Back to 2 Thessalonians. I'm
glad that I'm able to sing that song, Jesus is mine, with understanding. To sing that with understanding
and to sing that with affection. I am His and He is mine." Pray the Lord, make us know what
that really is. I titled the message, The Faith
of God's Elect Vindicated. Now, Paul writes this second
letter to the Thessalonians, shortly after his first letter. They are still on his heart. He knows the persecution they
are going through. And so he writes this letter,
some say within a few weeks, some say a few months, but it
was not too long after the first letter. And he deals with a few things
in this epistle that he didn't deal with in the first one. We'll
see that in chapter 2 when he deals with the Antichrist, that
man of sin, and the second coming of Christ, that before that happens,
there must first come a falling away. Falling away from the faith,
from the gospel. And he assures the Thessalonians,
and us, that their faith and their patience will be vindicated. That when all is said and done,
when the Lord winds this all up, whatever we go through, whatever
losses we may suffer, it will be worth it. Now, he says here
in verses 1 and 2, he uses his usual salutation, but that's
not just Say, well, that's the usual salutation. Let's move
on. Let's always read the Word of God. Let's read it like we're
reading it for the first time. And let's read it like the letter's
written to us, because it is. This letter's written to us.
You know, when I read Ephesians and Philippians, Colossians,
when I read the Word of God, I read it not as a letter to
the Thessalonians. I read it as a letter to us.
It's to us this... You know, the Word of God is
relevant to every day. It's never outdated. Never outdated. It's relevant to every day. Now,
he says here that he's writing to the church that's in God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul did not raise up the church
in Thessalonica. God did. God raised it up. The church has always been in
the Lord Jesus Christ from the beginning. And all that Paul
did was water them with the gospel, and God gave the increase. That
church, that church, those people there that made up the church,
they were in Christ before the foundation of the world, just
like this church here. There was a time that the gospel
was not preached here. And there was a time that many
of you all were here and you didn't know the gospel. And then
one day you understood the gospel, the gospel came, God sent the
gospel, you understood the gospel, you believed the gospel. You
know why? Because God had put you in Christ
like you put a seed in the ground before the world was created.
And in time, in time, the gospel came here and was preached. You were watered and God gave
the increase. And here you sit, like trees
of righteousness spoken of in Isaiah, the planting of the Lord. He planted you. He planted you. He said, every plant which my
heavenly Father has not planted shall be plucked up. Well, that
means some of them have been planted. And you have been planted. And you've been planted of God.
Of God. God raised that church. The church
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what gives me real
comfort. As a pastor here, I know that
my time is, God has my time marked. You know, when I started and
when I'll end. But the church doesn't start
and end with me. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's His church.
It's His church. It's not mine. That's His. And
He says, grace and peace. And this is what we need more
of. I need more of this. As I get older, I realize I need
more grace. Do you need more grace? Which
would you rather that I pray for as your pastor? That God
increase you financially or increase you spiritually? If you'll look at Paul's prayers
in Ephesians and Philippians, he prays for their spiritual
well-being. He knows God's going to take
care of their temporal blessings. He knows that. Your Heavenly
Father knoweth what things you have need of. But what we really
need is a growth in grace. I need more grace. I need more
grace. I need more of the unmerited
favor from my Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, my Savior.
That's what I need, and that's what you need. And peace. Oh, what's that worth? Let me
read you something that I copied today. The Peace of the Believer. I'm going to read this to you.
I copied it. Through the Middlesex Narrows,
the Winnosky River rushes with impetuous torrent. When nearly
through the narrows, the waters dash with tremendous force against
a great rock that rises majestically many feet into the air. On this
rock, Near the top is a hollow place of considerable size into
which the rain falling collects and so forms a beautiful pool.
Get this in your mind. So tranquil this pool becomes
that it lies there like a mirror, reflecting the blue sky, the
fleecy clouds, and the glories of the setting sun. Below, at
the foot of the rock, the waters are in wild commotion. So on
the Rock of Ages, rising high above and withstanding the world's
wild rushing flood, peacefully rests the believer reflecting
the glories of the world above. kept in perfect peace. When I read that I could see
that big rock sticking up in that torrent river running down
and just rushing past it and on top of that rock there's this
pool and it's steel and it reflects the heavens and the sun and there's
no disturbance there. And that water is resting right
up on top of that rock while down below you've got this raging
commotion going on. That's the peace of a believer.
Peace, grace and peace be to you in the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul said he was bound to
give thanks there in verse 3. You know, a thankful heart is
of God. I'm telling you, God has never
saved a sinner from his or her sins that did not make that sinner
happy and thankful. An unthankful heart, an ungrateful
heart is a lost person. It's lost. It's never been saved. It's never tasted of the grace
of God. And we are bound or it is our duty to thank God for
one another. Are you thankful for this fellowship? Are you really thankful for this
fellowship? Samuel said, God forbid that
I should sin against the Lord and not praying for you. Taking
you before the throne of grace and giving thanks for you. Thanks
for your fellowship. Thanks for your love. Let me give you a few things
that real thankfulness prevents. It prevents us from being insensible
to the blessings of God. I wanted to sing this song, but
I don't think you have sang it here. We're going to have to
learn it. Count Your Blessings. Have you sang it? Okay. I've been singing it all day
in my head. I've been singing it all day. I wanted to sing
it tonight, but I didn't think you knew it. Count Your Blessings. Name them one by one. David said that God's thoughts
to him, his thoughts to us, were more than can be reckoned up
in order. Can't count them. Can't count
them. And then, thankfulness will keep
you from murmuring. Those two don't go together.
You can't be complaining on one hand and turn around and say,
I thank you, Lord, for... No, you can't do it. A really
thankful heart keeps you from murmuring and
complaining against God's providence. Job said... Let me read it to
you over here in Job. I think it's Job chapter 2. Here in Job chapter 2. Let me
read this. I'll show you the thankful heart
of Job. Job chapter 2, verse... Let me
start in verse 10. Verse 9. Then said his wife unto
him, Job's wife, speaking to Job, Dost thou still retain thine
integrity? Curse God, and die. That's tough, isn't it, coming
from your wife? Curse God and die. But he said unto her, Thou
speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? And shall
we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive
evil? And all this did not Job sin with his lips. And then in
chapter 1, Job said, naked came I out of my mother's
womb, and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave, and the
Lord taketh away. Blessed, blessed." Now, you have
to realize and understand the great sorrow this man is in.
And he's standing here with a true heart, saying, blessed, blessed. The Lord giveth, and the Lord
taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessing God, giving
thanks. And then a thankful heart will
keep you from distrusting the Lord. It's the Lord. Let Him do as He will. Do you
think God can do anything wrong? Can the Lord do anything wrong?
I know you don't think He can. I know that. We trust Him. And a thankful heart just trusts
Him for time and eternity. Time and eternity. Today and
forever. And then a thankful heart keeps
you from spiritual pride. What do you have, Paul said to
the Corinthians, that you did not receive? And if you received it, then why
would you brag about it as though you didn't? But what do you have? Can you name one thing that you
have that God didn't give you? We have received all blessing
from Him. And then he speaks here, he says
he gives thanks, but he gives thanks to God for them because
he says, "...your faith groweth exceedingly." And what I see
here in verse 3 is this. Trials produce growth. He knew the trials they were
going through. He calls it persecution. Now this wasn't a disagreement
going on. This was real persecution. And this persecution caused their
faith to grow exceedingly. And I have learned that for faith
to grow, it's going to grow in the soil of trials and heartaches. That's how it's going to grow. You've got to experience some
things. Trials do not shut down faith. It makes faith grow exceedingly. Trials are like fertilize. It's
like fertilize, you know, you take in the springtime, you know,
every springtime, my dad, and this, he's 89 years old, and
he's fertilizing the yard. I'm like, Dad, you're not gonna
be the one mowing it. That's why I taught you, you're
not gonna be the one mowing it, James is. But he's out there fertilizing
that yard, and James said, I've gotta mow that thing almost twice
a week now. Well, that's what trials are to faith. It's like
fertilize. That's what causes it to grow.
That's why it grows. Where there's real faith, there
will be real growth. A growing faith is a living faith.
It's an active faith. And it's faith, now listen, it
is faith rooted in the Lord Jesus Christ. A faith that is rooted
in Christ cannot be rooted in any better soil. That's the best
soil. Faith that is rooted in Christ
is going to grow. It's going to grow. It can't
help it. It's in Christ. It's in Christ. And when faith
grows, all other graces grow with it. That's why he speaks
of their charity. He said, "...your faith groweth
exceedingly, and the love that is charity of every one of you
toward each other abounds." Well, that's because faith is growing.
And when faith grows in Christ, every grace grows with it. Love,
joy, kindness, hope, they all grow with it. They grow with
it. And where love grows internally,
it will also grow externally. It'll come out. Henry used to
say, it's going to leak out on you. I couldn't tell you how
many times I've heard him say that over the years. It'll leak
out on you. If you believe God, it'll leak out on you. If the
love of God's in you, it'll leak out on you. What's in you is going to come
out. I promise you. What's in you is going to come
out. And then he gives thanks, he mentions also their patience
along with faith. These are in direct proportion
to each other, faith and patience. Where there's growth in faith,
there'll be growth in patience. Listen, under trials, you'll
learn how to take it. You'll learn how to take the
heartaches that come along, and the trials, and the disappointments.
You'll learn how to take those disappointments. Patience will
grow. He speaks here, "...in all your
persecutions that you endure." See, that's patience. You endure
persecution. You're not trying to get a quick
fix. Isn't that what we try to do so often? Just give me a pill
or something. Give me a quick fix for it. But
he's saying here, there's no quick fix now for growth in grace
and growth in faith. There's no quick fix. God's going
to send trials, and you know what's going to happen? You're
going to go through them, and you're going to learn over time
to endure them. And I tell you why I use the
word endure, because they're not easy. If they were easy,
they would not be called a trial. A trial is something that hurts. It's something that you feel,
and you don't soon forget it. Real faith is enduring faith. It's persevering faith. Now, when the Lord comes, He's
going to turn here in just a minute and talk about judgment. And
He's going to tell us this, when the Lord comes, there's going
to be real joy. In some, there's going to be real joy. And in
some, there's going to be real terror. Real terror. I believe it's in the book of
Revelation where they cry for the rocks and the mountains to
fall on them and hide them from the face of the wrath of the
Lamb. So much for sweet little Jesus,
huh? He's going to be the one. He's going to be the judge. He's
going to be the one they're going to deal with. The one they despise
and rejected? This one who wants to save everybody
if they let him? No, he's going to be the judge. He's going to
be the one they're going to deal with. Now it says here in verse
5, that which... well, let me go back to verse
4 and read it along with it. So that we ourselves glory in
you in the churches of God, we brag on you for your patience
of faith and all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure,
which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God. God's making it manifest that
you're His. You know, that's one of the things
that trials and persecution accomplishes. It demonstrates and proves that
you're His. That you're His. That you may
be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which you also suffer. There's going to be a manifest
righteous judgment. The believer's faith will be
vindicated. In the end, when the Lord comes,
and through their suffering, they will be proven to be worthy
of the kingdom of God. What God puts them through. They will be proven to be, first
of all, sons of God. And if you're a son of God, through
the Lord Jesus Christ, you are worthy of the kingdom of God.
And the second thing this righteous judgment is going to prove is
this, the wicked is going to be punished for their sins. No one gets away with anything. You think, well, they got away
with it. No, they didn't. No, they didn't. When the books
are open, as we read in Revelation, when the books are open, every thought, every idle word, Judgment is going to be a day
of surprises. Who would think that my thoughts,
now, if I'm a lost person, that my thoughts are going to be brought
up and dealt with? Thoughts that you don't know,
you never see. We have a lot of thoughts nobody knows about
except God. And He knows every one of them.
He knows every one of them. Every idle word, He said, is
going to be brought. I mean, we do a lot of idle chatting,
don't we? Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. He said every idle word
is going to be brought into judgment. That's how strict God's judgment
is. Aren't you glad for the Lord
Jesus Christ? He suffered for every idle word.
Every idle thought, every foolish thought, every ungodly thought,
he suffered for that. All my idle thoughts and all
my idle words and all my foolish deeds and sinful deeds, he suffered
for it. He put that away. The judgment
of the believer passed on him and we don't have anything to
fear. We have nothing to fear. And it's only right, listen,
seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation
to them that trouble you. It's only right. It's only right for God to punish
the wicked, seeing it's a righteous thing. You know, here's what
we have to understand. When God punishes the wicked,
it is not God getting even. It's just a righteous judgment. It's a righteous thing for God
to do. Put it this way, it is the right thing to do. It's the
right thing to do. Or God wouldn't do it. It's the
right thing to do. Now, believers need not be feared. They need not fear this, because as I said, their judgment
is passed in Christ. What you and I need to learn
to do in tribulations, in persecutions, or in trouble, in trials, we
need to learn this, to rest. We need to learn to just sit
down and rest, like Mary was seated at the Master's feet,
learning of Him. We need to rest and sit down
at the feet of Christ. So Paul says that you rest with
us. Rest with us. Judgment's not
going to touch you. Rest in His promises. I tell you what, absorb, digest,
remember the promises of God's. You'll need them. You'll need
them at different times in your life, different promises. are going to be like the chair
that holds you up. His promises. Get to know the
promises of God. They'll scotch you up when you
need them. Rest in His promises. Rest in
His person. He's the God-man. He's got all
the power. needed to bring me through and
out of every situation. He's got the power. Then rest
in Him by waiting for Him. Now listen, if you're walking
around the house and you're wringing your hands and you're all anxious
and you're worried, that's not rest. That's not rest. Rest is when you can go over,
sit down, and wait on the Lord. I mean with some comfort, with
some kind of ease of mind. Now he has to enable you to do
this, but I tell you what, take my yoke upon you, he said, and
learn of me. And the more you do that, the
more you'll be able to rest in times of trouble. The closer
your relationship is to Christ, the easier it will be to find
rest in whatever trouble comes your way. I'm trying to figure out the
best way to say it. It's like the relationship we
have in Christ can always grow. I want a deep, deep relationship
with my Lord before I leave this world. When I lay down to die,
or however I do it, I don't know how I'll die. When I lay down
to die, I want to be looking for Him, not looking to die.
Not looking to die, but looking for Him. Looking for Him. And the more we come to know
Christ, the more we come to grow in grace and knowledge of Him, the least apt we are to fall
and stumble when things come our way. I heard a story one time, a mother,
she heard her little boy fall out of bed. She heard a thump,
and she ran in there, and she goes, what happened? He said,
I guess I stayed too close to the edge when I got in. That's
why I'm saying move, I don't know how to say this, but move
deeper into Christ. Move deeper into him. And the
storms of life won't shake you so much, because you're on that
rock. You're on that rock. Now, it says in verse 7, And
to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven. This is real. And when He comes,
and when He's revealed from heaven, He's in heaven right now, we
can't see Him. I've never seen Jesus Christ with these eyes.
But in a little while, and the time keeps getting shorter, I
will. I will. And one day, He's going
to be revealed from heaven. This world that mocks Him, this
world that makes nothing of Him, He's going to be revealed from
heaven, and He's going to be revealed from heaven with His
mighty angels. You're talking about the captain
of our salvation coming with a train behind him of angels. It says, mighty angels. What a glorious sight! What a
glorious sight that's going to be when the Lord Jesus Christ
appears with mighty angels. And here's how he's going to
appear. In flaming fire. That's what he's going to appear
as. In flaming fire. He's not just going to come and
shoot fire at somebody. No, that's going to be his appearance. It speaks of judgment. Of judgment. in flaming fire, taking vengeance
on them that know not God, taking vengeance first of all, maybe
not in this order, but on the heathen. Every man is going to
be judged, the heathen is going to be judged by the light God
has given him. Every person outside of Christ
will be judged by the light they are given. And the heathen over
there has never heard the gospel, he's going to be judged still
by the light he's given. The heavens declare the glory
of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day utter
speech, night unto night showeth knowledge that God is. There's
enough light given in nature to say that God is. And we ought
to seek after the heathen, we ought to seek after the God that
is. God's going to judge every person
in the light they're given. That's why He says, "...them
that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ." They are going to be judged in the light of the gospel
they've heard. The Jews and the Gentiles that have heard the
gospel and they've rejected it, they've despised Jesus Christ,
their judgment, listen, their judgment is going to be greater.
It's going to be greater. Because they have been given
more light. They've been given the gospel. The gospel. I want to tell you something.
There is no greater place to go to hell from them right here
in Bethel Baptist Church, to sit and hear the gospel here
week after week after week, and then face God. That person will be judged according
to the light they received. And they received gospel light.
Gospel light. Who shall be punished? with everlasting destruction."
They're going to be punished with everlasting destruction.
Now listen, the wicked cannot satisfy God's justice, and the
wicked, that's everyone that does not believe God. They may
be somebody that grew up in the Bible classes and grew all the
way up and resounded the gospel, but I'm telling you what, if
they believed not the gospel, they were right there with the
wicked. Right there with the wicked. It's going to be everlasting
destruction, separated, he says here, from the presence of the
Lord. You know, I don't know all, I
can't describe hell, I just can't describe it, don't want to describe
it. I know this, I was thinking of this today, I wrote this down
before I came down here, God's wrath is as incomprehensible
as God's love. I can't comprehend that kind
of wrath, no more than I can comprehend that kind of love,
everlasting love. But I do know this, hell is the
absence of God. Hell is to be separated from
Him. Right now, His mercy is over
all His works. Everyone on this earth tastes
of God's mercy because the rain falls on the just and the unjust,
doesn't it? The sun shines on the just and the unjust, but
someday that will be over. There won't be a speck of mercy. You know, when the Lord Jesus
Christ died, there was total absence, eclipse of mercy. None. And that's exactly what
people are going to taste when they are separated from the presence
of God. Separated, it says here, from
the presence of the Lord. And listen, it says everlasting destruction. Destruction here does not mean
annihilation. It means ruin forever. Ruin forever. Not annihilation. Ruin forever. It's everlasting torment. unending
torment because the wicked can't satisfy God's justice because
in hell they still hate God. They still hate God. You know
that rich man when he lifted up his eyes in hell, he did not
ask for mercy. He didn't sue for mercy. He did
not ask Abraham, when he said, send somebody back. He didn't
say, send somebody back and tell them about Jesus Christ. Tell
them about the blood. Tell them about grace. Tell them
about His person and His Word. He said, warn them about this
place. And that's exactly what Arminianism does. The ministry
of Arminianism is warning people about a place. And not a person. God. God, who is a consuming fire. And when we see Jesus Christ,
it says they're going to see him in flaming fire. And over
in Hebrews, it says our God is a consuming fire. And Jesus Christ
is our God. And he's going to be the judge.
He's going to be the judge. And here's going to be the time
of it in verse 10, "...in that day when He shall come to be
glorified in His saints." This is when all this is going to
happen. To be admired. I like that. He's going to be
admired in all them that believe. Do you admire Him now? Seriously,
do you admire the Lord Jesus Christ now as your God, as your
Savior? In that day when He shall come
to be glorified in His saints, they shall be seen to be the
sons of God. He is going to be glorified in them
and they are going to be glorified in Him. And what Paul was saying here
to the Thessalonians and to us, look to the final outcome. Don't
look at what's going on right now at your house. I mean, pray
about it. I'm not saying ignore it. But
look to the final outcome. I used to run a business for
a man in Huntington, West Virginia years ago. And he would say,
John, you need to see the big picture. Because I was so absorbed
in that P&L, profit and loss statement. I always felt like
I had to get that thing right so I wouldn't lose my job. But
he told me, one day he sat me down and I know he could probably
see the anxiousness on me. He said, you just need to see
the big picture of what we're trying to do here. Quit looking
at this and look at this. That's what Paul said. Look to
the final outcome of all this and not just what's going on
right now, but to the final outcome. And we pray that God will keep
you We start by the power of God and we end by the power of
God. Wherefore also we pray always for you that our God would count
you worthy of this calling or of His calling." God counts you
worthy. Now, He's not counting you and
me worthy because we straightened up. He counts us worthy, first of
all, because He's put us in Christ and He's made us worthy. You
know, Jesus Christ is my worth. He's my worth. Outside Him, I'm
not worth anything. I'm worthless outside of Him. But that God would count you
worthy and fulfill all the good pleasure, all the good desire
that you desire to do in faith, God fulfill it. God fulfill it. And here's the purpose of it
all in verse 12, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may
be glorified in you, in your life, that His person, His name,
you know a name reveals a person, may be glorified in your life,
in your conduct, in your conversation. And you in Him. Someone said
this, this is good. Love is perfected when we see
our joy in each other. My joy, when I see it, it's in
you, and you see it in me. See, the Lord, He says here that
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ be glorified in you, and you
in Him. You're glorifying Him, and He's
glorifying you. Christ said in John 17, Father,
glorify me that I may glorify you. His purpose was to glorify
the Father, and the purpose of the Father was to glorify the
Son. And that's the evidence, that's
one of the evidence of Christ in you, is when you seek one
another's good above your own. According to the grace of God,
He's the fountain of all grace, and the Lord Jesus Christ, He's
the channel of it. God the Father is the fountain
of it, and Jesus Christ is the channel of it. If you and I haven't
received any grace, it's going to be through Jesus Christ, not
apart from Him. Here's another song that I wanted
to sing, but I guess we'll have to learn it. Oh, that will be
glory for me, when by His grace I shall look on His face. That
will be glory for me. Someday, the faith of all God's
elect will be vindicated. They will be seen to be the sons
of God. They will be seen to be worthy
of the kingdom of God. While God takes those who afflict
His people, and then He in turn afflicts them with a right judgment. All right, Doug.