The Eternal Salvation of the Triune God

I made not one, but two rookie mistakes. One, leaving the Bible in the pew, and two, forgetting to hydrate. For those of you who haven't realized it already, I am not the regular preaching pastor here at Jefferson Park. I am one of the non-staff elders, and occasionally have the opportunity to share the word of God with the people in this flock. and I am pleased to have this opportunity. As those of you who have been around for a while know, Keith has been preaching through Luke for a year or so, maybe about halfway through. Ben has been preaching through 1 Corinthians on and off for a while and is almost done. And today I'm starting with First Thessalonians. As I said on a Wednesday night, given the frequency at which I preach, you may have to commit to hanging around for five or six years if you wanna hear the whole series. The Christian life can be hard sometimes. You may be struggling with persistent sin. You may have lost your job through no fault of your own. Your church may be suffering disunity. You may be going through a period of doubt. Your spouse may not love you anymore. What is the basis of your assurance that you're God's? What's the basis of your hope that you can get through this? What kind of evidence should you be showing to indicate that you're really a believer? The letters of 1st and 2nd Thessalonians were written to young believers in a new church wrestling with exactly these kinds of concerns. Act 17 describes how Paul's second missionary journey led him to the Greek city of Thessalonica, along with his co-workers Silas and Timothy. Paul and his companions were driven out of the city relatively quickly, however. After preaching for just three weeks in the local synagogue, preaching that the Jesus was the Christ who had come to suffer and rise from the dead. Many were converted, both Jews and Gentiles. In response, some of the unbelieving Jews gathered a mob and attacked the house where the missionaries had been staying, and drug their hosts before the city rulers. Their opponents said, correctly, these men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and they are saying that there is another king, Jesus. The pagan authorities were disturbed and Paul and Silas and Timothy were forced to flee Thessalonica and go to Berea. Having not learned their lesson in Berea, they immediately began teaching in the synagogue. And were told by Luke, now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica. They received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so. And many believed. But the Jews in Thessalonica were still so upset when they heard about what was going on in Berea, 50 miles away, they sent people there to stir up crowds, and Paul was forced to flee again and head for Athens. According to 1 Thessalonians 3, while in Athens, Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to check in on that young body of believers. In response to what Timothy reported back, Paul wrote his first letter to the Thessalonians. It was most likely written in AD 50, give or take a year, making it perhaps the earliest of Paul's letters, with the probable exception of Galatians. Second Thessalonians followed a little bit later. Based on Paul's letter, the Thessalonian church appears to have had some confusion about last things, holiness, work, and persecution. These themes recur throughout both letters. Paul responds to this confusion by explaining both the source of their salvation and how they are to live while waiting for their salvation's culmination in Christ's return. Put another way, he explained God's work and the work that believers are called to to do as a result. Specifically in 1 Thessalonians, we see the themes of God the Father's work in election in chapters one, two, four, and five. We see God the Spirit's work in enabling our work in holiness in all five chapters. And we see God the Son's work regarding last things, particularly in both protecting from wrath those who are God's people and executing wrath on those who are not, again, in all five chapters. The work of the Trinity overflows in this letter. Titles referencing God occur 15 times in the 10 verses of chapter one and appear in nine of the 10 verses. And overall in the book of 1 Thessalonians, 90 times in 89 verses, one of the names or titles of God is used. This is saturated in God, and so my main point this morning is going to be the triune God has saved his people from eternity past, he is saving them now, and he will save them into eternity future. The triune God has saved his people from eternity past, he is saving them now, and he will save them into eternity future. We see in verse one, that the letter comes from Paul, Silvanus, which is another name for Silas, and Timothy, the three missionaries who worked among the people of Thessalonica to bring them the gospel. Although Paul is no doubt the primary author, he makes a point throughout the letter of highlighting the work that they've done as a group. Paul starts by assuring the Thessalonians that they are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Being in union with the Father and the Son, being stamped with the name of God, enjoying the privileges of the Son, is the Thessalonian believer's primary and fundamental identity. In verses two and three, we learn that the missionaries continue to work on behalf of the Thessalonians. We give thanks to God always for you all, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. I believe this triad of work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope forms the framework for the rest of the chapter. On one hand, the Thessalonians are being praised for doing these things. On the other hand, these are hard things, work, labor, steadfastness, or endurance, but we're going to see that the triune God provides all of these things by his work for and in his people. The Father graciously granted us faith in eternity past, the Holy Spirit empowers us to live out a life fueled by love now, and the Son is the source of our steadfastness of hope to eternity future. brings up my first main point, the father who loves and chooses. The father who loves and chooses, verse four. A whole point on one verse. Our faith and any work that emanates from our faith are solely the result of the sovereign grace of a loving father. Tells us in verse four, for we know, brothers, loved by God, that he has chosen you. That phrase, he has chosen you, is literally your election. Sort of, there's almost a connection between the loved by God and God has chosen you, working off the word in the middle. We heard earlier from Deuteronomy 7, as Stephen read for us, how God chose a people to be holy, chose a people to be his treasured possession, not because the people were great or lovely, but because he set his love on them and chose them, simply because he loved them. The Apostle Peter applies that to the New Testament believers in 1 Peter 2.9. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Paul explains in Ephesians chapter one that God's choice was made in eternity past. Our salvation was predestined in God's love, and this was all done according to God's will. Paul wrote, blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. Our faith was not earned. but it was a gift. And any good work that comes from that faith is also God's doing. Paul continues in chapter two of Ephesians. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. For those who don't understand it, God's sovereignty can seem cold and distant. Humans love to be in control. People want to have their own way and receive their own glory for all their own deeds. But rightly understood, God's gracious sovereignty is sweet and comforting and glorious beyond all measure. The all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the universe loves us. As the special objects of his love, we are more important than anything else except himself. He keeps us and cares for us in ways we can't even imagine. So how does that change us? God made a decision in eternity past, how does that affect us today? God loves us. He wants to be in a loving relationship with us. What do you do when you're in a loving relationship with someone? I thought of at least three things you do. First, you enjoy the presence of the loved one. You want to be where he is. So you want to attend worship and be with his other loved ones, singing his praises and lifting up his name and feeling his presence there with you, empowering you and strengthening you. Secondly, if it's somebody you love, you wanna talk to him and you wanna listen to him. Imagine how wonderful it is to sit down with a grandfather or a grandmother in their old age and share stories and listen to their wisdom and just feel so close to them. If you've ever had that opportunity, you know it can just turn you around. But in this case, we have been told by the most powerful being in the universe that he wants to hear from us. He wants to talk to us. He wants to hear our prayers. He wants us to listen to him. What a great opportunity that is to enjoy God. Third thing, if I had somebody who loved me like this, and I loved him like this, I'd be telling all my friends how great he was. I would be telling them the good news of Jesus Christ and how they, too, can know God, how they, too, can know this love, how they, too, can feel what I feel when I'm in His presence, and that they can be transformed as I have been transformed. We are reminded over and over again that what God does is based in love. In 1 John 4, 9 it tells us, in this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved him, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Secondly, knowing that our fate and our salvation is in the hands of an almighty sovereign God should give us a great sense of assurance. As the great pastor C.H. Spurgeon once said, the sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which the child of God rests his head at night, giving perfect peace. If we're in his hands, everything is taken care of. If he is in control, everything is taken care of. We are reminded that our salvation is based on God's promises and he is faithful. As we are told in Romans 8.28 and following, We know that for those who love God, all things together for good. We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. For those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. Our salvation was decreed in ages past, but it is sure and certain because a sovereign God is responsible for every link in the chain of our salvation. Secondly, the spirit who transforms, verses five through nine. The Holy Spirit enables us not only to endure, but to joy in the labors of Christian life. He does that by transforming us and empowering us to do five things. Forgot to number them, had to count. First, he empowers us to truly accept and be changed by the gospel. to receive it in power and conviction and not merely in words, as we see in verse five. The gospel can be preached, the words can be heard, the words can be understood, but unless the Holy Spirit brings power and regenerates and provides that full conviction of God than it is just mere words. Can't do anything. It's the Spirit's work that changes us. It is the Spirit's work that takes the dead heart that has no power and changes it to a live, fleshy heart that is new and growing and empowered by the Spirit to live the Christian life. The second thing the Spirit does is it allows us to turn to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, as it says in verse 9. It's not simply enough that we're made new. We have to turn to what is right. We have to turn to God. We have to repent of where we have been, acknowledge that we have been sinful, acknowledge that we have rebelled against God the Father, and turn to him and set aside all the idols that we had been worshiping before. There is only one living God. There's only one God that can change people. All other things may be stone or wood as a pagan's idol, or it may be a foolish, silly thing that we do as humans to place something above God in our minds, something that we care about more than God. It's important that we're turning to the true God. True here has at least two meanings. One in the sense of he's not a false God, he really is a God, and we understand that. But also that he's a God of truth. He's not a God of lies, but of God who will lead us into what is good and true and faithful. Third, the Spirit empowers us to joy in the gospel message even while we are suffering. It's easy to hear the words of the gospel when things are going well, and think, great, this is even better. I now have God on my list of things that are going well, and I can check that off the list. But the true believer is changed by the Spirit, and even when they're undergoing trials, even when the world is against them, even when circumstances are going on that God may fully control but the believer does not understand, that believer can joy in it. Paul, over and over again, writes to us in his letters that we should rejoice, and usually when he's writing these letters, he's in jail, after he's been beaten, after he's been put in chains for preaching the gospel, yet he rejoices. Yet he is filled with joy by the Spirit because the gospel is good news. Salvation is good news. And if we have God, we have all that we need and nothing else matters. The next thing that The Spirit does is allow us and empower us to become imitators of other believers, particularly leaders, as they imitate the Lord in holiness. Here, it tells us that The people of Thessalonica know what kind of men Paul and Silas and Timothy had been when they came among them, and that they imitated both those three men as well as the Lord Jesus Christ. We've seen examples of how Paul and Silas and Timothy served them by going and risking their very lives to preach the gospel to them in person, to suffer by being kicked out of town and yet coming back to check up on them. To see that the gospel message had continued on and was being proclaimed accurately and thoroughly and that the body was being built up. To write to them and let them know what the answers to their questions were. To care about them and try to strengthen them in the gospel. And we also see here in this letter where they have told them that they're continuing, even at a distance, to pray for them and remember them to the Lord. But the people of Thessalonica did not stop at imitating these men who were positive role models. The Spirit finally enabled them the Thessalonians themselves to change their lives so that they became worthy of imitation. We see in verses seven and eight. It says, so that you, the Thessalonian church, became an example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia, basically all of Greece. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we do not need to say anything. for they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you in how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. So they went from pagans who worshiped false gods to believers following the example of their leaders and following the examples of Jesus. to themselves by the Spirit becoming worthy of imitation so that believers in churches throughout Greece look to them as an example. Why do they look to them as an example? It's because the word of the Lord rang out from them because of their faith in God, because of their sign of true turning away from idolatry and toward the true God. Those are the things that are worth imitating, and those are the things you want your reputation to be based on. So, what are some applications for this? First, you need to be careful who you imitate. You need to be careful who you imitate. And I have four bewares. Four bewares. First, beware imitating the world by treating any human, beware, beware imitating the world by treating any human institution as your primary and fundamental identity. Who do you imitate? If you have believed or acted in a certain way, who or what causes you to change your mind? A political party? a friend, a politician, a TV channel, a university professor, or the Bible, God's word, or the example of Jesus's life? What causes you to turn? What causes you to transform? What causes you to conform? What is the reputation of the Thessalonians? that they reflected the gospel, not the politics of the Christian party, or the economics of the Thessalonian Chamber of Commerce, or the Association of Tentmakers. Roman 12.2 tells us, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Many like to criticize the world and think it's everything that they're against as opposed to everything they're for. And it's really easy to think that. But in our polarized age, the world has at least a couple of manifestations, not just one. For example, in Thessalonica, Christians were attacked by both Greeks and Jews. In the New Testament world, Christians had to face pagans and Judaizers, Romans and Zealots, Pharisees and Sadducees. Christians never fit neatly into the camps of this world. Our allegiance is not to party or country, but to truth, both natural and spiritual. So we should not lie or support lies. All politicians and parties lie because they are fallen human beings or composed of fallen people. What's the use of being a Calvinist if you can't call out the depravity of man? You can't support lies by members of your tribe just because they're members of your tribe. If you agree 100% with any person, party, or ideology, that's idolatry. And one or both of you isn't thinking. No human or human institution is right 100% of the time. Only God and his word is. None of us are infallible, even your leaders. Not Keith, and certainly not me. Not even that faithful preacher you watch or listen to on the internet. And most definitely not the leader of the A party, and absolutely not the leader of the B party. And since none of us are infallible, you should be discerning about how you imitate someone. Identifying what is good and pure, and setting aside that which is false or corrupting. You have to separate the good from the bad, even within an institution and within a person, and don't just accept them fully for who they are. Even Paul himself, in Galatians 1, told the people of Galatia If I come back and tell you something different than I told you before, don't listen to me. Curse me. I'm wrong. I told you the truth the first time. The Bereans were an excellent model for what we should do. When Paul came to them and taught them from the scripture about Jesus Christ, about how he had to suffer and die and be raised as the Messiah, They didn't accept it just because Paul said it. They didn't ignore it just because the other people in their synagogue told them it wasn't true. They checked the scripture. They looked at scripture and studied it and determined this is truth. This good news of Jesus Christ is the truth that is revealed in scripture. Second, beware. Beware of imitation that becomes unlimited loyalty to any individual. Do not turn those you imitate into idols. All sorts of stories can be told about the dangerous path that comes from setting up a human as an idol who gets loyalty no matter what he or she does. Sadly, I think most of us could share stories of abusive pastors who placed themselves above the flock, were domineering, lorded it over his people, placed himself as the one in control and in power. I think we all know someone who has a controlling spouse, who expects undying loyalty no matter what they do, and are abusive to the other. And I'm sure we can all come up with examples of self-centered politicians or businessmen who think the whole world revolves around them and that we're to do what they want for their good. Thirdly, beware of imitating anyone claiming to have new secret or unique knowledge. Those are red flags. If someone says they have a new doctrine or have figured out something that no one else has figured out before, that's going to be heresy or false teaching. If anyone tells you they have secret knowledge that not everybody knows about, Well, that's just good old-fashioned narcissism, where you had to be in the special in-group in order to know the secrets of a religion before you could make it to the top. Things like that happen in cults all the time on a religious basis, and sometimes in the secular world, that's the basis of conspiracy theories. Finally, beware of imitating those who tell you what you want to hear. I would love to tell you where you are wrong and I'm right. I could give you a long harangue on most topics, political, religious, economic, you name it, and a few of you have suffered through that before. I would love to think that my views are perfectly aligned with scripture and lived out with patience, love, and gentleness. But we need to remember that each of us has a lying, deceptive, deceiving heart. We have itching ears that want to hear validation of our personal views. It's all too easy to conflate our personal views with God's views and then to denigrate those who disagree with us. So those are the negatives. Second application is how to be imitatable, or how can we be like someone who should be imitated? First, Very simple, very clear in scripture, display the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5.22 tells us, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things, there is no law. This is the fruit of the Spirit that's come to transform us and to carry through on the Christian life, and this is the fruit that we can have from the Spirit. Secondly, be humble. Don't be dogmatic where scripture isn't dogmatic. Be teachable. Submit yourself to scripture and to the counsel of those who submit themselves to scripture. Don't use your knowledge and opinions to attack others. Don't misuse scriptural truth to admonish someone else for your own purposes, like power and superiority and self-righteousness. There's a reason our church covenant tells us to submit to our leaders, but it goes on to say, only as they lead us to Christ through scripture, teaching and correcting with gentleness. That is a guardrail that we need and we need you to enforce. Third point, the son who delivers, verse 10. We are steadfast in hope, patiently enduring because Jesus, our deliverer, is coming back to save us from God's wrath, and more importantly, saving us for God's eternal presence. The final verse in chapter one says, and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. Everybody remembers John 3.16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Amen. But John goes on. in verse 36 of the same chapter and says, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. Jesus Christ came to die to satisfy the wrath of God so that we might live, not just here and now, but eternally in his presence. Later on in 1 Thessalonians, in chapter five, it says, for God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him. Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. That is the culmination of the good news that we are not destined for wrath, but we are destined for salvation and for presence with God. Interestingly, we're reading from one of Paul's earliest letters, but in what most scholars think is his last letter, 2 Timothy 3. written near the end of his life as he's writing to Timothy who as a young man went with him to Thessalonica. And now years later has a ministry of his own that Paul is encouraging and strengthening. Paul's a little sad at the end of the letter. He talks about how he's been deserted. He talks about how those he thought were gonna stand beside him have abandoned him. but he still trusts that God is gonna take care of him. In his very last words, perhaps the last words recorded from Paul before the final greetings in the letter, he says, the Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever, amen. So I have two points of application on this final point. One, for believers, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. You have a Father who is in complete and utter control, you have a Holy Spirit who can lead you through suffering and trials, and you have a Savior who takes away the horrible penalty that you deserve. In 1 Thessalonians and the rest of scripture, the short version of the end times of last things is Jesus has got this. He's got this. He can deliver you from the wrath to come. Do not be afraid. For non-believers, be afraid. You don't got Jesus. You need Jesus because a holy God created a world for you. Perfect. And sin entered that world through man. And each and every single one of you has followed up that original sin with sin of your own. Broke that relationship with the loving God. who cared for you, rebelled against Him. Just thinking of all the times I've rebelled against Him in the last 24 hours. Rebelled against Him and are due a penalty of death for your sin and rebellion. But God sent His only Son to die in your place He lived a perfect life, didn't have to die, but he died for the people that God called to himself because he loved them. He rose again and sits at the right hand of God advocating for God's people, ready for the end of time when he will come and wreak vengeance on those who are not God's, and give eternal peace to those who are God's. We've heard today that God elects those, chooses those who are his, and that is true. We've heard that the spirit is required to regenerate your heart before you can know God, and that's true. You heard that Jesus died for you and took your penalty, and that's true. You also need to respond. You also need to respond and acknowledge that God is the Savior that you need, that God is the Lord that you need. you need to acknowledge him as king of kings and lord of lords and ruler of your life and ruler of this world. If you have questions, if you feel the spirit stirring in your heart, I beg of you to talk to somebody next to you. Ask them questions. If they don't know the answer, they can find somebody who does. And make sure that you understand the good news of Jesus Christ and salvation. In conclusion, what is the basis of our assurance and our hope? A God who chooses, a God who transforms, and a God who delivers. What kind of evidence would show that we are believers? showing fruit of the Spirit and conformity to Jesus Christ. We're not exactly like the first century Thessalonians. They were wondering why Jesus hadn't come back already. It's a little too easy for some of us to just assume he'll never come back, at least not while I'm around. There's some other people for whom it becomes an obsession and it's all they think about. We should live in anticipation of this great day. Whether we see it in our lifetime or whether we are raised after we are dead to glory, it will be the day of days. It will be the start of eternity in the presence of the Lord. It will be glorious. But in the meantime, we're called to be holy. We're called to be godly and we're called to show by the way we act the kind of God that we serve. And it's my prayer today that for all of us that we will be able to live a life like that by the power of the Spirit to the glory of the Father in the name of the Son. Let's pray. Father, we know that you are God. It is you who made us and we are yours. We are your people and the sheep of your pasture. We give thanks to you and bless your name. For you are good. Your steadfast love endures forever. And your faithfulness to all generations. Amen. Our hymn of response is In Christ Alone. And verse two reminds us. Our hymn of response is In Christ Alone, and verse two reminds us. In Christ alone who took on flesh, fullness of God and helpless babe, this gift of love and righteousness, scorned by the ones he came to save, till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied. For every sin on him was laid here in the death of Christ I live. Please stand and sing in Christ alone. Yeah.