I never felt so unworthy and so unfit to speak to you as I do this morning. And at the same time, I don't
think I've ever wanted to speak to you more. So if you will turn in your Bibles
to 2 Thessalonians, we'll read a couple of verses. In chapter 2, 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. And they are verses 13 and 14. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord. because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Paul felt constrained. Paul is not just an ordinary
man, but he is an apostle of God. He felt constrained to thank
God for a particular group of people. And they are contrasted with
another group of people we read about prior to this, especially
in verses 10 through 12. It says, of them and with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish. These are them that will utterly
and finally perish. Because they receive not the
love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause
God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie. that they all might be damned
who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." Now, he follows that statement,
or those statements, with a but. Verse 13 begins with but. I call that one of those buts
of grace. Man is this way, will do this
way, will be this, but God. And he refers to them as brethren. They're all in the same family. They all have the same father. They all have the same elder
brother. He's not talking about Jews here. He's talking to some who are
Jews and Gentiles. And he refers to them as beloved
of the Lord. Since God cannot change if they've
been loved, then they've always been loved. They've been loved
with an everlasting love. They've been loved in Christ. And they've been loved in contrast
to some whom God says, like Esau, that he hates, like all workers
of iniquity. These are brethren beloved of
the Lord. And oddly enough, and most contrary
to our day, He is thanking them, He's grateful for them for a
reason, because. You notice that word, because. And it's because of something
that God has done. If we ever have any reason to
be thankful, it will always be for something that God has done. Every good and perfect gift comes
down from above, from the Father of life. Everything good, everything
true comes from God. And he says that God, from the
beginning, that's a long time ago, that's before you or I or
the devil or anything ever was. From the beginning, before the
foundation of the world hath chosen you. You might not be thankful that
God has chosen a people. Paul was. And all of the Lord's
people, when they have the grace of God revealed to them, they're
thankful for something that God did. He chose them. Past tense. Men may say, God
can't do that. That wouldn't be fair. He already
has done this. And we know what is fair and
good and right by what God does, not by what we think. He says here, God hath from the
beginning chosen you. In other words, this is election. This is like where we read in
Psalm 65 where it says, blessed is the one that God chooses and
causes to approach unto him. This is unconditional election. Someone said, if there are an
elect, and there definitely is in the Bible, a people called
the elect, then there necessarily must be an election. Paul says there is even at this
time a remnant according to the election of grace. And he writes in Ephesians 1,
blessing God for it. He says, blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he has
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. And if you notice here, he says,
he has chosen you. That's individuals. That's people. That's not in
order that people might have a privilege or something, but
this is a people. It says, He chose you. He didn't
just see that you would choose Him. He did not just give you
a chance. He did not say, if I will, you
will. He says, He chose you, individuals,
for His own glory, and He chose you to salvation. Think about that. He chose you
to be saved from your sins. He chose you to be saved from
Satan himself. He chose you to be saved from
yourselves. He chose you to salvation, even
as the Bible says, the salvation of your souls. He didn't choose to make you
savable. He didn't choose to help you
save yourself. He chose you to salvation. And He chose you to salvation
through. That is an indication that there
is a means used. Some people say, well, he just
chose the salvation, that's it. No, he chose to salvation and
there's a means used and the means will be revealing you,
to you, and God will be glorified in the means. He uses a means
of revealing this salvation to you. And that is by sanctification. God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification, through a sanctifying work. And what does that word most
often mean in the Bible? But it means to set apart. He sets you apart. By this means, we are set apart
by God the Father. In election, we're set apart
by God the Son, said to be sanctified by Him, and we're set apart or
sanctified by the third person in the Godhead, the Holy Spirit. When Jude writes in his little
epistle, in the very first verse, he talks about them that are
sanctified. Them that are set apart for God. Them that are set apart to God. Them that are set apart for the
glory of God. Peter writes, elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification
of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Christ, of Jesus Christ, grace unto you, and peace be multiplied. But how does How does this sanctification
by the Spirit of God take place? It literally is a part of being
born again. Because without new birth, John
says in chapter 3, recording the words of Jesus, except you
be born again, you cannot see and you cannot enter the kingdom
of God. God the Spirit must do a work
in you. Just like the father did a work
in initiating and choosing you to salvation. Just like the son
did in dying on the cross and paying the sin debt. just exactly
in the same way we must be altogether saved by God. And that means
God the Spirit must reveal it to us, must do a work in us whereby
we know of this salvation. And what is the evidence? What
is the evidence of being sanctified
by the Spirit. Well, look right here. It says,
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Belief of the truth. Now what he didn't say in this
verse is that it is by sanctification of the Spirit and believing some
true things. Almost everybody that is deceived
Most everybody that has received a counterfeit gospel, and most
all counterfeits, have some true things. But here, he says it is belief
of the truth. And the truth is a body of things
concerning him who is called the truth. Look over in John 14 and verse
6. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way The truth and the
life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me. The truth is a body of things
concerning Jesus Christ. The truth is a body of things
that are true about the Lord Jesus Christ. So we find that
those who perish, they are exactly the opposite of these. Look back
in verse 10. It speaks of the deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that perish because they
receive not the love of the truth. Now stop in just a minute. When
we think about them receiving not the love of the truth, we
think about the affection for the truth. But in reality, most likely,
this has reference to do as reference with the love of the truth which
is in Christ Jesus. And there is a big difference
in the love of the truth, as men say it in our day, and have
unrighteousness as a part of it, and the love of the truth
that we find in the gospel itself. God's love in the gospel is much
different from the counterfeits. It is particular love. It is
everlasting love. It is a love of those in Christ
that we read about, so that oftentimes we forget that this is speaking
of the love of the truth. They did not receive that love. They did not love it, for sure,
but they did not even receive it and know about it of that
love. It says here, for God, that they
should believe, they receive not the love of the truth, that
they might be saved. And then it says this, and for
this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should
believe a lie. You ever stop and wonder how
people can believe some of the things they believe, especially
as it pertains to the gospel, as it pertains to Christ? Do
you ever wonder how they can believe that they can make his
work and his love and his substitutionary death to be so little? It says,
God sends them strong delusion that they should believe a lie.
That they all might be damned who believe not the truth. They believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. They had pleasure in those things,
in those doctrines, in those counterfeits, in those deceptions,
which are nothing but unrighteousness. And they believed a lie. Now if we know anything, We know
that God does not use error to save his people. He does not use preached error. He does not use written error. He does not use error because
he's a God of truth. Listen to this. He is the rock. His work is perfect. For all His ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity. Just and right is He. That's what Moses wrote way back
in the book of Deuteronomy. A God of truth is He. And there is no truth apart from
Jesus Christ. In other words, if we just say
His name, and we do not speak what He actually did and accomplished,
then we have not preached the truth. There is no truth apart
from His Word and what God says about Him. It doesn't matter what you say.
It doesn't matter what I say. It doesn't matter what the most
learned man on earth says. It only matters what God says. Paul writes in Ephesians, and
he says, if so be that you have heard him. If you've heard him and have
been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus. He is the truth. And the truth
is in Jesus. That means that it would be to
our benefit to go to His Word and find out the truth. Now, there are a lot of professing
Christians. There are a lot of people scattered
all over this globe that claim to know God. But when you ask
him anything about the Word, or you tell them what the Word
says, it's a total shock to them. Because they've never heard,
never read, never heard preached the true Christ of the Bible. Listen to what Hosea records.
Hear the word of the Lord. Hear the word of the Lord, ye
children of Israel, for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants
of the land, because there is no truth, no mercy,
nor knowledge of God in the land." Whenever Paul wrote to the Ephesians, who had been delivered by the
grace of God, he spoke to them and wrote to
them and said of Christ, in whom ye trusted, you also trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth. You did it. You believed him.
You trusted in Christ after that you heard the word of truth. What is the word of truth? The
gospel of your salvation. Well, somebody says, well, we
always hear the gospel of salvation. Oh, no. The gospel of your salvation. There's a big difference in just
the gospel of salvation. No, this is the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, the good news, the glad tidings
that God has saved you through His Son, in whom after that you
believe you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Listen to this writing to the
Colossians, he says, for the hope which is laid up for you
in heaven, whereof you heard before in the word of the truth
of the gospel. Turn back to first Thessalonians. First Thessalonians, the first
chapter. The second chapter, in verse 13. For this cause also Thank we
God without ceasing. Same thing. Thanking God for
these people. Because when you received the
word of God, which ye heard of us, you received it not as the
word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which
effectually worketh also in you that believe. Now, how did he know? Or why
did he think that these Thessalonian people, some of them were God's
elect? Why did he think that they were
brethren, his brethren, spiritually? Why did he think that they were
loved of God? Because they believed the truth. Because the Holy Spirit had so
worked in them in giving them life and faith to believe what
God said. They believed the truth. James says it like this, Of his
own will begot he us with the word of truth. What does it good
or what good does it do or would it do if the Spirit of God was
to give us life and faith and we not know the object of that
faith? The truth is about Christ who
is the truth. It is always according to the
Scriptures. These people do not believe what
men say about the truth. They believe the truth. Someone was telling me recently, when the Lord saved them, He
brought them to the book, to the Word of God. And the evidence that they were
born of God was they took this book and what it said over everything
else. So when they went to this preacher,
and he wasn't preaching what it says in this book, They knew something was wrong.
They went somewhere else, they went to where somebody else was
preaching, and they were not preaching what it says in this
book. They knew it was wrong. Because
all they could believe was the truth. All they could... Why do I...
I've had people to call me from Montana this week. I've
had people write me notes from England. I've had people to do
it from New Jersey. Here, there, and the other. I
am no great preacher. So why would they listen to me?
Why would they tune in to such a, I won't even describe myself,
but why would they try to listen to somebody like me? It's because
of the truth. These people born of God, they
believe the truth. They love the truth. They cannot believe a lie. Other shepherds, they will not
hear. Christ said, my sheep hear my
voice and they follow me. What is it that we preach? We
just say what God says. How can we know the truth if
we don't even know what the Word says? This day is full of people who
believe what they believe just because a preacher said it. I
don't want you to believe what I said, say, just because I said. If you do not believe it as coming
from God Himself, from His Word, then you really don't believe
it. Look over in Colossians chapter
1. Here he is again, the Apostle
Paul, in Colossians 1-3. We give thanks to God the Father
and of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since
we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love
which you have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up
for you in heaven, whereof you heard before in the word of the
truth of the gospel. What do you hear about it? What
reason do you have for believing it? What reason do you have to
believe that there's hope for you, that there's salvation for
you, that there's peace for you? He says, you heard it before
in the word of the truth of the gospel, which is come unto you
as it is in all the world and bringeth for fruit as it does
also in you, since the day you heard of it and knew the grace
of God in truth. when you heard it. Maybe you didn't hear it at first,
but you heard it. One day you came and you actually
heard it. You heard what was saying. God
gave you ears to hear it and heart to believe it. You heard
what was said of the truth of the grace of God. Back to our text, Paul says,
how did you hear about the truth? He said, whereunto he called
you by our gospel. By our gospel. Well, without a doubt, Paul's
gospel, since he was an apostle, sin of God, was God's gospel. But he refers to the gospel in
the sense that it is the gospel of all of God's elect. It's our
gospel. And he speaks of it as personally
being his gospel. I'm so glad he said here, our
gospel, because Paul's gospel is the only gospel. And Paul's
gospel is the gospel of sovereign grace. Sovereign grace. Turn over to Romans chapter 9. Paul talks about here in chapter
9 about how the Word of God was rejected by the majority of the
Jews, by the majority of people. But he says, it is not as though
the Word of God hath taken none effect. Verse 6. Just because
every deity does not believe the truth does not mean that
the Word of God has not had an effect. For they are not all Israel which
are of Israel. God has a spiritual Israel, and
all that are in natural Israel definitely are not part of that
spiritual Israel. Neither because they are the
seed of Abraham are they children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be
called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of promise are accounted for the seed. For this is the word of promise. At this time will I come and
Sarah shall have a son. and Rebekah, and not only this,
but when Rebekah also had conceived by one even by her father. For the children not being yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth, it was said unto her, the elder shall serve
the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. That's the sovereign grace of
God. And he goes on to explain it
just exactly like it is. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. What you gonna do with that? You gonna believe it because
it's the truth. or you're going to perish. He goes on, for the scripture
saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised
thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name
might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will that
he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then, Why doth
he yet find fault? For who hath he resisted his
will? Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replies against God? Shall the thing form say to him
that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter
power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto
honor and another unto dishonor. What if God, willing to show
His wrath and to make His power, endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction, and that He might
make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy
which he had aforeprepared unto glory, even us whom he hath called
not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles." You see, this is the reason that
men and women do not even want Romans 9 and such read in the
pulpit. Because it's the truth. And men
would rather believe a lie and perish than to believe the truth
and be saved. So much is the natural mind enmity
against God. So much do we naturally fight
against these things. Unless the Spirit of God works
in our heart, subdues the rebellion, and gives us faith to believe
it. All men have not faith. But God's people They will, at
some point, be brought to believe the truth. If that gospel is not your gospel, then you're not saved. because
that is the truth. Paul's gospel, he said, is the
gospel of the grace of God. Paul's gospel, he says, is the
gospel of peace, is the gospel of your salvation, the gospel
which is good news and glad tidings. Look back at Romans 1. Romans 1 and verse 15. Listen to Paul. So much as in me is, I'm ready
to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. He was a Jew. Most at Rome were Gentiles. But Jew or Gentile, he had the
same gospel, was ready. Now listen, for I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to
the Greek. For therein, therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the just
shall live by faith. Therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. Now, do you remember what it
said about those that perish? It says, they delighted, they
were deceived, and they received and carried on and delighted
in that which was unrighteousness. They stood before Christ in the
judgment They will do it, and they'll say, we've done many
works in your name. We've cast out devils in your
name. We've called you Lord, Lord. But he said, depart from me.
I never knew you, ye that work iniquity, unrighteousness. You see, unless God can be in
your gospel just a just God and a Savior, then you don't believe
the truth. That's right. His very glory of glories is
at stake as to whether He is a just God and a Savior. So the gospel is the gospel wherein
the righteousness of God is revealed. how God can be right in forgiving,
passing over the sins of His people, and at the same time
be just. There's only one way. And that's
for the Lord Jesus Christ to bear the sins of his elect in
his own body on the tree and pay their debt. That means God would not be just to send
anyone for whom Christ died to hell. Now that is a common theme
in today's gospel, that there are going to be a lot of people
in hell for whom Christ died because Christ died for everybody.
There are going to be a lot of people that perish that God loves
because Christ loves everybody. There are going to be a lot of
people in hell that God has been trying to save because God is
trying to save everybody. Absolutely rubbish. Absolutely false and so dishonoring
and blasphemous to God. the righteousness of God is revealed. So if any die, if it's said that
any will die in hell for whom Christ died, or any will perish
whom God loved, or any will not have the work of the Spirit that
he wants to have the work of the Spirit, all these things They just blasphemy and they're
just false. Because Paul's gospel, our gospel
is a gospel of accomplished salvation. Big difference. Accomplished salvation is what
Christ did when he said on the cross, it is finished. He must be the Savior. And not only that, Paul's gospel
excludes all human works and merits and persons altogether. There is no but after grace. People say, well,
I believe salvation by grace. Next word, but. I believe it's
all in Christ, but, but. And you know what always follows
the but? It's something that you've got
to do. I believe that Christ saves us, but you got to do this
than this. There are not any buts after. He writes to the Galatians, knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by
the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ,
that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by
the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no
flesh be justified. Why don't we understand about
that? The law is only the principle
of our doing. He writes to Timothy, not by
works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to
his mercy, he saved us. He saved us. He saved us. Paul gives all the glory to God. He abases man. He gives all the
praise to Jesus Christ as the Savior. He says He's the Alpha
and Omega. And he says also that God predestinates. Oh me, dread word. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called,
he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. He showed