1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 11. Wherefore, comfort yourselves together and edify one another even as also you do. And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you. And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and all men. Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the spirit, despise not prophesying. Prove all things, hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace, sanctify you wholly. And I pray God, your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. FAITHFUL IS HE THAT CALLETH YOU, WHO ALSO WILL DO IT. AMEN. YOU MAY BE SEATED. WE'VE BEEN LOOKING IN THIS SECTION OF THE SCRIPTURE, NOTICING FROM VERSE NUMBER 11 THROUGH THE END OF THE CHAPTER THAT THERE ARE 22 COMMANDS FROM GOD TO BE LIVED OUT IN THE DAILY EXPERIENCE OF EVERY BELIEVER. THESE COMMANDS ARE TO BE OBEYED MOMENT BY MOMENT AS IF THIS DAY WOULD BE Verse number four, but ye brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. And so these practical personal commands are to be obeyed in light of the Lord's return. And in the text before us in verse 23 and 24, we have again the reminder at the close of this chapter that the Lord Jesus is returning. We coupled each of these commands and tried to organize them and we have, we're on the ninth of 10 sections now concerning how you and I should respond in light of the Lord's return. And sadly, if we ask everyone in here tonight if they believe the Lord was returning if they believe Christ could come tonight. I believe probably everybody here would probably say yes. And yet if we took the Bible and we began to examine our lives in light of the scripture, many of us sadly would not be living in light of his return. The verses that are before us, these two verses, verse 23 and verse 24, that are before us tonight, are verses that remind us to be hopeful. We have said that verses 11 and 14 remind us to be useful in relationship toward each other. And then to be thoughtful in verse 12 and 13 with the church's relationship to her pastor. To be merciful toward all men. in verse 15, to be joyful, to be prayerful, to be thankful, and to be powerful before God as a spirit-led, spirit-controlled child of God. And then the last time we met, we dealt with verses 21 and 22 over this section about being careful in the Christian life. Tonight, Paul gives us another statement about the Lord's return. He said, and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. And I pray God, your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the Bible said, faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it. These two verses have woven into their fabric some tremendous statements of faith for the children of God. This Bible tonight is the believer's statement of faith. You say, what do you believe? I believe everything from Genesis to Revelation. But tonight we wanna be specific about it here in this text because these statements gathered around The hope of Christ's return are very crucial to our Christian faith. It's not enough to say that Jesus is coming. You and I must say tonight that Christ is coming prior to the time when God will send judgment upon the world in the tribulation period. It's not enough to say that Christ is coming. We must say that Christ is coming for those who are born again, blood-bought, he is gonna take his bride out of this world before the tribulation time begins. And you and I know as Christians that we are ambassadors for Christ. Anytime a country would declare war on another country, one of the first things they do is they pull out all the ambassadors. They bring all the ambassadors home. I've got news for you, friend. When he sounds that trumpet, he's gonna pull all the ambassadors out of this world. And so these statements in these verses are at the core of the believer's hope. in Jesus Christ. Our text also reveal some of the great statements about Christian experience and the great promise of God. There is here in our text a mention of sanctification. Amen. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. And I believe God desires to do that in every life. God wants his people to be a holy people. He wants us to be sanctified. And the Bible tells us that you and I are to perfect holiness in the fear of God. So there's a mention about sanctification. There's a mention about preservation, amen. I believe God's people are, according to the writer Jude, preserved in Jesus Christ. And there's two ways to preserve things. I learned this as a boy. You can pickle it or you can really preserve it. Say amen. Granny had some of those pear preserves. That's the best thing this side of heaven. No doubt there'll probably be some at the marriage supper of the lamb. But you and I are preserved. in Jesus Christ. And so there's a mention of sanctification and preservation. And there's an implication tonight of glorification. In fact, the Bible said, preserve blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, every believer has been saved from the penalty of sin. Thank God, though the wages of sin are death, the Bible said Christ has tasted death for every man. That is Jesus Christ took my hell upon himself there at Calvary, paid the wages of sin, took upon himself the wrath of God, paid every person's sin debt that would ever live and swung wide the gate so that whosoever will. I want to say tonight Christ died for all men and that he died for all sin. I'm glad if you have breath in your body And if you desire to be saved, Jesus can and will save you. But we've been saved from the penalty of sin. And the Bible teaches through sanctification we're being saved from the power of sin, amen. That is that God, through the power of the scriptures, And the work of the Holy Ghost in our heart is sanctifying us so that we can live cleaner and cleaner. And the Bible said that He's sanctifying the church. He's washing out every spot. He's ironing out every wrinkle. He's getting us ready for the judgment seat of Christ. I bless his holy name. And we're saved from the penalty of sin. And we're being saved from the power of sin. But one day, hallelujah, I'll be saved from the very presence of sin. One day when Jesus comes. Glory to God, the Bible said, when we shall see him, we shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is. Romans 8 verse 30 said, he has predestined us to be glorified. I'm glad, hallelujah. Well these days it's robe of flesh. I'll drop and rise to seize the everlasting prize. I'm gonna be glorified in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sanctification, preservation, and glorification. Amen and amen. And so there's great statements of faith here. And there's also some great statements about the person of God. The scripture said, and the very God of peace. And then in verse 23, it says, faithful is he that calleth you. I wanna say this, if God is not faithful, it doesn't matter what else he is. It's not enough just to say that God is holy, even though we can say that God is holy. God is holy, he shall be holy, and he evermore will be holy. Somebody help me preach a little while. It's not enough to say that God is righteous. I can say tonight that God is righteous. God is righteous, he will be righteous, and he evermore shall be righteous. Hallelujah. And faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. God is faithful. Aren't you glad that he is? If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The Bible said, there is no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you're able. but will the temptation make a way of escape that you may be able to bear? I'm preaching tonight about a God who is faithful. Bless his holy name. He's faithful today. He'll be faithful tomorrow. I won't have to get up in the morning, Brother Mark, and say, Lord, are you there? Are you there? Lord, are you there? No, he'll be there. Say amen right there. And thank God he'll be there 10 million years from now. Hallelujah. Thank God and the Lamb forever. He's a faithful God. So there's a mention of the faithfulness of God. And not only that, there's a mention of the peacefulness of God. And the very God of peace. Are you with me now? I thank God for these wonderful truths. We're already out in waters of swimming. Thank God for the truth of the Bible. Thank God for the richness of God's precious word. I bless his holy name. This Bible is pure. This Bible is powerful. And the promises and the principles of it and all that God said about himself is about to get me stirred up. I bless his holy name. I don't have an unfaithful God. I don't have a peaceless God. I've got a faithful God and a God who can grant his peace in the time of need. Amen and amen. And so here in the scripture, we also see a great supplication before God that Paul offers. He said, and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. And I pray God, your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. A great supplication for the believers, preservation. Now, not our preservation and our safety in Christ. No, that is never dependent upon the individual. This is our preservation in sanctification. The believer's preservation and security and safety has nothing to do with what I can do. Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Amen. They shall never perish. Hallelujah. Bless his holy name. My life is in his hands. My destiny is in his hands. Oh, the Bible said in Hebrews 5, 9, he's the author of eternal salvation. That's the only kind that he gives. He's not giving probationary salvation. He's giving eternal salvation. I'm glad I'm saved. Saved by his power divine. Bless his holy name. Thank God for the great prayer. that Paul prays here in this section of the scripture. Not only the great supplication before God for the believer's preservation and personal sanctification at Christ's coming, there's a reminder here that you and I are made in the image of God. The Bible says here in 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 23, he said, I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body. You and I are made in God's image and God is a triune being. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. You and I, hallelujah, have a thrice holy God and a triune God that we serve and worship. It reminds us in the technical term is that man is a tripartite being. He is a spiritual being. Spirit, soul, and body. And I wanna say that because a lot of times when we recited, we recited the opposite direction. We recited body, soul, and spirit. Here, Paul recites it by inspiration as spirit, soul, and body. When I came in tonight, I'm looking at all your bodies. When God's here tonight, he's looking at you from the inside out. Are you with me now? Body, soul, and spirit. Spirit, soul, and body. And so tonight, there are great statements of faith and great statements concerning God here in this passage of Scripture. Let me say tonight that when Paul opens verse number 23, he said, and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. So the first item that Paul wants to bring to us is a mention about God, the person of God. He does it at the opening of verse 23, and he does it in entirety in verse 24. You see, the most important thing about me is what I believe about God. I'm talking about the God of the Bible. You say, well, the Muslims call him Allah, and the Hindus call him this. Listen, that's not the same God. This is not the same God. The God of the Bible's not the God of the Koran. The God, my friend, of the Bible's not the God of far eastern or near eastern religions. The God we're talking about is the very God of the Bible. The God who sent his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, here to die on the cross. The God, hallelujah, that after he went back to heaven, sent the Holy Ghost to thank God to live in our hearts by His holy power. Hallelujah. Bless His holy name. This is the God that I'm preaching about. Now Paul is saying to us that God has the power. God has the power to do what He desires to do in us and what He's determined to do in us. in relationship to the purpose of God in our lives. And Paul's earnest petition on our behalf, he magnifies the God that he's talking to and magnifies the God that he's praying to, amen. Now it does matter tonight that we are praying to God. We are not praying to Mary. We are not praying through the Pope. We need no other mediator but Jesus Christ. The Bible said in 1 Timothy 2.5, there's one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. We don't need to pray through patron saints. We don't need to pray to anyone else. We don't need a saint for every occasion. We don't need another saint for a holiday. No, thank God we've got Christ. And we pray to God in the name of Christ. And we come by right of the shed blood of Calvary. And the Bible said, and the very God of peace. sanctify you holy, amen. So Paul magnifies God in his appeal. He calls him the very God of peace. Now Jesus taught us it's important how we address God. He said in the model prayer, not the Lord's prayer, that's John 17. He said in the model prayer, we ought to pray our Father which art in heaven. and that is we ought to recognize God in our prayer. He said, hallowed be thy name. We ought to recognize God in who he is, in our relationship. He's our father, that's because we're his children, because we're born of God. I'm not his child by my first birth, but thank God I'm his child by my second birth. Bless his holy name. Being born again, not a corruptible seed, but I'm incorruptible by the word of God. which liveth and abideth forever. So Paul addresses him as the very God of peace. Now it's interesting to me how this type of language is used in our Bible, both Old and New Testament. It's important that God gives us these terms in the scripture. Not only should we know how to pray, but we also ought to know the God that we're praying to. And so it's interesting to me that in the New Testament there are seven such terms in our New Testament. Terms that reveal to us who God is. Terms that remind us how powerful that He is. and terms that remind us of what He is to us and what He does for us on our behalf. Now, none of these will mean anything to you unless you get past Psalm 18 and verse 46. And by the way, this one is an important one in the Old Testament. David said, the Lord liveth and blessed be my rock. and let the God of my salvation be exalted. That is, first of all, he's got to be the God of your salvation or none of these other terms are gonna mean anything to you. If he's not the God of your salvation, if he's not the one that met you at the foot of Calvary's cross as an old guilty sinner, if he's not the God that met you as you gave the hog pen a permanent wave, and you're headed for the Father's house. If he's not the God that met you when you cried out to him as the guilty sinner in need of a savior, none of these terms will mean anything to you at all. And so he is the very God of peace. Take your Bible and look in Romans chapter 15, if you will, the 15th chapter of Romans, and we'll let the Bible do the talking and tell us who God is, amen. Romans chapter 15 and verse number five. The scripture said, now the God of patience and consolation grants you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus. So the God I'm preaching about is the God of patience and consolation. Aren't you glad that he is? I'm glad he's a patient God. He's far more patient than we are with each other. He's a God of patience and consolation. Here in the same chapter, in Romans chapter 15 and verse 13, there's another one, Romans 15 verse 13. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. You see, God is the author of hope, amen. God delivered to you and I something as marvelous. And the biblical idea of hope, it's not like the world. If I say I hope it doesn't rain, I may be standing up here with my fingers crossed and a rabbit foot in my pocket. Well, it didn't do the rabbit any good and it won't do me any good. because hope in the biblical sense is assurance based on the word of God. Thank God I've got hope because of what the Bible says. It's assurance based on his word in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. Our God is a God of hope, amen. Not only that, in the Bible, in 2 Corinthians 1, with just a page or two over, 2 Corinthians 1, and verse number 3, blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. And so he is here, the God of all comfort. And I realize in times of heartbreak and heartache, there are times when you cannot bestow comfort on someone like you desire to. And I'll tell you, there is one, hallelujah. And that is the God of all comfort. Hallelujah, the Father of mercies. And the God of all comfort can bestow comfort. When you and I can't bestow comfort, our Bible said he's the God of patience. He's the God of hope. He's the God of all comfort. 2 Corinthians 13, verse number 11. Finally, brethren, be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you. And the God of love and peace. Thank God tonight he is the God of love. Our God is the God of love. I want to balance the scale. He's also a holy God. He's a righteous God. He's a God who hates sin, but he's a God of love. He's a God that loves sinners so much, he sent his son from heaven. He's a God that loved you so much, he let Christ hang out with your sin only, man. In shame there before men, died on Calvary. He's a God of love, the Bible said. And the Bible tells us here, I Peter chapter five and verse 10, here's another one. First Peter chapter five and verse 10. Here's another one. First Peter five, verse number 10. The scripture said, but the God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus after that you have suffered a while make you perfect establish, strengthen, settle you. He's the God of all grace. He's got all kinds of grace. Somebody help me preach a little while. Thank God he's got saving grace. He's got sanctifying grace. He's got sufficient grace. He's got satisfying grace. He's got grace hallelujah forevermore. He's got grace forever trial. Hallelujah. Our God is a God of all grace, amen. Bless His holy name. 1 Peter 5 10 said, He's a God of all grace. Revelation chapter 11 and verse 13. Here's what the Bible said. Revelation 11 verse 13, And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell. and in the earthquake were slain of men 7,000 and the remnant were of pride and gave glory to the God of heaven. He's the God of heaven. You say, I'm going to heaven. You can't go to heaven unless you go the way God said because he's the God of heaven. He's not gonna let you into heaven by your baptism. You say, I got sprinkled on the head as a child. All that did was get you wet. It didn't get you one step closer to heaven. You're not going to heaven because you got your head sprinkled on when you were a child. You're not going to heaven because you joined any kind of church. Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, any kind of church. You can't go to heaven unless you go the way God said, because he's the God of heaven. Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, by me, amen. So he's the God of heaven. And in our text in first Thessalonians chapter five and verse 23, Paul said, and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. And I'm glad that God is identified by these terms in the scripture. And each of them conveys to us tremendous truth about the God we know and the God we love. And so these are the terms for God like this in the New Testament. And then there's the truth of God that's conveyed by this last one, the very God of peace. As I said, that there are seven terms like this term in the entirety of the New Testament. There is also here directly in our text that term, God of peace. And every time this term is used in the New Testament, all five of them are always used in relationship to the exercise of God's power on my behalf. and on your behalf. These terms are used in relationship to the exercise of God's power on the believer's behalf. Now, if you needed something, you'd want to know that somebody had the ability to help you with what your need was. here in this verse, we're reminded of God as a God of peace. Now everywhere this term for God is found, it's used in relationship to the exercise of His power. Now I need to know that my God has power, power to sanctify me, power for my sanctification, power for my preservation, power also for my glorification. Amen. I need to know that the God that I'm serving and the God that Paul is praying to and the God that we're praying to, this God has power. So Paul is believing God to exercise his power on behalf of the believers at Thessalonica. Power for their sanctification. Power for their preservation. Now, as I said, in this text, it's not a question of whether or not I'm gonna be preserved as a Christian. It's about the preservation of blamelessness at the coming of Christ. Now, Lot got taken out of Sodom, but he wasn't blameless when he left. Enoch got taken out of this world and was not, and Enoch had a testimony that he pleased God. Am I right? So we see the difference in these two individuals. Though Lot got out of Sodom, he didn't leave with a blameless record. In fact, he had all kinds of backlash even when he got out of Sodom. He got his daughters, his two virgin daughters out of Sodom, but he didn't get Sodom out of them. So I'm talking about how this passage in the Bible relates to us, the God of peace. Now, Romans chapter 15, let's go back in our scriptures and let's page through. We didn't look at all of these about the God of peace, but I want to look at them and show you how these indicate the power of God is exercised toward the believer. Romans 15 and verse 33. The Bible said, now the God of peace be with you all, amen. And that reminds me that the God that I serve and his presence is evermore with me. Not only that, he's with you. If you're saved, he's with you. He's at China Grove when you're in China Grove. He's in Mount Pleasant. He's in Rockwell. He's in Kannapolis. Why? Because His presence is with every one of us. In fact, somebody quoted it when we said a promise that He would never leave or forsake me. He will never leave me nor forsake me. Hallelujah. I want to say this term for God reminds us of the presence of God. He never leaves or forsakes. When I get up on Monday, it hasn't changed God. When I get up on Tuesday, it hasn't changed God. When I come back on Wednesday night, His presence will still be the same. So it speaks of the presence of God. Second, in Romans 16, 20, it speaks of the power of God. Romans 16, verse 20, and the God of peace shall blow Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. And so there is a pronouncement here of the believer's ultimate victory over Satan, that you and I will be ultimately victorious over Satan. I want to say that when you and I got born again, thank God the Holy Ghost got placed on the inside of you, the very God of peace, and that very God of peace has come to live on the inside of you. And John said, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Amen. So it speaks of the presence of God. It speaks of the power of God. Now listen carefully. Look in Philippians chapter four. We're talking about this very God of peace. Philippians 4, and the scripture said in verse number 8, Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things. those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do, and the God of peace shall be with you. Now, this has to do with the partnership of God. I'm thankful, hallelujah, just like those men that got cast into the fiery furnace. Thank God when they looked in, they said, behold, I see four men loose in the fire. That was that fourth man. It's the same one that I've got with me. When I get in the lion's den, glory to God, he's there with me. When I get in the fire, when I'm going through the storm, thank God he's with me. I'm talking about the partnership of God. He said, and the God of peace shall be with you, amen. And then in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 20. In fact, probably if I've signed your Bible, I have written these verses in your Bible. In Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number 20, the scripture said, Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sea, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever, amen. And this has to do with the perfection of God, that God can take us from our fallen state in Adam and place us in Christ, and then thank God he can sanctify us, day by day and week by week. And one of these days, I'll wake up in another world. I'll be just like the Son of God who saved me. I'll be just like the Savior who brought me out of sin. I say, hallelujah, amen. So here there is the perfection of God. Our God's desire is to do these things in us and for us and in the text that we're studying tonight. It has to do with the preservation of God. Now, I want to say this about that. I've been trying to emphasize it so you can get it in your mind. He's not talking about the believer's preservation in Christ. and their security is dependent on Paul's prayer. No, that's not what he's talking about. The preservation he's dealing with is the blamelessness of life he desired for them at the coming of Christ. Now listen carefully. The very guarantee of God for the believer's ultimate sanctification. The very guarantee of the believer's personal preservation and complete glorification rests upon the ability of God to bring this total transformation to pass. Paul is praying for personal sanctification and blamelessness to be in order in their lives at the coming of Jesus Christ. Now what he's saying that he's praying for them is I'm praying that when Christ comes that you won't be ashamed before him but that your life will be preserved blameless. A tremendous word this word blameless. About the only time you hear anything about it now is when you're talking about preachers. but it's not the only time it's mentioned in the New Testament. In fact, did you know that every Christian is to be blameless in their life? Paul is praying that when Christ comes, that their lives will be in order and that they'll be preserved blameless in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And by the power of the God of peace, by the power of the Holy Ghost, by the power of the one who lives within us, if we follow God, we can be in that kind of condition when Christ comes. You say, what happens if you're not? Now, I heard all these cliches, religious cliches people have said over the years. Well, I hope to be prayed up and ready to go up. Well, I do too. But if I'm not prayed up, I'm still going up. Now, that's not to say I don't want to be prayed up. I don't know how much I got to pray though to be prayed up. I don't know how hard I got to pray to pray hard. I don't know. But I do know this, when Jesus comes, I'm going. What Paul is praying for is when they do go, that their life will be blameless before God. Now sometimes there's a fatalism that comes into the life and minds of people that attend church. And I never have espoused this at all. That well, you believe if you're safe forever, you just live any old way. No, I never have believed that. Absolutely not. I never preached that. I never promoted that. And you know if you heard me preach, you know I believe in biblical holiness. But I'm not going to heaven by how clean I live. I'm going to heaven because of what Christ has done. But when Jesus comes, I do want to be clean because I want to meet him and not be ashamed. Amen and amen. We just scratched the surface tonight, but I believe I've gone as far as I need to go tonight. Let's stand together with our heads bowed.