The title of the message, you've
seen in the bulletin, is Stand Fast and Wait for Christ. The past few weeks, I've been
dealing with issues of the end times, the end of days, the new
covenant time, leading up to the second coming of Christ. And anytime we do that, you know,
we think about and we consider the condition of this world.
And this being the anniversary of one of the most terrible episodes
in our lives, 9-1-1, and thinking about that, I think about history. And if you'll start, turn over
to Isaiah chapter 46 with me. If you think about the history
of mankind here on this earth, there's nothing to be proud of
as far as the relationship of humankind to God. I mean, there
are things we're proud of when we think about achievements. David prayed for our veterans
and People like that who went through wars and came out maimed,
and we're proud of them in that sense. But as far as man's relationship
with God, there's not a thing to be proud of. Because the history
of man is a history of blood, a history of sin, since the fall
of man back in Genesis. And so when we just look at things
on a human point of view, we just, it's pretty discouraging,
isn't it? I mean, you think about that
episode in 9-1-1, what happened there, and the thousands of people
that were killed. And, you know, we just, I think
most of us had kind of like an idea, that just couldn't happen
in America. Boy, that sure changed our thoughts
there. I've even heard him talking on
the news about it could happen again. So that's the negative,
I know that. Well, when we study the Bible
concerning the future, when it comes to humankind and the relationship
with God, it doesn't get any better. It gets worse. And especially, and here's the
thing, and this is what's deceptive to most people, not only will
it get worse philosophically, economically, morally, it'll
get worse religiously. We talked about how there'll
be so much religion, but not much truth. And even this, even
here's the real deception we read about that in the first
part of 2 Thessalonians 2, religion in the name of Christ, but denying
the truth of Christ. And so what I believe is important
for believers, for the remnant of grace. That's what the Bible
calls it. That's not some kind of elitist term or anything like
that. But there is a remnant according
to the election of grace in each generation. That's the true believers
who believe the Christ of the Bible, not a false Christ. And
my friend, you don't fool yourself. There are false Christs abundantly
out there. But what we need is what I believe
In order to do what we're being told to do in 2 Thessalonians
here, to stand fast and to wait for Christ, we need a clear biblical
assurance of salvation. Not wavering. Now, we're sinners
saved by grace. We sang about it. And we will
sometimes waver, won't we? The Lord, by His grace, keeps
us on that keel. But I want you to look at this
in Isaiah 46, because this is how we as believers are to view
history, and I believe, ultimately, the future. And it begins in
verse 9. And what's happening here is
the prophet Isaiah is reminding the people of Israel of why they
even exist. And he reminds them of their
history, And then he brings it to a head to show them what it's
all about. And he says in verse nine, remember
the former things of old. That's history. For I'm God and
there is none else. God has shown through history
that he's the only true and living God and there is no other God.
All other gods are false gods, gods of men's imaginations. He
says, I'm God, there is none like me. Read the Bible and read
about God, who God is. What are your thoughts about
God? What are my thoughts about God? Are my thoughts biblical? I've been writing another little
article, I don't know, turn into a booklet maybe, called What
Think Ye of Christ? That's an important question
for us to ask ourselves. What do we think about Christ?
We claim to be Christian. We claim to follow Christ. Well,
what are our thoughts? And here's the key. Are our thoughts
of Christ biblical? Because if they're not, then
I'm following a false Christ. Do you understand that? So he says in verse 10, declaring
the end from the beginning. You know what that is? That little
phrase there, people read over that. It's God's absolute predestinating
sovereignty. And most people who call themselves
Christian today don't like that. Declaring the end from the beginning.
Give you an example of what he's talking about. We can declare
the beginning, well we don't declare it, we can know the beginning
from the end. And I'll put it to you this way.
Every one of us sitting here, we know how this day started.
But we don't know how it's gonna end up, do we? I can't even predict the next
second. It's already gone by and I didn't know what was gonna
happen. But God declares the end from
the beginning. You know what that means? He
declares and determines all things that come to pass. Ephesians
111 puts it like this, that he is the God who works all things
after the counsel of his own will. And you'll hear humans
say, well, that means I'm a puppet, or that means this, that. I don't
care what it means. This is what God says. That's
what God says. Declaring the end from the beginning.
Look at, and from ancient times, the things that are not yet done,
saying my counsel shall stand, I will do all my pleasure. Now
what does that mean? That means God does whatever
he wants to do. If he wants to save you, he'll
save you. He said, I'll have mercy on whom I'll have mercy,
and I'll be gracious to whom I'll be gracious. This God that's
being preached today, he wants to do this and wants to do that,
but you won't let him? Or you won't cooperate? That's
not the God of the Bible, friend. It's not. Won't you let God do
that? Let God do what? Who are you
talking about? Not the God of this book. He says this, look at it. He
says, my counsel shall stand, I'll do all my pleasure, verse
11, calling a ravenous bird from the east. Now that's a prophecy
of the deliverance of the people of Judah from Babylonian captivity
through an idolatrous king named Cyrus, the man that executed
my counsel. That idolatrous man's gonna execute
God's counsel. He's gonna do what God has him
do. And he doesn't even know God, that's what he says later
on. From a far country. Look at it, yea I have spoken
it, I will also bring it to pass, I have purposed it, I will also
do it. Now this is how God's revealing
himself to his people. Well what should we do then?
Look at verses 12 and 13. Hearken unto me you stout hearted
that are far from righteousness. You know what it is to be stout-hearted?
It means to be proud. It means to be unbending. We
won't submit to God's will and God's way. But God brings all of his people
to submit to his will and his way. And even the heathen who
live out their lives in unbelief and die and perish, they, God
has determined their way. Far from righteousness. What
does that mean? That means far from God. In order
to be near to God, in order to be accepted with God, in order
to be in fellowship with God, you've got to have righteousness.
You don't have it by nature. Romans 3, 10, there's none righteous,
no not one. And you can't get it by working. You can't get it by deciding. Far from righteousness. Man's
efforts to make himself righteousness get him farther away, in fact.
The Bible says. So where's there any hope? Now
this is looking at history from God's point of view. Verse 13.
He said, I bring near my righteousness. It shall not be far off. If you're
trying to work your way into God's favor, If you're trying
to be saved and accepted and blessed by your works, you're
way far off. But God's righteousness that
he sends, he says, it shall not be far off, and my salvation
shall not tarry. It's not something that you achieve
by your works and get in the future, and I will place salvation
in Zion for Israel my glory. Now who's he talking about? He's
talking about Christ, who is our righteousness. Go back to 2 Thessalonians 2. Look to Christ, that's what we're
to do. Believe in Him. Rest in Him for
all righteousness. He is, as Jeremiah said, we studied
it this morning, the Lord our righteousness. I have no righteousness
in myself, but I have Christ and He is my righteousness. He
kept the law perfectly. I break it every day. He satisfied
justice against the sins of God's chosen people, imputed to him,
and he brought forth an everlasting righteousness, which God has
charged to his people. And we stand before God, washed
in the blood of Christ, clothed in his righteousness. That's
a blessing. That's grace. Look at what Paul
writes in 2 Thessalonians 2.13. Now this is after he talked about
how the world is perishing. The world is going to be deceived
by Satan. Many are going to be judged by
God with a delusion because they will not bend. But he says in
verse 13, here's the blessing, but we are bound to give thanks
all the way to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. See, who
does the Lord love? Those in Christ. His wrath is
upon anybody without Christ. Beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Salvation is
not based upon you choosing God, it's based upon His choosing
you. God is the only source of salvation
for him. And if God didn't choose you,
you wouldn't choose him because we're so stubborn, stout-hearted,
stiff-necked, by nature, children of wrath, even as others. Unwilling. We want salvation, but we want
it our way, not God's way. And he says, you were chosen
to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit. That's being set
apart by the Holy Spirit. And how are you set apart by
the Holy Spirit? And belief of the truth. He brings
us under the truth. And He gives us life in the new
birth. Ears to hear, eyes to see. Remember
what Christ told the disciples? Blessed are your eyes for they
see. Blessed are your ears for they hear. Turn over to Romans chapter 6. Look at verse 17. Sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth, here's how it works, verse
17 of Romans 6. He says, but God be thanked that
you were the servants of sin, the slaves of sin. Now that's
speaking of unbelievers. Now believers, we're still sinners,
but we're not servants or slaves of sin like the unbeliever is.
Because everything an unbeliever does is sin, even what being
called good. Think about Matthew 7, 21, not
everyone who says Lord, Lord knows Christ. They say we preached
in your name, we put out demons, and we've done many wonderful,
and he said depart from me you that worketh iniquity. But he
says here, you're servants of sin, but you have obeyed from
the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Literally,
it's what you were delivered to. There was a doctrine. Now, what doctrine is teaching?
And that doctrine, the Holy Spirit delivered you where you could
hear that doctrine. He brought you there. How'd he
do it? Providentially. Probably different
for each one of us. You heard something, read something,
somebody came and invited you to church where the gospel is
preached, but the Holy Spirit brought you here, if you're one
of God's people. And being then made free from
sin, you became servants of righteousness. A servant of righteousness is
a believer, a sinner saved by grace. Now go back to 2 Thessalonians
2. through sanctification of the
spirit, being set apart by the spirit and belief of the truth.
Now what truth? Just any truth? No, look at verse
14. Where unto he called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It's the truth of the gospel. Now the first thing that ought
to hit us right between the eyes on this issue is this. What is the gospel? And do I
believe it? Do I even know it? What does
the Bible say? You can go back to passages like
Romans 1 where it talks about the gospel of God which concerns
the person of Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? He's God
manifest in the flesh. God-man. The gospel revolves
around that person. The gospel is based upon that
person. He's Emmanuel, God with us. He's both God and man in one
person. Sinless human being, that's who
he is. Impeccable. Not only did he know
no sin, he could do no sin. And that's the kind of person
that it takes to save sinners like us. And then over in Romans
1, 16 and 17, Paul writes, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth, to the Jew first, the Greek also, for therein,
in that gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed. From faith to faith, as it is
written, the just, or the justified, live by faith. What is it to
be justified? It's to be forgiven of all my
sins. on a just ground. And what is
the just ground? The blood of Jesus Christ. The
just ground is not my baptism, it's not my tears or my repentance,
it's the blood of Christ. And it's to be declared righteous
in God's sight, in his court of justice, not guilty, on a
just ground. And what is that just grant?
It's the righteousness of Christ. It's the merit of the obedience
unto death of Jesus Christ as the surety, the substitute, and
the redeemer of his people. So that the gospel is this, it's
all salvation by the grace of God, conditioned on the Lord
Jesus Christ, who fulfilled all those conditions and ensured
the complete salvation of every sinner for whom he died. He calls
them his church, he calls them his sheep, he calls them his
brethren. Look back at verse 14, where unto he called you
by our gospel, not just to make you savable, as most people think
today. Christ died for you, now it's
up to you. That's not the gospel, my friend, that's a false gospel.
If it's up to you, if it's conditioned on you, it's a failure. It is. But He says, to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And what is His glory?
Let me just read you this one. This is John 17. It's what's
known as Christ's high priestly prayer for His people. It's to
the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. What is
His glory? Let me read you what he said
is his glory. He says in John 17, one, these
words spoke Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said,
father, the hours come glorify thy son that thy son also may
glorify thee as thou has given him power over all flesh, that
he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given him. and this is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent, I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do. That's his glory. In other
words, he said in John 6, he said, all that the Father giveth
me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out. This is the will of him that sent me, that of
all which he hath given me I should lose what? Nothing. but raise it up again the last
day. Raise it up again the last day.
His glory is the salvation of all whom he came to save. If
he would lose one of them, his glory would be gone. Second Thessalonians
2.15. Therefore, brethren, stand fast.
Now what are we to do in the last days? I don't know when
Christ is coming back. You don't either. Nobody does.
It may be soon. It may be a matter of years.
We don't know. We're not to know. That's not
our business. But here's what I know. What
are we to do? If we knew he was coming back tomorrow, what should
we do? Stand fast. What does he mean? Hold the traditions
which you've been taught. Now this is not man's traditions.
This is the word of God taught to them by the apostles. It's
the gospel. Stand firm, immovable in the
gospel. Don't move to the left or the
right. Stay firm. Don't compromise it. Don't deny it. Stay with it. And we know, we know, that the
only way we're gonna do that is by the grace and the goodness
and the power of God. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. I'm persuaded that he is able
to keep, preserve that which I've committed unto him. And
what have I committed unto him? My whole salvation. My whole
eternal well-being is committed to Christ. None of it's committed
to me. Now I am committed. I know some
people who think I should be committed. But I am committed
to Christ. But salvation doesn't depend
on my commitment to him, it depends on his commitment to me. He'll
keep us. He said, my sheep hear my voice,
I know them. They follow me. He said, no one
shall pluck them out of my hand, my father's hand. He keeps us. And so, this is the glory. So stand fast. Paul wrote in
Galatians 5.1, stand fast in the liberty in Christ, wherewith
Christ hath made you free, and don't be entangled with the yoke
of bondage. You know what the yoke of bondage
is? It's legalism. You've got to do this, you've
got to do that. You've got to keep this, you've got to keep
that in order to be assured. No, friend, you've got to look
to Christ. How do we run the race of grace? Hebrews 12, 2,
looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.
I look to Christ for righteousness. Should I try to be the best person
I can be? Yes. But that's not the ground
of my salvation or my assurance. When I look at myself, am I what
I should be? No. Do I fail in every area? Yes. Should I do the best I can? Yes. But my salvation and my
assurance is not conditioned on that. It's conditioned on
the finished work of Christ. Remember what he said on the
cross, John 19, 30? It's finished. He made an end of sin. He finished
the transgression. He brought in everlasting righteousness.
And he says, hold fast this teaching which you've been taught, whether
by word or our piss, whether we preached it or wrote it. Verse
16, now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, even our Father,
which hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation,
comfort, assurance, and a good hope through grace. That good
hope is in Christ. Grace reigns through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. That's a good hope.
It has a good foundation, the word of God. It's not just wishful
thinking. And he says through this, verse
17, comfort your heart, establish you. You know, the Bible says
it's a good thing that the heart be established with grace. Now how can my heart, my mind,
my affections, my will, my conscience be established with grace? Again,
grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord. Look to Christ. Rest in Christ. Believe in Christ. And he says,
establish you in every good word and work. In other words, all
that we do in seeking to please God and seeking to honor God,
it's established not by the work itself because there's no merit
in my work. There's no earning power in my
works. But they're established with
grace because I already have all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. And so he says in verse 1 of
chapter 3, Finally, my brethren, pray for us that the word of
the Lord may have free course and be glorified even as it is
with you. In the end times, what are we to be concerned with?
That the gospel is preached. That it have free course. I pray
all the time, Lord, please in this bless our nation so that
we may have free course to preach the gospel without hindrance
from the laws of man and the government. We ought to be concerned
with that. We want the gospel to go out.
We're not trying to change the world politically and economically.
There are things I wish would happen politically and economically.
There are things I'll vote for. And things I won't vote for,
I'm concerned with that. But the church, what are we to
be concerned with? The gospel being preached. That
God might call in His elect. That's what Paul said, I do all
things for the elect's sake. God has a people out there, He
has a remnant out there. You say, well who are they? All
who hear and believe the gospel. By the power and the goodness
and the grace of God. In verse two, he says that we
may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for all men have
not faith. Where do you get faith? Where
does it come from? Well, it doesn't come from the
natural heart. The natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God, neither can he know them, they're spiritually
discerned. It doesn't come from man's so-called free will. A
man can will what he wants, the problem is he wants things that
are opposed to God. Where does faith come from? Well,
what does the Bible say? Ephesians 2, 8 through 10. For
by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. For we, that is we who have faith, are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus, unto, not because of, but unto good
works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk
in them. Faith comes from God. Not all
men have it. Not all women have it. Verse three, but the Lord is
faithful who shall establish you and keep you from evil. You see, this is the ground of
salvation right there. God is faithful. It's of the
Lord's mercies that we're not consumed, any of us. You know that? It's of the Lord's
mercies that we're not consumed And he goes on to say, great
is thy faithfulness. Malachi 3.6, I'm the Lord, I
change not, therefore you sons of Jacob, sinners, are not consumed,
are not destroyed. And he keeps us from the evil
one. If the Lord didn't keep us, we'd be prey for the evil
one. That's Satan. In verse 4, and we have confidence
in the Lord touching you. Our confidence is not in ourselves.
Paul wrote, God forbid that I should glory, boast, except in the cross
of Christ. The confidence of our salvation
is the grace of God in Christ, the power of God in Christ. And
he says that you both do and will do the things which we command
you, standing fast. And he says, and the Lord direct
your hearts into the love of God. If you're a sinner saved by grace,
you can say honestly by God's grace and power that you love
God, you love Christ, you love his people. But being a sinner
saved by grace, you'll also admit this. My love for God, my love
for Christ, my love for you, it's nothing to brag about. It's nothing for me to boast
in. It's not the ground of my hope or my salvation. But I'll
tell you what is, the love of God for me in Christ. There it
is. Who shall separate us from the
love of God in Christ? Read that, Romans 8, 35 through
39, and you know what the bottom line is? Nothing. And he says, the Lord direct
your heart, your mind, your affections, your will, your conscience into
the love of God. Herein is love. Not that we loved
Him, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sins. What's the propitiation? It's
a sin-bearing sacrifice that brings satisfaction to justice,
turning God's wrath away. And there what we see is that
even God's love for His chosen people is based on a just ground. My friend, there's no love from
God outside of Christ. There's only hatred. Oh my goodness,
people don't read the Bible. Now God's hatred is not like
ours. Ours is sinful because it's selfish. But God's hatred
is His just wrath against sinners to whom sin is charged. And how
can I not have my sins charged to me? Well David said it this
way, blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity,
charges not iniquity. Romans 8.33 says, who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies.
Who can condemn us? It's Christ that died. Romans
4.6 says, blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth charge,
righteousness without works. To be in Christ, not having mine
own righteousness, which is of the Lord, but that which is through
the faithfulness of Christ. And so directing our hearts into
the love of God and into the patient waiting for Christ. One translation says the patience
of Christ. He was very patient. Now this
patience is not like sitting in a doctor's office waiting
to be seen. This waiting and this patience
is work of faith, God working in us, to do that which is His
good pleasure, to be people of prayer, to be people of worship.
That's how we're to be known when it comes to salvation, when
it comes to a relationship with God. People of the gospel, people
who identify with the truth, standing fast in the truth, persevering
in the faith because we're preserved by the grace of God, waiting
for the coming of the Lord of glory. And here's the point, he'll either
come and get us in our lifetime or we'll die and leave this world
and go to be with him whenever he purposes to do that. Stand fast and wait for Christ,
that's our goal. Okay.