As we take up the offering, I’d like to share some news. First Topic. Last Sunday, all of you, pulled off one of the largest outreach events we’ve had since moving here to Toronto Road. This campus was filled with hundreds of new families for the Trunk or Treat / Chili Night Event. I talked to family after family and it was their first time ever hearing about Lakeside. They loved the event, and loved being here. These events help our church build relationships with people far from God. That is their primary purpose.
Why was this event a success? It was a success because of your generosity. The expanded parking gave us the space to setup games. We couldn’t have done that event a year ago. Every parking space got used last Sunday night. It was a success because of your creativity… planning the games, staffing the event, providing delicious food. It was a success because you invited people. People heard about this event because you shared the event on Facebook… or they were personally invited. Some people stopped simply out of curiosity because the lot was full.
Second Topic. In a few weeks, we want you to be part of “The Christmas Card Project.” You’re hearing about this before anyone else! The most quoted Bible verse on Christmas cards is Isaiah 9:6. What most people don’t know is God spoke these words hundreds of years before Jesus was even born, to announce his coming. Immediately after Thanksgiving and Black Friday we’re going to do a message series on everything this verse says about Jesus.
Think of it this way. On Thanksgiving people will fill their bellies. On Black Friday they will fill their shopping carts. But starting that weekend, we want to invite 5000 people to come to Lakeside to fill their Soul and hear about Jesus!
Right now, a local company is printing 5000 Christmas Cards. The cards will be beautiful. They will have gold foil lettering. In a few weeks we want to have a party at Lakeside where you can come and personally address these cards to anyone you want in the area. We’re going to give you a small card to include inside the Christmas card inviting them to our Christmas series. The cards will cost $1 each to send. So if you want to send 5 cards, 10 cards, or 50 cards… you can buy how many you want. You’re friends won’t get the card from Lakeside. They will get it from you, inviting them!
Third Topic. Many of you have noticed we have a new church logo. A logo is a way for people in our community to identify us as a church. I’ve been at Lakeside over 16 years and people always say, “Lakeside, where is that?” When I explain where we’re located, people say, “Oh, I drive by there all the time.” When cars are driving up to 50 mph by our property, the cursive font on our sign is too hard to read. A few months ago, our Elders met with Ace Sign Company and signed a contract to install new signs on Toronto Road and Second Street. The signs are simple, clear, and readable. And most importantly, they are beautiful… They will be installed very soon!
Well we hope you are excited. The Christmas Card Project and the new sign are just a foretaste of what’s planned for the future. So, let’s jump into our Evidence of Grace series. What is the evidence of God’s grace at work in our lives? Am I just supposed to assume I’m being saved, or can I have actual assurance I’m being saved?
For a lot of people, their sense of standing before God, is based on circumstances. When good things happen in my life, I feel the favor or God. When bad things happen in my life, I assume the worst. Maybe God’s punishing me. Maybe God doesn’t love me, or I’ve disappointed him. Maybe God doesn’t exist.
The problem with making assumptions about our standing before God is obvious. Good things can happen for good people, just like bad things can happen to good people. Good things can happen for bad people, just like bad things can happen to bad people. If you’re always basing your standing before God on circumstances, you’re going to be all over the place!
What God wants us to have, and what the church at Thessalonica needed—was “assurance.” They were suffering, they were being persecuted, they were facing trials and trouble. They were subject to the growing lawlessness of their culture and the influence of satanic power.
How did Paul give them assurance? With thanksgiving, he reminded them… #1: “your faith is growing more and more.” #2: “the love all of you have for one another is increasing.” #3 “… we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.” And Paul urged them not to be complacent. In fact he prays for God to bring about even more of these things (2 Thess 1:11-12)!
In 2 Thess. 2:13-14 Paul mentions two more evidences or assurances of grace. He writes, “we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.”
The presence and power of the Holy Spirit, sanctifying a person’s life… enabling them to become more like Jesus… helping them become whole and holy… is a tangible evidence of God’s grace. But so also is belief in the truth. Next Sunday I want to talk about the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit as an evidence of grace. But this morning I want to talk about “belief in the truth.”
Back in 1 Thessalonians 1, Paul speaks of God’s judgment. He reminds us of God’s character. He says, “God is just.” (2 Thess 1:6.). One of the things we like to do is so elevate one attribute of God’s character that it drowns out other attributes of God’s character. It’s been pointed out that people are so consumed with the “love” and “hyper grace” of God, they miss that he is also a holy God who is just and loves justice.
In love, God seeks after us, calls us, and woos us by his Holy Spirit. God convicts, forgives, redeems, restores, resurrects. In justice, God pays back those who trouble us. He gives relief to the afflicted. There is retribution against evil and vindication for the righteous.
For some people, love means there should be no accountability or consequences or punishment for evil; For some people, justice means there should be no escape, no grace, no forgiveness or mercy, no hope.
On the cross God demonstrates his love and his mercy. In justice, he wages the full penalty and consequence for sin upon mankind—which is death. But in love, he takes the full penalty and consequence for sin upon himself. He becomes a curse for us. He dies in our place, as a substitute, to pay for our sin that we might instead have life. The cross reflects the tension of God’s love and his justice.
There are two ways to empty the cross of its power. One way to empty the cross is to distort God’s love. Another way is to distort God’s justice. How do we distort God’s justice? It’s when we hold out the grave consequences of sin without hope of redemption. How do we distort God’s love? It’s when we hold out cheap grace, forgetting that grace cost the Father the precious blood of his One/Only Son Jesus.
2 Thessalonians 1 is hard for people to understand. Because on the one hand Paul is painting a rather severe picture of God’s judgment against sin. Not everyone will be saved. Some will be punished with everlasting destruction. Some will be shut out from the presence of the Lord and from all his glory. Some are perishing, are being deluded, and delighting in wickedness. Paul reminds us, “God is just.”
So who is it then, that gets saved? In 2 Thessalonians 1:8 says, “God will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”
Notice that there are two aspects to BELIEF. Part of belief is knowing God. Knowing his character. Knowing his purpose and plan. Knowing his salvation. Knowing his Son Jesus, in his death, burial and resurrection. Knowing the hope the eternal life. The other part of belief is obedience to the gospel. It’s what we do with our knowledge about God. Do we trust God? Do we obey God? Do we follow his will? Do we keep in step with his Holy Spirit? Belief isn’t just content and knowledge. Belief is content of character—its obeying Jesus as Lord—its cooperating with his Spirit.
2 Thessalonians 1:8 says, “God will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” In 2 Thessalonians 2:10 Paul says, “People perish because they refuse to the love the truth and so be saved.” In 2 Thessalonians 2:12 he says, “all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” And of course 2 Thessalonians 2:13 says God chose us to be saved “through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and belief in the truth.”
My understanding is that belief and sanctification work hand in hand. If you believe, you are being sanctified. If you are being sanctified, it’s because you are believing. If you love God, you love people. You can’t say you love God, but then hate your neighbor. Knowledge of God is not without affect. If we truly know God, and have encountered God in the fullness of who he is, we will be transformed.
Listen to what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14, “God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then my brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or this letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us by and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”
Here is my take… belief and transformation are a package deal. If you believe God you will be changed. And if you believe God he will give you every teaching, every encouragement, and every amount of strength you need to become like Jesus.
An evidence of grace is your YESNESS to God. God calls us to a life of faith by the gospel. What is your answer? God invites you to confess your sin, repent of evil, turn from wickedness, stop delighting in wickedness. What is your answer? God invites you to embrace his love shown on that cross; and to accept the just payment the blood of his son, shed for your sins. What is your answer?
God invites you into the waters of baptism, to cleanse you, wash you, sanctify you by his Holy Spirit. What is your answer? God wants you to grow and reflect his kind of love for all people. What is your answer? God wants you to persevere and endure through trials and troubles and tribulation, because his promises are certain. What is your answer?
God wants to set you apart from the world. Instead of being conformed to the pattern of this world, he wants you to be transformed, and conformed to the image of his son Jesus Christ. What is your answer? God has revealed his word to you, he invites you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Whoever believes has eternal life; he who does not believe is already condemned. What is your answer?
If you’ll begin saying YES to God, he will grant you every encouragement, and every amount of strength you need to become like Jesus
Closing Prayer.