If you would turn with me this
morning to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. The group of believers at
Thessalonica had been greatly disturbed with the interference
of false teachers. These wolves in sheep's clothing
had written letters to the church there forged with Paul's name,
telling them that Christ was coming back and that right soon. And as men and women by nature
do, these folks, according to verse two, were shaken in mind. They were troubled in spirit
so much that some of them began selling their businesses, quitting
their jobs, and becoming completely sidetracked. from the worship
of Christ and the ministry of the gospel. Over the years of
my lifetime, there have been times where men predicted a date
on which the Lord was to return. There was one gentleman by the
name of Harold Camping that has two, maybe three times at this
point, made predictions that didn't come true. Because no
man knows the day or the hour. That's God's business. Every
time this happens, men do just that. They begin to quit their
jobs, sell their businesses, and all they do is get sidetracked
from the worship of Christ and the preaching and the ministry
of the gospel. These weak believers were so
taken up with the coming of the Lord that they just began to
neglect worship. And they forgot the one thing
needful. You see, there is one thing needful. Anything that involves us so
much in something that it takes our minds off Christ and the
preaching of his gospel, that's not of God. And it should be
left alone. Paul said, God forbid that I
should glory or boast in anything save or except in the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I am determined to know
nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That
is the one thing needful, and I've seen religion gets so involved
and so caught up with building a church structure that they
miss the one thing needful for the church and that's the preaching
of Christ and Him crucified. I have seen men so busy building
their own so-called ministry that they've missed the ministry
of reconciliation that the Lord God has given to all of His elect.
You see, it pleased the Lord by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. So should we not be preaching?
Men talk about their ministries. We've got a ministry for the
young, a ministry for the old, a ministry for the married, a
ministry for the single, a ministry for the divorced, a ministry
for the widowed. But there's really only one ministry,
and that's the ministry of the preaching of Christ to the lost. and telling them how that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures. I remember being
with Brother Montgomery one time, don't remember where we were,
and someone found out he was a preacher. Very often he didn't
tell folks he was because he knew how they'd act. And I understand
that totally. I don't tell everyone today that
I am. But someone knew that he was a preacher, and they began
to say, well, is the Lord blessing your ministry? And what about
your ministry? And this and that and the other. And Brother Montgomery said,
I don't have a ministry. The Lord Jesus has a ministry. It's the ministry of God. It's
the ministry of reconciliation. And he said, I'm just a servant,
a servant preaching Christ and Him crucified. But it's not my
ministry. We can get caught up with those
kind of things and most of the time it's a deterrent from what
we really need and the one thing needful. Even now, modern day
religion seems to only concentrate on all they're doing for God.
You hear it and I hear it too. Well, we're doing this, we're
doing that for God. So much that they completely
ignore the gospel message of what Christ has done for sinners. And that's the issue. That's
the gospel. That's the good news. Tell me
how that Christ died for my sins according to the scripture. No
sinner will ever be saved by doing. You know why? Because
salvation is a done deal. It's a finished work. Christ
finished the work of redemption for His elect. And I suppose
the hardest thing for us to do is nothing. All the elect of
God do is believe that Christ has finished for them everything
that God has required of them. And you'll hear me say that several
times in a message and probably in every message because that
is how Christ died for our sins. That's how God remained holy
and just and at the same time justified ungodly sinners without
compromising his justice or his holy law. The gospel is how Christ
died for our sins. He died under the wrath, under
the judgment, and under the justice of God. Why? Because it was the
wrath, the judgment, and the justice of His elect. The justice, wrath, and the judgment
of God that we deserve. He is a just God and a Savior. Let's never become so involved
in the work of serving God that we forget to trust and tell others
about the finished work of redemption that God has done for us in,
by, and through the Lord Jesus Christ. So let me ask you a question. I ask myself the same. It's a
good question. Are our thoughts centered on
Christ? Do we think about what he's done
for his people? Are we proclaiming to sinners
how Christ died for our sins? That's what the gospel is. The
gospel is telling sinners how Christ reconciled a thrice holy
God to ungodly men and women. He did so by perfectly keeping
the law of God in their place and satisfying God's holy justice
in their stead. God had to put away our sin according
to justice. God doesn't just flippantly forgive
sin, it's got to be dealt with, it's got to be paid for. The
soul that sins, it shall die. And either it's gonna be you
that die because of your sin, or a worthy and suitable sacrifice,
substitute. And there's only one. And He,
I proclaim to you this morning, Jesus Christ. God Almighty, the
Holy One that we've offended, justly worked out a perfect righteousness
for His people. And there was only one way to
do it. He must provide for Himself a sacrifice to fulfill His holy
law and satisfy His justice. And that's accomplished only
one way, by God providing Himself as the perfect sacrifice. And
that's the heart of the gospel, it's substitution. I never grow
tired of hearing it, do you? No. Jesus Christ, God the Son,
in the place of those that God gave him, perfectly kept, fulfilled,
and satisfied God's wrath, judgment, and justice in their room and
stand. And this is how Christ died for
our sins. He died the just for the unjust
to bring us to God. Now here in 2 Thessalonians chapter
2, Paul again reminds these believers what he had told them in his
previous letter to them. He reminds them that the gospel
came unto them in the power of the Holy Spirit and with much
assurance. He reminds them that they received
the Word of God with joy, not as the Word of man, but as the
Word of God. He said in verse 5, Remember
ye not that when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
You know, the first little thing, and I'm talking about myself,
The first little thing that comes up in our lives that troubles
us or we get excited or bothered about, we immediately seem to
get sidetracked and are quickly shaken in mind and troubled in
spirit. So, are my thoughts really centered
on Christ? Are yours? Is our conversation
Christ-centered? Are our thoughts consumed with
Him who loved us and gave Himself for us? Do we constantly rejoice
in His perfect work of righteousness done for us? Or have we, like
the Thessalonians, been sidetracked? The message of Paul to this group
of believers in our text was to bring them back to the one
and only thing that really mattered. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Look at verse 13. This is a verse
that we are all very familiar with. It's often quoted in many
gospel messages, most of them. Paul says, 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. Now
let me just say right up front, I make no bones about it, I love
the doctrine of election. I love it. From the beginning
God had chosen you to salvation. God's elect are chosen to salvation. And that's what I want you to
see. Election is not salvation. Election is unto salvation. God's elect must still be regenerated. They must still be called by
the Holy Spirit. They must still be born again. They must be given genuine repentance
toward God. They must be given faith in Christ. They must believe. There are
some that say if God elected a people, it don't matter if
they ever hear the gospel or not. that God will somehow, someway
save them. That couldn't be further from
the truth. Election is unto salvation, and it pleased the Lord by the
foolishness of preaching to save those that believe. Election
is to salvation. God's elect must still believe,
but it all begins with God's choosing. And God's choosing
was from the beginning, before the foundation of the world,
before God ever spoke one thing into existence. Christ was the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world for a specific chosen
people. It's beyond me how men and women
can deny the sovereign election of God. I heard a man say not
long ago that election not in the Bible. He said, it's not
in the Bible. What do you mean it's not in
the Bible? It says right here in our text, God hath chosen,
and it's true. From the beginning, God hath
chosen a people. Now that word elect, an election
in the original language, means chosen. If the people of God
are called the elect, And if Christ himself called them the
elect, then there has to be an election. Hold your place here
in 2 Thessalonians and turn with me to the Gospel of Mark chapter
13 if you would. Look at Mark chapter 13 verse
20. Here, speaking of the end times,
the Lord Jesus says in verse 20, And except that the Lord
had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved. But for
the Elixir whom He hath chosen, He hath shortened the days. Look
at verse 22 of the same chapter here. Our Lord said, for false
Christs and false prophets shall rise and shall show signs and
wonders to seduce. And if it were possible, even
the elect would be deceived. But it's not possible. In verse
27, our Lord said, and then shall he send his angels and shall
gather together who? His elect. from the four winds,
from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of
heaven. In the book of Colossians, chapter
3, verse 12, Paul wrote, put on therefore as the elect of
God, holy and beloved, vows of mercies, kindness, humbleness
of mind, meekness, longsuffering. In Titus chapter 1 verse 1, Paul
refers to himself as Paul, a servant of God according to the faith
of God's elect. Peter addresses election in his
letter in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 2. He says it's written to the
elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. The beloved
John used the word frequently. Why should we apologize for a
word that is used over and over and over again in scripture?
Why should we not defend such a glorious teaching and revelation
that God chose a people for himself to redeem for his own namesake,
for his own honor and for his own glory? And it was for no
other reason than it pleased the Lord before time ever was,
to choose, elect, and to make some, his people, that they might
be holy and without blame before him in love, Ephesians 1.4. Now,
look over at John chapter 15. I know you can quote this verse,
but I want us to see it. I want you to see it in your
Bible, John chapter 15, verse 16. Our Lord here with just complete
plainness and simplicity said in verse 16, you have not chosen
me, but I've chosen you. We didn't choose God. He chose
us. Our Lord said I have chosen you.
Look down at verse 19. He said, if ye were of the world,
the world would love his own. But because ye are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you. Look over a couple pages to John
chapter 17. No less than six times in the
Lord's high priestly prayer here, He refers to His people as those
whom the Father gave Him. Christ speaking of Himself in
verse 2 says, As thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that
He should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given Him. Who gives eternal life? God has
given all power to Christ to give eternal life to as many
as God gave Him. All the Father giveth me shall
come to me. Not a one of them will be lost.
In verse 6, Christ our Lord says, I've manifested thy name unto
the men that thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were,
and thou gavest them me. Who's were they? They were gods. And he gave them to Christ. And
they have kept thy word. In verse 9, the Lord Jesus says,
I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. In verse
11, Christ declared in the last part of the verse, Holy Father,
keep through thine own name those whom thou has given me that they
may be one as we are. In verse 12, we're told by God
the Son, while I was with them in the world, I kept them in
thy name. Those that thou gave us me, I have kept. And in verse 24, Father, I will
that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I
am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me, for
thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. Now, that's election. That's the choosing of God. Now,
back in our text, in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13, we immediately see
who the blessings of God are upon. Paul says, we're bound
to give thanks for you, brethren beloved of the Lord. I can't
tell you how many times I've read that verse, quoted that
verse, and never really thought about what God calls us here. Brethren beloved of the Lord. Now the word brethren is a very
special title. It's a name shared with all who
are the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Even you ladies
in one sense are brethren. First, we're all brethren in
Adam. We're brethren by common nature. We're born of the same
parents. We've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. The term brethren also implies
a common experience. The Greek word actually means
connected from the womb. In other words, we came from
the same place. We experience the same fall.
We live in the same house. We partake of the same food.
By nature, by birth, we're all in the same condition. Yet in
this glorious verse of scripture, the word brethren means much,
much, much more than that. It means beloved of the Lord. God's people are so much the
beloved of the Lord that it becomes part of the name brethren. Did
you notice that? Paul refers to them as brethren
beloved of the Lord, without so much as a comma between the
words brethren and beloved. You see, to be a brother is to
be beloved of the Lord. And it indicates that all believers
have the same Father. And it indicates that they all
have love one for another. We know that we've passed from
death to life. How? By our love for the brethren. It intimates that the beloved
of the Lord are all heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ
Jesus. We can all say and pray together,
our Father which art in heaven. God is our Father, if we'd be
brethren. And after referring to us with
so much love and so much affection, loving us the same as He loves
His Son. Did you hear what I just said?
If you're in Christ, God loves you the same as He loves His
Son. We see why it's so. God hath
from the beginning chosen you. It simply pleased the Lord to
make you His people. Why? For no other reason than
His own great namesake. That's what He said in 1 Samuel
12. Why? Pleased the Lord to make you
His people. Election is true and election is eternal. God
hath from the beginning chosen or elected you to salvation.
God elected us to make us holy and without blame, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. That being Christ. Where were
God's people made accepted? In the Beloved. In Christ Jesus. How were God's elect made holy
and without blame? Being chosen in Him. When did
this occur? Before the foundation of the
world. Election is eternal. But that's not all. Election
is personal. God hath from the beginning chosen
you. I'm glad it says that. I see
how maybe he could choose you, but me? God has from the beginning
chosen you. God told Jeremiah, he said, before
I formed thee in the belly, I knew you. That phrase I knew you in
the scriptures is an intimate, personal relationship. You remember when the angel told
Mary that she was going to have a child? She said, how shall
this be, seeing that I know not a man? And what she meant was
is that she had not been intimate with a man. And that's what the
word knew and know means. It describes an intimate relationship. The Lord said to those workers
of iniquity in Mark chapter seven, he said, I never knew you. I
was never intimate with you. I never had an intimate relationship
with you. Believe me when I tell you that
the election of God is personal. Oh, I wish people could understand
that. Election is not our enemy. Election
is our friend. A believer will thank God that
he chose. They're bound to do so. That
word bound means indebted. We're indebted to thank God.
for His mercy and grace to us. A believer will thank God that
He called them. You will not come that you might
have life. You cannot come that you might
have life. But God makes you willing and
able in the day of His power. Isn't that what the scriptures
tell us? Salvations of the Lord. The election of God is true.
The election of God is eternal. The election of God is personal.
I've heard preachers say, oh, I believe in election, but if
I preached it, it'd split my church. Do we dare not preach
that which is true? Do we avoid the truth of Scripture
just because it may offend someone? We better not. You see, all Scripture
is given by the inspiration of God, and it's profitable for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Yes, we are
elect according to the foreknowledge of God. Yes, we are chosen in
Christ before the foundation of the world. But election's
not salvation. You'll never be saved by believing
only in the doctrine of election. There'll be many in hell, trust
me when I say, there'll be many in hell who believed in five
Calvinistic points. The sinners are saved by believing
and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. Election is unto salvation. And when God shows us our need
of Christ, we see that it was He that chose us before the foundation
of the world, removing all doubt about who does the saving. God
has from the beginning chosen a people. Shout of God, God has
from the beginning chosen you. What's God chosen you to? Has
He chosen you to service? Has He chosen you to doing? That
seems to be what a lot of people think, but that's not what it
says. It says in our text that God has chosen you to salvation. Jesus Christ is salvation. God
has chosen you to the forgiveness of sins. God has chosen you to
eternal life, to a glorious and vital union with His beloved
Son. It's God's election that always
produces the result. And the result is believing on
Christ. All God's elect will believe
on Christ and trust in Him, every single one of them. Can there
be one who's elect that don't believe on Christ? No, not God's
elect. And I have you to notice that
in our text, there are two infallible marks of election. It says God
had chosen you to salvation, first, through sanctification
of the spirit, and secondly, in belief. of the truth. First of all, every elect person
who is chosen by the Father, and who's redeemed by the Son,
and who's called by the Spirit, receives spiritual life, and
when they do, they will at the same time receive spiritual hunger. They desire to grow in the grace
and in the knowledge of the Lord, and they know that this is done
by feeding upon this manna from heaven and drinking of this water
of life. The sanctification of the spirit
is defined by many as to be set apart for a special use. Most
times that kind of thinking will lead to pride in a haughty spirit,
men thinking that God has called them to do something sensational.
If sinners are set apart for special use or specific work,
it would simply be to worship and glorify God and preach Christ,
the Lamb's lamb. But the word sanctification means
to be made pure. It means to be cleansed and made
holy. And it was God who chose to set
apart a specific people in order for them to be conformed to the
perfect righteousness and holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ. God
has conformed you, child of God, into the image of His Son. And
sanctification of the Spirit, it's not anything external. It's
not reformation of life. It's not obedience to the law.
It's not outward submission to gospel ordinance. It's an inward
internal holiness imputed to us by Christ. Christ was made
sin for God's elect that they might be made. What? The very
righteousness of God in Him. If you and I miss that election
is in Christ and our forgiveness is only due to our being in Him,
our union with Him, then we've missed election. Behold, my servant,
whom I uphold, mine elect, speaking of Christ, in whom my soul delighteth,
I put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. We're elected in him. He's God's
elect. We're elected in him. By our
union with Christ, we are sons and daughters of the living God.
Paul writing to God's people there in Ephesians 1 verse 4
tells us plainly, according as He hath chosen us where? In Him. Before the foundation of the
world. Why? That we should be holy and without blame before
Him in love. The only way you and I will ever
be holy and without blame before God in love is to be chosen,
elected, and found in Christ. That's the reason for my believing
and my trusting in Him. My believing is the result of
my election. Election is unto salvation. How is this accomplished? Through
sanctification of the Spirit and secondly, belief of the truth.
We believe the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. There are two
marks of Christ's sheep. They hear His voice and they
follow Him. Have you heard His voice? Are
you following? God's people hear His Word. God's
people love His Word. God's people believe His Word. And because they do, they follow
Him. They want to do what God says. They want to be where God
is. Our Lord said in the Garden of Gethsemane, not my will, but
thy will be done. That's the place that we follow
Christ to. The place where the will of God
is our chief desire. No, election is not salvation. Election is unto salvation. Election
is not the Savior. I'm not saved because I'm elect. I'm saved because Christ died
for me. I'm saved because Christ died
for me and it's then that I see that Christ is the Lamb slain
before or from the foundation of the world. God chose me and
purposed to save me before I was ever born, that the purpose of
God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him,
the caller. Are you still in 2 Thessalonians
2? Look at verse 14. Whereunto He
called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ. How does God call His elect people? Paul said, by our gospel. Not just by any gospel. Paul said in another place, if
he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, there are other Jesuses.
whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit
which we have not received, or another gospel which ye have
not accepted, let him be accursed." We better not be corrupted from
the simplicity that is in Christ. There's simplicity in this gospel
that we believe. There is no other gospel but
the simple gospel of Christ. The Lord Jesus doing for elect
sinners perfectly what God's law demanded of them. And I might
add his perfect law. There's only one person that
could ever save us. He must be a man in order to
die in our place, yet he must be God in order to satisfy his
own law and justice. Jesus Christ, the God-man. All
God and all man is the only one who could do for us what God's
law and justice demanded. And I suppose this next statement
is one of the most glorious things that I have ever heard. It is
by this glorious gospel that God's elect people, now look
at this, obtain the very glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
what does that mean? Well that's what it says in verse
14, where unto He called you by our gospel to the obtaining,
to the acquisition of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. You
see, it's in the gospel of substitution that you and I become just like
Christ. Being justified is not being
just as if I had never sinned. Being justified is I've never
sinned. I have no sin. I am conformed
perfectly to the image of Christ, my Savior and my substitute.
When God looks at me, He sees His beloved Son. In Christ I'm
without spot, I'm without blemish. I'm unblameable and unreprovable
in God's sight. And that's all that matters.
For by one offering, He, Christ Jesus, hath, past tense, perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Perfected forever. Did you hear that? Perfected
forever. I sure like the sound of that.
That's what I must be to be accepted of God. Perfect forever. And in Christ, I am as perfect
as He is.