Foundation – Sound Biblical Conversion

Introduction: The Theme of Devotion to God and Its Foundation

0:01 Now, many of you are aware of the fact that the subject for these four messages, tonight, God willing, tomorrow night, and then Sunday morning and Sunday night, is the broad but vital theme of devotion to God. And as we begin to study this subject from the scriptures, it's important that we determine at the very outset that we are going to think biblically and accurately about this subject of devotion to God. We're not going to think about it in some romantic way. We're not going to think about it in some traditional way.

0:43 We're not going to think about it in some kind of a mindless manner. But we need to come to the subject, determine that we shall discover from the scriptures what God says about devotion to himself. Now, the word. Devote.

1:01 And this will just be an interesting sidelight for some of you. Our English word, devote, comes from a Latin root, which basically means to do something in the way of dedicating oneself or one's possessions with a vow. So to devote something originally meant to dedicate it by a vow. And in our usage, it means to give up oneself.

1:30 To give up oneself. To some purpose, to some activity, or to some person. For instance, we say, why, that guy devoted himself to becoming the best ball player in his school. What do we mean by that?

1:46 We mean that he gave himself up to that specific goal of becoming the best football player or baseball player or soccer player in his entire school. Or we say of someone else that he or she, he devoted himself or herself to their career. And what do we mean? We mean that succeeding in the career was the great end for which that individual lived.

2:15 So devotion to God is that state of being given up to God. Being given over to God himself and to doing his will. Now, it's that subject. It's that subject that's going to occupy our minds with the scriptures open before us in our brief Bible conference together.

2:39 This state of being given over to God and to his will is the very essence of devotion to God. And tonight, our subject is the foundation for a life of devotion to God. And then if you were taking notes, you'd put a dash, a sound biblical conversion. What is the foundation of a life given over to God himself and to his will?

3:13 Well, according to the scriptures, the foundation of a life of devotion to God begins with a sound biblical conversion to God. And our text that we will study tonight, is found in Paul's letter to the Thessalonians. This infant church founded under the labors of the apostle Paul. And in the first letter that we call First Thessalonians in our Bibles,

The Comprehensive Description of Conversion in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10

3:46 I would ask you to follow as I read from the old American standard. Some of us old people got married to the old American standard long before the new one was in anyone's mind. And I've been sort of married to the old American standard. And I've been sort of married to the old American standard.

4:00 I've read this Bible for almost, well, going on close to 30 years. So you'll forgive me if I don't divorce my friend. So I am reading from the old American standard. I understand that many of you have the new American standard.

4:17 And I'm reading now from verses 9 and 10 of Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians. For they themselves report concerning us what manner of entry, what manner of entering in we had unto you and how you turned unto God from idols to serve a living and a true God and to wait for his Son from heaven whom he raised from the dead even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

4:53 Now we're going to concentrate particularly on the latter part of verse 9 and verse 10 in which there is given to us perhaps one of the most comprehensive and yet simple descriptions of what is involved in true Christian conversion to be found anywhere in the Word of God. But before we take up the language of the text itself, let's spend just a moment to catch the Apostle's thread of thought. He has written this letter to the Thessalonians having received from Timothy his spiritual child and co-worker a good report of how the Thessalonian church in spite of persecution and opposition was continuing to go on with God. Paul had sent Timothy from his own presence back to the Thessalonians to see how they were doing. Timothy has come back with a good report. You can read about this in chapter 3.

5:54 And when Paul hears that report, he begins, according to verse 2 of the chapter, with thanksgiving and praise to God because these people are continuing in their work of faith, their labor of love, and their patience of hope. And so the Thessalonian church is thriving. And Paul says this was an indication to him that the gospel had indeed come to them not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance. And that, in turn, was a proof that they were God's elect people.

6:32 Knowing, brethren, beloved of God, your election, how our gospel came to you not in word only, but in power and in the Holy Spirit. And now he's describing the various things that indicated that the gospel had come to them in power. And the last one he mentions in chapter 1 is really the first in order of their own experience. And the first thing that happened among the Thessalonians, when the gospel came to them in power, is precisely what Paul describes in these words.

7:10 You turned unto God from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait for his Son from heaven whom he raised from the dead. And in those words we have, as I mentioned earlier, one of the most accurate descriptions of what happens when a person is raised from the dead. When a person is truly converted to God. And it is this very spiritual experience which forms the foundation of all true devotion to God.

The Fundamental Activity in True Conversion: Turning from Idols to God

7:46 Now as we seek to open up the text, for that is my responsibility as a preacher, not to come and tell you stories, not to give you my opinions, but to open up the word of God, you will notice first of all the fundamental activity in true conversion. How that you turned unto God from idols. And then there are two attendant activities. If the fundamental activity in true conversion is turning to God from idols, it is always attended with these two other activities, namely, serving the living God and waiting for his Son from heaven. So we'll consider first of all the fundamental activity in true conversion. When the gospel comes to men in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, and they are truly made the subjects of God's almighty saving grace that we sang about, his mighty creative power causes their chains to fall off, what happens, according to the language of our text? Well, according to the language of our text is that there is a turning unto God from idols.

9:14 Now, if men turn to God from their idols, only when the gospel comes to them and when the gospel comes to them in power, the text is assuming that when the gospel finds them, it does not find them already turned to God, but it finds them turned away from God. If it is a sound biblical conversion which alone turns men and women and boys and girls unto God from their idols, then when the gospel comes to them, it finds them with their backs turned against God and wedded to their idols. And that is exactly what the scripture says is our condition by nature. By nature, every single one of us has his back turned towards God and has our hearts fixed upon our many idols. Isn't that the clear testimony of Isaiah 53.6?

10:27 All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one of us to his own way. We have turned from him and we've turned to our own way. We have made a God of doing our own thing.

10:49 We have made an idol of our own notions of what we should do with our lives, how we should live, what should govern our lives, what our goals should be, what our ambitions should be, what our standards should be, the universal testimony of scripture is that when the gospel comes to us, it doesn't find us seeking after God, but it finds us turned against him. Listen again to the language of Romans chapter 3 and verse 10. Paul is summarizing what he has been proving in the previous chapters and he says these words, quoting from the Old Testament, There is none righteous, no not one. There is none that understands.

11:32 There is none that seeks after God. They have all turned aside. They are together become unprofitable. And then he gives the summary statement in verse 18.

11:48 There is no fear of God before their eyes. They do not live in the fear of God. That is, they do not live devoted to God, concerned about the smile of God and the frown of God. Oh no.

12:02 They have turned away from that and they have turned to their own way. Now this is a tragic thing because when God made man and placed him in the Garden of Eden, devotion to God was the very native heir of the Garden of Eden.

12:23 When Adam and Eve came from God's creative hand, he made them in such a state and condition that devotion to God was the native spiritual heir that they breathed. And the greatest tragedy of sin is this, that men have cast off devotion to God as the very native heir that they breathed. God complains through the prophet Jeremiah, My people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and have hewn out cisterns.

13:03 Broken cisterns that can hold no water. What would you think of a man who had a natural well in his own backyard, a spring that came out of the side of the hill, filtered through much rock, pure as pure water can breathe. What would you think of a man who had a construction company come in and pour ten yards of concrete into a big form that he had made to try to stop up that spring, and then dug out a little mud hole in the backyard to catch a little rain water, and once in a while went out and drank the muddy rain water? You'd say that man's a fool.

13:43 He stuffed up that natural, pure flowing stream out of the side of a rock in order to catch water in a muddy hole? The guy's crazy! That's exactly what you've done. And that's exactly what I've done.

14:00 God made us that he would be to us a pure crystal stream of light as we lived in devotion to him. But in our first father Adam we turned aside from that fountain of living waters and we've all dug a little muddy hole in the backyard of our lives, and we try to satisfy the thirst of the soul by drinking out of a mud hole. When the gospel comes, that's how it finds us. We're all drinking out of a mud hole, trying to find the meaning of life by doing our own thing, pursuing our own ambitions.

14:44 Our hearts are attached to our own goals and our own standards. But now, when the gospel comes, and according to 1 Thessalonians, that gospel was nothing other than the pure apostolic gospel, for notice chapter 2 and verse 4, even as we have been approved of God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who proves or tries our hearts. When Paul came to Thessalonica, he preached the gospel. There are not many gospels of which we are free to pick one that suits us the most. There is but one gospel. And it comes announcing first of all the bad news that we've been dealing with in the past five minutes, that men are sinners. Their backs are turned against God.

15:42 They're under the wrath of God. They're under the curse of God. They're bound by their sins. And the gospel comes telling us that bad news, that all we like sheep have gone astray.

15:57 We've turned to our own way. There is not a just man upon the face of the earth that does good and sins not. And then it announces the good news, the wonderful statements that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that God has sent His only begotten Son to be the substitute for sinners, to live the life we should have lived but did not, and to die the death we deserve upon the cross, to become our substitute in life and death, that on the basis of what Christ, what Christ has done, God might give the free gift of pardon and acceptance that God might impute a perfect righteousness to believing sinners. That's the gospel. It announces the bad news and then it proclaims the good news of Christ's work, who lived, who died, who was raised from the dead. But then, now listen carefully, the gospel not only stops with making statements about what man is and what God has done in Jesus Christ for men, but follow closely.

The Gospel's Imperatives: Repentance and Faith

17:12 The gospel comes with some commands. It comes with its imperatives, and you know what those imperatives were for the apostle? When he says in chapter 2, we preach the gospel, let him tell us what his gospel was. Turn to Acts chapter 20, summarizing his ministry of some three years at Ephesus.

17:35 He tells us what he preached, having declared the bad news about man's sinfulness and the good news of God's mercy in the Lord Jesus. What did he then tell men they must do? In Acts chapter 20, he says in verse 20, I did not shrink back from declaring unto you anything that was profitable and teaching you publicly and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and Greeks, repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I preached when I came to tell you what you must do after I told you what you were and what God had done, and when I came to tell you what you must do, I told you you must repent towards God and you must believe towards the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ, or believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to Acts 26. Notice the same emphasis.

18:43 In Acts chapter 26, Paul is summarizing his ministry throughout the entire Gentile Roman world. And he says, this is what I preached. Verse 19 of Acts 26, Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, but declared both to them of Damascus first, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance. He said, this is what I preached.

19:25 Oh yes, I preached Christ and Him crucified. He tells us that in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, 1 and 2, all the way through verse 4. He tells us that in 1 Corinthians 15, 1 through 4, he tells us what the heart of his gospel was when he was telling men what God had done for sinners in Christ. But when he began to tell sinners what they must do in the light of what God has done, this is what he told them.

19:51 They had to repent and turn towards God. That was his message. And that's precisely what he preached to the Thessalonians and wonder of wonders what happened. That gospel came to them not in word only, as he says in verse 5.

20:10 That gospel did not simply come as more preachers talk. They just didn't come and hear a meeting and go home and say, oh well, that was interesting, I don't know, I'll be back another night. That gospel came to them in the very power of God. And when it did, Paul says, this was the fundamental activity that came forth from your hearts when by the Spirit the gospel laid hold of you.

20:38 Here it was, you turned unto God from your idols. In other words, when the gospel said, look, your back is turned against God, that's the bad news of the gospel. You've gone astray from God, that's the bad news of the gospel. And then when the gospel said, but God in love and mercy has sent his only begotten Son, born of a virgin, to live a perfect life, to die under the curse of the law, he has raised him from the dead.

21:12 And on the basis of that, he offers to all in the gospel complete forgiveness of all their sins, acceptance with him, adoption into his family. If you will but turn from your sins unto God, you must turn to God from your idols. And when he preached that message there at Thessalonica, that's exactly what happened. And it so transformed them that according to verse 9, verses 8 and 9, Paul says, everywhere we go, we go to open our mouth and tell people how the gospel came to you in power.

21:49 We don't need to do it, for they themselves report concerning us what manner of entering in we had unto you. In other words, their turning was so real, so life transforming, that it buzzed out throughout that entire area concerning the mighty work of God through the gospel. Now when the gospel comes in power, it always does precisely the same thing. The fundamental activity in the heart in true conversion is a turning unto God and a determination to relinquish anything that will keep us from God. That's why he says, you turn to God from your idols. Now then, what are we to learn by way of application from what this text tells us? We must learn at least two or three things and may God help us to get them straight.

Application 1: Turning to God Himself, Not Just Benefits

22:52 Number one, in true conversion, men turn to God himself. Notice what he says, you turn unto God, the person and being of the living and the true God. They didn't turn to get some goodies, they didn't turn to get a little peace, a little joy, a little spiritual uplift, nor did they turn simply to get forgiveness. The text says they turned to God himself.

23:29 You see it? They turned to God himself. They recognized when the gospel came to them in power, hey man, what in the world are you doing with this life? You've been living it all wrapped up in yourself, in your own desires and in your own interests and your own ambitions.

23:50 You were not made for that purpose. You were made to know God. You were made to be devoted to God. You were made to delight in God, to hold communion with God.

24:03 And this is the wonder of the gospel that a way back into a life of communion with God and fellowship with God and delight in God has been opened for us in the gospel. Look at 1 Peter 3.18 where Peter tells us Christ gave himself for us the just for the unjust, the righteous for the unrighteous, why? Notice.

24:33 That he might bring to God. Why did Christ die? Look at that text. He didn't die so that churches could be filled with a bunch of people who say, oh yeah, I trust in Jesus, my sins are forgiven, I've taken care of that, now let's get on to more important things.

24:54 Jesus didn't die that people might have some forgiveness while they go on living their self-centered, self-willed lives. Indifferent to a life of devotion and communion with God. Jesus never died for that purpose. And his death is never applied to any sinner who is living for that purpose.

25:16 It says he died that he might bring to God. And my friend, listen. He gets what he died to get. He gets what he died to get.

25:31 For my Bible says he'll see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. If he died to bring a people to God, how can he be satisfied if there are people who simply say, well Jesus, I'll take the benefits of your death and go on living the way I please, indifferent to God. That would break his heart. That couldn't satisfy him.

25:53 He died to bring us to God. May I say it in the language of our theme, he died to make a people devoted to God. And according to our text, when the gospel comes in power, it always effects that transformation. The fundamental activity in true conversion is this.

Application 2: Turning from Anything Contrary to God (Idols)

26:19 Men turn to God himself. The second thing is this. In true conversion, they turn from anything which is contrary to God and would keep their hearts from God. See it in the text.

26:41 You turn to God from the idols. Now in the case of many of the Thessalonians, it was literal idol worship. Many of them were pagans, but according to Acts 17, many of the initial members of the church came out of the Jewish community, out of the synagogue worship. They weren't worshiping literal idols, but Paul says of Jews, and Gentiles alike, when the gospel came in power, they turned to God from their idols.

27:13 For many of those Jews, their idols were not constructed of a piece of wood or stone. Oh no. Their idol was their own so-called righteousness. Like the Pharisees who said, I thank you, I'm not like other people.

27:32 I've done this, I'm that, I'm not the other. You see, an idol is any person, thing, or notion that occupies a place in your heart that belongs only to God. And in true conversion, we not only turn to God Himself, but we are prepared to turn from anything which is contrary to Him and which would keep our hearts from Him. Remember what Jesus said when He called men to the life of discipleship in Luke 14?

28:05 It says in Luke 14, 25, Jesus, seeing the multitudes, turned and said to them, If any man will come after me, he must what? Hate father, mother, brother, sister, and his own life also. Now kids, listen carefully. That doesn't mean you've got to turn around and go, Mom, I hate you.

28:27 No, you must never say that. God says, honor thy father and thy mother. What did Jesus mean? This is what He meant.

28:34 If you're to truly be converted to God, Jesus must have a place in your affection so far above any other creature, mom and dad included, that by comparison, our devotion and love to Him will appear as hatred, even to those we love the most. And He says, I won't take any rival to my affection. You come to me, He says, and you're not prepared to give me a place in your heart far above father, mother, brother, sister, and your own life. You can't be like that.

29:10 You can't be my disciple. That's what Jesus said. I didn't say it. He did.

29:15 He said, you can't be mine. I won't take you. But you say, well, suppose I want Him on my terms. He won't bend to your terms either.

29:24 That's why He went on to say, count the cost. And He gave the illustration of a king going out to war and a builder who's about to build. And He said, you must soberly count the cost of what it means to be a true Christian. In true conversion, there is a turning from anything which would keep our heart from utter devotion to God and in particular to His Son.

29:51 Remember the rich young ruler? He wanted to go to heaven. He said, good master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? I want to go to heaven when I die.

30:01 Jesus said, well, let's see if you really want it bad enough to go there on my terms. So he began to probe his conscience. He says, you know the commandments. He said, which ones?

30:12 And the Lord quotes them and the poor young fool says, all these things have I kept from my youth. In other words, externally, outwardly, in terms of his deeds, his life was blameless. But Jesus looked right down in his heart. And you know what he saw in his heart?

30:28 He saw an idol shelf. And on that shelf, he saw an idol. And that idol was in the form of this man's riches. So he said to him, young man, go smash your idol.

30:42 Sell what you have. Give to the poor. Come follow me. You'll have treasure in heaven.

30:47 You want treasures in heaven? You want eternal life? Here are my terms. You know what happened to the young man, don't you?

30:54 It says, he went away sorrowfully. For he had great possessions. Jesus didn't run down the road and say, oh, I'm sorry. I was hoping to get you saved and surrendered all at once.

31:04 But since I didn't get both, I'll settle for something less. Just trust me now. And later on, maybe you'll turn from the things that rival my place in your heart. Jesus loved him, it says, looking upon him.

31:16 He loved him, but he let him go. Jesus hasn't changed. He calls us on the same terms today. That's the way he called the Thessalonians.

31:30 And Paul says, when the gospel came to them in power, they turned to God from everything that rivaled God's rightful place. The rightful place in their hearts. Now, my friend, I ask you, do you know anything about that? That's the foundation of a life of devotion to God.

31:51 There's no sense talking about how to nurture a life of devotion to God if the foundation is not there. If the foundation is not there, you will never know what it is to live a life of devotion to God. And here's the foundation. A true, sound, biblical conversion.

32:11 And what's the fundamental activity in true conversion? It is a turning unto God from anything that rivals God's rightful place in your heart. That's what the text says. But now it will always have two handmaidens, two attendant activities.

The First Attendant Activity: Willing Submission as a Bond-Slave

32:32 Those of you familiar with the language in which Paul wrote, this is emphasized very clearly in the structure of the text. The main verb is you turn. And then the two lesser verbs in form, the infinitives for you students, are you turn to serve and to wait. The attendant activities, here they are.

32:55 Number one, a willing submission to God as a bond slave. And secondly, eager anticipation of the return of Christ himself. Now look at the text. You turned unto God from your idols.

33:12 Now notice the disposition with which they turned. To serve the living and true God. You turned with a disposition to serve. Now that word to serve means literally to serve as a slave.

33:30 You turn to serve as slaves God, the living and the true one. That would be a literal rendering of the text. You see, they did not turn simply to have some wonderful experience that they could go write a book about. They did not turn simply to receive something from God.

33:56 But it says they turned to become the willing bond slaves of God. Now there are several words for slave in the New Testament. One would speak of a hired servant. The other speaks of someone who is the property of his master.

34:14 A bond slave. That's the verb that's used here. You've turned to serve as an owned slave. Now what can you say about a slave?

34:24 Well several things. Number one, he makes no plans of his own. When a slave gets up in the morning he doesn't go over and look in the mirror and say, well John, lovely day today. Now what shall we do with the twelve hours of day?

34:37 Now I think it would be nice. Oh I think I'll go out in the garage and get my fishing pole. A slave doesn't go look in the mirror and start making his plans. A slave gets up and gets dressed and presents himself to whom?

34:51 To his master. And he says, Master, what is your will for me today? A slave has no will of his own. Second thing about a slave is this.

35:04 Not only does he have no will of his own, he has no reputation. He has no reputation of his own. You see, his reputation is bound up in that of his master. How he looks, if he looks ill fed, it doesn't reflect upon him.

35:18 It reflects upon the master because the master is committed, because the slave is his property to provide for him. If he appears with bruises, that reflects upon the master as being a cruel master. If he appears strong and happy and well fed, that reflects back upon the master. The slave has no will of his own.

35:39 He has no reputation of his own. And thirdly, the slave has no property of his own. All that he has is what is entrusted to him by his master. Now at least that much is bound up in the concept of becoming a slave of God.

35:54 And the first attendant activity of every true Biblical conversion is that a converted sinner not only turns to God, turning away from anything that rivals God's rightful place, in the heart, but he turns with the disposition to be a slave of God. To say, from henceforth, O God, your will shall be my will. From henceforth, all that matters is your glory and your praise reflected in me. From henceforth, O God, all that I am and ever hope to be is yours.

36:35 Now that's the disposition with which they turned. And that's an essential element of true conversion. Now let me note with you by way of application. Notice, they didn't turn to get forgiveness at one time and then sometime later at a dedication meeting or a revival meeting or a consecration meeting then surrender to the Lord.

36:59 They didn't get saved in January and surrendered in June. Nor did they get saved in January and never surrendered and just lose a few rewards when they get to the judgment seat of Christ. All of that teaching is not only nonsense, it's heresy. And it's damning multitudes who think they're saved who've never had implanted in their hearts the disposition to become the slave of God.

37:27 My friend, listen to me. If you're sitting here tonight and you have never been brought by God the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel to the place where you have turned to God to serve Him as a slave then you're a stranger to the power of God's grace. You're no more a Christian than this piece of Do you see it in the text? This is not my opinion.

37:57 This is what the Word of God says. You turned to serve. And who was it they turned to serve? Not some dead idol.

38:06 Not some mere notion. Paul says you turned to serve God. And he identifies in this way the living and the only real God. When he says the living and the true God he doesn't mean as opposed to a God who is not true but he means the only true God that is the only God who really is.

38:30 And I tell you it's the most wonderful thing in the world when God in grace opens our eyes to see that there is but one true God worthy of our devotion and adoration and homage worthy to be so loved so adored so honored that it is our great privilege to give ourselves up to Him as bond slaves. And in that servitude comes our true liberty because we were made to be the sons and the servants of God. And it was when Adam turned from that posture that he came into the bondage and tyranny of sin. And whosoever commits sin is the slave of sin the Bible says. And if you want an extended commentary on this text just read Romans 6 where Paul says you were the slaves of sin but now through the Gospel you have become the slaves of God. Everybody here is somebody's slave.

39:37 You're either a slave of sin or you're the willing slave of the living God. Which one is it? It can't be both. For no man can serve two masters.

39:51 You love the one, hate the other, hold to the one, despise the other. You say, but preacher you make the line so straight. I didn't make it, God did. I'm just telling you what the line is.

40:05 And you say, preacher you make it so hard. I'm not making it hard. That's what the text says. You turn to God from your idols to serve this living and true God.

The Second Attendant Activity: Eager Anticipation of Christ's Return

40:21 And then the second attendant of true conversion is this. An eager anticipation of the return of Christ himself. Look at the text. You turn to serve and something else.

40:35 You turned also with this disposition to wait for his Son from heaven whom he raised from the dead even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. Now notice. He says you turned to eagerly await. Notice.

40:56 Not getting out of the mess when the going gets rough. It says you turn to wait for his Son. You see the object of their waiting was not the rapture so they could get out of the mess when the going gets rough. That isn't what it says.

41:18 It says they turn to wait for his Son. In other words when they turn to God they turn to God through the Lord Jesus for that's the only way we can turn to God for Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. And you know what happens to every sinner who turns to God through Jesus Christ.

41:47 When through the Gospel he hears the truth about Christ the Holy Spirit reveals such a beauty in Christ that that beauty so captures the heart that from the moment that person is truly converted there is this longing to see the one who is willing to come from heaven to the womb of the Virgin Mary willing to go from that womb to a life of poverty from that life of poverty to a ministry of power from that ministry of power to rejection and the shame and the agony of the cross to bear nothing less than hell itself upon that cross until he cried my God my God why have you forsaken me? Then he went into that borrowed tomb and came out the third day and went back to the right hand of the Father and from the moment we are given eyes to see that it is because of who he is and what he has done that we can turn to God and no longer merely know him as a consuming fire but through the work of Christ be adopted into his family be justified pardoned forgiven accepted then there is implanted in our hearts to some degree an eager anticipation

43:15 to see him and to be with him you see devotion to God in true conversion according to this passage is devotion to God revealed in Christ and a devotion to God that terminates especially upon Christ in the heart of a believer notice a text that helps us to understand this one 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 8 here Peter brings together two lines of thought that are very helpful in understanding our passage 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 8 speaking of Jesus Christ notice the end of verse 7 unto praise and honor and glory praise glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ whom that is Jesus Christ not having seen you love on whom though you do not see him yet believing you see what he brings together he says wherever you find a sinner believing upon Christ you find a saved sinner who loves the person of Christ you see how he brings the two together having not seen him you love him

44:43 in whom believing every true believer loves him no one truly loves him who does not first of all believe upon him as he is revealed in the gospel those two always are found together never one without the other and so our text tells us back to first Thessalonians that the second attendant of a sound biblical conversion is this eager anticipation of the return of Christ himself why? because above all else our hearts have been attached to him that's why Paul could say in first Corinthians 16 22 if any man does not love our Lord Jesus let him be accursed of God let him be accursed of God now let me press this home to your conscience as you sit here tonight can you say however weak it may be and I know that there are times when due to the influence of God and the influence of indwelling sin and the world and the devil and all of those pressures it seems as though our love for him is almost buried and barely gasps for a little breath I'm fully aware that there are fluctuations in our love to him not his to us I'm fully aware at times

46:11 that love burns more intensely I'm fully aware of all of that not only from my bible but from my own heart but let me ask you can almighty God see tonight in you sitting in this building that which can be called love to the person of Jesus Christ attachment to Christ himself can God see it not do you profess it but does God see it does God see in your heart that which only his grace can create love to his son but that which his grace always creates whenever he brings a sinner to himself to partake of the blessings of the gospel say well I'm not sure if I really love him well there's an acid test God doesn't give us some loveometer that we can put on our heart and say well let's see now what does it say oh yes oh there's thirty I passed the test no he said if you love me you will love me keep my commandments isn't that what he said he that loves me not keeps not my commandments he that loves me keeps my word there's the acid test

Conclusion: The Foundation of Devotion and a Call to Self-Examination

47:38 whom having not seen you love have you turned to God from your idols and is there that disposition to serve him and eagerly to await his son out of love and attachment to his son here's the proof is my heart committed to a life of obedience to Christ obedience that is not perfect but purposeful obedience that flows out of a desire to please him not out of some silly notion that I can earn his grace and favor you see that longing that grows out of attachment to Christ is a very practical longing it manifests itself in obedience to his word now I come around full circle to where we began tonight we're considering the subject of devotion to God and what's the foundation of a life of devotion to God here it is it is a sound biblical conversion you can never live a life of devotion to God until you're first of all been truly converted to God and what's involved in a sound biblical conversion this fundamental activity of turning unto God from anything that rivals his rightful place in your heart that's the fundamental activity

49:06 you turn to God from your idols have you? I'm not asking do you know when I'm saying have you? the important thing is not that you can point to a day or to an hour or to a month or even to a year the important thing is that sitting here tonight you can say by the grace of God I have turned to God not just to get some goodies from God nor have I said that I've turned to God while still clinging to my idols no if the heart turns to God it turns from its idols there is never any turning to God in faith without a turning away from sin in repentance that's why Paul could say I preach repentance towards God a repentance that has its reference point in the claims of God over me his creature and there is no salvation applied apart from that repentance oh my friend I ask you I'm not here to talk preacher's talk life's too short to spend time and energy to come all the way from New Jersey just to fill the air with some preacher's noise I ask you earnestly do you know anything of what it is to turn to God from everything and anything that rivals his rightful place in your heart

50:35 do you know anything of those two handmaidens those two attendants of true conversion the disposition to serve that God as a slave and to count it your privilege not to get up in the morning and say oh well I profess to be a Christian so I guess I'd better take the posture of a slave oh God what the no what a privilege to be his slave his yoke is easy his burden is light his commands are not grievous oh what a terrible task master the devil was and to think that God through the gospel has broken the tyranny of the devil to bring me under his gracious yoke have you turned to serve serve whom the living and the true God the one who lives and therefore can hold communion with me a life of devotion to him is not devotion to a notion a set of ideas or ideals or standards it is the life of devotion to a living personal God and as a living personal being made in his image I can only be satisfied with personal communion with my creator I can't be satisfied with a mere abstract list of ideas and notions any more than is a man I can be satisfied with the idea of a wife

52:02 I've lived for going under 29 years not with the idea of a wife but with a wife a living flesh and blood woman who embraces me who rebukes me when I need it who's born my children who's wept with me who's laughed with me who has shared joy and sorrow my needs as a man can only be met in a real live living personal woman and that's true in relationship to God it is the living and the only God who really is that's the God to whom we turn in true conversion to be his bond slave and then having turned to him through Jesus Christ our heart's affection is focused upon him and because it's focused upon him and we've never seen him it's like the heart of a young woman anticipating her wedding and oh I tell you what lessons I've learned in these days my daughter who'll be 21 is getting married next May my son will be getting married next month who is 24 and all we get morning, noon, and night is garden and wedding garden and wedding garden and wedding and my dear daughter Heidi who has had marks of grace from the time she was 14 years old has been a great delight to us and what a joy it is to see she never wearies I kidded her last night

53:31 and I said you know Heidi I said all I hear every time I'm around you is garden, garden, garden morning, noon, and night don't you ever get tired of it and she looked at me and she said

53:44 what? she's eagerly awaiting the day when her garden will take her to be his bride now if that's true between one human being and another what is it like when the infinitely glorious incarnate God Jesus Christ gives us a little glimpse of his beauty and his loveliness and draws our hearts out to him we eagerly await oh Lord Jesus how long how long ere we shout the glad song Christ returneth hallelujah hallelujah amen do you know anything of that longing to see him do you? do you? you'll never know any real devotion to God until your heart is attached to Christ and your heart will never be attached to Christ till you see what you are apart from him and how much you need him and how perfectly suited he is to your need and when you see that then your heart will run out to him and as you trust him as the one way of approach to God he will capture your heart and you will find that with the rest of us religious nuts we gladly say this world is not our home

55:12 we're pilgrims and soldiers determined to serve our God as bond slaves with every bit of strength he gives us but this is not our resting place we eagerly await for the Son out of the heavens and how is he identified? look at the latter part of the text even Jesus whom he raised from the dead it's the exalted resurrected Christ whom we wait for and he's the Christ whom we think of as the one who has delivered us from the coming wrath and the picture is vivid Paul describes the wrath of God as something that's already coming like a tidal wave that's already built up in the ocean and it's on its way to break upon the shore of some poor island dwellers and there it is on its way he says the wrath is already coming like a tidal wave that's about to break over poor lost humanity but he says it'll never break upon me Christ delivers me from the coming wrath we love him because we see how much we need him and how utterly lost we are without him my friend have you seen that that tidal wave of God's wrath will break upon your head unless you're attached to Christ unless you know God through Christ? if not I solemnly declare to you that's the truth the wrath of God abides on him that believes not

56:39 flee the wrath to come and flee to the only place of certain refuge and that's the Lord Jesus that's the foundation I trust by grace many of you've been able to say thank God though it was not once true of me preacher I can honestly say in spite of all the awareness of my failures and sins by the grace of God coming to me in the gospel with power I have turned to God from my idols and I have those two attendants of a disposition to serve him and eagerly to await his son out of the heavens Jesus whom he raised from the dead my friend if you can say that then your whole song should be grace grace marvelous grace for it was only the electing grace of God that marked you out and gave you to the land before the worlds began that grace that caused the gospel to come to you in power and you should prostrate yourself before that God and say oh God having shown such mercy to such an ill deserving sinner what else can I do? here Lord I give myself away it is all that I can do and if you sit here tonight and say creatures I don't know what you're talking about honestly really if you talked about have you gone down an aisle raised a hand

58:07 prayed the sinners prayer I could understand your lingo but what you're talking about I don't understand it devotion to God and turning as a slave I thought you just went to church walked down an aisle raised a hand prayed a prayer and everything was alright my friend I've been talking to you in the language of the bible and if this has been like some foreign language to you it shows that you're a stranger to the religion of the bible and if you are you better begin to take this book seriously take God seriously take his law seriously take your sin seriously take his gospel seriously and you seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he's near and if we can be of any help to you in these days further to open up the scriptures we're not priests we can't do your seeking for you but we can point you to the way if you need more light and we're here not just to preach sermons but to minister to your need and if there's any one of you that says I'm just not sure where I stand can you help me with the bible to better ascertain where I really stand we're here to be your servants for Christ's sake you seek us out but above all you seek the Lord in whom alone grace and mercy is to be found Amen