R945 Christian ID

We all could use some encouragement, and we'll find it together today through the Bible-based teaching of Dr. Don Wilton about a Christian ID. We'll head to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 in just a moment, but we're also connecting on our website, www.tewonline.org. Join us there, sign up for the daily encouraging word email from Dr. Don.

That's www.tewonline.org. And now today's message from Dr. Don Wilton. I am going to ask you to open your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1.

We are diving in to the letter to the church at Thessalonica. We all identify with a matter of IDs. I don't want to dwell on the subject, but if you've ever been pulled over by a policeman for whatever reason, I think that I can probably safely say to you that the very first thing he'll do is he'll ask you for some form of identification.

We understand that. If you travel overseas, you need a passport, and that is a means of identification. In fact, you won't even get onto that plane if you don't have the right identification. In today's day and age where there's so much security matters that are being dealt with, the matter of your ID, your personal ID, is very important. Sadly to say, we've got even people who try to steal others IDs. And the matter of identifying who you are is very important.

All of us, we can all identify with that, can we not? I carry a driver's license with me just about everywhere I go, and you and I get checked out all the time. Well, if I was to show you my driver's license right now in fear and trepidation because we all look like we just escaped from the state penitentiary, have you noticed what they do when they look at your ID? Whoever it is will take a look at your ID and then they look up and they look into your face what do you suppose they're doing? Well, your ID is one thing.

Your identification, the date it was issued, what your number is, even your picture, perhaps even the address. Here's the question, does the ID on paper match who you are? You see, sadly to say, there are crooks in this world and there are a lot of people who spend a lot of money making money by producing false IDs. It's one of the big problems we have in the United States. The making of and the distribution of fake identification documents. There are people all around the world who want to get a hold of your American passport, for example, so they can try and reproduce and fake that identification. In 1 Thessalonians and chapter one, Paul deals with this very subject, but he deals with it from the point of view of the church, the people of God.

That is people just like you and me. And he says, in a sense, Paul says, let me show you what a Christian's ID ought to look like, but I'm going to take you beyond the point of view of what a Christian's ID ought to look like. But I'm going to take you beyond a piece of paper.

I'm going to match the documented ID with the person who is the person behind the document. Well, let's think about that for just a moment. If you were to look at me right now, and many of you are, and you were to say to me, well, Don, are you a Christian? And I was to respond to that. I could say to you, yes, I am.

There's a verbal response. I'm a Christian man. And that's a good thing.

We must do that. You could then take it a step further and say to me, well, show me some documented evidence. And so some people might look and say, well, part of that documented evidence is that he's dressed like he's a part of the church. Or maybe someone would say, you know, he's the pastor of the church. That validates his document. That validates his document. Or some might say, well, you know, you are preaching. And so there's evidence you're preaching.

And so that validates your document. We might look at each other today and say, well, you're a member of First Baptist Church in Spartanburg, or you're a member of First Presbyterian Church, or you're a member of the First United Methodist Church. You're a member of your church. There's the fact that you are a member of the church coupled together with varying forms of documented identification certainly validates the fact that you are a part of the family of God. Paul, writing to the church at Thessalonica, does something remarkable here.

We're going to be looking at this not only this week, but next week, and maybe even to the next. And it's all in First Thessalonians chapter one. And I want to encourage you in your own private time, read chapter one, read it 100 times if you need to, because God will speak to you. And here's what you're going to find. God will speak to you about you.

He'll begin to pull back the curtain about you, because something dramatic goes on here. And I want to speak to you about the Christian's idea. It's an amazing thing here. You see, I could turn to any one of you right now and say to you, are you a believer? Are you a Christian? Are you going to heaven?

Has Jesus forgiven you for your sin? Is your name written in God's book? And you could say, yes, I am. I am a Christian. But how do you and how do I really know that? Now there's a point beyond which I cannot go, because only God can save you. Salvation is the personal business of God as the author of salvation. But Paul is going to show us that you can tell after the fact of a person's documentation as to whether or not they are the person who matches that documentation.

Let me give you another example. On Wednesday night, Seth invited me to go to the hangar. He invited me to go to the hangar with our young people. I tell you, I just cannot say enough. The time, the effort, that team that led under Seth's leadership, the crossfire band, the time and everything that was put into that, just outstanding. And Seth brought a message, just unbelievably wonderful message. And the young people there and the parents, and I was privileged to be there. And Seth asked me to just say a few words of welcome. And then at the end of his message, he had an invitation. And he asked me if I would come down with John Sorrells and the others, Jordan Davis and others, if I would come down there with the team and just be available to the young people. And of course, I was so honored to do that. And a lot of young people responded.

We weren't counting or anything, but I should imagine there were 20, maybe even 30 young people who responded for varying reasons. And I just happened to notice two young men who came down. I didn't know them personally. And so eventually I went over and just sat down next to them and introduced myself. And I said to those two young men, I said to the first one, would you like to give your heart to Jesus? He said, yes, sir, I sure would. I said to the second one, would you like to give your heart to Jesus?

He said, yes, sir, I sure would. And so, you know, I was just so privileged on Wednesday night to lead two young men to the Lord Jesus Christ. I did what I know to do. I did my best. I tried to follow what I've been taught and what I've learned from the Scriptures. I can't save them, but I tried to share my faith and lead them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Now, here's the question. Are those two young men saved? I don't know yet.

And they may be sitting right here in the service. If you are young men, I don't know whether you actually gave your heart to Jesus. I don't know. I don't know. But I am going to tell you that in the next several weeks and months, I'll know. Because the work of salvation, the work of regeneration, the work of sanctification will let everybody know. If you plant a tree and you say this is an apple tree, you know it's an apple tree when it grows up and it brings forth apples.

That confirms the documentation. Now, something interesting is going to happen here. Because for some reason, Paul is giving thanks to God for their saving grace. As we study this, we're going to see that Paul for some reason thought that the Thessalonian Christians were worthy of a word of thanks and commendation and remembrance.

They were worthy of a high spiritual praise. Paul evidently saw something in them. Now, Paul had been to their church. In fact, he was part of the group, there were three of them, Paul, Silas and Timothy.

But now he's writing to them and he's away from Thessalonica and he writes these incredible words of commendation and thanks and remembrance and he's saying things here evidently, he looked past their documentation. He wasn't looking at them as church members. Something evidently caused Paul to be able to confirm and affirm who they in fact were as believers. Now, how would you fit into that?

How do I fit into that? You see, we're limited in that we can only look on the outward appearance. God looks upon the heart. And so, Paul identifies the Christian person in two ways in chapter one. First of all, by identifying who they are.

And second of all, by identifying what they do. We're going to look at the first part just briefly this morning, because it's the shortest part. He begins here and I want to read to you chapter one, just verse one. Verse one identifies who they are. He's talking to these people in Thessalonica. If someone were to walk in to God's house today and they came from another planet, and they came from another planet, they came from another planet, like New York City. And they just arrived, boom, boom, just boom, like that, here they are. They just suddenly appeared in here and they said, who are you? What would we say? I'm not talking about what we would say.

What I'm talking about and what Paul is talking about is who you are is very important because God tells you, the Christian, me, the Christian, something about who I am. Forgive the interruption. We'll be back in just a moment with the rest of today's message on the Christian ID with Dr. Don Wilton, but he wants you to know we're here for you. Happy to connect 24 hours a day on our phone line at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673.

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That's just one of our great resources on our website, TEWONLINE.ORG. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. And he looks at three things. First of all, he tells them, well, let me read it to you first.

I hadn't done that, had I? Paul, Silas, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Watch this. Grace and peace to you. Well, Paul answers this question. He raises a flag here in the identification of the genuine Christian person by pointing out, telling them that they are three things. Number one, they are the called out ones. That's what marks the Christian.

They are the called out ones. He uses the word here church. He says to the church, by the way, the Greek word, and I know many of you that wouldn't matter, but it's the word ekklesia. And the word ekklesia literally means the called out ones. And the word called out there means different, separated unto, the chosen ones, unlike others. Now, why are we the called out ones? Why did he say, first of all, did he say that they were the called out ones because they are loved by God? Well, what sets us apart? You've got to go down to verse four to find, he, by the way, takes a deep breath in verse four.

We're going to be dealing with this next week. He says, for we know that as the family of God, brothers and sisters in Christ, loved by God, that he has chosen you. The called out ones are loved by God.

What an amazing thing. May I personalize that? You want to know about my identification? I'm loved by God. I can't explain it to you.

Why God would love me, I don't know, but he does. Yeah. That's what Britt was trying to explain earlier on when we honored him. How could Canella love somebody like Britt?

Can't explain it, but she does. Well, it's the same kind. Paul here, folks, when he says, we are loved by, we are the called out ones because we are loved by God. Second of all, they are chosen by God.

Now that word chosen by God is described here in verse five. How are you chosen by God? Because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but rather with power and with the Holy Spirit and with deep and abiding conviction. Because Christ Jesus died for all people. And Paul here is saying, I can't understand it and you can't understand it and I cannot explain it to you, but God has saved you. Somebody was to land here today and say, who are you? I'd say, well, I'm loved by God. I'm chosen by God to be one of his children.

He died for me and I accepted his invitation and I became part of his family. And number three, because they are gathered by God. The word there, ekklesia carries with it the concept of a gathering, an assembly, but it's not just any assembly, it's a gathered assembly. It's a gathered assembly. It's an assembly that gathers with the purpose of responding to the love of God. He says, that's who you are. That's why he calls them the church.

And what he's saying here is that he knew, Paul knew that they were chosen by God because he saw the evidence of their transformation. The church is not just any other place. This is not a, folks, we've got a lot of good things, man. We've got club houses and we've got Rotary International and Lions and we've got corporate meetings and we've got school boards and you name it, but that's not the church.

Are you listening? What is this thing, the church? This is not a board meeting. This is not the superintendent's office. This is not Kodak International. What makes the church different?

What is it? What identifies us? Who are you? Well, they were the called out ones.

Number two, they are the connected ones. I love that. I'm not only called out, but I'm connected. I was talking to some friends several weeks ago, a friend, let me just rephrase, a friend and a friend, a friend and out of town and he told me that his daughter had met this fine swashbuckling, good-looking fella. In fact, he said this fella reminded him of me when I was, no, I'm just kidding, but he was telling me about this young man that his daughter had met and of course, we're two dads and we're talking and having a good time and deciding which shotgun to get and when do we bring the hand grenades and do I bring all my buddies with me? I said, all I gotta do is click my fingers and I'll have about 10 of our buddies together if we wanna fix this fella up once and for all and so it went on and on and on and then he looked at me and he said, let me tell you something, Don, he is awfully well connected. I don't think I need to explain that to anybody.

Look, that's not a reason to marry somebody, but I think he was trying to get us to put our hand grenades away. Oh, he's awfully well connected. Let me tell you something, folks, I wanna make an announcement. I belong to Jesus Christ and I'm awfully well connected. Let me tell you, Paul talks about it here.

Watch what he says. He says to the church of Thessalonica who are in the word in. Did you see that little preposition there? English teachers, students, little preposition in. It carries the word fused, one with, part of.

That's what it is. You're one with and he tells us who we're one with. That little word in means that you're properly connected. Well, who are you properly connected to?

God the Father and watch this, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I'm not going to give you a thorough explanation of the meaning all of this, but the reason why we are properly connected, my friends, is because it has very deep significance. To be properly connected means that you have in you the total combination of all that God is. You have God the Father, the head. You have Lord who's creator, maker, ruler. You have Jesus who is identifier, sympathizer and supplier.

You have Christ who is initiator and completer of our lives because he supplies all our needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. If you are connected, which you are as a mark of your ID, it means that you have the total combination of all that God is. But second, you have the total inhabitation of all that God is in that Jesus Christ by his Spirit indwells you.

He lives in you. You are inhabited by all that God is. And number three, it means you have total participation in all that God is. That's how you engage in your world as a productive, full, meaningful Christian, courageously and completely living out your life in Christ.

That is how you engage because you are properly connected. If you're not properly connected, you're never going to have the total combination and the total inhabitation and you're never going to be able to give yourself to a total participation in all that God is. That's who the church is. Well, here's Paul trying to identify who we are. They are the called out ones, they are the connected ones and number three, they are the blessed ones. That's what he says, grace and peace to you. That's a blessing. They are the blessed ones.

So here comes this alien from another planet and lands in here and says, who are you? I can look at him, not just in my documentation, in the fact that I'm a church member or that I'm the pastor or that I'm preaching and I can say, listen, I can show you, I am one of the called out ones. I am one of the connected ones and I am one of the blessed ones. Why am I blessed? Because the blessed ones have been granted God's grace and the blessed ones have received God's peace. Grace is what God grants to you, peace is what you receive.

They are both blessings. It begins with God's grace. That's why he says grace and peace be to you. God grants his grace and you receive his peace.

Well, I'm blessed because I was granted God's grace from the moment of my salvation because I'm a sinner. What grace? Just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me and that thou wouldst, me, me, me to come to thee. What grace? O lamb of God, I come and when I came, the process of sanctification, the outworking of my salvation produced peace. I'm not looking for anything. God's given to me peace in my heart.

And Paul here is putting it down on line. He's raising a flag. So how do you fit into this? Who are we?

Who are you? You see my friends, God right now is speaking to you. He's touching your heart. He wants you to know him.

He wants you not just to have documentation. I rarely believe in America today that there are more and more churches filling up with casualties of modern day evangelism. People who are in the church, but they're not the called out ones. They're not connected and they're not blessed, but they got documentation. They belong to a church. They sing the right song. They member of the right thing.

They give the right money. Paul here is pulling the curtain back. Can you see that? Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin and by faith I receive you into my heart in Jesus name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. If you just gave your life to Jesus Christ or rededicated your life to the Lord, I pray you'd let us pray with you and encourage you. We have wonderful resources. Dr. Wilton wants you to have absolutely free if you'll call us now at 866-899-WORD. Again, the number is 866-899-9673 and these resources will help you develop that daily quiet time to grow in your faith. We'd also be happy to help you find a local church. Just know we're here for you.