Good morning. Let's open this
morning's service with hymn number 21 in your gospel hymn spiral
hymn book. Number 21. Let's all stand together. Number 21, The Covenant, Ordered
and Sure. God the Father and the Son and
the Spirit, three in one, in eternal ages past, made a covenant
sure and fast. God my father chose his own in
the person of his son and ordained that I should be one with him
eternally. ? God the Son agreed to come ?
In the flesh to bring me home ? He would keep God's holy law
? And retrieve me from the fall ? Christ in love so willingly
? Stood as my great surety ? For my prize he offered blood ? To
appease the wrath of God ? God the spirit heavenly dove ? Promised
to come down in love bringing life and peace and grace to the
chosen, purchased race. He seeks the lost, heals the
lame, and he brings us to the Lamb. By his mighty sovereign
fall, God's elect are gathered all. This poor sinner is secure,
for God's covenant will endure. ? It is sealed by God's own word
? By his spirit and his blood ? Blessed holy covenant God I
am yours by ties of blood, ties of grace, and ties of love. Hold me to my God above. Please be seated. That hymn's got the whole gospel
in it, doesn't it? I love that hymn. Will you open
your Bibles with me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter
2. Good morning. Let's ask the Lord's blessings. on his word and on our hearts
and on us. Our Heavenly Father, we are comforted
and encouraged to know that what you have settled and secured
in the covenant of grace are the sure mercies of David. We thank you that We have a Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who has fulfilled all the requirements
of your covenant of grace, satisfying your law, putting away our sin
by the sacrifice of himself. Lord, this is all our salvation
and all our desire. You've told us that where two
or three are gathered together in Thy name, there You are in
the midst, that You walk among the candlesticks, and that You
inhabit the praise of Your people. Lord, we are so very hopeful
in the fulfillment of those promises for us this morning. We ask that
you would send your Holy Spirit, that you would open what no man
can shut, that you would reveal to us once again the glory of
thy dear Son, and give us faith to put our hope and our trust
in Him. For it's in His name we pray. Amen. You have your Bibles open to
2 Thessalonians chapter 2. I'd like to focus our attention
on verse 10. And with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish. Now, that just simply
means that men are deceived in thinking that their righteousness
gives them gives them access to God. They're deceived. They don't know that all their
righteousnesses are as filthy rags, but that's the natural
man. The man who is spiritually perishing is deceived in thinking
that his righteousness is the hope of his salvation. So with
all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, why are
they deceived? Why are they going to perish? Because they received not the
love of the truth. How do I know if I have received
the love of the truth? I don't want to be deceived,
and I certainly don't want to perish. And so there's a contrast
that the Lord gives us between perishing, being deceived, and
having the love of the truth. How do I know if I have the love
of the truth? We have to begin answering that
question by defining truth. You remember Pilate, in his arrogant
interrogation of the Lord, asked him, are you a king? And the
Lord said, my kingdom's not of this world. If my kingdom was
of this world, my disciples would fight. But for this cause was
I born, and for this reason came I into the world, to bear witness
unto the truth. They that are of the truth hear
my voice." And you remember Pilate's response. What was Pilate's response? Truth? Truth? Are you kidding me? Is that what
this is all about? You see, there's really no difference
in the opinions of men 2,000 years ago and those of today.
People really do not believe that there's any such thing as
absolute truth. You hear people say, well, you
know, that's their reality. that's their reality or uh... perception is reality and uh... statements like that everybody's
got their own truth everybody's got their own reality now what
god says is true is true that's just that's the bottom line and
if my reality is inconsistent with what god said is true that
i'm deceived and I'm gonna parish in that the seat so I wanna know
what God says is true so that I can believe the truth and that
receive the truth arm now bill up as the Lord he said the
he said Lord show us the father shows the father and it's a five-seventh
us And why the Lord say, Philip, have I been with you so long
that you don't know if you've seen me? You've seen the Father? For I am the Father of one. I
am the way. I am the truth. I am the life." He didn't say,
I'm going to show you the way, I'm going to teach you the truth,
I'm going to guide you in life. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. And then to Martha, he said,
when she said, Lord, I believe in the resurrection, what did
the Lord say? I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth
in me, though he die, yet shall he live. Yet shall he live. Believest thou this, Martha?
Do you believe me?" So, we have the love of the truth, we have
a love for Christ. We have a love for Christ and
all that He reveals about the truth. Now, you can't know the
truth about yourself until the Lord is pleased to reveal Himself
to you. You just can't. you you will
you will compare yourself to yourself and you will be convinced
that you're getting a little bit better or you'll compare
yourself to other men and you'll deceivingly convince yourself
that you're at least above average it's not until the Lord is pleased
to give you the truth give you Christ What did Paul say? When it pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb, when it pleased Him to reveal Christ
in me. Paul said, I was alive once without
the law, but when the law came. Now he doesn't mean the Ten Commandments,
he means the whole of the Gospel, the whole of Scripture when Christ
came. Then sin revived and I died. I saw myself for what I was."
When Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, what was the first
words out of Isaiah's mouth? What was me? I'm undone. I'm
undone. When Job finally heard the gospel
from Elihu, what was Job's response? Behold! Behold! That word means Wow, I see something
I never saw before. I am vile. I had heard of thee by the hearing
of my ear. I had some truths, plural, small
t, but I never had the truth, capital T singular, until you
revealed yourself to me. And now I repent in dust and
ashes. I had spoken to thee without
knowledge. I didn't know what I was talking about. I didn't
know who I was until you revealed to me who you are in your glory. So how do I know if I have received
the love of the truth? I have some understanding. I
have some understanding about myself. being unable to produce
any righteousness that will give me any favor or any merit whatsoever
with God because everything about me is sinful. That's how I know
I've received the love of the truth. I've received Christ. I've got some understanding of
who He is. And in light of His glory, in
light of His perfection, in light of His righteousness, in light
of God's standard of holiness, I'm vile. I'm a sinner. I receive some love of the truth
when I have some understanding as to how it is that God is pleased
to save sinners. That the only hope of my righteousness
before God is the perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
got to present himself on my behalf. His life is my life. Everything he did in satisfying
the demands of God's holy law is the only hope of my righteousness
before God. His substitutionary, sacrificial,
atoning death on Calvary's cross, the shedding of his precious
blood is the only hope that I have that my sins will be covered
in the sight of a holy God. That's, and I love it. How do
I know that I have received the love of the truth? The love of
the truth. You know, it doesn't say you've
acknowledged the truth, you've agreed with the truth, you've
recognized the truth, or you even defend the truth. You have
the love of the truth. I love being told I'm a sinner.
I do. I love it when God reminds me
of my state of sinfulness before God. Because that's the only
thing that causes me to cast my hope and my soul on the Lord
Jesus Christ. I love to hear about who He is
and what He's accomplished. And I've got a need for that.
I've got a need for it. You love something that you've
got to have. It's not something you can take
it or leave it. I've got to know. I've got to hear. I've got to
know. I've got to have the truth. I've
got to have Christ. Now, before we define what it
means to have the love of the truth, notice that in verse 10,
because they received not the love of the truth. To receive
something means that you are not the source of it. So you
didn't just wake up one morning and say, you know what, I'm going
to love the truth. You've got to receive the love of the truth,
and by receiving it, someone else has got to give it to you. I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of My hand. We're completely dependent upon
the Lord to give us the love of the truth. You remember in
John chapter 4 when the Lord is talking to the woman at the
well and he asked her for a drink of water and she was confused. Why is a Jew talking to a Samaritan? And the Lord said, if you knew,
if you knew the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto
thee give me to drink you would ask of him and he would give
you living water he would give you living water and uh... she said she said lord give me
that water give me give me that water and the lord said go get
your husband i don't have a husband well that's right that's right
Man you're living with is not your husband. You've been with
five different men. You've spoken the truth. Spoken
the truth. And I that speaketh unto thee
am he. Am he. And the Lord revealed
himself to her and what she do. She ran back down into Sychar
and she said come meet a man who told me everything I ever
did. Come meet Him. Is this not the Christ? Is this
not the Christ? The Lord revealed Himself to
her and she received, she received the love of the truth. You're
not going to have the love of the truth unless the Lord gives
it to you. And loving the truth is more
than acknowledging the truth, it's more than agreeing with
the truth, it's more than recognizing the truth, it's more than arguing
or defending the truth. It involves all those things,
well all those things maybe except for arguing, but the love of
the truth. How do I know if I've received
the love of the truth? You know, we have a lot of feelings
about love, don't we? And sometimes those feelings
don't last. We fall in love and fall out
of love. How do I know that I've received the love of the truth? How do I know, how do I have
hope to know that I'm not going to perish and that I haven't
deceived myself? to see because those who have
all deceivableness of unrighteousness, because they receive not the
love of the truth, they're going to perish. They're going to perish. Well, um, term of me to first
Corinthians chapter 13, because the Lord defines for us love on his standards. The first thing I want to say
about how I know that I've received love the truth is that love never
fails. Love never fails. I can't stop
loving. I can't not love the truth. I
just can't do it. I've got to have it. I've got
to have Christ. And every time I take my eyes
off of Him, He draws me back to Himself. You've got to have something
you love. Look with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 13, verse 4, because here's where the Lord
begins defining what he means by love. Charity suffereth long. it suffereth long." In all the
ups and downs, in all the prone to wander, to look away from
Christ, to be distracted by the things of this world, in all
the struggles with our flesh and with Satan and sin in this
world, Love suffereth long. It just
keeps coming back. It keeps coming back. I know
I have received the love of the truth because I can't get away
from it. I just can't get away from it. Charity or love suffereth long
and is kind. The truth of the gospel is kind
to me, and I'm kind to it. I treat it kindly, and He treats
me kindly. You're kind to a person that
you love, and here we know that we have received God's love of
Christ. If, if Christ is, if our experience
with him as law is kind and our experience back to him as kind
Lord, I can't be anything but humble and gentle in thy presence. I just, I just bow before you
and submit to your grace and to your glory in all my salvation. Not only does it suffer long,
and not only is it kind, but love, the word here is charity,
it's the word agape, it's God's love. We receive God's love of the
truth when God is pleased to reveal Christ in us, when he
calls us by his grace. And he says, it envieth not. I know I have received the love
of the truth when I'm not envious of his glory. I don't envy his
glory. I don't want to compete with
His glory. I'm thankful that He gets all the glory and all
the praise. I'd love for Him to get all the
praise. I'd love to hear that I have no glory, that I have
no righteousness, that I have nothing to offer, and that He
gets all the praise. It envious not. In religion, men envy Christ. They want to make some contribution
to their salvation. They envy Him getting all the
glory. They want to have the final say.
They want to put their two cents worth into their salvation. Why? Because they envy Christ. I know I have received the love
of the truth when there's no envy, no envy in my heart towards
the Lord Jesus Christ. It vaunteth not itself. Now we baunt ourselves all the
time before one another, don't we? We boast, we puff out our
chest, we want other people to think good of us. We baunt ourselves
all the time, but when we stand in the presence of truth, there's
no baunting of yourself, is there? now there's no popping up there's
no there's no presenting yourself in a better light than what you
really are what i want you to present yourself in a better
light than what you really are and i want to present myself
in a better light than what i really am and somebody starts telling
me what the secrets of their heart stop don't tell me i don't
wanna know about and you wanna know about secrets my heart You
know, let's vaunt ourselves a little bit when it comes to presenting
our best. You know, put your best foot
forward. Show your best side. But not before God. I know I
have the love of the truth when I'm just naked before God. I'm able to bear all the ugliness
of my sin before Him and know that I have acceptance before
Him and know that I'm loved for Christ's sake before Him. We
know that we... You see, the publican who prayed
in the temple that day, he was vaunting himself, wasn't he?
He's praying to God, or at least he was acting like he was. What
a picture of man-made religion. He prayed unto himself and said,
God, I thank Thee that I'm not like other men. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not an adulterer. I tithe
twice a week. I fast. And I'm especially glad
I'm not like that publican over there, the Pharisee. He's praying. And he's baunting himself, wasn't
he? Presenting himself before God
and baunting himself. We know that we have received
the love of the truth, the truth about who we are in light of
the truth about who he is. We know that we've received the
truth about how God remits our sin through the sacrifice of
Christ. When we pray like that publican have mercy upon me, the center. It's not puffed up. It's not
puffed up. First Corinthians chapter four.
Turn back with me just a few pages to first Corinthians chapter
four. Verse six, and these things,
brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to
Apollos for your sake that you might learn in us not to think
of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed
up for one against another. Now, if you've received the love of
the truth, You genuinely believe yourself to be the chief of all
sinners. You believe yourself to be in need of grace more than
anyone else. You believe that no one has ever
received more light, more mercy, more blessings, and more grace
than you and remain as sinful as you are. You believe that
about yourself. You're not puffing yourself up
against someone else. Now, there may be people in this
world that are living a whole lot worse outward behavior, but
you look at them and you think, you've not been given the life
that I've been given. You're just doing what comes
natural to you. I'm sinning in my heart against
light, against grace, which makes my sin worse than yours. To whom
much is given, much is required. You're not puffed up, not if
you receive the love of the truth. You don't look at anybody else
and think, well, I wouldn't do what they did. You know, but
for the grace of God, you'd do anything. We're answering the question,
how do I know if I've received Christ, if I've received the
love of the truth? Because if I don't have the love
of the truth, not the knowledge of the truth, the love of the
truth. And this is God's definition of love that I'm deceived and
I'm going to perish in that deceit because they received not the
love of the truth. First Corinthians chapter eight verse one. Now, as touching things
offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge, but knowledge
puffeth up, charity edifieth. When you stand before God, when
you stand before God, you, Lord, I don't know anything as I ought
to know it. You might try to impress somebody
else with something that you know, but you can't impress God
with it. Can you? Lord, I don't know anything
as I ought to know it. I can't, I can't, I can't present
myself to God based on my knowledge. Um, I've just, I've got to have
his love and his grace towards me. Colossians chapter 2, turn with
me there. Good verse 18. Let no man beguile you of your
reward in a voluntary humility, in worshiping of angels, intruding
into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by
his fleshly mind, and not holding the head, from which all the
body, by joints and bands having nourishment, ministered and knit
together, increases with the increase of God. If you've received the love of
the truth, you're just holding on to the head. You, uh, you're
not puffed up with some experience or some knowledge that you have.
Not before God. We get puffed up before ourselves
a lot and before other men. we're talking about receiving
the love of the truth or don't don't let me be puffed up by
I if you love the truth you can't be puffed up before God use can
do it I go back with me to 1st Corinthians chapter 13 verse 5 if you've received the
love of the truth You cannot behave yourself unseemly before
the truth. Now again, we do unseemly things
a lot. But you can't do it before the truth. You don't make light of the truth. That's being unseemly. I hear
people sometimes, you know, they take scripture and make, turn
a phrase and make a joke out of it. That's, that's being unseemly
before the truth. It just, the truth is precious
to you. You love the truth. You're not
going to be unseemly towards somebody that you love. You can't
be unseemly towards the truth. We don't treat the truth unbecoming. When we speak of the truth and
when we think about the truth, the truth is precious to us.
Why? Because that's Christ. He is
the truth. It doth not behave itself unseemly,
seeketh not her own. Seeketh not her own. If I receive
the love of the truth, I'm not promoting myself before
the truth. I'm not seeking my own glory.
My testimony doesn't begin with I. Scripture says, no flesh should
glory in his presence. Let him that glorieth glory in
the Lord. And so if I've received the love
of the truth, I can't glory in his presence. I can't seek my own. I can't seek God's approval based
on anything that I've done or based on any decision that I've
made. I'm not seeking my own. Is not, verse 5, is not easily
provoked. anger most often times is a defense
mechanism that we use to cover up our insecurities uh... and our uncertainties that's
why nobody will follow a leader that is prone to uh... uh... to being easily provoked
uh... they're just not going to do
it Because the fact that he's easily provoked tells me that
he's not really secure in his position. What happens to politicians when
they lose it emotionally? They're done. They're done. They're
done. Nobody's going to follow after
them anymore after that. A person who's easily provoked
is a person who's covering up their insecurity. If I've received
the love of the truth, I don't have to be angry with anybody. I mean, I've seen people, they
will want to fight over what they believe to be the truth. those who receive the love of
the truth have no need to fight for it we're secure week we know
that what we believe is true we know that who we believe is
true and that's the guts that's important thing isn't it paul
paul said i know whom uh... i have believed and i am persuaded
i'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which i've committed
under him against that day out you know that doesn't really
matter what anybody else thanks or whatever else was to say I'm
not easily provoked when it comes to the truth. I might be insecure and lack
confidence in a lot of other areas of life. And I may show
myself because of that insecurity, but when it comes to the truth,
we just have absolute confidence that Christ is true and that
we have him and we have no need to fight with anybody about it. Um, they who have received the
love of the truth thinketh no evil. I cannot entertain any
thoughts of disagreement about the truth. I cannot. I've talked to people all the
time and they'll, they'll take a position and I'll say, but
this is what the scripture says. and we'll go through this you
want that take another position what then i'll say what this
is what the scripture says and actually have people say you
don't forget what the scripture says i want to hear about that
this is what i think this is how i feel uh... if you receive the love of the
truth whatever god says you believe it no if ands or buts about You just hold it. You can't think
any evil about the truth. If you've received the love of
the truth, you rejoice not in iniquity. Now what is it to rejoice
in iniquity? The Lord said in Exodus chapter
30 verse 7 that He keeps mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity,
transgressions, and sin, and that He will by no means clear
the guilty. Every sin is going to be punished. God cannot not punish sin, albeit
not by no means clear the guilty. But I'm gonna show mercy. I'm
gonna show mercy towards iniquity, transgression, and sin. Now those three words define
sin from three different perspectives. Iniquity, that's the self-righteousness.
That's the things that men do in hopes that they're earning
some credit with God. And it doesn't measure up. uh... transgression that's the that's
the stuff men are shamed of that's the things that that's when you
break god's law you know you've broken god's law your heart your
your conscience smites you about it and uh... and that's that's
transgression sin is what we are so god says i'm gonna show
mercy by forgiving inequity transgression and sin Now, the mystery of iniquity
that Paul talks about in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 is the fact that the
natural man doesn't believe that the good things he does has to
be forgiven. He didn't believe that. Why? Because he's taking pleasure
in his unrighteousness. He's deceived by his unrighteousness. And so what does the Lord say
about iniquity? If you've received the love of the truth, look at
verse 6, you rejoice not in iniquity. You don't take pleasure in your
good works, believing that somehow your works have given you any
advantage or any favor whatsoever with God. You know it's iniquitous. You know it needs to be forgiven.
Why? Because you've received the love
of the truth. You love being reminded that your iniquity,
your good works, the best thing you've ever done is iniquitous
before God. You love being reminded that
the only righteousness you have before God is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Why? Because you've received
the love of the truth. You rejoice in the truth. the truth of the gospel, the
truth of the Lord Jesus. That's your joy. He's your life. Uh, what Paul said, we are the
true circumcision, which, uh, worship God in the spirit, rejoice
in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. That's, that's
how I know I've received the love of the truth. That's how
I know that I've been circumcised in my heart, because I'm able
to rejoice in Christ Jesus. And I can't find any reason for
rejoicing anywhere else. I rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. Thrills
my soul to hear about Him. The hope and comfort that I have
is all bound up in the truth. It beareth all things. You see
that in verse 7? It beareth all things. Now that word beareth means to
conceal or hide. David said it like this, Thy
word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against God.
so to bear all things is to is to meditate on the truth of God's
Word and to see how how God's Word well Jeremiah put it like
this thy words were found and I did eat them and thy word was
unto me the joy of my heart So we bear the Word of God in our
hearts when we love the truth. It believes all things. You see
that in verse 7? Believes all things. From Genesis
chapter 1 verse 1 to Revelation chapter 22 verse 21, you believe
it all. You just believe it all. How
much of God's Word do you have to believe to be a believer?
Every word of it. Understand it? No. Believe it? No, it's God's Word. God makes you a believer. That's
the definition of being a believer. You believe God. Believe all
things. If you've received the love of
the truth, you hope all things. Your hope is in the truth. My
hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. He's giving you the love
of the truth. All of your hope is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. You're not hoping in your feelings.
You're not hoping in your experiences. You're not hoping in your works.
You're not hoping in your free will. You're hoping in Christ. And you endure all things. You
see that in verse 7? He's giving you the love of the
truth. You remain under the truth. That's what the word endure means.
To abide or to remain under. You are under Christ. Always. And you like being there. You
like being at His foot. Verse 8. Charity never fails. If I've received as a gift of
grace from God the love of the truth, then the definition that
God gives of love will be true of my love for Christ, my love
for the gospel. Otherwise, I'll be deceived in
my unrighteousness and in all that I'll perish. May God be
pleased to give us love of the truth. Alright, let's take a
break.