Well, a scripture reading this
morning turned with me to the book of 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians, and we'll read
the second chapter. And down at the last two verses
of the chapter will serve as my text this morning. Now, we beseech you, brethren,
by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering
together unto Him. That's what we're doing this
morning. We're gathering together. And
that's what God's saints do. That ye be not soon shaken in
mind, or troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter
as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man
deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except
there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed
the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all
that is called God, or that is so that he as God, sitting in
the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not
that when I was yet with you I told you these things? And
now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in
his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth
already work, only he who now letteth will let until he be
taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be
revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.
Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all
power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that 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 believe not the truth
but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 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. Therefore, brethren, stand fast.
and hold your traditions which you've been taught, whether by
word or our epistle. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ himself
and God, even our Father, which hath loved us and hath given
us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort
your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. If you will, take your Bibles
and turn again with me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. My subject this morning is an
everlasting consolation. What is our consolation? Do we
have any? I see the difficulty. I see the
problems. I see the trouble. Where is the
consolation? Somebody tell me about a consolation. Well, there's only one, and it's
everlasting. It's everlasting. Paul begins
this second chapter to correct some misinterpretations, as near
as I can tell, concerning the second coming of Jesus Christ,
our Lord. Is this a critical mistake? Well,
let me tell you this. People talk to me about that.
Is that really critical? Everything about him is critical.
Is it not? Everything about him is critical.
I want to know in whom I have believed. I want to know him.
I want to know him. And everything about him, to
me, is critical. You see, salvation is in a person.
We have to start there. That's where it begins. Salvation
is in a person. And people shake their head,
yeah. Do you really believe that? Do you really understand that?
Salvation's in a person. There's a person chosen of God
through whom God would save a people for the glory of His name. He
set apart a person. A person. All the blessings are
in Him. All the promises are in Him.
All the promises of God in Christ are yea and amen, as we see.
They can't be yea and amen if they're not in Him. Paul told Timothy, God has saved
us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. not when he
saw I needed it, not when circumstance set it up, but before the world
began. Scripture said the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ hath, this is past tense, blessed us
with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ
according as he hath chosen us in him, that is in Christ, before
the foundation of the world. Why did he do that? That we might
be holy. No other way for you to be holy
except in Christ. I don't know where that term
holy rollers comes from, but I wish they'd just roll them
on out of the way, myself. Holiness has to do with the wholeness
of God. There's no other way for us to
be holy except in Christ. And then he says, without blame,
Oh, you try to find yourself without blame anywhere except
in Christ, you can't do it. You can't look yourself in the
mirror and say that. And then it says, before him in love,
and that's not talking about this superficial love, I don't even know what, how to
describe it, but he's not talking about that. He's talking about
God's love for you. You being before him in love. Same way I sit, and this is far
beneath that, but the same way I sit one of my little grandkids
down. I'm 74, soon to be 75 years old. And I can look at one of my little
grandkids and I know what his life is gonna be like. But I
can still love him. God knows everything that that
saint is going to go through in his life. All his troubles,
all his temptations, everything. But he sets him before him in
Christ, and that love is secured. And he looks on him in love.
Is there ever a time when God didn't look on his people with
love? No. No. No. I loved you. I love you. And I will love you. Bless us. Oh, what a blessing
it is to be in Christ. Full provision was made in a
person whom God calls a Savior. A Savior. Boy, this world bandages
that term around like it's so commonplace. Under you, God sent an angel
back to serve us. And here's what they say. Unto
you this day is born in Bethlehem a Savior. Christ the Lord. Christ the Lord. There's a person
appointed of God for the salvation of his people. He calls him a
Savior. He calls him the Redeemer. And
he's a substitute for sinners. And this person was foretold
in every generation from Adam all the way to Malachi. Foretold. He was foretold in the garden.
The woman saved was going to bruise his head. Huh? First promises of the gospel.
Clear back to Genesis chapter 3. He foretold from the days
of Adam all the way through Malachi. And here's how Paul interprets
that. He said, God said, Behold, I
come. In the volume of the book it
is written of me. I come to do thy will, O God. Now there's two books that you're
going to find in the Scriptures. Two books. One we see on the
Isle of Patmos. John was carried up in the Spirit
up into heaven, and he saw this revelation of Jesus Christ. And
the first time he sees Him, he sees Him and there's a book in
God's hands, and it's sealed. These are all God's decrees,
all God's eternal counsels in this book. And nobody can take
the book. Nobody's worthy to even take
the book or to look on the book, let alone unloose the seal. And they began to weep because
nobody was worthy. And then he said, Behold, one
is worthy, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. And he comes up and he takes
the book. Now let me tell you something.
The only way you're going to take anything from God is for
God to give it to you. So when he took the book, God
the Father gave it to him. But he not only took the book,
he looked on the book and he opened the seals and he revealed
what's inside. So when he says in the volume
of the book he's written to me, he's talking about the book of
all God's decrees from the... Who knows? I have no conception
of eternity, but whenever that was, And then he's also talking about
the written, inspired book, the full canon of Scripture, what
he calls the Holy Scriptures, it's written of him. I come to
do thy will. It's foretold. Our Lord said this to the Pharisees.
He said, you search the Scriptures and they are they that testify
of me. This is the testimony of God.
To him, Paul said, give all the prophets witness. And he foretold
in every detail of his birth, his residence, his life, his
ministry, and his death on the cross. The scepter, he said,
shall not depart from Judah till Shavuot comes. All this was done
that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the
prophet, saying, this is in Matthew chapter 1, verse 23, Behold,
a virgin shall conceive. He shall be with child, and shall
bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which
is interpreted, God with us. He's going to be the God-man.
Herod sought the chief priests and scribes where Christ should
be born. And they said, He's going to
be born in Bethlehem, Judah, for thus it is written. That's
why it's going to be there. It's written. And thou, Bethlehem,
in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of
Judah. Out of thee shall come a governor
that shall rule my people." Micah, chapter 5, verse 2. Herod's slaying
of the children under two years of old in Bethlehem fulfilled
Jeremiah's prophecy, and Ramah was a voice heard. Lamentation
and weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children,
would not be countered because they are not. Jeremiah foretold
that. An angel appeared to Joseph,
warning him about that terrible evil that Herod was about to
do, and he led him into Egypt. Why Egypt? That it might be fulfilled
which was written him, out of Egypt have I called my son, Hosea
11. It's all foretold. Everything. Everything. And then
to Nazareth. Why in the world would, can any
good thing come out of Nazareth? Nazareth was a pit. Yeah, he has to go to Nazareth
and be raised in Nazareth. Because it's written he shall
be called a Nazarene. The appearance of John the Baptist.
The rite of our Lord's ministry. He's going to go through the
land of Nephilim. His miracles of healing, every
detail of it foretold by the prophets. And we're not left
to speculate as to whether or not Jesus is the Christ. The
Old Testament Scripture, somebody says, weaves a garment that can
only fit one man, and Christ put it on, and it fit him perfect. Matthew 26, verse 56, it says,
But all this was done, all that horrific suffering on the cross. All this was done, all this deliverance,
all this counsel, all this plotting and planning and beating and
the disciples and everything, everything that took place, all
of this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Salvation is in a person. A person
in whom full provision was made before the world began. A person
foretold from Genesis to Malachi. And salvation is in a person
who physically appeared in time. He was manifested. That scripture
I quoted to you in 2 Timothy 1.9, read verse 10. He was manifested. This one in whom God put all
of his blessings and all of his promises and all things committed
unto him. He was manifested in these last
times for you. Now let me tell you something.
We're not saved because God made provision in His Son or because
He gave us a detailed account of His coming. We're saved by
His appearing and accomplishing the work of redemption. The rest
of it would be of little value if He don't come. In Matthew 16, 21 it says, from
that time, that is after that grand and glorious revelation
that Peter gave, and the Lord said, this didn't come from you,
the Holy Spirit gave that to you. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you. And it says, from that time, From that time forth began Jesus
to show unto his disciples how that he must go to Jerusalem
and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and
scribes and be killed and raised again the third day. Sin must
be paid for. Boy, it sounds so trifling when
I hear preachers talk about that in our day. who don't know what
they're talking about. Talking about God doing the best
he can do and all that kind of nonsense. Sin has to be paid
for. Justice must be satisfied. The
law must be exalted and honored. God's word must be fulfilled.
Redemption must be accomplished. And there's no other way of salvation,
no other way of reconciliation. Salvation is in a person. And
this person, it matters. Who this person is, this person
accomplished the will of God. He didn't do the best he could
do, he did it all. Christ is all, that's what the
scriptures say, he's all. Salvation is in a person, a representative
person, a person appointed of God, who is God, who comes and
does the will of God in the salvation of his people. Bears their sins
in his own body on the tree. takes their place under the law,
assumes their responsibility to obey it, and does so perfectly,
continuously, lovingly, unto death. Takes upon him the form
of a servant. I tell you, once you know a little
bit about who God is, that condescension is so great, the scope of it
is so great, you can't take it in. God condescending, Mike,
to become a servant. to appear in the form of a man. He takes upon him the form of
a servant, and being found in fashion as a man, became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross, a just and righteous
payment for sin. And there can be no acceptance
with God, no righteousness approved, No sin forgiven, except by this
man, Jesus of Nazareth. It says he was delivered for
our offenses and raised again for our justification. Justified,
it says, freely by his grace through the redemption of ten
Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood. to declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins. To declare his righteousness
that he might be just and justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.
And salvation is a work accomplished by Jesus Christ. His life's work
and death on the cross is our hope before God. He hath begotten
us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. And he's done so to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last day. Salvation is
in the person of Jesus Christ who came into this world through
the womb of a virgin and accomplished the redemptive will of God. And
then fourthly, God raised this man Jesus from the dead, received
him up into glory, and being well pleased with him, set him
at his own right hand, expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. Jesus Christ is sitting on the
throne of God, having all power. Does that leave any out? No. Having all power, all government,
all principality. He's the head of all principality
and power. What policy? It's all under His
authority. Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father. And that'll be the confession
of every knee. And He'll make that knee to bow.
And every mouth. And He's the Lord of the dead
and the living, Lord of salvation, providence, and heaven itself.
He's the Lord of saints, and the Lord of devils, and the Lord
of nations, and the Lord of angels. He's the Lord! He's Lord! Boy, that's hard for us to take
in, isn't it? We fear every little thing. He
Lord! If we knew, I know I can spit
it out. I can say it. I can talk about
Him being the Lord of Providence. I wish I could believe it like
I said. And here's what the Scripture
said. He's the Lord of life. He's the giver of days. He's
the Lord of death. So whether we live, therefore,
or die, we're the Lord's. We're the Lord's. And for to
this end, Christ both died and rose and revived, that He might
be Lord both of the dead and the living. All power in heaven
and earth given unto Him. Go ye therefore and preach. And
we live in an age of gospel preaching, an age where The reigning Christ
is harvesting the seed of His planting. Think of the glory
of the day in which we live. He's gathering His wheat into
His barns. He's not sitting inactive in
glory. He's reigning over the affairs
of His church. calling out, separating men to
the ministry, organizing local assemblies for the ministry,
reigning over all the events and advents and any other events
you can think of, bringing all things to pass according
to God's eternal purpose of grace. And this person, this glorious
person, is sitting upon the throne, a successful Savior and a glorious
Lord, and is manifesting the riches of His grace in his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. How's he doing it? By doing exactly
what I'm doing this morning, preaching his gospel to his people. And some poor soul misinterpreted
this age of salvation and gospel preaching, or some deceived soul
perhaps, but whichever it is, he was telling everyone that
he saw Christ is coming back tomorrow. He's coming right away. Right away. And Paul said, let
no man deceive you by any means. But that day is not coming until
there's a great falling away. Now here's where I'm going with
all this. I cannot tell you what He told me. I cannot tell you not to be troubled, because there's a great falling
away. That great falling, we're on the other side of the gospel
age. This is at the beginning of it,
we're at the end of it. We're 2,000 years past from that
age to this, and there's been a great falling away, and that
spirit of Antichrist has been revealed, has been warned of,
and described in detail. And everything I told you this
morning concerning the Christ is contrary to Antichrist. Antichrist will tell you there
is no eternal provision. They'll deny it. All you've got
to do is confront them with it. They'll deny it. There is no
eternal provision made. There's no eternal purpose of
grace. There's no representative righteousness. No sufficient atonement. No eternal redemption. No sovereign
reign. No secured inheritance. On and
on it goes. Everything that Christ said He'd
come to do and did, they deny it. That's why this great falling
away. And there's even, as I speak
this morning, a message filled with lying wonders and all deceivableness
of unrighteousness going forth to deceive whole nations, multitudes
falling under the curse, millions taking refuge in their lives. There has been and is a falling
away, falling away from the Word of God. away from the means of
grace, falling away from the assembling of the saints, falling
away from the Spirit of Christ, falling away from the hope of
the Gospel. A great falling away. But God's
been gracious to some and called them by His Gospel to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what He tells
us here. And now he says, therefore, brethren,
stand fast and hold these traditions which you've been taught, whether
by word or by our epistle. All right, so how am I to console
my generation, knowing that this falling away, that we're right
in the middle of it? Or at the end of it, I don't
know when. How am I to console my generation? How am I to be consoled? How
am I to look on the days that we're living in? How am I to
interpret this time? Well, in 2 Peter 3, verse 15,
the Holy Ghost tells us. He gives us answers to that.
We are to account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation. I'm to account that these days,
today, tomorrow, every day until his return is salvation. Salvation is yet a possibility
for my family and yours, my wife and yours, my children
and yours. Salvation is yet a reality for
as many as the Lord our God shall call. Is there still a preacher
in the pulpit? Then there's a sinner yet to
be called. That's what he's telling us. Oh boy. Is there still an assembly gathered? Then there must yet be a remnant
according to the election of grace. How am I to look on this? I'm to look at it as salvation.
every day, every waking moment. Peter said, The Lord, that glorious,
reigning, sovereign Lord, is not slack concerning His promise,
as some men count slackness, but He's long-suffering to us-ward,
not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. I'm to account these days of
salvation, and all my friends, If ever there was a day for preaching
and beseeching poor sinners to come to Christ, it's right now.
It's right now. Behold, said the prophet, God's
hand's not shortened that it cannot save. Huh? Is what we're seeing today, am
I to take that as God not being able to work in the trouble?
No, His hand's not shortened that He cannot save. He's going
to save everyone that He will. He's going to save them. When I look at these days, there's
no consolation other than Christ. But in Christ, I have an everlasting
consolation. And it goes through the troubled
days. It goes through the end of time. It goes through all
of these things. It covers it clearly and keeps
on going throughout eternity. This is an everlasting consolation. And that's why he said, I thank
God for you, brethren. God didn't leave you to yourself.
He didn't leave you to the multitude. He didn't leave you to religion. But from the beginning, he chose
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief in the
truth. Where unto? He separated this old Pharisee,
this old self-righteous sinner. He separated me. He caused me
to suffer, but He caused me to come to you and preach the gospel.
And when I did, you become partaker of His glory. All the benefits
of His glory become yours. Pastor Henry Mahan had a television
broadcast every Sunday. All these prime time prophets
was on there and there was only one preaching the gospel, Henry
May, on Sunday morning. I couldn't believe it. One of
the people from that Armenian church, God saved me out of,
he said, well, all these questions you're answering, he said, there's
a guy on Sunday morning answering them questions every Sunday.
And I didn't believe him. And finally, I stayed home and
watched him. I couldn't believe it. Couldn't believe my ears. Couldn't believe what I heard.
But anyway, being on television, he got to be famous. Everybody
knew who Henry Manning was. And his family had been listening
to him, and I think the Lord did a work in their hearts. But
anyway, they decided, hey, we're going to go down and go to the
meeting. So they did. And they introduced,
the whole family was introduced to Henry, and Henry met them,
talked to them, thanked them for coming. And later on that
day, they got home, and this little boy, he was about five
or six, his cousins come over to visit, and he said, what'd
y'all do this morning? He said, we went down to Ashland and went
to church. And he said, I heard Henry Mahan in person. In person. You know what he's
talking about here? Huh? Oh. Listen to this, I'm going to
read it to you again. You may have missed it. Now,
our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, in person, in person, and God,
even our Father, which hath loved us and given us everlasting consolation
and good hope through grace, comfort your heart. Himself. In person. In person. Oh, what comfort. Establish you in every good word
and work. Now I'm going to give you this
and I'll quit. In both the Arabic and the Ethiopic versions of
the Bible, the and in here is removed. And here's that root. Now, our
Lord Jesus Christ, our Father. And then in the Ethiopic version
it says, Our Lord Jesus Christ, God our Father. His name shall
be called the Everlasting Father. What he's telling us here in
these verses, when he says Himself, He's talking about Christ being
on an equal footing with the Father. That's what he's talking
about. I and the Father are one. I'm
one. Oh, what consolation for these
days we live in. May the Lord add his blessing
to his life. Thank you.