Well, I'm greatly honored of all the distinguished elders that are here this morning that Brother Ray called me up first. But there's a reason for that. You know, I used to coach ball a little bit. And you always want to put your poorest hitter up first. Because whatever came after, you know, whatever he did, the better hitters can certainly win the game. So, I understand what Brother Ray is doing. But I'm glad to be here. Glad to see you here. Thankful for the opportunity to come and share with you the word of God. I have a message on my mind that I'm not going to preach this morning. but I just will tell you my thoughts momentarily. I'm going, Lord willing, somewhere or another, sometime or another, I want to speak on the wonder of worship. Oh. If we could just understand something of the glorious privilege that we as mortal beings have, first of all, lost, hell-deserving sinners that we are and yet to have the audacity and yet righteously so to be able to come into the presence of a holy God and dare to call upon him and yet he's given us many many assurances in his word to do so, to come boldly to the throne of grace. And then he tells us, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I also. Oh, it doesn't take a crowd. God's not impressed with anything physical, but all that he demands of us is that we come in the name of his son, by his blood. That's all we have. And by that, I come this morning, hoping, trusting the Lord to give me something to share with you. And if you will turn to the second book of Thessalonians, and I will begin my discourse there, Lord's willing. Second Thessalonians, I would love to take the time to deal with the second chapter here. Falling away, except there be a falling away. Well, if we haven't had, and if we're not in, a falling away, I don't know what daylight and darkness is about. But there's been a falling away ever since the days of our Lord. It's only intensifying and will intensify until the Lord comes. All saints in all ages since the days of our Lord have thought that they were living in the last days. Well, if we're not in the last days, I don't understand the word of God because the last day began with the first earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. but we're looking for the glorious day when the son of righteousness shall descend from heaven with healing on his wings. And Satan certainly is rampant, working, and all throughout the world. And we're privileged to come here today freely, unmolested, to worship. And we come with full assurance, as I've said, because he tells us to do so. And Paul, writing to this congregation at Thessalonica, concludes this chapter, not that he had the chapter, but in our portion of scriptures it is, we're bound to give thanks always unto God for you, brethren. Of course, that includes sisters also. Beloved. Beloved, what a great term. Not everybody is the object of that love. Only God's elect people. Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. Sovereignly chosen, not because of any foreseen goodness on our part, merit on our part, But because He purposed to have a people that would love the Son, He chose us sovereignly to be heirs of eternal life. Beloved, everlasting love, saving love, redeeming love, glorifying love, gracious love, all of those adjectives would describe God's marvelous love. Beloved of the Lord. What a great privilege to be the beloved of the Lord. How and why would we have any hope and any confidence that anyone would be the object of God's love? Because God, it's all about Him, God, the eternal God, the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Spirit in the eternal council, God hath from the beginning, now wherever that was, it's before time ever started. I believe it's not referenced to time, I think it is referenced to the purpose of God in salvation. It initiated somewhere back there in eternity past in the eternal counsel of God and this is how it began from the human aspect. Chosen you. unto salvation. Unto salvation, what a glorious great subject that is, inexhaustible like a diamond. The various facets of it are amazing, marvelous, reflecting always the light of Jesus Christ, His glory. Chosen unto salvation, which began in our experience with regeneration by the working of the Holy Spirit, whereby the dead sinners were made alive, given not only faith, but regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit, whereby they are given eternal life. Secretly, not always observable, except in a convicting spirit. But ultimately, bringing about faith in Jesus Christ. Ultimately, always bringing about consummation of their being conformed to the image of Christ in eternal glory. Salvation reaches from eternity past to eternity future. Chose you unto salvation. How then, why would we have any reason to have any hope of that? through the sanctification of the Spirit. It is the inward working of the Holy Spirit of God that gives a child of God confidence and hope and faith and assurance of salvation. It's not what they do, nor what some preacher does for you, but rather what God by the Holy Spirit will do to your heart. We have not received the spirit of bondage unto fear, but we receive the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Ever! What a gracious word, loving word, tender word, Abba Father. The inward working of the Holy Spirit of God is the initial and confirming and assuring witness of the child of God that we have by God's sovereign grace been chosen unto salvation. No matter what man may say, what man may do, what doxology may say, it is that God by the Holy Spirit will witness to your heart and tell you, you are beloved of mine. And if you have not, then you need to seek it. Fail not to go through the deck this day, my friend. If you have not that inward assurance of the Holy Spirit of God, I cannot give it to you, nor can you find it except from God. But I urge upon you to flee to the Lord that he may speak to your heart and give you that inner witness that you are indeed a child of God. regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit of God, made to be holy by the justifying work of Christ on the cross of Calvary and by the blood of Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit of God. And it is witness to you because you believe the truth. It may be just a simple understanding of truth. I believe the Bible. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. But whatever it is of truth that God is pleased to make known to you, you will believe it. You may not understand it all, and you may not be the theologian like John Gill, but you will have an inward witness, indeed, these things are true. you will believe the truth. Oh, I know from experience, you may war against it initially, and it may not make sense to you initially. And you may say, well, that, that just doesn't make sense to me. But as you will study the word of God, the Holy Spirit of God will lead you and bring you to understand it. And you will come to know indeed, not only who Christ is, but that he is your redeemer and savior. Blessed are thou, Simon, Bar-Jonah, for our flesh and blood have not built it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And every child of God will have that inbred witness and will be blessed to know the truth and believe the truth of God. Whereunto, whereunto, this belief of the truth, whereunto he, God, not the preacher, called you. This is the effectual call of the Holy Spirit of God, but it is made manifested in the life of an individual. But what Paul will tell you next, were until you called you by our gospel. Now, when he says our gospel, it is not the gospel initiated with the apostle Paul. It is the gospel that God taught him while he was out three years in the Arabian desert. It is by revelation of the Holy Spirit to Paul that Paul has been made to know the truth about the way of salvation. It is not Paul's gospel except that he is simply a proclaimer of that which God by the Holy Spirit has taught him concerning the true gospel of Jesus Christ. He will tell you what that gospel is in the 15th chapter of verse Corinthians, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and was buried and rose again the third day according to the scripture." Now that's the very heart and germ of the whole gospel of Jesus Christ. But I submit to you the whole word of God is the gospel of Jesus Christ and everything that Paul ever wrote in the word of God is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I say that because I know a particular church that if you don't repeat what I just said from the 15th chapter of the Gospel of John, 15th chapter, verse 20, if you don't repeat that and say that in your prayer or in your message, you didn't preach the gospel. My friend, you can preach whatever verse of scripture that's in the word of God. If it's the truth of God, it's the gospel. It's good news to God's people. But it's based upon the foundation of what I quoted from the 15th chapter, verse 20. had he called you according to our gospel, my gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a concern of mine that we have come to a place in the doctrine of God's sovereign grace that we are minimizing preaching. I'll repeat myself. It concerns me that we've come to the place in the doctrine, the teaching of the sovereign grace of God and the effectual calling to salvation that we're minimizing preaching. I'll repeat it again. I believe we've come to the place among churches of like faith of what we believe that we're so grounded in the doctrines of grace and all that pertain to that we are minimizing the importance of preaching. Thank you. John the Baptist came preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ went preaching, and he sent out his apostles to preach. He called the apostle Paul to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. You read, and I encourage every one of you, if you've got John Gill's book, to read Gill's commentary on the book of Acts concerning the travels of the apostle Paul. It's amazing how many miles and what countries that man visited. And you didn't get to go to every place you wanted to go. Is Paul the unique person that God called to preach? I think not so. There have been many that God has called to preach and he called him to preach because that's part of the program where by God's purpose that he will manifest who the elect of God are. Preaching is the important part in the ministry and the work of Jesus Christ in the world today. We who are ministers of God, we need to understand, remind ourselves, as Paul said in the book of Acts, remind ourselves who we are and why we are called. In the book of Titus, I read, Paul, a servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and acknowledging of the truth, which is after Godness, in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began, but hath in due times manifested his word through preaching. I do not believe that preaching is the instrument of regeneration. But preaching is an ordained means whereby God has purposed that the elect of God, having been quickened by the Holy Spirit, are given acknowledgement and assurance and pointed onto the way of their salvation. Paul says here that he called you. Lost my chapter here. Second Thessalonians. I wanted to get exactly right, excuse me, or until he called you, called you. Now, I know that there's a general call and an effectual call. I understand that every time the man preacher preaches, he may make a declaration of God's salvation, but that is a general call. Now, I will quickly explain to you, say to you, I do not believe in the so-called free offer of salvation, but I do believe in the proclaiming of the gospel of salvation. And to all men, our Lord sent us forth in the last words we have in the Matthew, the 28th chapter, going to all the world. preaching and teaching those things that I've commanded you. It is our responsibility. It is God's program. It is God's ordained means whereby the saints of God, a child of God, may be given assurance of their salvation, may be made to know indeed what they are, how they are to live. It is God's way whereby that we are to nurture the chains of God. you're reading the book of Acts with Paul that Barnabas went up to Antioch God had done a great work in this in the city of Antioch I mean and I'll read in the 11th chapter of the book of Acts who when they came and had seen the grace of God and was glad and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they should claim unto the Lord and I'll read On and on, others. Whenever Paul and Barnabas, Paul and Silas went out, one of the things that they would do was encourage the saints of God. God has called for preachers to preach. Pray that God would raise up more preachers. We don't have enough preachers. The fields are wild in the harvest, our Lord did say. There is a world out there that is on its way to hell. I don't believe that a preacher can save a man from going to hell. I don't believe that at all. But I believe it's God's means whereby that he is pleased to make known unto the world that he is a gracious God. Come unto me, all ye that labor and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. I don't believe that that is for every individual. It is defined and limited. Our Lord himself limited and restricted. Come unto me all ye that labor and heavy laden. That's not for every individual. That's for that individual whom the Holy Spirit has made to feel the burden and guilt of their sins. That's for that individual whom the Holy Spirit has quickened already. They will hear the voice of the shepherd. and they will indeed come unto Jesus Christ. That's not an invitation for every individual, but it is a plea to proclaim by the minister of the gospel, trusting God to do what he is pleased to do and perfect to do. Come to Christ, flee to him. I'm impressed with the personal scripture in the 27th chapter of the book of Acts. I won't read the whole thing to you. You know the story very well about the shipwreck of the apostle Paul. Paul had been doing what every child of God ought to be doing at the time in the world we live in today. He had secluded himself with prayer. We're living in terrible times. I don't have to point that out to you. The newspaper will tell you that. We're living in great, terrible, distressful times. What does God's people need to be doing? The main thing we ought to be doing is praying. praying for guidance, praying for encouragement, praying for God's help. We need the help of the Lord. We all need the help of the Lord. Every preacher needs God's help. Pray for God's ministers. Pray for God's servants. We need encouragement. We need help. And Paul was praying. He came up, he had a message from God. That's what we get when we are praying, that a message from the Lord. He told him, encouraged him, he said, you know, we've been in 14 days without eating anything. Take food and eat, for nobody's going to be lost. That seemed awful crazy for a man to tell somebody that in the midst of a storm like that. But he had a message from God. I'll tell you, we're living in dark days, terrible times, and everybody don't know what's going to happen. We need more preachers telling people what God says and what God has a purpose to do. God Almighty is in control. I don't care what party gains the election. I don't care what happens in Israel. I don't care what happens in Russia or China. God Almighty is in control at all times. The comfort that God's people need to know will come from the Word of God and we need preachers telling people God Almighty rules and reigns in the affairs of men. You know the story, all hope that says that they would be saved is lost. Some of them start to leave the ship, verse 31. Paul said to the centurion, to the soldiers, except these abide in the ship, you cannot be saved. Now God had purpose to save every one of them, but they had to stay in the ship. There's a reason for that. They were not going to save themselves by their own abilities. And what God will teach people is salvation is of the Lord. Your only hope for America, the only hope for this world, the only hope for an individual is God Almighty. His ordained program and plan. You've got to stay on the ship, in the ship if you're going to be saved. cut the ropes loose and everybody had to stay on board ship. So, the ship then hits rocks and so they're about to The ship is going to come apart. The soldiers say, we better kill the prisoners because if the prisoners escape, their lives are in jeopardy. And so they want to kill the prisoners in verse 42. And the soldier's counsel was to kill the prisoners, let any of them should swim out and escape. But the same period, God had a man. I don't know where he's a child of God or not, but I'll tell you what, he was the instrument God used to save the life of apostle Paul. God had a centurion willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded they should swim and cast themselves first to the sea and go to land. Now listen to this, and this is crazy. And the rest, some on boards, some on broken pieces of ships, and so it came to pass that they escaped all safe to land. Now, a few years ago, I used to read that verse, and I'll share it with you. some on boards. That's the only kind of board that God knows about. Not missionary boards, not Sunday school boards, or any kind of other kind of board. God ordained some boards for these men to get to the sea on, and so this was God-ordained boards. That's the only kind of boards that God ever used right there. But anyway, some on boards and some on broken pieces of the ship. child, a quickened child of God, regenerated child of God, may get hold of a very frail, feeble piece of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But I'll tell you what, God is able to use that to bring that person safely home. Let me give you an example. Charles Spurgeon was going to a chapel to hear a preacher, Baptist preacher, For some reason, God Almighty ordained that he would not make it. He had another preacher for it. It was a Methodist preacher. And it wasn't the preacher. It was what I'm reading, told about it. It was a deacon. The storm, snowstorm would come and the preacher was not able to make it there. And so he went, stopped into this little Methodist chapel, sat down, a young man sat down in the back row, so to speak. The deacon got up. And as I read, I don't know, I wasn't there, believe it or not, but as I read, the man gave a very short exhortation, which was, young man, look at Jesus, look at Jesus, look at Jesus. Virgin got up and left out of that chapel. But that message could not would not leave him, he would not forget it, but it was an instrument whereby God gave him comfort and assurance about his salvation and caused him to look to Jesus Christ for his salvation and not to himself. A Methodist deacon. Now that's the far piece from a sovereign grace primitive Baptist preacher. but God used it to give him a board to get to the shore. What I'm saying is God uses, God can use a crooked stick to strike a straight blow with. That doesn't give us justification for using crooked sticks though. That deacon, he probably didn't know what election predestination was all about. but he was speaking to one of God's elect persons and God had ordained that he'd come to that chapel and hear that man say, look to Jesus Christ. What I'm pointing out to you is God can use the feeblest person, feeblest message to proclaim the truth of God and sovereignly manifest and give comfort to one of his quick and saints. The woman came to Jesus and wanted to be healed. And he said, it's not proper to take food for the children and give it to dogs. And she said, right so, Lord. But the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the table. And the word used there for dogs, I'm told by the Greek scholars, but that word for dogs means a little old puppy dog. Not a big safeguard dog, but just a flat dog. She was saying, Lord, I'm just, I'm just a dog. And God gave her her request. What I'm trying to emphasize to you is the importance of preaching. How shall they call upon him whom they've not heard? Now, I don't believe that preachers are soul winners, and I don't believe that a person goes to hell because a preacher failed to preach. I don't believe that at all. I'm a strong believer in God's free and sovereign grace. But God's ordained beings, or by His saints, His people, might be made to hear about Jesus Christ. whether it's by the written word, whether it's by internet, however God is pleased to do it, don't minimize the importance of preaching the word of God. I thank God for every God-called preacher. God has blessed me in my life to be under the ministry of some God-called ministers, and I'm indebted to them. And I thank God for them. I don't, today I would say I didn't agree with every one of them. I don't think every one of them was 100% right. They weren't right with me. Even John Gill is not 100% right. But I'll tell you one thing. God sovereignly has used men in my life to turn me and to help me and direct me. That guess is one of them. Others of you, I appreciate you. I love you, but listen, I called you by my gospel. There's people in my life that I could say, God was pleased to use you to call me for, and God has been pleased to use me to call for some of his elect also. That's the joy of preaching. Paul said, you are our crown of rejoicing. May God bless his servant as he comes to bring his word to them. Our Father, we come to you here. We are unworthy servants. Lord, help all of your ministers to be filled by your Holy Spirit to preach your word. Give us a burn, Lord, to preach. Preach your word, the gospel of Jesus Christ. To tell the world that we live in, this old sin-cursed, hell-bound world, that there is a mighty God who rules and reigns. We're thankful, dear Lord, for your love and grace toward us. Blessed by the John as he comes, in Christ's name I pray, amen.