Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. If you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching from 2 Thessalonians
chapter two. I began preaching through this
chapter a few weeks ago, and today I'm going to talk about
this subject, the love of the truth. That's the title, love
of the truth. And I got that title from verse
10, where it talks about people who do not receive a love for
the truth, a love of the truth, and how that is spiritually deadly
to not love the truth. We'll talk about that in just
a moment. But as you know, in this chapter, Paul's talking
about the second coming of Christ, and how before that event, that
great and glorious event occurs, the second advent of Christ,
coming in his glory, to judge the world and condemn the world
and to glorify His people, His true people, His church, those
who love the truth, those who are believers, that before that
happens, there'll be a great apostasy, a great falling away
from the truth of Christ in what is known as the church throughout
the world. And what that is, is we call
it the visible church. In other words, if you go in
just about any town in the United States, you'll find several churches,
all claiming to be Christian. But how do you know which is
a true church? Now, a lot of people think today,
well, they're all truth. They all have some truth and
all of that. But how do you know for sure? Well, the Bible teaches
that we judge them by the truth of the Bible, the truth of God. when we talk about who God is
and what he's like and the doctrines of God, the teachings concerning
his son, Jesus Christ, who man is in our sinfulness and depravity,
how God saves sinners, all of these important issues of salvation. And a church, for example, a
people who call themselves a Christian church, but they do not preach
the true gospel, What does the Bible say about them? Well, they're
under the spirit of Antichrist, under the burden of the mystery
of iniquity, which I preached on last week. In other words,
it's an iniquity, a sinfulness that they don't recognize as
being sinful. That mystery of iniquity has
to be uncovered and revealed to us by God, and He does it
to His people. But it's people who claim to
be Christian, but they're Christian in name only, but not in their
doctrine, not in their teaching. And they prove it because they
love not the truth. So if you look up here in verse
seven of 2 Thessalonians 2, he says, the mystery of iniquity
doth already work. Now he'd already said this mystery
of iniquity is going to be revealed. He says, only he who now letteth
will let until he be taken out of the way. The Holy Spirit hold
him back. the full revelation and manifestation
of that mystery of iniquity. It began in Paul's day and in
John's day, but it will not come about in its full fruition until
right before the second coming of Christ. And I believe it's
come about almost in full fruition in our day because what is known
generally as the Christian church is only Christian in name only.
There's so many people who claim to be Christian, but they don't
know or they deny the true doctrines of the scripture, the true doctrines
of Christ. And so he says, when that's taken
out of the way, verse eight, then shall that wicked be revealed,
that spirit of antichrist, that spirit of apostasy, whom the
Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth. Now, what does
that mean? That means the word of God. If
you want to be delivered from the mystery of iniquity, from
the spirit of Antichrist, from that wicked one, go to the scriptures
and read the scriptures, all of it. Because it's in this book. This is the God-breathed Word
of God. And it's infallible. I know now,
I've often told people, I said, the gospel is a simple message.
Salvation conditioned on Christ for His people as He fulfilled
those conditions in His obedience unto death and secured their
complete salvation unto glory by His blood and righteousness
alone. It's grace, grace, grace. And it's a simple message. But
the Bible's not a simple book. It takes some time. But here's
what I mean by that. Whatever the Bible says about
God, then that's what I need to believe. That's what I'm concerned
with. I'll give you an example. You've
heard me preach on the doctrine of election here, that God chose
a people before the foundation of the world and gave them to
Christ and he set them up, he intended to save them. That's
what the Bible teaches. Some people say, well, I don't
believe that. Well, you don't love the truth. Others will say,
well, that means God looked down through the telescope of time
and foresaw what we would do, whether or not we would believe
or accept Him. Well, that's works, and the Bible
doesn't teach that. I'm just using that as an example.
Who God is. People talk about God is love.
Well, He is love, but He's also just, righteous, And he's always
doing whatever he does. In love or in hate, he does it
justly. I've heard people say, well,
we don't believe God hates anybody. Well, the Bible says he does.
You can read it in Psalm 5 and Romans 9. There are other passages
though. But God's hatred is not like
ours. You see, many people, they base their belief on God or in
God, Based upon themselves. I Heard a preacher say one time
after another preacher preached on the election He said oh my
God wouldn't do that and the preacher said to him said well
I don't expect your God would but the God of the Bible do it
would and This is what we got to be concerned with who God
is Who we are. What does the Bible say about
man by nature as we're naturally born? it says that we're we fell
in Adam into a state of of unbelief and darkness, depravity, spiritual
death, and that left to ourselves, none of us would choose Christ.
Left to ourselves. Now we may choose a false Christ,
one who gives us room to glory, but not the true Christ of the
Bible. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God, neither can he know them, they're spiritually discerned.
All of that. There's none good, no not one.
None righteous, no not one. None that seeketh after God.
That's what the Bible says. What does the Bible say about
Jesus Christ? It says that he's God, manifest
in the flesh. What does it say about what he
accomplished in his death on Calvary? He saved his people
from their sins. He didn't try to save them. He
didn't make salvation possible or probable if they'd do their
part. He ensured the complete salvation of all for whom he
died and was buried in a rose again. Even their faith is the
gift of God. Faith is not something that you
have naturally, that you can muster up within yourself. Faith
is totally foreign to people by nature. It's a gift, for by
grace are you saved. Through faith, that not of yourself
is the gift of God, not of works. lest any man should boast. Faith
comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And by nature,
we don't have that spiritual hearing. It has to be given to
us in the new birth. Ears to hear, eyes to see. So
when you think about these things, this wicked being revealed, God's
going to destroy it by the spirit of his mouth, verse eight, and
shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. The spirit of
his mouth refers to his word. What does the Bible say? This
is God's word. The brightness of his coming
refers to his second advent, his second coming. When he comes,
it'll all be revealed. It will all be exposed. Who God's
people are, standing before God in Christ, washed in his blood,
clothed in his righteousness imputed, And it'll also be exposed
who the non-elect are, those whom God sentenced to perish
in their sins. It'll all be exposed. And he
says in verse nine, even him, now he talked about the brightness
of his coming, even him whose coming is after the working of
Satan with all powers and signs and lying wonders. In other words,
when Christ comes again, this spirit of antichrist, this wicked
one, this man of sin, it'll be revealed. He'll be exposed. All the religious paraphernalia
that hide him in the eyes of natural men and women will be
taken off and he'll be exposed. Now, the truth of the gospel
does that already for God's people. That's why the natural man hates
the word of God, hates the gospel. John wrote about that in John
chapter three in verse 19, when he says, this is the condemnation,
that light has come into the world and men love darkness and
hate the light because their deeds are evil. And those are
the deeds that men and women are proud of. and rejoice in,
glory in, thinking that it recommends them unto God. But in God's sight,
those deeds are evil, fruit unto death. They don't glorify God,
they deny Christ. You see, here's what I'm saying.
A person, a sinner, which is, we've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. A sinner who's trying to do their
best to work their way into God's favor and blessings and salvation,
is an evil person in God's sight. Because God's way of salvation
is not by the works of men and women, it's by the work of Christ. His obedience. God's salvation
is by grace. And grace reigns through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. So go back to 2 Thessalonians
2. Verse nine, even him whose coming
is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and
lying wonders, deceptive wonders. What Satan does through the spirit
of antichrist and false religion is impressive to me. And you'll hear all kinds of
amazing stories that support their doctrine, which is a lie.
And it is such a deceptive thing. He talks about it in verse 10.
He says, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish. It's a deceptive unrighteousness,
because it's that which is highly esteemed among men, but it's
an abomination to God. You gotta understand that, see.
Anything less than the perfection of righteousness that can only
be found in the glorious person and finished work of Christ.
Anything less, no matter how glorious it appears to you, how
wondrous it appears to you. Anything less than the perfection
of righteousness that can only be found in Christ is iniquity. That's the mystery of iniquity.
It's deceptive, it's unrighteous. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. And listen to
what he says in verse 10. Now this is where I got the title
to this message from. He says, with all deceivableness
and unrighteousness in them that perish. And you remember the
Bible in first Corinthians chapter one talks about how the gospel
which points to Christ alone for salvation and righteousness
and forgiveness, is foolishness to them who are perishing. And
it says here in verse 10, because they receive not the love of
the truth, that they might be saved. When God saves a sinner,
brings that sinner out of his natural state of death and depravity,
and brings them into the kingdom of God, the salvation, then that
sinner receives a love for the truth. Not a hatred, not an offense,
but a love for it. And that's why people perish,
because they don't love the truth. They love religion. They love
miracles. That's why Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians
13, If you had the power to move mountains, but have not love,
love of Christ, love of God, love of the truth, it means nothing. And Satan has the power to deceive
with miracles and things like that, but it's not in the context
of the truth. You take people today who follow
what is known as the charismatic movement, and they wanna do miracles,
they wanna heal people, they wanna speak in tongues, which
in the New Testament, that's speaking the gospel in another
language, not gibberish. They wanna do all these great
and miraculous things, but here's the way you judge all that. What
do they preach from the pulpit? What is their doctrine? What
gospel do they believe and preach? Because if it's not the gospel
of Christ, as found in the scriptures, that which wherein the righteousness
of God is revealed. My friend, it's all false religion.
It's all anti-Christ. I'm telling you. And if you receive
a love for the truth, you'll understand that. And he says
in verse 11, now this is referring to those who are perishing, who
are deceived by unrighteousness, and who have not received a love
of the truth. It says in verse 11, And for
this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should
believe a lie. Now, who's he talking about there?
He's talking about the reprobate. He's talking about the non-elect. The Bible says that God chose
a people before this world ever began, before he created the
world. And he put all of their salvation, the responsibility
of it, the conditions of it, upon his son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Christ was made to be their surety
before this world began. And then those who were not given
to Christ are called vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction. And he says, the Bible tells
us that they go through life and they will not believe. He
that believeth not, the wrath of God abides on him. Now we
all start out, even God's elect start out in unbelief, but God's
elect don't remain there. And we'll show you that in just
a minute. He said, well, let me show you in verse 12. He says
that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but
had pleasure in unrighteousness. That's the reprobate, the non-elect. They believe a lie, And they
may be religious now, sincere, but they'll be damned who believe
not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Now in righteousness,
there's not talking about immorality, even though that is unrighteousness.
But he's talking about those who are under the mystery of
iniquity. They're deceived by false religion,
false gospels, false Christ, false ways of salvation. But
look at verse 13. Now here's the ones who receive
the love of the truth, and that's because of the power of God.
And he says, but we, verse 13, we are bound to give thanks all
the way to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord. Now listen,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. Now
what is this sanctification of the Spirit? That's the Holy Spirit
sent forth from the Father and the Son to set God's elect apart
under the preaching of the true gospel. God first providentially
brings His people out of false religion and brings them under
the preaching of the true gospel of His free and sovereign grace
in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. That's being set apart by the
spirit. And then belief of the truth
is when he gives them in regeneration conversion, the new birth, he
gives them eyes to see, ears to hear, hearts and minds. He
said, I'll put a new spirit within you. I'll give you a new heart,
a new mind, new affection, new will, new knowledge, new determinations,
new motives. He brings them to believe in
Christ. and repent of those dead works,
those deceptive works of unrighteousness, and brings them to plead the
blood and the righteousness of Christ alone for all salvation,
all of it. And he says belief of the truth,
not belief of a lie. And what truth is he talking
about specifically? Well, look at verse 14. Whereunto
he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's by the gospel. Romans 6,
17 calls it that form of doctrine which you were delivered to.
And that's the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation.
to everyone that believeth, the Jew first, the Greek also, for
therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith, Romans
117, from faith to faith, from the knowledge that God gives
you in revelation to the faith, the knowledge that God brings
you to receive and believe. For as it is written, the justified
shall live by faith, looking to Christ, the author and finisher
of our faith. that's the obtaining of the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, Paul wrote in Galatians
6 14. He wrote in Philippians chapter
3 and verse 3, we are the circumcision, that is circumcised in heart,
the new birth, which worship God in spirit and rejoice in
Christ Jesus. We glory in Christ Jesus and
have no confidence in the flesh. It's all Christ. So that our
desire as we anticipate the second coming of Christ, or as we anticipate
our death, if we die before he comes, we go before the Lord. Our glory, our confidence, our
desire, As Paul wrote in Philippians 3 and verses 9 and 10, is to
be found in Him, in Christ, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, not by works, not by my decision, but that
which is through the faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness
of God by faith. That's our glory. Christ is our
glory. We glory in Him. He that glorieth,
let him glory in this. Paul wrote to the Corinthians,
that he knoweth me, knows God. What is it to know God? This
is life eternal, Christ said in John 17. This is life eternal,
that they might know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent. So he says in verse 15 of 2 Thessalonians
2, therefore, brethren, stand fast, stand firm, and hold the
traditions which you've been taught, whether by word or our
epistle. Paul's saying, stand fast in
this gospel that I've taught you, that the Lord gave to you. The Lord actually taught him,
but he used Paul. And he says in verse 16, now
our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, even our Father, which
hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation, comfort,
assurance, and the good hope of grace through faith, And good
hope through grace. Comfort your hearts. Establish
you in every good word and work. Comfort your hearts with His
grace, knowing that Jesus Christ alone, God manifest in the flesh,
has met every requirement, condition, and stipulation to save me from
my sins unto glory, and establishes within my heart the godly motives
of grace, and love, and gratitude, so that I may obey him in a way
that honors him, that glorifies God. Let your light so shine
before men that they may see your good works, and glorify
your Father which is in heaven. And the light is the truth that
we love. Those who love the truth and
those who perish, they receive not the love of the truth. God
sends them strong delusion that they might believe a lie. That's
God's judgment of wrath upon those to whom sin is imputed,
who never come to faith in Christ, who never repent of their dead
works and their idolatry. but who continue on until their
death or until Christ comes again to be found in their sins. Christ told the Pharisees, he
said, if you believe not in me, you'll die in your sins. Oh my
soul, I don't want to die in my sins, do you? I want to die
in Christ. Blessed are those who die in
Christ. Precious in the sight of God
is the death of his saints. They die in Christ, which means
this, they really don't die, this body dies, but they'll live
forever and ever and ever in Christ. They're washed in his
blood and sin cannot be charged to them. They're clothed in His
righteousness and that's all that's charged to them, Christ's
righteousness imputed. They have faith in Him and they
discredit and discard and deny everything else that men and
women by nature think makes them saved or righteous or holy. That's
dead works, that's fruit unto death, that's the evil deeds
that the light exposes. And it takes a God-given, Love
for the truth. Love for Christ. Love for his
word. Love for that which is right.
Love for his people. And that's what God gives to
his people when he brings them out from under this mystery of
iniquity. Love for the truth. I hope you'll
join us next week for another message from God's word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1-1-0-2-3. Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia
31707. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.theletterofgrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.