A Church on the Brink: God's Election Made Sure
This is a continuation of the sermon I preached on Sunday, February 19 at FBC Liberty. This sermon is the first of a series on 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Enjoy...
II. Healthy Churches Produce Changed Lives. (Verses 4-5)
*2 major ways the missionaries identify regeneration:
- 1st--The people have responded to the Gospel! Their salvation was not in word alone! It was accompanied with the power of the Holy Spirit!
o Their lives matched their message…
o This was not because of fancy preaching! (verse 5)---you know what kind of men we proved to be! - 1 Corinthians 2:4 And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
- How do you characterize a good sermon? Funny jokes? Brevity? Or are you hungering for someone to teach the Word of God to you?
o 2nd--The report given by Timothy (3:6) of their faith and love…They were people who were living changed lives!
o Other signs of the elect: - Colossians 3:12 And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
- Why do we have problems with unity in churches? Many of the people in the pews are not SAVED!
*Election takes place before the foundations of the world—Ephesians 1:4-- just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love
*It’s purpose is to produce people who are like Christ—Romans 8:29-- For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren;
*Divine Election is a theme of the Thessalonian Epistles:
o 1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
o 2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
o Compare with verses 11 and 12-- And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
*Note—Verse 4—The people are elected by God…Verse 9—YOU turned to God from your idols!
*THE BIBLE TEACHES DIVINE SOVEREINGTY AND HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY…TOGETHER…
Next point coming soon!
Dear Travis,
Thank you for your thoughts. I look forward to following your interesting blog. Are you interested in topics about the apocalypse, end times, the end of the world, eschatology, last days, the horsemen of the apocalypse, the beast, prophesy, prophesies, revelation, 666, bible prophesy, prophets, Canaan, Canaan's land, Land of Canaan, or the Christian future? If so you may enjoy reading " Land of Canaan." This is a free online book. The Link is http://landofcanaan.info/book.php
Let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Paul M. Kingery, PhD, MPH
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Paul M. Kingery |
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