*—so you can say, "Lord Jesus, O Lord Jesus, to the best of my knowledge, anything that Your Word and Your Spirit have revealed to me as transgression, as sin, my posture towards it is full and open confession by Your grace. My disposition is one of turning away from it by Your grace."

If you can't say that, then you have no joyful anticipation of the return of Jesus. When you know you have a controversy with the Lord Jesus, there's no joyful anticipation when He comes to take His church. Joyful anticipation of the return of Christ as the motivational life of a child of God—one of the most powerful motivating elements for faithfulness, for diligence in service—that is cut by the concealing of transgression in the life of a child of God.

How often the New Testament epistles make reference to the hope of His coming, and how often is the driving motive in the life of a Christian the fact that His Lord is coming. And dear one, you have no joyful anticipation of His coming if you're covering transgression—none whatsoever. And that's just a preview of the shame that shall be your portion when you meet Him if your sin is concealed.

There is a biblical doctrine of rewards for faithfulness, and there will be loss of rewards for unfaithfulness. And I don't think we can fully grasp all that is involved in this doctrine, but this much we know for sure: if I'm covering my sin, if I'm concealing transgression, I shall not prosper. For I cannot receive the full reward of a well-accomplished stewardship if my usefulness in the service of God is crippled because I conceal transgression.

If I carry out my service with no enjoyment of God because I'm covering sin, if I try to serve God while my own assurance is shaken, if I'm lying beneath the rod of God's righteous discipline, how can I serve with the freedom of a freshly purged conscience? No wonder Paul said, "I also do my best," Acts 24:16. "I also do my best"—this is Paul speaking—"I also do my best to maintain always a conscience without fault, both before God and before men." To maintain a conscience free of offense, without fault, both before God and before men. Oh, the blessedness of having a conscience void of offense to God and to my fellow men.

How can I have a conscience without offense toward God? Only by the blood of sprinkling. Only by bringing my sins, my transgressions, my shortcomings, my offenses out of my coverings and concealments, and honestly, and with true transparency and humility, cry out before the living God, "Oh God, I have sinned. I have sinned against You, and You only have I sinned." And how do I have a conscience without offense toward my fellow man? Well, whenever my confession must be horizontal, I'm willing to humble myself and make that confession to my spouse, to my child, to my friend, to my brother, to my work colleague. It doesn't matter. If I need to make it, I'll make it. Because "he that covers transgressions shall not prosper."

Maybe conscience is very active in some here tonight. And maybe there flashed upon the screen of your mind right now is that thing that you're attempting to cover. Maybe that thing that you have been concealing. Oh dear one, cover it no more. Cover it no longer. Is it worth it? Come to the fountain open for sin and uncleanness. Tell Him—will you tell Him tonight—that He's found you? Tell Him He's found you. Tell Him you're weary of living as a Christian with no conscious enjoyment of the presence of God. Tell Him you're weary of living with shaken assurance. Aren't you tired to live with a shaken assurance? Aren't you exhausted with that?
Tell Him you're weary of living with no consciousness of being used of God. Tell Him. Tell Him you're weary of dreading the coming of the Lord to take His church. And say to Him, "Oh God, grant me the promised mercy. Renew a steadfast spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation."

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

What will you do with Jesus? That is the question. What will you do with Jesus? People imagine that they can ignore Jesus. People imagine that they can make no decision about Jesus—put Him on hold. People imagine that they can be confronted with the truth about Jesus, and if they choose to do so, choose to do nothing with Jesus.

There are some people, in all likelihood, who sit in our midst week after week after week after week. We imagine this. And they've been confronted with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ numerous times, but they've not trusted in Him as their Lord and Savior. Yet, they would not say that they reject Him. They would not say that they just don't believe the things that they're hearing concerning Him. They just imagine that they sit in some sort of a no-man's land and have time to do nothing with Him. That they can straddle the fence.

Some imagine that they could do this for a lifetime. I really don't know what they imagine exactly. I know they don't want to go to hell, if you talk to them. They want to go to heaven, but I guess they imagine they're going to live forever. So they can kick the can down the road a little bit more. And so for as long as they choose, they just choose to do nothing in their own mind with Jesus. Some actually have thought about it more than that. And they have consciously decided to put off the decision concerning Jesus. They say something like this: Well, you know, one day I would like to become a Christian. One day. One day I plan to trust in Christ. But it's just not right now. This is just not the right time for me.

Some even, in a sense, ignore the gospel by saying, I'm waiting for God to make the decision. It's in His court. You know, I just don't sense that He's called me yet. I just don't sense that He's called me to faith in His Son. So I'm just waiting for God to make this decision for me.
And what they ignore when they think that way is the fact that the gospel contains a command. The gospel contains a command. We're commanded to repent of our sins and to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're told that "today is the day of salvation." "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart." So God puts this before men in terms of a decision that they have to make, that they are to make. What will you do with Jesus?

And we know, we've studied this together, that when men do decide for the Lord Jesus, when they embrace Christ as Lord and Savior, it's only because God has been at work in His grace in a secret way by His Spirit doing the work of regeneration. That's why they desire to obey that command and to trust in Christ, to repent and believe. And yet it is still accurate to say and right to say and biblical to say that this choice is put before men.

What will you do with Jesus? Will you repent of your sins and trust in Christ as your Lord, as your Savior? Or will you reject Him? And whether you know it or not, when you do nothing with Jesus, you are doing something. Let me say that again. Whether you know it or not, when you do nothing with Jesus, you are doing something. And whether you know it or not, when you decide to do nothing, you are making a decision.

And you are being very foolish, and I say this lovingly and biblically, if you say, well, one day I would like to become a Christian. You are being foolish, according to Scripture, when you say one day, because you are not guaranteed another moment, according to Scripture. And if your life ends and you are not in Christ, you have not trusted in Him with saving faith, then you will spend eternity separated from God in a place called hell forever and ever and ever. And there are no re-do's. And there are no second chances.

The Word of God tells us that one day, every single human being who has ever lived will acknowledge the truth concerning Jesus. Isaiah 45:22 says this, Isaiah 45, 22 says this, : "Turn to Me and be saved. Turn to Me." That's a command. Turn to Me. It's a command, it's an invitation, but it's a command. "Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself, the Word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance."

Every human being who has ever lived will acknowledge the truth about Jesus. The New Testament equivalent of this is found in Philippians 2, in verse 9: "Therefore God has also highly exalted Him," referring to Christ, "and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee, without exception, every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father." You see, either you will acknowledge the truth about Jesus as His disciple, as His follower, or you will acknowledge the truth about Christ even as you are among those who are damned forever in Hell. What will you do with Jesus? What will you do with Him?

Every human being will one day acknowledge the truth about Jesus. Jesus, now in verses 37 through 42—and especially 37 to 39—He brings people face to face with a decision that is set before them. In verses 37 through 39, He is addressing those who accused Him, you remember, of blasphemy. He tells them in these verses that there is a decision to be made. And that's where I want us to begin this morning—verses 37 through 39—and I want us to begin to consider this portion under this heading: the call for decision. The call for decision. What will you do with Jesus?

There are several things that I want us to see about this call for a decision. The Son of God is calling men to decision, and the question is, what do you see about this call? Verse 37, He says, "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me." And so the first thing that I would note about this call is that it is a confident call. This call for decision is a confident call. You know, they wanted to focus on His words; they wanted to ignore His works. And the reason they did so is because His works confirmed the truthfulness of His words.

His works demonstrated that He was worthy of the title: the Son of God. God the Son. He was indeed the Son of God. He and the Father were indeed one. He was truly God incarnate. He was truly the God-sent God. And His works demonstrated exactly that truth. And so He says to them, if you don't want to listen to My words, then pay attention to My works. Behold My works. And He says, if I'm not doing the works of My Father, if these are not good, noble, beautiful works, wholesome works, as He described them earlier—if they're not truly that—then reject Me. Walk away from Me.

Would you honestly consider My works? That's what He's saying. Would you take an honest look at My works? It's a confident call, isn't it? It's a confident call. You know, one of the things about truth is that it never has any reason to fear examination, right? The truth has no fear of examination—no reason for that. If you're speaking the truth, then it will stand up to the examination. Always. The truth indeed will set you free.

Jesus is not afraid for His works to be examined precisely because they were of the nature that He's described them to be. To be of. They were indeed the works of God. They were noble. They were God-glorifying. Something else that stands out to me in that 37th verse—when He says, if you determine that they're not the works of the Father, then don't believe. "Don't believe Me." Something you see about the Lord Jesus is He wasn't afraid to let someone walk away from Him. You see, this is exactly the case with the rich young ruler, right? Remember that encounter? Jesus loved him, but He lets the rich young ruler walk away from Him. And this needs to affect really the way we think about evangelism. This needs to affect the way we do evangelism and share the gospel. We need to know that we have the truth, that we hold in our hands the truth, that we have in our hearts the truth, the truth of the gospel. I mean, what we have in the Scripture is the God-inspired record of the words and the works of Jesus. And then you have the New Testament commentary upon those words and the works, the application of the truths that have to do with His words and His works in the epistles.

We have nothing to be afraid of when it comes to our witness to the world. We just need to speak the truth in a straightforward way, knowing that it's the truth. God's truth. God's Word. And we need to challenge men to examine it, challenge men to give honest thought to it. And we can say to them, if you don't believe it to be true, then walk away. And then we must be willing to let them walk away.

See, I'm afraid what has happened instead is the church of our generation has become a church full of salespeople. And we think that we have to sell the gospel. We think that we have to sell the Lord Jesus. You know, we have to make a good pitch. And so we press people for a decision. A decision. Parent a prayer, raise a hand, walk an aisle. We twist arms. We bring superficial professions of faith in Jesus and the evidence is left thereafter that they were not truly His disciples. No transformed lives.

We would do better to evangelize the way that the Lord Jesus shared Himself. But not only is it a confident call, notice the second thing that we notice about this call, that it's also a decisive call. It is a decisive call. I mean, He calls for a decision right then. He says in verse 37, "If I am not doing the works of My Father, then do not believe Me." What's it going to be? Are you going to believe or not? "But if I do them," verse 38, "even though you do not believe Me, believe the works." If you discover that these are indeed the works of God, then believe them, which leads, of course, to belief in Him. Because notice the next part of verse 38, "so that." That's the end in view. That's the purpose. "So that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me and I am in the Father." In other words, if you find that My works are not what I've described them to be, then walk away from Me. But if you find them that they are indeed as I've described them to be, then believe them so that you may know something about Me and something about My Father. It's a decisive call.

Now notice a few things about this particular statement that Jesus makes. When He gives these words, when He says these words to these people, I want you to notice with me that these are gracious words. These are gracious words coming from the lips of the One who's full of grace. The One who's full of grace. Think about this. I mean, this is the Son of God. This is the Word incarnate. This is God in human flesh. This is the Son of God condescending to reach out to these rebellious men. These men, get the picture in your mind, they're standing there with stone in their hands ready to kill Him.

And what does Jesus do? He's reaching out to them with these gracious words, challenging them, calling them to believe in Him, to turn to Him and be saved. And He appeals to them in a way that is designed to clear away their unbelief, to clear away the debris of unbelief. And when I say He condescends, this is what I mean. He says, listen, if you're stumbling over the words, if the words would seem too incredible to you to believe, then believe the works. Examine the works. Behold the blind man who now can see. He's clearing away obstacles to bring them to the place of faith.

These are gracious words. But they're also humble words. They're humble words. One of the things that has to be challenged in us, beloved, one of the sinful things in us that has to be challenged when we look at the life of our Lord is His humility compared to our pride. Because there are men who would be offended if we're not willing to hear their words and would never consider saying, well, if my words are the issue, then set them aside, just examine the works. In other words, the Son of God is willing to be tested, have His word tested by His works. These are mere creatures of the dust. That's humility. If you're stumbling over My words, then look at My works. Gracious words, humble words.

But notice something else. Even though they're gracious and humble words, these words are non-negotiable words. They're non-negotiable words. Because whether you're convinced by His works or whether you're convinced by His words, there's a definite place of understanding you must be brought to. Verse 38, "But if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works so that you may know and continue knowing, continue to know that the Father is in Me and I in the Father." This is where you must arrive to be a Christian. You must recognize the truth about the person of Jesus. You must recognize the truth about His nature, who He truly is.

You must believe Him when He tells you what He tells you in verse 30, "I and the Father are one." And what does it mean when He says, "The Father is in Me and I in the Father" in verse 38? He means they are one, one in substance, one in essence, one in purpose. Very God of very God. And this is what you must believe in order to be saved. You must believe that Jesus is the Son of God. You must believe that He is God in human flesh, God incarnate. You must believe that He lived the life that the Bible says that He lived. That He died the death that the Bible says that He died. And that He was raised from the dead victorious. And that He is the only way to the Father. You must believe this to be saved concerning Christ.

So whether His works lead you to this understanding or His words lead you to this understanding, this is the place that you must come to. There is no other way to be saved. You cannot be saved. You cannot come to God while rejecting the truth about the Son of God, the Christ. Mormons desire us to consider them Christians. But Mormons are not Christians, are they? And why are they not? Because they do not understand the nature of God. They do not understand the nature of Christ. They would have us to believe that there are many gods.

Jehovah's Witnesses, same thing. In fact, they are false witnesses. And they would like to use the same language that you use and have you believe that they are real. They would like to use the same language that you use and have you believe that they really don't believe that much differently than you believe and I believe. But their beliefs are so different, far different than yours and mine. Aren't they? Because they deny God being one, is a triune God. They deny that Jesus is one with the Father, co-equal, co-eternal, always existing as God along with the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. They deny this. Are they Christians? Absolutely not. They are not Christians.

You see, whether by His works or by His words, this is what you must understand: that He and the Father are one. That God is one, yet He always existed as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—three distinct persons, one God. The Son of God came to earth. He lived a life the Bible says that He lived and died the death the Bible says He died and was raised from the dead. He died on the third day and is the only way to the Father. He shed His blood, and His shed blood is the only way for sinners to have their sins remitted. The only way.

And so this is a confident call. Jesus says, examine My works. If they're not as I've described them to be, then walk away from Me. But if they are as I've described them to be, then you must believe the works and understand that the Father is in Me and I in the Father. It is a decisive call.

Which gets to the third thing. You see about this call that it was a rejected call. Sadly, it was a rejected call. Though He was gracious with them, exhibited humility toward them, what was their response? Rejection. They rejected Him. How did they respond to these words? How? Again, they sought to arrest Him. They went on seeking what they sought in the first place.

Look at verse 39: "Therefore, they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp." Now, we're not told here how He eluded their grasp, how He did this. It really doesn't matter what form it took, does it? Here's the bottom line: His hour had not yet come. God operates according to His own divine timetable, right? And so they're not able to seize Him. He leaves.

But I want us to see something very interesting—the play on words here. The contrast between that statement and the preceding statements earlier in this chapter. Go back to verse 28 and look at this with me together. Jesus said, "I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish, ever, and no one is able to snatch them out of My hand." Here is the Greek word. "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." Verse 39: "Therefore, they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their hand." Of course, when you're in the hand of the Father, it doesn't make any difference whose hands are seeking to lay themselves upon you, does it? If you're in the hand of God, you will escape out of the hands of all of those who seek to hurt you, to lay hold of you. You're safe and secure in the hand of God, and nothing—absolutely nothing—will come into your life, child of God, without it first passing through the sacred desk of God. Absolutely nothing.

So a call to decision. And before we move on, I just want to say again today that if you are not a child of God, if you are not in Christ, if you are not a Christian, and you have sat in this place before many, many times and you've heard the gospel in this place—perhaps you heard the gospel in your home from your parents, from your husband, from your wife, from your family member, from your friend—over and over again, I want you to know that as long as you go on doing nothing with Jesus, you've done something with Jesus. There is no middle ground. If you don't believe in Him, then walk away from Him. But if you believe His works, that they are noble and beautiful and God-glorifying, then you must trust in Him, because the day is coming. You either will bow the knee and confess that Jesus is Lord as His disciple, or you will do so as one who is part of the multitudes who are damned in hell. By bowing and confessing, you will and you must.

What will you do with Jesus?

Will you please now notice with me the contrast that we see in verse 40? Now, the contrasting picture: “And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there. And many came to Him and were saying, ‘While John did no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true.’ And many believed in Him there.” Now, we've talked about this before, but I want to remind us of it again. See, if John wanted to record everything that Jesus did and everything that Jesus said, there was no way for him to do it.

In fact, he says in John 21:25, “There are so many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written one after the other, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” Listen also to how he put it with the purpose clause in John 20:30: “Therefore, many other signs Jesus also did in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, you may have life in His name.” John says, I didn't write everything that I could have, but what I've written is written with a design, with a purpose—that you may believe that He is indeed the Son of God, God the Son, that believing in Him also you may have life in His name.

So there's much about the life of Christ that we don't have in the Gospel of John. Yet guided by the Spirit, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he sees fit to record after this conversation—this confrontation with these hard-hearted men, ready to kill Him—this portion in verse 40 to verse 42. He went back to Perea, also known as Bethabara, to the place where John was first baptizing, and the Scripture says He was staying there, He was abiding there. And then we have a brief description of what took place.

Now why? Why does John record this? Well, why is it there? I believe one reason the Holy Spirit gives us this is that it is in such contrast—stark contrast—to what we've just read. I mean, it's night and day difference, isn't it? In verse 40, notice Jesus is welcomed in Perea. “He went away again beyond the Jordan,” we read, “to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there”—*meno*, abiding, remaining there. That is to say, He was able to stay there, to abide there, to rest.

In Jerusalem, Judea, Jerusalem—they're constantly seeking for His life, but He's able to remain here for a time. See the contrast: Jerusalem and here in Perea. And notice what's going on while He's there. Verse 41: “Many came to Him.” Many came to Him. Now, they're not coming to Him because they're settled in unbelief. They're not coming to Him because they're trying to entrap Him, find something against Him, undermine Him. They're coming to Him because they're open to faith in Him. They're seeking Him. They're genuinely interested, genuinely wanting to know who He really is. It's a marked difference—a stark difference, isn't it—between the two?

In Jerusalem, there they are, spying on Him. They're trying to entrap Him. He's walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon, verse 23, and they encircle Him like sharks. They surround Him like hyenas, and they begin to pepper Him with questions. This is the atmosphere in Jerusalem. But when He goes to Perea, oh, it's completely different. Totally different. He's able to rest, He's able to stay there, and we read, "And many came to Him," and not because they're settled in their unbelief, but because they are open to believe in Him. It's different, and I always marvel at the detail of God's Word, really. It's always marvelous. It just always—it just makes me happy when I discover these things as I read the Word of God.

Because notice what verse 41 says: "And many came to Him and were saying," notice this, "While John did what? No sign." Stunning, isn't it? "While John did no sign, yet everything John," what's the next word, "said," "said about this man was true." Do you see the contrast? You catch it?

In Jerusalem, they won't believe a thing Jesus is saying, and though they've seen many signs—the last one was the man born blind receiving his sight—they don't believe what they see. But at this time here, in this place, in Perea, what they have to go on at this point is, as Jesus comes to them, what they're remembering is the witness of His forerunner, John the Baptist, what he said concerning Jesus. And they said, "John did no sign," yet even though they had no sign of John the Baptist to go on, these people believe everything now that they met Jesus. They believe everything that John said about Jesus.

The witness of John the Baptist is effectual in their case. The words have found a home in their heart. The words have found fertile soil in their heart, and the words have become effectual in them without signs. Without works, they were willing to believe the words, which gets to the 42nd verse: "And many believed in Him there."
Despite the works, despite the words of Jesus, they don't believe in Him in Jerusalem. But now, based upon no works but the words of His forerunner and what they've experienced as Jesus is in their midst, many believe in Him.

Listen to what S. Lewis Johnson said concerning this section here. It's really very helpful for us. He writes, "Now notice the last statement, and many believed on Him there. In other words, not in Judea where they had the Bible, where they had the priest, where they had the tradition, where they had the temple, where they had the knowledge, but many of them believed on Him there," referring to Perea. In the original text, there's a bit of emphasis upon the adverb, "many believed upon Him there."

He goes on to say, "One of the saddest things is to see a congregation in which the Word of God is proclaimed in truthfulness, harmony with the Scriptures, in the Holy Spirit, accurately, and the congregation is indifferent, and lethargic, and cold, and unresponsive. And then to go to another assembly where the Word of God is not preached very strongly, where there are no real depth of teaching, it's somewhat artificial, superficial, and yet there they are—hungry, spiritually hungry individuals who are responsive to the Word." He says, "That's great, but what a condemnation it was for Judea that many believed upon Him there in Perea, just as there might be no responsiveness in Believer's Chapel," referring to the church which he's serving. And we can really easily substitute this with Grace Chapel, "but some believing on Him elsewhere. But it's very possible that there's responsiveness to the Word of God in places where they don't really have the opportunity that some of us have had. It's something to thank God for, but it's something also to weep over." End of quote.

So you have a call for decision, and the Holy Spirit sets before us a contrasting picture. People who don't believe despite the works and words of the Son of God, and people who do believe, and they've been influenced, according to this text, by the words—and no works—by the words of John the Baptist, the forerunner. And the day of decision is still with us. Still here. What will you do with Jesus?

Here we are 2,000 years later, and we have the record before us, and the time of decision is still here. What will you do with this record? What will you do with this record? What will you do with the gospel? What will you do with Jesus? What will you do with the words concerning Jesus, the words of Jesus, and the works of Jesus that have been preserved for us by God in this book? What will you do? What will you do with Christ? What have you done with Him? What have you done with Him?

In light of what we've seen today in these verses, I'd like to finish and conclude this morning with five observations by way of application. Five observations. And first of all, the first one: notice that faith—first of all—faith is something worked internally, not externally.

Faith is something worked internally, not externally. That is, if external evidence alone is what brings men to Jesus, then you would be able to say wherever you have the more powerful external evidence, then you will find greater faith, right? Greater external evidence, greater faith—that's what you would expect to find if that's what brings men and women to faith in Christ. And yet, we find right here in this text that that doesn't match up, does it?

In Jerusalem, they've seen His works. "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?" (verse 32), right? They've seen much undeniable signs, and yet they don't believe. And here you have people in Perea who have been influenced by the words of John the Baptist. They've seen no sign; they just heard words concerning Christ, seen it confirmed in their midst as Jesus is abiding there with them, and they're willing to believe.

As I thought about this, I thought, isn't it amazing? Isn't it amazing that after three years of public ministry, in spite of the fact that multitudes, multitudes, multitudes followed Jesus, multitudes were intrigued by Him, isn't it something else that gathered together in that upper room after His life, after His death, after His resurrection, as they were waiting for the gift of the Holy Spirit—Isn't it amazing that there were, how many people? 120. Just 120. That's it. 120.
Not 20,000, not 30,000, not a stadium full of people—120 people. That's it. And that's after dead men had been raised like Lazarus. That's after blind men had been given their sight. Deaf people were able to hear. People who had bodies maimed by disease were made whole. And what do you have there in that upper room? 120 people. That's it.

Beloved, it's not external evidence, it's not the power of external evidence that produces faith in sinners. It's the work of God. It's the work of God in the heart that produces faith—not something set before their eyes, not something they hear with their physical ears on a physical, external level—but God's regenerating work in the heart, the ears of the heart. That's what produces faith. And that is not to say that God works faith apart from His Word being heard. No, no, because Romans 10 verse 17 says, "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the words of Christ."

But what it is to say is that the Word of Christ and the works of Christ will be ineffectual; they will not produce faith in natural men apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the sinner. Faith isn't produced by something external, Beloved. It's produced by the work of the Holy Spirit, and it's an internal work. It's a heart work. And again, this is important for our thinking concerning witnessing and evangelism.

Think about how some Christians approach the subject of apologetics. They act as if somehow we're going to argue someone into the Kingdom of God. Apologetics has a place, but, Beloved, you will not bring someone into the Kingdom of God by the power of argument. The only way any argument will ever be convincing to anyone is when the Holy Spirit makes someone willing. Apart from that, all your arguments will be ineffectual, won't have any impact whatsoever.

This also gets to the idea of what you are hearing today in the charismatic circles. I'm referring to the idea of what is called as power evangelism. This is the belief that the reason why we need signs and wonders—and they must still be in existence—because this is the way that God uses to bring men to faith in His Son. They call it power evangelism.

I really want to say to such people, have you read the Gospels? Have you really read the Gospels? Because who could do more than Jesus did when He was on earth? And what do you have—120 people? And even those who followed Him because of the fireworks, right? When He fed the multitudes and did all these miracles, Jesus did not actually commit Himself to them. He did not believe in their belief. He did not entrust Himself to them. The people of His day looked right in the face of those miracles, and they did not believe Him.

In fact, as we will see next time in John 11—I mean, well, actually, you'll see it at the end of John 11—look over for just a moment. At the end of John 11, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, and the verse immediately following that miracle—look at verse 45—notice: "Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what He had done believed in Him." And I'm amazed at verse 46. Look at verse 46: "But,” not a good one, it's not a good but, “but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done." Can you imagine that? That you could be witness to such a thing, such an incredible miracle, and the conclusion you come to is, we've got to go and turn Him in. Verse 47: "Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Sanhedrin together and were saying, 'What are we doing? What are we going to do? For this man is doing many signs.'" You talk about self-condemning—a self-condemning comment. He's performing many signs, so what are we going to do?

Can't help but think, well, why didn't someone speak up and say, what are we to do? We're to believe in Him. We're to believe in Him. But no, that's not what they say. That's not even what they meant, because we're told what they meant in verse 48. Look at verse 48: "If we let Him go on like this, all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." We're going to lose our place. We're going to lose our sway. We're going to lose our control, our authority. People are going to actually believe in Him. This is in the face of One who has raised a dead man, and he's been dead for four days, verse 39 tells us. No, that's not how men are brought to faith in Christ—not externally. It's internal. That's the first observation by way of application.

Second observation that I want us to notice: notice, however, having said that, that God uses means in bringing men to faith. God uses means. Now, the means are not salvific. They are simply instrumental. But He uses means. The means are unable by themselves to bring men to faith, but God has chosen to use means to bring men to faith in His Son.
God used here the testimony of John the Baptist to prepare the way to Christ on this occasion. Only God can bring men to faith, but God will do this through the preaching of the gospel, through the witness of His people, through the prayers of the saints, through our life's testimony, through the testimony of our words. God will use this to bring men to Himself.

Jesus, in John 17 and verse 20, praying for His people, He says this: "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word." Word. How are they going to come to believe? Through the means of the word. The word. Their word, their testimony, their evangelism.

So only God can bring men to faith, but how is He going to do it? He's going to do it through the preaching of the gospel. He's going to do it through the prayers of His people interceding on behalf of sinners. He's going to do it through the testimony of our lives.

Yet all of that—and this is where we can rejoice in God as Savior—all of that we recognize will be completely and utterly ineffective apart from the Spirit's work, working in the hearts of dead men. We can preach all day long and no one will be saved if the Holy Spirit does not do His mighty inward work. We are dependent on the Spirit of God. And you can live a testimony before somebody forever and ever, but if the Holy Spirit does not open their heart, they won't see, they won't understand, and they won't come.

And as that gets into your mind and gets into your heart, it will help you, Christian. It will help you because it will set you free in many ways. Believers are often frustrated. Why? Why don't they see? Why? Why don't they listen? Why don't they come? Can't they see the difference? Can't they see the difference that God has done in my life? Can't they see how the Lord has changed my life? They should be able to, but if the Lord doesn't open their heart, they won't be able to. They won't recognize it for what it really is, just like they don't recognize the works of Jesus for what they really were.

But there's a third observation I want us to notice. Notice that God can use a witness given a long time before. God can use a witness given a long time before. What a tremendous hope. What a tremendous hope. Instead of remembering the words of John the Baptist—he's gone, right?—"While John did no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true." Words spoken long before. Bear in mind, John is dead. John is off the scene, but he's still speaking. His words are still having an effect. He spoke the word of God, he spoke the truth of God, and God's truth goes on in its effect. It's unstoppable.

Though he was dead, he was still speaking, and this is what we read in Hebrews 11:4, testimony of Abel: "By faith, Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he was approved as being righteous, God approving his gift." And then the Bible says this: "And through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks." Isn't it wonderful to know that God's word has a life of its own? Isn't it? And you know what? You can't lock it up. You can't. You can lock up the messenger, but you can't lock up the word of God.

Isn't that what Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:9, talking about the gospel? He says, concerning the gospel, "I endure hardship even to chains as a criminal, but the word of God has not been chained." The word of God has not been chained. The word of God is not chained. The word of God is not bound. It cannot be locked up.

Let me encourage you, beloved. Maybe you witness to someone, and you say, you know, I've witnessed, and I've witnessed, and I've witnessed, and I've witnessed, and there's no effect. Beloved, listen. Until the person you've been witnessing to has died, it's not over. It's not over. And God may use the words that you've spoken long after you have forgotten about it, and even long after you've gone. Even if you were to go to glory, those words can be used by God. Long after you've spoken what you spoke, long after you've shared what you've shared, God may quicken that word to their hearts many, many days, and many, many, many years after that, because God's word is not bound. God's word is not chained.

So here God is using words spoken by John the Baptist long after they were spoken.
That brings us to the fourth observation, and I want us to notice in this text—and we know this, but it rejoices our hearts to really say it. I want you to remember that the identity of Jesus is not determined by the people making the decision. The identity of Jesus is not determined by the people who are making the decision. This is really important for us to remind ourselves of.
We can ask, what is the difference between Jesus in Jerusalem and Jesus in Perea? What has changed about Him? Have His words changed? Have His works changed? No. Not at all. The difference is not in Jesus. The difference is in these two groups and what they were able to recognize. The group in Jerusalem did not recognize the truth. The group in Perea did. But He hasn't changed. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's the Savior no matter what you think of Him, and He's the only Savior no matter what you decide about Him. There's only one Savior. He is the Savior.

And I pray that the church would again get this character to Her preaching and teaching and witnessing. I pray that we would send a clear message, crystal clear message, that Jesus is not a beggar in need of your approval. We are the beggars in need of His acceptance. Jesus isn't saying, oh, oh, oh, would you please accept Me in the sense that somehow He needs us. He doesn't come to us because He needs us. He doesn't come to us—whether we know it or not—because we need Him desperately. We desperately need Him.

And it's gracious and it's merciful that the Son of God would offer Himself to those people. It's not out of need. It's out of love, out of grace, out of mercy, out of compassion, out of pity. And one group decided that He wasn't worthy to be believed and followed, and the other believed in Him. But Jesus was the same. One group was saved. The other was lost.

A fifth observation that I want us to notice. It's simple and it's on the surface, but it needs to be said. Notice that Christ is offered to both groups. Christ is offered to both groups. He was genuinely offered to the group that rejected Him as well as the group that accepted Him. And this is the wonder of God's mercy and grace to our own day, to this day.

The Gospel will be preached by God's will and design and purpose and plan. It will be preached not only to those who believe and receive Him, but to those who don't believe Him and won't receive Him. And the offer in both cases is absolutely genuine. Remember the words of Christ? "Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem" (Luke 13:34), "the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you did not want."

This is the truth that's hard for us to grasp in our finite mind—that though men, because of what sin has done to us, though men cannot see, cannot understand, and will not understand the things of the Spirit of God apart from the sovereign saving grace of God and the working regeneration in their soul—even though that's true, men are still responsible to believe and they're offered the Gospel freely.

Child of God, aren't you grateful today that you're found among the many who believed in Him there? In verse 42. May your heart be filled with gratitude. You were dead in sins. You were dead in trespasses until quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit and were enabled to answer the call and embrace the grace offered in Christ. And this enabling power is no less power than that which raised up Christ from the dead.

What happened to you if you're a Christian? What happened to you if you're a child of God? You were made alive together with Christ. You were raised from the dead spiritually. You heard the voice of the Son of God, the language of John 11, and you lived. And you were enabled by that power to hear the call, to respond to the call. You were enabled by the power to desire Christ. And so you embraced Him.

Oh, child of God, consider afresh what your Lord God has done for your soul. He quickened you when you were dead in trespasses and sins. He gives you light and peace to your soul. He feeds you with the bread of life. He cures all your spiritual diseases. He quells all your manifold enemies and temptations. And He strengthens you with His grace day by day. He does all that is done in you by grace. And He will never cease working in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

What's the difference between these two groups that we've seen today? It's not explained externally. One group had less evidence than the other. The group that believed had less evidence than the group that didn't. No, the difference was in that secret work in the soul wrought by the Spirit of God that enabled men to see what another group could not see and understand what another group could not understand and believe what another group did not believe.

You see, this is in your own witnessing experience. You see the same thing if you just think about it for a minute. Isn't it amazing how you meet with people? You even sense the Lord working in you, in your witness to them. I mean, He brings things to mind, clear, cogent arguments are presented to them and you're able to articulate this with precision and they're not convinced. And they're not convinced. And you meet other people who are every bit as intelligent as the others, who may have even been from just external dealings with them. You thought they're more hardened to the gospel than others. And yet, as you begin to share, and you could tell the Holy Spirit has prepared the soul of the heart because it's not hard for them to see and it's not difficult for them to believe. And you don't need all these overwhelming apologetic arguments to convince them and they are receptive, responsive and you're scratching your head, it's like, how can this be? They see, they hear, they understand, they believe. And how did they come to believe? God worked in their heart. Have you believed? If you have, it's the Lord's work. If you haven't, the Lord calls you to decision today. Even today. What will you do with Jesus?

You see the words of Jesus. You see the words of Jesus. What will you do with Jesus? May your response be in the language of the words of the song: "Your word is living light upon our darkened eyes, guards us through temptations, makes the simple wise. Your word is food for famished ones, freedom for the slave, riches for the needy soul. Come speak to us today."
You see the words of Jesus and you see the works of Jesus. What will you do with them? What will you do with Jesus? The greatness of these words consisted in this. They were all outward signs. John's favorite word with reference to miracles: sign. Pointing to a spiritual truth, a spiritual reality. They were outward testimonies of the far more noble operations of His grace within the soul.

Just to remind us, when He gave sight to the blind, He gave sight to the blind that He might display to all men His sovereign power in giving light and understanding to the mind, that He's the light of the world. When He opened the deaf ear, He opened it so that men might know that by whom alone they can hear aright the good news of salvation and live forever. The lame He caused in a moment to walk that His people might learn that we can only move as well as and live and have our being in Him, and that without Him we could do absolutely nothing.

He cured the foul leprosy of the body in order to show that only by Him can men be healed of the far more deplorable leprosy of sin, which covers and defiles the soul. And all sicknesses vanished at His command that we might have hope in Him as the restorer of our souls. And He cast out unclean spirit that He might teach us that He alone delivered and can deliver His people from the powers of darkness.

The hungry multitudes were fed by His miraculous power to explain this marvelous truth: that He is not only the giver of spiritual life but the constant sustainer and the nourisher of it every single day, moment by moment. And He did it by small insignificant means that the excellencies of the power might be known to be His and not in the creatures, however sanctified, however blessed and used. And the winds and the waves were instantly obedient to His word that His beloved might rejoice in Him as the stiller of all spiritual waves and tumultuous madness of this world, and the ragings of Satan and his demons, and the confusion of all things.

These can roar and foam no longer than it pleases the Master. And when they foam and roar at all, it shall turn out in the end for the good of His people and the glory of His name. And the dead were raised to proclaim His power as our risen, exalted Lord and to declare that the issues also of spiritual life and spiritual death are altogether in His hand.

What will you do with Jesus? When is the time for decision? It's now. What must I do to be saved? "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." Turn from your sins. Trust in Him, and the Lord will save you. And God is calling you this day. That's why—did you know that?—that's why you sit under this message today. God is calling you. Will you obey the call?

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

Take your Bibles with me, and let us return one last time to the book of Malachi, Malachi chapter 4. We are concluding our studies in the book of Malachi, and it's been an exciting study, and I'm so thankful to the Lord for His Word here in this book. Starting next week, Lord willing, we will look at dealing with sin for a few messages, a couple of messages perhaps, and then following that, we will begin a new study in the books of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and I'm really excited to spend that time together in the Word of God.

And the Word of God reads, "For  behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every worker of wickedness will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them aflame", says Yahweh of hosts, "so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. And you will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing," says Yahweh of hosts.

"Remember the law of Moses, My servant, even the statutes and judgments which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land, devoting it to destruction."

Really, if you were to look at the book of Malachi, the book of Malachi is really an affirmation of the faithfulness of God. God is faithful. An affirmation of the faithfulness of God. Now, at first reading, it may not sound like what is being emphasized here is the faithfulness of God because the book ends on the note of judgment, as was read in your hearing. But make no mistake about it. This is an affirmation of the faithfulness of God. "Great is Thy faithfulness," would be a fitting hymn to sing, to proclaim.

The faithfulness of God in His holiness. The faithfulness of God in His sovereignty. In the fact that He will rule what He has made. The faithfulness of God in terms of His power, His might, His knowledge, His wisdom. All of this being put on display through the promise of justice.
God is faithful to judge. He is the Judge of all judges. God is faithful in terms of justice.

You remember, this is one of the ways that the people have sinned against Yahweh. They had claimed that His justice was in doubt. In fact, their claim was even stronger than that. They implied that God's justice is a lie.

Malachi 2, verse 17: "You have wearied Yahweh with your words. But you say, 'How have we wearied Him?' In that you say, 'Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of Yahweh, and He delights in them,' or, 'Where is the God of justice?'"

Remember that, right? God, You claim to be God of justice, but we look at our world, we don't see Your justice. We don't see it. We look at how things are for us right now, we look at the surrounding nations, and we wonder, where is the God of justice? Some justice.
Well, now Malachi ends the book, this book of prophecy, with the promise that not only will Israel see the justice of God, the entire world will see the justice of God. It's a reminder that God's judgment may be delayed, but it's never in doubt. Never in doubt. Never. Never.

James Montgomery Boyce said this, and I quote: "Because God was unchanging in His holiness and justice, it follows that the inevitability of His judgment upon the wicked is unchanging also. The final chapter of Malachi virtually shouts for us to see this, for it begins, 'Surely the day is coming.' Verse 1." And he goes on to say,  "The judgment of God may be postponed. For the most part, it has been postponed for the long years of human history—postponed but not forgotten. Delay is not elimination. Judgment will come."Judgment will come.
 
And Malachi has already declared that this judgment will be delivered. It will be delivered in the presence of the Messiah. He Himself personally will judge. He is the Judge. The day of the Lord, the final day, the great day, is the day when God Himself brings justice.

Go back to chapter 3 and you'll see it. Verse 1: "Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says Yahweh of hosts. But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a smelter's fire and like fullers’ soap. And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to Yahweh offerings in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to Yahweh as in the ancient days and as in former years. Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the sojourner and do not fear Me, says Yahweh of hosts. For I, Yahweh, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed."

Faithful. Faithful. Absolutely faithful in terms of the promises. You know those promises. The free grace promises that He's made concerning His people. And perfectly faithful when it comes to His promise to judge.

What we have here in chapter 4, the very end of the book, is really a restatement of those truths. It's a reaffirmation of what God has already promised.
Again and again, there's that reaffirmation here. And in fact, it would be the final word until the first coming of the Messiah would come to pass. The last word until the Elijah, who would introduce the messenger of the covenant, would come on the scene—John the Baptist.

So tonight we conclude the book of Malachi by looking at the day, the great day of Yahweh.
Verse 1: "For behold, the day is coming." Oh, the day is coming. It's coming. Delay is not a denial. It's coming. The day is coming. The great day of Yahweh is coming. Behold. And we're going to look at the day, and we're going to see this day in terms of four relationships that are associated with that day, four relationships spoken of in our text. And here's relationship number one. Again, this day in connection with these relationships.

Relationship number one: we see the day of Yahweh, the great day of Yahweh, and its relationship, first, to arrogant evildoers. The day and its relationship to arrogant evildoers. Verse 1: "For behold, the day is coming," – now watch the language –  "burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every worker of wickedness will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them aflame, says Yahweh of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch."

So here's the question: What will the day of the Lord mean for the arrogant evildoer? What will it mean to them? The arrogant—that is, those who arrogantly defy the living God, disregard His Word, reject His offers of mercy, ultimately then rejecting His Son. What will the day hold for all those people? All the evildoers—evildoers by nature, evildoers by choice.

Well, the text declares several things that this day will mean for them. Look at it together. First of all, it's going to be, number one, a day of certain judgment. It will be a day of certain judgment for the arrogant evildoer. The verse begins with the word, "Behold." "For behold, the day is coming." Behold—in other words, take note, take note of this. Look at this. Don't miss it. Don't bypass it. The day is coming. In fact, the day is on its way.

And then He goes on to describe what that day is going to mean for those who are being mentioned. The day is coming. God's judgment is certain. And that's something that God should be worshiped for. That's something that, if men would ever admit it, it's something that humanity really longs for in some sense. Men, of course, are twisted when it comes to the idea of justice. But mankind, in general terms, cries out for justice. Mankind realizes that wrong should be punished.

Now, man gets the right wrong and the wrong right because of the fall, because of depravity. But instinctively, he knows there must be some kind of justice in the universe. And yet, when it comes to the justice spoken of concerning the God of the Bible, man does not, in general, rejoice in it because he has a guilty conscience. Because he has a guilty conscience. He knows himself to be a sinner. He knows himself to be accountable to the God of justice.
So, he either expresses doubt that this day will actually occur, or he dreads it. Or he dreads it. He may not doubt it, but he doesn't want to think about it. He may not doubt it, but he doesn't want to speak of it. He wants to just live his life acting as if it will never come. It will never arrive because he fears it through the knowledge of his sin.

And we'll see it in just a moment, but the good news for you and for me, His sheep, is that where we stand on the grace of God—if we stand on the grace of God in Christ Jesus—there is no fear of holy justice. There is no fear of holy justice. Because God, as Holy Judge, has already judged all of our sins in the body of His Son on the tree. All of them. All of them. Every single one of them. Jesus paid it all. All. All of it.

And when the Judge has justified you, when the Judge has declared you right with Himself in His Son, there is absolutely nothing left to condemn you. Therefore, now, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ. There's nothing and no one left to condemn you. There's nothing left to condemn you.

Romans 8 declares this wonderful truth in verse 33: "Who will bring a charge against God's elect?" Who? Who? Stand up. Stand up. Who is it? If you're there, you know, you want to bring a charge, bring a charge. Well, stand. Well, who? There's no one. No one.

And I love the way that Paul reasons here. He says, "God is the one who justifies." God is the one who justifies. It is God who justifies. Did you grasp that? I mean, this is incredible. It's the One who's going to judge that has declared you right with Himself. So, if the Judge declares you right with Himself, then who is left to condemn you? Who? The verdict is already in.

He goes on to write in verse 34, Romans 8: "Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died." The Judge of all the earth is the One who laid down His life for you, he's saying. "Yes, rather, who was raised," which is to say that His offering on behalf of wretched sinners was what? Sufficient. It was sufficient. It was accepted. It was successful. There's nothing left to condemn you.

Paul continues, "Who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us." I mean, in every way, Paul was stacking up these explanations to say that if you know the Lord Jesus Christ, we know Him as Lord and Savior, you have no reason whatsoever to fear holy justice because it has been fully satisfied by God Himself, in your case, in the body of His Son on the tree. Period. Paragraph. Amazing, isn't it?

But if you don't stand in the grace of God, if you don't stand in the grace of God, you have every reason to fear that day, to be trembling, to be gripped with trepidation, to be overcome with fear and panic. Because men and women will then be judged, and everything that you've ever done in life has been recorded, and one day you will answer for every single one of those deeds and words and motivations. In fact, the Bible says here that that day for the wicked, for the arrogant, is going to be a day like the language of Malachi—like a furnace, like an oven, like a furnace. Malachi 4 verse 1: "For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace." But beloved, it's not just a day of certain judgment. I want us to see also that it's going to be a day of consuming judgment.

Consuming judgment. Look at the text: "Burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every worker of wickedness will be" – here it is – "chaff." Chaff. They themselves are spoken of here as being burned up. What that day will mean for them is absolute devastation. Everything they think that they've achieved, everything they think commends them—that is, they glory in it, they take pride in it—everything they place their confidence in, the strong towers as it were they built in their minds, everything that they currently enjoy and find satisfaction and pleasure in.

You know, I don't have time to think about God or His church or His Word, I'm just too busy enjoying my life and, you know, building my career and building my fortune and pursuing pleasures. So everything that they've enjoyed, everything that they worship in the place of the Creator that they dishonor, everything they think of as a legacy, as a future, as the reason for existence—it will all be consumed by the justice of God. All of it. All of it. All of it. All of it.

The verse describes them as completely consumed. There will be nothing, nothing left. And the day that is coming—verse 1—"will set them aflame, says Yahweh of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch." What is under the earth, what is visible to the eye, will be consumed. It'll all be gone. It's all burned up. It's like they've been thrown into a fiery furnace.
And obviously, it's not teaching annihilationism. The Bible goes on to make clear that there is eternal torment, that the lost will know in the wrath of God—this eternal torment forever and ever and ever—and not even a drop of relief. But what it is to say is that everything that they thought they've gained in this world will be completely incinerated. It is a certain judgment. It is a consuming judgment.

And thirdly, I want us to see it's also a complete judgment—a complete judgment—because what is stressed in this verse, in the verse, is that it's every single one of them.
Do you see it? Look at verse 1 again: "For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace;  – and here it is – "and all" – all, it's complete, every single one – "all the arrogant and every worker of wickedness will be chaff." No one excepted. No one, no one, no one left out. No one left out. No one left out. No one, no one, no one. All of the insolence, the presumptuous, all of those who do wickedness— not one unforgiven sinner will emerge from that day without everything that they put their trust in being consumed. No one is off the hook. Not one in the whole world will escape this judgment. This is what the day means for the arrogant. This is what the day means for the evildoer.

But now we see a second relationship as we think about that day. In verses 2 and 3, we see the day now in its relationship to those who—it's a different category—who fear God, the God-fearers. And you can see the contrast. You can see the difference, the stark contrast. What will that day mean for those who fear Yahweh? What will that day mean for those who fear God's name?

Verse 2: "But"—and this is a but of distinction—"But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. And you will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing, says Yahweh of hosts."

For those who fear the name of God, you see this day represents what? Vindication. It represents vindication. God will vindicate His own name. But at the same time that He vindicates His name, He will also vindicate those who have feared His name. You do realize this: that if we fear the name of God, this means we reverence the living God in this world, and we share His reputation in this world, right? So those who hate the name of God, hate you. That's what Jesus said, right? Those who revile the name of God, revile you.

And on this day, God will remember all of those who have feared His name – every single one of them  – all of those who have gladly counted it a privilege and an honor and a joy and a delight to be associated with His name—so that that day will be a vindication, not just of His name, but also of His people who are associated with His name, who are called by His name.

The judgment of God is not only certain, it is distinguishing. The judgment of God hits its target, and what is distinguished in the day is the wicked from the righteous. And what distinguishes the wicked from the righteous is, as we saw this morning, the grace of God. The grace of God. It is God's grace that has produced the difference. It is salvation that has produced the difference.

There are people who are arrogant and evildoers, and there are people who are characterized by reverencing the name of God, fearing God's name, and salvation has produced the reverence, and grace has produced salvation.

In the third chapter, as I said, this is really a repetition of what is taught earlier in the prophecy. Malachi 3:18, it says this, "So you will return and see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him." That day will make a distinction. And so God gives a promise to His people that the day, that day for them will mean something quite different than for the arrogant, for the evildoer. And what will that day mean for the people of God? What will the day of judgment mean for the people of God? God-fearers? Well, first of all, it will be the dawn of righteousness for the God-fearer. It will be the dawn of righteousness.

Look at verse 2. He says, "But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise." I mean like the sun rising in the morning, the darkness of the wicked world will dissipate. It will be put away, and the sun of righteousness will arise in the person of Jesus Christ our Lord. The darkness will be put away by Him, and the light of God will shine upon the people of God. The breaking of the day, the breaking of sunlight, the breaking in of righteousness will take place.

Whereas this world has been under a curse, the curse will be gone, and righteousness will dwell in the earth, and the dawn of righteousness will appear.

But it will also be a day at the same time of restoration. Restoration. Look at verse 2. "The sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings." Healing. Loss will be replaced by gain. Sickness will be replaced by health. Tears will be replaced with laughter. The scorn that has been heaped up upon the people of God by the wicked will be replaced with praise and reward from our good and gracious God.

And it's also going to be a day as a result of great celebration. It's going to be a day of great celebration. Look at the text. "And you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall." What an image that is. What a lovely image. Like a calf skips out of its stall, exhibiting its joy and its freedom and its liberation, so the people of God will skip about with joy. Delight. I rejoice to tell you tonight, you've never known a joy like the joy of that day. And it will be a special day.

One thing that's amazing about children is their sense of wonder. Have you ever thought about that? Everything is new. Everything is wonderful. Everything is amazing. And they have this awe, this wonder. When is the last time you were amazed at anything? Watch little kids amazed at every new thing, every new experience, every new opportunity, and then notice how wonder leaves our lives the longer we live in this sin-infected world. But on that day, on that day, you will meet with wonder again, and the wonder will never ever go away. Never. It's going to be everlasting.

It's going to be a day of celebration, a day of vindication as well, as we see. A day of vindication. Because He says in verse 3, "And you will tread down the wicked, for there will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing, says Yahweh of hosts." He first presents the image of them being burned up, like being put in a furnace—the wicked, that is—and then He pictures the righteous walking over their ashes. Those who have so often been walked on by the wicked will walk into eternity over the ashes of those who have been consumed by the judgment of God. That's the imagery. Triumph. Vindication.

This is why, beloved, Christians in this age are not to be characterized by seeking vengeance. That's why. That's why all the outcry you hear in our world right now, even by professing Christians, that it sounds like what we're after is some sort of vindication, some sort of getting even, some sort of earthly temporal justice in response to ways that people have been mistreated and all the rest—and of course there's a place for temporal justice. That falls in the realm of civil concern. But in terms of the concern of God's people, we have a gospel concern, beloved. Don't ever, ever lose sight of that. We have a gospel concern. It is the salvation of the souls of men and women. That's where our focus is, and we leave our mistreatment in the hands of the One who judges justly. We love our enemies. We pray for those who spitefully use us. We demonstrate the love of Christ by not responding in like manner, not reviling those who revile, not giving what they gave us, but rather loving them with the love of Jesus. This is our calling in this age—a gospel concern—because we can leave it to God to make the wrongs right, and He will one day. That's what He's picturing in these verses. One day the wrongs will be made right. They will be.

So this day of vindication will also be a day of deliverance. Deliverance. Look at verse 3, "And you will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet." That's vindication. But who vindicates? Notice: "On the day which I am preparing." Do you see who vindicates? Says Yahweh of Hosts. This will come to us from the hand of who? God. Our God. This represents the action of God. God will do this, beloved. Again, let me say this. Vengeance belongs to Him. Not to you, not to me. To Him. I referenced this earlier, but 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 23 says this, speaking of Jesus: "Who being reviled, was not reviling in return; while suffering, He was uttering no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously." That's our calling during this age. Peter says in verse 21, "For to this you have been called." That's our calling. But God announces and encourages us and comforts us with the knowledge that the day will come when He will execute justice. It's coming.

So we see the day in its relationship to the arrogant and evildoer—a day of certain judgment, a day of consuming judgment. And then we look at this day in relationship to those who fear the name of Yahweh, and it's going to be a great day of deliverance, and vindication, and celebration, and restoration.

Well, let's look at the third relationship. Third relationship. Look at verse 4: "Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and judgments which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel." The day of the Lord in its relationship to the law of Moses.
Now, the reference—this reference to the law of Moses—well, what is its purpose? What is its purpose in this context? And I want to submit to us, there are a couple of lesser things that we can point to, and then I want to mention what I think to be the primary reason we find it here. So let's begin from the lesser to the primary.

First of all, we can say this: this reference to the law of Moses reminds us that the day of the Lord has a special meaning to the people of God. Special meaning to the people of God. Think about it. Who gave revelation to Israel? Who gave them His law? Well, Yahweh did. The I Am, Yahweh. Who is now giving them information, revelation about the day that's coming? Well, God is giving them information, revelation about the day that's coming. God Himself. Once again, they're being reminded by the very fact of revelation, by the very fact of communication from Yahweh, from God. They're being reminded of His gracious relationship that God has established with His people. And the same God who's telling them about the future is the God who gave them the law, who is in this covenant relationship with them, communicated through Moses.

In other words, Israel has been loved by God, and through this message, they're being loved by God as well. Remember how this book began, right? Chapter 1: "I have loved you, says Yahweh" – right? – I've loved you. And in their sin, what did they say? Well, "how have You loved us?" Really? "How have You loved us?" Out of all the people on the face of the planet, God was giving this revelation to them. And I think about how God has communicated to us in the New Testament. Out of all the people on the face of the earth, of all the noble, all of the powerful, all of the wise, all the movers and shakers in society, as we saw this morning in the first century, to whom did God give His word? But local churches who will receive those letters—common, everyday people. Amazing grace, isn't it? So this day has special meaning to the people of God as the people of God.

But secondly, the fact of the reference—the law of God—also confirms the truthfulness of what they received in that law of Moses. It confirms the truthfulness of what they received in that law. That law contained and included promises of blessing and cursing. Faithfulness to Yahweh means blessing. Unfaithfulness to Him means what? Curses. And if anybody's in doubt about whether that's true or not, He's pointing them to the very end of the age and He's saying, it will all be proven true. All of it. All of it. Everything I've given you, it's an expression of My love for you, and everything I've given you, you can stake your eternity on it. It's going to be demonstrated to be true in the end. You wonder where the God of justice is? You wonder? Just wait, and you will see that everything I communicated to you through My servant Moses—it's all true. That would be another reason that you find this reference.

But I think the primary reason why you find this reference is because if you ask, how do you respond to this news? How? How do you respond to this news? You're telling us about the day, the great day of Yahweh. You're telling us about what it means for the arrogant evildoers. You're telling us what it means for those who fear Your name. Now, if you ask, how do we respond to this, the answer is what? To renew covenant faithfulness. That's the answer. To renew covenant faithfulness.

You have My laws. I gave them to you through My servant Moses at Horeb. So with this news in mind, believe Me, submit to Me, obey Me, follow Me. Love Me. Notice He says, "Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and judgments which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel." He says, I want you to remember all these things. I commanded you to remember.

One commentator writes this concerning this verse, and I quote, "This command can refer to A, mental acts of remembering or paying attention to something, or to B, mental acts combined with appropriate external actions, in other words, recalling and obeying, or to C, acts of reciting or repeating something verbally." He goes on to say, "In light of Malachi's insistence on obedience, meaning B seems to be the force of this command. Recall it to mind and do it. In light of the future that's coming, believe the Lord, be loyal to the Lord, listen to the Lord, obey the commands of God."

And so the relationship with God involves the right relationship to His word. Preparing for the day means receiving His words, believing His words, and walking in His words.

Well, let's look at the fourth relationship, verses five and six—the day of the Lord and its relationship to the ministry of Elijah. "Behold",  – verse five – "I'm going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land, devoting it to destruction."

I want to begin with what's in the middle of those two verses. Look at it—the idea of the hearts of the fathers being turned to their children, the hearts of the children being turned to their fathers. Isn't it interesting that out of all of the ways that Yahweh through Malachi could give voice to what repentance looks like, He describes it in those terms? The heart of fathers being turned to children, and the heart of children being turned to fathers.

The question is why? Why? Why? Well, think of the fifth commandment. It implied that the home was essentially where children are really taught. The home—begins with the home. There in the home, authority and submission, love and loyalty, obedience and trust could be learned as nowhere else. And with the word of God as guide in the home, all the ripple effects—society could be changed. We don't believe God if we don't believe Him at home. We don't really believe God if we don't believe Him in our marriages. We don't really believe God if we don't believe Him in the raising of our children. So where you find genuine faith, and genuine repentance, and genuine sorrow for sin, a genuine submission to God, where's it going to show up? Where's it going to show up? It's going to show up in what someone calls the schoolhouse of the community, which is the home. The home.

As one commentator put it, "The point is that fathers and sons would no longer live self-serving lives, but fathers will take their sons to heart, and sons will take to heart their fathers, considering the effects of their actions on one another in the course of their lives,".
So let me ask you, really, in light of this text, can you love the Lord and not love your kids? Can you love the Lord and not love your parents, kids? So where you see genuine repentance, the fruit of genuine repentance is as near to us as our nearest relationships. Don't imagine that serving God starts off way out there somewhere. It starts as near to you as your own heart, and you will know whether or not your heart is in a godly place by whether or not you care for others. And if you care for others, you're going to care for them in your own home first. This is where your ministry is first. Your first ministry is your home. Show me a society where sin is running rampant, and where selfishness reigns, and I'll show you a society where parents don't really care about their kids, and kids don't really care about their parents. And so the result of the prophet's ministry, the result that is aimed at, is a repentance that will inevitably show up at the most fundamental level—at home. And the Lord is saying that He's going to send Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day comes, verse five.

Here's what makes that statement interesting. The New Testament makes clear that in some sense, John the Baptist fulfilled that promise, and we saw that together, right, studying the Gospel of John. Jesus said so. But the question is, as we look at the results of John's ministry and we ask, was there this kind of repentance? And though there were indicators of some sort of outpouring of repentance through John's ministry—there were many, many people being baptized by John—but if you ask, was that lasting? Did it prove to be genuine?
Well, then we look at what the nation did with their Messiah, and we have to conclude that in large measure, there wasn't a genuine repentance at that time in the first coming. For if there had been, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory as they did. They would not have rejected their Messiah. And Christ seemed to imply that though John did fulfill in some sense this Elijah-like prophet—he was a type of Elijah—there is still another one who comes in the future as well.

Matthew 17, verse 11, listen to what He said there: "And He answered and said, 'Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished.'" Notice, that means that John's ministry was in some large ways rejected because they didn't recognize him and they did to him whatever they wished. "So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hand." Verse 13: "Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist."
So Christ clearly identifies John with Elijah. He came with the spirit and power of Elijah—John the Baptist—Luke 1:17. But do you notice He says, "Elijah is coming and will restore all things"?

Then we read in Revelation 11, in the 14 verses of Revelation 11, that there will be two powerful witnesses during the tribulation period. And as those two witnesses are described, there is an Elijah and a Moses kind of ministry described there.

In Matthew 17, after Elijah appeared with Christ in His transfiguration, the disciples asked about Elijah's future coming. Jesus, speaking after John's death (Matthew 14:1-2), affirms that "Elijah is coming and will restore all things."

This future expectation indicates, then, that Malachi 4:5–6 was not fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist. Israel did not accept John the Baptist as the Elijah-like restorer of all things. So another Elijah-like forerunner is yet to come before the day of the Lord. However, Jesus went on to say, "Elijah has already come." They did not recognize Him, and the disciples understood that He was talking about John the Baptist.

So here's the explanation to all of this. Though John did not fulfill Malachi 4, verses five and six, for Elijah is yet to come—John was like Elijah, one who had the same type of ministry. But, beloved, what Malachi 4 declares is that when the Elijah comes before the great and awesome day of Yahweh, that great day of the Lord comes, "he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers."

And then the book ends with what has been described as a dread, dreaded alternative. End of verse six: "Lest" Lest—that ought to arrest the attention of the reader and the hearer—"lest I come and strike the land, devoting it to destruction."

Those who do not repent will be devoted to destruction. Did you read the language? Did you hear the language? "Devoted to destruction"? The entire land, all the earth, where there is not repentance—using the language of the Hebrew word ‘herem’—accurately translated, "devoted to destruction." Something abominable. The idea there of devoted for destruction, like something under the ban, like what would take place in a holy war. Wherever there hasn't been repentance, there will be that which is devoted to destruction.

The Lord will indeed come in judgment. And He will judge the wicked. And all the wicked who refuse to repent will be devoted to destruction. But those who know Him and fear His name—they'll be delivered from that awesome and final day of retribution.

Here's the bottom line: it's going to be distinguishing judgment. Some will be dealt with as sons, some will be dealt with as the sinners who have declared war on a holy God, and therefore God has declared war on them and devoted them to destruction.
And so I want to ask this evening in closing: where are you at in that divide? Where are you at in that divide? When you think of a day when justice will be done, when vengeance will be the Lord's, when the judgment that has been delayed will certainly arrive and will consume the Lord's adversaries—do you deny it? Do you not want to think about it? Do you doubt it? Do you dread it? Or do you know, as Romans 8:33 declares, for you, there is nothing to fear?

Nothing because perfect love, right, casts out fear. Perfect love casts out fear. You know—you know that you are loved by God in His Son, in His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, because you have bowed the knee to Jesus and you confessed Him as your Lord, as your Savior, and all of your sins have been already judged completely, entirely, fully in the body of God's Son on the tree, so that now your focus is on declaring the good news of salvation to as many sinners as you can on your way to glory, and praying that God will save many in these days. Where are you at in that divide? Young people sitting in the back, where are you at in that divide? All of us here.

If you don't know Christ, I exhort you, even tonight, as you hear this message proclaimed, I exhort you to repent. And where there's true repentance, there's fruit, there's fruit inevitably. Just as the effect of Elijah's ministry would be the turning of the hearts of fathers to their children and the children to their fathers, so if you truly repent, you—not only you, but we—will know it, because your life will be different. Your life will be different.

You will follow the Shepherd. You will love the Shepherd. You will believe the Shepherd. You will proclaim the Shepherd. Your life will be different, and it will be as near to you as your own life and your own home. If you don't know Christ, would you repent? Would you turn from your sins, and would you put your faith in the Son of God tonight?

And if you know Christ, would you wake up? Would we wake up, beloved, all of us? Would you wake up and realize what you're here for? And how long all of this lasts? Teach us to number our days, right? And what eternity is. Would you wake up? Would you live your life in the light of that great day? And would you rejoice in the thought that the day is coming when, like a calf skipping out of the stall, the Sun of Righteousness will rise on us, all His children, and the darkness will be put away by the Son of God Himself, and it will be a day of great celebration, a day of great vindication? Will you look forward to that day and live in the light of that day now? Aren't you grateful that we can? Aren't you grateful, beloved, that we can? Oh, that day, when freed from sinning, we will see His lovely face.

Let's pray.