The Model Church, Part 3

We once again find ourselves in the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians. So turn with me your Bible there if you have it.

Hopefully you brought your Bible with you this morning so we can examine the scriptures together. And we're looking at the model church and it's so hard just to breeze through chapter one without taking time to examine the intricate details that are here concerning the model church. If we wanna follow their pattern, if we wanna be like the church of Thessalonica, we must understand what is it that made them such a model of Christianity? What made them so contagious in their Christianity? That there was something about them that affected people who came through their town and through their city that Paul would say that there is nothing he had to say about them because everybody has already said all that needs to be said about them.

That's just a remarkable testimony. And yet there is so much to understand. And so as we have looked already, there is four points we wanna cover with you in chapter one. And we've only covered one and we're stuck on that one and still stuck on number one.

And that is that they abundantly developed in the gospel. They kept growing in their understanding of the gospel by virtue of what he says when he says in chapter one, we give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope. In other words, they truly put flesh to their faith. You were able to see their faith in action. Their faith produced works for the gospel. Their love prompted their labor in that work.

And because of their hope, it propelled their steadfastness. They were able to keep on keeping on. And the remarkable thing about the church at Thessalonica is that they were able to persevere, be steadfast amidst all kinds of tribulation and persecution. He says in verse number six, he said, you had received the word in much tribulation with joy in the Holy Spirit. In chapter two, he says this in verse 14, for you brethren became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews.

So they received the word in much affliction, in much tribulation. In other words, they were able to persevere under very difficult times. Do you understand the perseverance of the saints? Do you understand the steadfastness of Christianity? It's so important that you do. In fact, way back in the book of Revelation, listen to what it says in chapter 14. It says in verse number nine, then another angel, a third one followed them, saying with a loud voice, if anyone worships the beast in his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of his anger.

And he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the land. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image and whoever receives the mark of his name. Verse 12, here is the perseverance of the saints. Who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus Christ. There's a contrast in the tribulation between those who worship the beast and take the mark of the beast and the consequences of their following the beast versus those who come to faith in the tribulation and they're able to persevere amidst much difficulty and affliction.

They're the ones who keep the commandments of God and truly are true to their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the ability to persevere as a Christian gives you the assurance that you are truly one of the chosen and beloved by God. Paul says these words in 1 Thessalonians 1, verse number four, he says, knowing brethren beloved by God, his choice of you. Paul knew they were chosen by God. Paul knew they were beloved by God. Paul understood this. He had the assurance because they had fleshed out their faith in such a way that there was no question that they were followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so I thought about this this past week and thought how many of us in the church understand what it means to have the assurance of salvation, to have the assurance of our eternal security, to have the assurance that we are part of the beloved and that we are the elect chosen by God so that if Paul was writing a letter to us, he would be able to say, I know that you are beloved and chosen by God. Do you have the assurance that if you died today, you'd go to heaven? Do you know that without any reservation?

That you have a reservation in heaven, but you have no reservations that you're going to heaven. So let me show you what the Bible says concerning this point, steadfastness of hope.

You know, you have assurance of your eternal destiny, number one, based on the promise of God. Remember, their steadfastness was propelled by their hope in Christ. This is very important because hope truly is a conviction or the anticipation of the fulfillment of all the promises of God. That's what hope is. Hope lives in anticipation that whatever God says is true and it's going to happen as he said.

Faith is a conviction of the precepts of God. Love is the manifestation of the presence of God or the person of God and hope is the anticipation of the promises of God. And these people were able to remain steadfast and persevere based on the hope of Christ their Lord and it moved them. So because of the promises of God, I have assurance. John chapter five, verse number 24, truly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment but is passed out of death into life.

Our assurance is based on the promise of God. John chapter six, in verse number 37, all the father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast out. Verse 39, this is the will of him who sent me that of all that he has given me, I lose nothing but raise it up on the last day. God makes a promise and my assurance is based on what God has said. So Paul would say in Philippians one, verse number six, being confident of this very thing that he who performed a good work in you, he will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

That's a promise and we read the verse last week in chapter five of 1 Thessalonians where he says, 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 our Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Faithful is he who calls you and he also will bring it to pass. My assurance that I'm going to heaven, number one, is based on the promise of God.

Number two, it's based on the power of God. First Peter chapter one, verse number five says, we'll pick it up in verse number four, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled, will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected or kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Do you know how I'm assured I'm going to heaven? The power of God. He's going to keep me. He's going to protect me. My assurance is based on the fact that the all-powerful God of the universe is going to protect me. Book of Jude, verse 24. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless, with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. In other words, there's only one who's able to make you to stand in the presence of God.

And that is the one who holds all the power. We understand this because of what Timothy says, or Paul says to Timothy, in second Timothy chapter one, verse number 12.

For this reason, I also suffer these things, but I'm not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed. And I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted him until that day. Paul says, I'm convinced. I have no reservation about what God can do. He will keep me until that day. So based on the promise of God, based on the power of God, I have the assurance of my eternal destiny that I will be with the true and living God. How about this? The purposes of God. God has a purpose. Romans eight, verse 28.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brethren. And these whom he predestined, he also called. And these whom he called, he also justified. And these whom he justified, he also glorified. It's a done deal. God has a purpose. And that purpose is to conform you to his image.

And if he called you based on his predetermined purposes, his own elective purposes, if he's chosen you, he will sanctify you. Why? Because he justified you. And ultimately, he will glorify you. That's the purpose of God. It's going to happen as God has said. So we trust in the purposes of the true and living God. So how do I know that I'm going to heaven? I'm going to heaven based on the promise of God, the power of God, the purpose of God, and therefore, the prayers of Christ. The prayers of Christ.

John chapter 17 says this in verse number 11. Christ says, I am no longer in the world, and yet they themselves are in the world.

And I come to you, Holy Father, keep them in your name, the name which you have given me, that they may be one even as we are one. Now listen, when Christ prays, he always prays according to the will of the Father. So when he prays, the Father always answers and accomplishes his purposes. Verse 20, I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in me through their word. So I'm not just asking for my apostles, the 12 that I've chosen, or in this case, the 11 that I've chosen, because Judas was a son of perdition.

But I ask him in part for all those who will one day believe in me, that they may be one even as you and I, Father, are one. Remember over in Luke chapter 20, 22, Christ says this to Peter.

He says, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when once you have turned again, strengthen your brethren. He says to Peter, Satan has come to me, and demanded to sift you like wheat, because you see, Satan can only do what God grants him permission to do. Satan just can't do whatever he wants. He has to ask for permission. He has to ask God to do something to you. And so he goes to the Lord and says, I wanna sift Peter.

But Christ says, I prayed for you. And though you will fail, you will never fail finally, nor will you ever fail fully, but you will fail.

And I pray that you will be strengthened once you return to your brethren. That's exactly what happened to Peter. He denied the Lord, he failed, but he never failed fully and finally, because he repented and came back to the Lord.

And the Lord used him in a mighty way. You just read the book of Acts. He strengthened the brethren, that's exactly what he did. Why? Because the prayers of Christ are always answered because they're always prayed according to the will of the Father. So the prayers of Christ, the purposes of God, the power of God, the promise of God, assure my eternal destiny. How about this? The presence of the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians chapter one, verse number 13 says, in him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who was given as a pledge of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of his glory.

In other words, you have been given a down payment that is the Holy Spirit that guarantees that one day you will stand in the presence of the living God. So that's why it says, Ephesians 430, do not grieve the spirit by whom you've been sealed until the day of redemption. See, it's the presence of the spirit of God. So my assurance is based on five objective promises or five objective principles, okay? The promise of God, the power of God, the purposes of God, the prayers of Christ who is God and the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life who also is God.

Those are all objective, non-debatable, but there's one more and this one's subjective. The objective is solidified by the five principles I gave you, but the subjective is seen in number six and that is the perseverance of the saints, the perseverance of the saints. Do you know that as a believer, you will never turn your back on the Lord fully and finally?

You can't, why? Because of the perseverance of the saints. Perseverance for the believer is commanded by God, but it is a gift given to you by God. Romans 15, Romans chapter 15, verse number five says it this way. Now may the God who gives, listen carefully, perseverance. God gives perseverance and encouragement. In other words, why is it saints persevere? Why is it saints persevere under extreme trial and tribulation? Because God has granted them the ability and the power to persevere. You could never do it without God, but God grants you perseverance.

So important to understand this. And so when you read Revelation 14, verse number 12, which we did earlier, this is the perseverance of the saints. They keep the commands of God. That's exactly what they do. And in keeping the commands of God, it's because of their faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord. So Paul now commands this. Look at this, Colossians chapter one.

Verse number 21. And although you were formerly alienated in a hostile mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet he has now reconciled you in his flesh, or in his fleshy body through death in order to present you before him holy and blameless and beyond reproach. If, if you indeed continue in the faith, firmly established and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven and of which I, Paul, was made a minister. See, you were one way, now you're another way.

And because you're another way, you are promised this. If, if you continue in the faith. In other words, your continuance in the faith, assures you that you're truly in the faith. And the reason you continue in the faith is because of Romans 15, verse number five. God grants you perseverance. So you're able to be steadfast. So Paul on the outside, looking at the church of Thessalonica, would say, I know you're beloved by God because of the steadfastness of your hope, your perseverance that is propelled by the hope living in anticipation of all the promises of God.

You are so determined. You are so committed. You are so steadfast. I know for certain that no matter what the tribulation, no matter what the affliction, you have demonstrated very clearly that you are the beloved, the elect of God. So the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse number one.

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless, he says, you believed in me. That's such a remarkable statement. You were saved. Now you stand because you received the gospel of salvation. And because you have, you will stand unless you believed in vain. Your belief was empty. Your belief had no substance. Your belief was futile. Wow.

You see, there are many people in the church who are professors of Christianity, but they've never possessed the Christ of Christianity. And so they can demonstrate a working in the church. They can demonstrate a labor of love in the church, but they can't demonstrate a steadfastness of hope in the church because they quit, they give up, they fall away, they apostatize the faith. And so Paul says, I know for certain what has happened in your life. There is this perseverance that's unmarked by anything that I have seen in any of the other churches, which tells me that I can thank God because you are beloved by God.

You are chosen by the true and living God. Listen to Hebrews chapter 10, verse number 38. Hebrews 10, verse number 38 says this, but my righteousness, but my righteousness, one shall live by faith. And if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but those who have faith in the perseverance of the soul. So Paul or the writer of Hebrews, might've been Paul, we don't know, but the writer of Hebrews says, look, those who believe in me, they don't shrink back.

They don't fall back to destruction. Oh no, they stand, they persevere, they continue on. He says, because you are not of those who fall back because you stand true to the word. John said it this way. In first John chapter two, verse number 18, says children, it is the last hour.

And just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now, many antichrists have appeared. From this, we know that it is the last hour. He says, now you know that antichrist is coming, big A, the anti-Messiah. But in the meantime, there are many antichrists. There are many false prophets. There are many false professors. There are many false people in the pew. He says this, they went out from us, but they were not really of us. For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But they went out so that it would be shown that they are all not of us.

Paul made it very clear that there are people in the, or John made it very clear, there were people in the assembly who were antichrists. That they went out from the fold. They went out from the church, the church that John was writing to. They went out from us for they were not of us. For if they would have been one of us, they would have remained with us. In other words, they fell back to perdition. They fell back to destruction. They were unable to maintain a persevering faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

You see, we forget and think that everybody who comes to church is a Christian. They are not. There are some in our assembly who profess Christianity, unfortunately, but don't possess the Christ of Christianity. And so we have to exhort all of us to say, do you have the assurance based on the promise of God, the power of God, based on the purposes of God, the prayers of Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit? We would say, yes. Then there is the perseverance of the saints. You don't turn your back on the Lord.

You don't walk away from the faith because you never fail finally and fully because God grants you perseverance.

God gives you the power to persevere. That is just so important to understand. And so Paul understood this and would rejoice with them. So Paul says, I know for certain you're beloved by God and you've been chosen by God. Why? Because your work has been produced by your faith. Your labor has been prompted by your love. Your steadfastness has been propelled by your hope. It's moved you to keep on keeping on amidst tribulation because you received the word with joy amidst the tribulation. And even though you experienced the same kind of affliction that those churches in Judea experienced, those people who crucified our Lord, you remain steadfast, determined, always abounding in God's work.

So Paul says, I know. He knows, listen, as you read on, he says, I know why. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but it came to you in power. What is the effect of the gospel? Power. Power transforms. Power changes. The power of God revolutionizes. When someone is saved, it is a miracle of the living God because in the power of God, he transfers you from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. That is a miracle at work. That is the power of God put on display simply because of the power of the gospel.

Now think about this. In the book of Revelation, in the seventh chapter, you have an understanding of the power of the gospel. In Revelation chapter seven, you're in the midst of the tribulation. That seven year period called, as the Bible says, the great tribulation.

Other places it's called the terrible day of the Lord. In Jeremiah, it's called the time of Jacob's trouble. In the book of Daniel, it's called the 70th week of Daniel's prophecy. But nonetheless, it is the great tribulation where the Jews are being persecuted and those who follow Christ will be persecuted. In other words, during the most horrific time on the planet, the power of the gospel still is seen. So it says, after these things, verse number nine, I looked and behold a great multitude which no one could count from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the lamb clothed in white robes and palm branches were in their hands.

And they cry out with a loud voice saying, salvation to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb. And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. And they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God saying, amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever, amen. Then one of the elders answered saying to me, these who are clothed in the white robes, who are they and where have they come from?

Who are all these people? People talk today about revival. There's no revival in our country. There's no revival in the world. People talk about all these people being saved. Nah, it's not happening. The greatest revival in the history of man will be in the seven-year tribulation where there are multitudes of people from every tribe, every nation, every tongue standing before the throne. And one of the elders says to me, who are these people? Where do they come from? Read on. It says, I said to him, my Lord, you know.

And he said to me, these are the ones who came out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God. They serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them. The greatest global evangelization will take place in the tribulation. And the power of the gospel will go forth and people will be saved. And when those people are saved, they will be persecuted and they will die and they will stand before the throne of God.

And there are multitudes of them, thousands upon thousands upon thousands upon thousands from every tribe, every tongue, every nation being saved. How do they die? Revelation 20, verse number four. Their heads are chopped off. The antichrist will chop off their heads. Others will die because of the great and terrible plagues that will take place all throughout the tribulation. But the fact of the matter is, the power of the gospel goes forth. God's word is powerful. We talked to you about it last week because I wanted you to understand the power of the gospel.

Because so many times we minimize the truth of God's word, but it is so powerful that we forget it. We told you last week, it was powerful enough to crush the soul, Jeremiah chapter 23, verse number 29, to convict the soul, 1 Corinthians 14, 24 and 25, to convert the soul, Psalm 19, 7, to cleanse the soul, John 15, verse number three, to comfort the soul, Psalm 97, verse number 19.

God's word is powerful enough to do all of that. But that's just the very, very tiny tip of the iceberg. Because God's word is powerful enough to correct the soul. In other words, to turn it around and set it going the right direction. 2 Timothy 3.16 says that all scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction. In other words, it will correct you because you're going the wrong way. That's the power of the word of God. And how does it correct you? By looking at the next point, it counsels the soul.

Do you know that God's word will counsel the soul and in so doing, correct the soul so it goes the right direction? Listen to Psalm 119. Your testimonies are my delight. They are my counselors. Isn't that great? Psalm 119, verse number 24. God's testimonies are my counselors. Verse 105, thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. It counsels me to go the right direction. It will correct my life by putting me on the right path. And then it says in verse number 130 of Psalm 119, these words, the unfolding of your words gives light.

It gives understanding to the simple. That is just so good. When you unfold the word of God, it gives light and it gives understanding to the simple person. That's the power of the word of God. Not just to convert the soul and cleanse the soul, but to correct the soul, to counsel the soul. How about this? To cheer the soul. There's only one thing that cheers the soul. Doesn't make you happy, but it gives you true joy. And that's the word of the living God. The Bible says in Psalm 19, verse number eight, these words, the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.

Wow, isn't that good? How about this? Psalm 119, verse number 14 says this. I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies as much as in all riches. Verse 16, I shall delight in your statutes. I shall not forget your word. Verse 24, your testimonies are my delight. Verse 35, make me walk in the path of your commandments for I delight in it. You need to have joy. You need to be cheered up. The only way to do that is the word of the living God. Remember Jeremiah? Jeremiah was told to preach the people of God.

And God told Jeremiah, when you preach, just go out and preach with all your heart, with all your might, and tell them exactly what I'm going to do. But when you go and you preach, know this, nobody's gonna pay attention. No one's gonna listen.

Nobody's gonna follow. And Jeremiah said, nevertheless, that your words are the delight of my soul. Thy words are found, and I did eat them. And they were the joy and the rejoicing of my heart. Even though nobody would ever listen, it was the word of God that cheered his soul. You're a wife, and you want your husband to be saved. He's not listening. He's not responding. But you've preached the gospel. You need to be like Jeremiah. Your words are found, and I did eat them, and they were the joy and the rejoicing of my heart.

The very fact that God's word gives you joy is a springboard by which you share the gospel. You're not sharing the gospel so people respond. You're sharing the gospel so that God will be glorified, and God will be honored. See, that's the important thing. We share the gospel with our children, and our children don't respond. They have no interest in the things of the Lord. Can you say like Jeremiah, yet your words are found, and I did eat them, and they were the joy and the rejoicing of my heart.

And you keep preaching the word to your children because you want them to be saved, but they're not. But you know that God's word is powerful, that God's word never returns void, never returns empty, Isaiah 55, 11. It always accomplishes its purpose. And so you reign steadfast, enduring on the power of the living God that it might revolutionize the life of your husband or your wife or your children or your neighbor or your friend at work because you believe in the power of the living God. And that power does something to the soul of a man, the soul of a woman.

It brings great joy, great delight, because you feed on the word of God. God's word is so powerful, it conquers the enemy of your soul. Is that not true? God's word is so powerful, it conquers the enemy of your soul. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 4, verses 1 to 11, when he was tempted in the wilderness by Satan? He quoted what book? Book of Deuteronomy. Quoted 80 times in the New Testament. Jesus quoted the book of Deuteronomy more than any other book. And he quotes the book of Deuteronomy.

Now listen, that's how he withstood temptation in the wilderness. But he didn't have to quote the Bible. If he just spoke, it'd be the word of God. But he quoted the Bible to show you how you conquer the enemy of your soul. So he goes back to the book of Deuteronomy and says, man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. To show you that when you are tempted, you go back to the word of God. And you use the word of God to conquer the enemy of your soul.

That's just so good. And there is so much I could tell you about the word of God. And if I had time, I'd tell you how it compels the soul, critiques the soul, challenges the soul, confirms the soul, controls the soul, clarifies the soul, completes the soul. It does condemn the soul as well. But it also consecrates the soul. All those things are just so important as to the power of the word of God. And someone will say, well, listen, I've read the word of God and I'm not comforted. I've read the word of God, I have no joy.

I've read and studied the word of God, I have no counsel. I haven't been corrected. I don't know which way I'm going. I've read the word of God, I don't believe I'm cleansed. I've read the word of God and I find no comfort of my soul. Why? No, you'll be glad you came today. So I'm gonna tell you why. There are two reasons. One, it could be that you're an unbeliever. It could be that you're an unbeliever. Why? Same verse we used last week and the week before, 1 Thessalonians 2, verse number 13. You receive the word, you put out the welcome mat, the word of God that powerfully and effectively works in those who believe.

If you're a believer and you're in the word of God and you read the word of God and you study the word of God and you hear the word of God, it brings great joy to your soul. It comforts your soul. It counsels your soul. It cleanses your soul. It does all of that. And you're actively involved in watching all that take place in your life because the power of the word of God, it does work in those who believe. It doesn't work in those who don't believe. Say, but yet, pastor, I believe in the promises of God in my eternal security.

I believe in the purposes of God. I believe in the power of God. I believe in the prayers of Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. And I believe in the perseverance of the saints and I am persevering under stress and difficulty. And yet I have no joy. And yet I have no comfort. And yet I have no counsel. And yet I have no compulsion. Yet I don't see and understand the word of God working in me. Why is that? Well, Peter tells us. He makes it very clear when he says these words in 1 Peter 1, verse 22.

Since you have an obedience to the truth, purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart. For you have been born again, not of a seed, which is perishable, but imperishable. That is through the living and enduring word of God. For all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flowers of the grass. The grass withers and the flower falls off. But the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word which was preached to you. Peter makes it very clear.

God's word, the enduring word was preached to you. And out of obedience to the faith, your heart was purified. And you have a great love for the brethren. Then he says this. Therefore, because of that, strip off all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander like newborn babes long for the pure milk of the words that by it you may grow in respect to salvation if you have tasted the kindness of God. If you've tasted the kindness of God, strip off all these things. Why? Because it's those things that keep you from understanding the counsel of the Lord, from understanding the cleansing power of the Lord, from understanding the comfort of the Lord, from understanding the correction of the Lord, from understanding what the word of God wants to powerfully do in you because you have remained in, as the Bible says, all malice or wickedness or deceitfulness or hypocrisy, phoniness, or envy, selfishness.

Or slander, which is unkindness. All those things keep you from longing for the pure milk of the word that you may grow. You gotta strip off those attitudes that are so negative and so wrong because your bitterness, your unforgiveness, your wickedness, your unkindness, your phoniness, pretending to be something you aren't, is gonna hinder the power of God working in your life because it does work in those who believe. But if I'm engaged in sinful behavior as a believer and those attitudes permeate my life, then the power of God will be diminished in your heart and life.

If you're wondering why God's word doesn't do the things that we've told you about in terms of his power, that's why. Number one, you don't know the Lord.

And you always gotta ask that question, do I really know the Lord? Am I really born again? Am I really saved from my sin? Have I really experienced a cleansing work of the spirit of God? Am I truly born again? Because if I am, the word of God powerfully is to work in me, but yet it's not. So therefore, is it because of my attitude and the bitterness and the unforgiveness and all those things that keep me from receiving the pure milk of the word, like a newborn babe would cry for the word. You see, if you're not crying out for the word, I got my 20th grandchild on the way.

Seriously, Drew called this week. They're having another one. I'm like, he's trying to keep up with his old man. So he called this week and they're having another child. That's the 20th grandchild. I feel really old, really old. But as long as my kids keep having kids, I'm not as old as I really think I am. So that's a good thing, it keeps me young. So anyway, he's having our 20th. But think about it this way. Those babes hunger for the pure milk of their mother's breasts. And they cry until they get it.

That's us as believers. If you're sitting here today and you are not longing for the pure milk of the word, if you're not crying out for that, if you're not so intensely set on learning about God and growing, it's because of those attitudes that are present in 1 Peter 2, verse number one.

Something's there that's keeping you from doing that. That's why people say, strip this off. Get rid of their attitude, it's wrong. Ask God for forgiveness, let him cleanse your soul. And then long for the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby. I mean, there's just so much in chapter one. It's hard just to move through it so rapidly that we forget about what's there. Why is it they were steadfast and persevering in their walk with the Lord? What caused them to do that? It was their hope.

They lived in anticipation of the promises of God. And that's why they could keep on keeping on amidst tribulation, Jesus was coming back. And they thought he was coming back in their day. And they lived in anticipation of that great and glorious hope, the blessed hope of the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. That's how they lived. So Paul said, man, the gospel came to you with power. Because I see it in your life. It's evident everywhere. You live a life of joy, rejoicing amidst tribulation.

You labor intensely because you love the Lord so much. You don't quit, you don't give up, you don't stop. And you really truly produce all kinds of works because of your faith in God. In Christ. Your faith just produces all that. It's so evident. I want that to be us. Don't you wanna be that way? Don't you be that kind of church that is so clearly evident of the truth of the gospel that anybody who drives by, who walks by, who sees you on the street knows that Christ reigns in you. That you are a child of the living God and you serve Him with all your heart and mind and strength.

And you persevere through every difficulty and hardship because you have hope. And Paul would say, I thank God for every single one of you because it's so evident in your life. I want that for me. And my guess is because you're here, you want it for you as well. Let's pray. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for this opportunity. You are so good to us. Thank you for your word that's so true. And may Lord, those who are here today know for certain that Jesus Christ reigns in them for the glory of your kingdom.

We know you're coming again, Lord. And to that day, may we remain faithful to you. In Jesus' name, amen.