I just want to read a couple
of verses from 2 Thessalonians. We're going to be reading from
verse 13. The beginning of this passage is to do with the appearance
of Antichrist and the opposition that Antichrist brings into the
world, the way in which it labours and fights and seeks to destroy
the work of the gospel. and how the Lord has preserved
his people out of the world despite the opposition of Antichrist
and those who follow after him. And I wanted just to pass over
the references to that at the beginning and come to verse 13. And our thoughts this morning
will revolve around the little phrase in verse 14 where it speaks
about the people of God being called to glory through the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. But we are bound, verse 13, 2
Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 13, but we are bound to give
thanks all the way to God for you, brethren, beloved of the
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth,
whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Recently, I've mentioned a few
times in the sermons that we've been sharing together about the
value and the need of tracing grace back to its source. And here's another example. We've
been studying in Colossians and we've been seeing how the Apostle
Paul has made reference frequently to thanking God for the faith
of those to whom he is writing. And that's what he's doing here
again with the Thessalonians. He's tracing grace back to its
source and he is showing where thanksgiving is due. And it's
so important that we understand these things. We love God because
he first loved us. We bless the Lord Bless the Lord,
O my soul. We bless the Lord because he
first blessed us. And we have faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ only because God gives us faith in him. By grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God. And so
God gives us everything that we need in this life. Everything
is supplied that we might worship him in spirit and in truth. And it's so important that we
trace these graces and this goodness back to its proper source. David could say in Psalm 103,
Verse two, I think. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all his benefits. And he goes on in that psalm.
It's a beautiful psalm. Maybe we'll come to it in a while
in our morning readings. But he goes on to thank the Lord
for forgiveness and redemption and the satisfaction of justice
and the mercy which he gives. And he says, let us forget not
all his benefits. In verse 10 of the same psalm,
he goes on to say, He hath not dealt with us after our sins,
nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. Therefore we
will bless him, for he has done our souls good. And James, the
New Testament writer says, every good gift and every perfect gift
is from above. And so we see the good things
in our life, the things that bring us joy, the things that
bring us peace, the things that bring us help and encouragement,
and we trace those good gifts back to their source. Every perfect
gift is from above. Cometh down from the Father of
lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. And
there's the gospel right there. There is the gospel. There is
the revelation of scripture, the gospel truth that it is God's
grace and mercy, God's goodness to his people that gives us those
perfect gifts, those good gifts that we require. And I want to
say something to some of you who are listening, because at
many times we feel that The gospel is very narrow. Many people imagine
that the gospel is in some way limited to a certain portion
of scripture, maybe from Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, or one of
the New Testament passages, and that it's a proposition that
people are confronted with. with a request to trust the Lord
and believe in Jesus, or an offer is made, an invitation to come
and submit to Christ, or to come and make Him your Lord, or make
Him your Saviour. And some people think that that's
the extent of preaching the Gospel, that the Gospel is preached when
a proposition, or an invitation, or an offer is made. But I want
you to understand this morning, if you will just bear with me
a little while, that the gospel is the whole of the divine work
of grace by God the Father in his elective purpose of individuals
in eternity whom he is going to bring through the whole time
state into that place of glory. And that's the idea of these
verses because here we're talking about this calling to glory and
we understand that this is the gospel. The gospel is not some
narrow preached parable or declaration or invitation that is made at
the end of a sermon. It comprises the whole revelation
of the triune God. It contains the redemptive work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It brings the regenerative work
of God the Holy Spirit. And so the revelation of the
Father, the redemption of the Son, and the regeneration of
the Holy Spirit is the work of the triune God, all combined
together in the glorious gospel of God. God. And so we read in
1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 30, But of him that is of God
the Father are ye in Christ Jesus, who is of God made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. And all of the
persons of the Godhead, combining together God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, in the great revelation of gospel
truth, of the salvation of sinners by the person of Jesus Christ. And in that sense, the gospel
is deep and wide and extensive. Not in the sense of a general
application to sinners, which clearly it is not. but in the
comprehensive provision of every needed blessing for the elect
of God. The gospel is the testimony of
God's salvation in this world and not every person. It's impossible
that every person can even hear the gospel. There are many, many
people who have lived and died and never had the gospel preached
to them. There are many millions in this
world who will never hear the gospel truly preached to them. But this is the whole revelation
of God. And these apostles, as they left
Antioch and went to Antioch, as they travelled through all
of the area of their missionary journeys, they were taking that
message, the message of the Gospel, of God's work in this world through
the Lord Jesus Christ. out to the Gentiles who would
be gathered and who were ordained to believe according to the everlasting
purpose of God. This is a gospel where nothing
is missed, where nothing is left out. It reaches from eternity
to eternity as the unchangeable purpose of God for his people.
And that people are a precise people. They are known by name. They are a definite number. And
no one will be added to that number. And not one less than
that known number shall be saved. And every gracious requirement
for the accomplishment of that salvation has been effected in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Gospel gifts are gracious gifts. They come to us by God's grace. Nothing in this gospel is based
on our human effort. Nothing is based on our works,
but every requirement, every provision for the satisfaction
of the demands of a holy God have been put in place in the
gospel, which is what makes it good news. It's what makes it
good news for dead sinners, for those who are incapable by their
own strength and their own spiritual abilities to please God in any
way. And in that sense, we might be
allowed to say that the gospel of God and the gifts of grace
are an inherited entitlement. They are given to us as we are
in Christ. They are an entitlement that
flows to the people of God whom he has chosen and called to be
a people whom he will bless with the inheritance of the gospel. And that's why We are called
in Scripture kings and priests. John in the book of Revelation
calls the church a nation of kings and priests. Those terms,
kings and priests, speak of inheritance because if you recall with me
the throne of Israel That kingly throne of Israel was given principally,
we read it together in Paul's sermon from Acts 13, it was given
to David and his children. And the priesthood of Aaron was
given to Aaron and his sons. It came by inheritance. And that eternal covenant was
given to David. And we discover that there is
a greater priesthood even than Aaron's and it is the priesthood
of Christ who is a priest after the order of Melchizedek in the
book of Hebrews. And so we who are in Christ are
kings and priests together with him. The eternal covenant, it
didn't go to David's children to sit on a Jewish throne, rather
it was committed to David's greater son. And in Christ, all the church,
be it Jew or Gentile, has this inheritance in the Lord Jesus
Christ, our elder brother. And so we are heirs and joint
heirs together with him. And it is God's gospel, it is
God's gospel of grace, His giving of these gifts, His giving of
these inheritances to the kings and priests that have been made
to be jointeers with Christ. that we have in view today. These gifts of grace, they reach
from eternity to eternity, if I may so speak in those terms. And I want to highlight them
today for a moment. And I realise that most people
who speak about accepting the gospel, I realise, and I have
come to realise, that most people who use that sort of phrase,
accepting the gospel, they've never heard the true gospel. Invariably, all they've heard
is one of these propositions, or one of these offers, or one
of these invitations, and they imagine that the Gospel is very
narrow, and that it is a narrow declaration of a few concepts
and truths from Scripture, which is then laid before sinners for
their choice and their decision, or their acceptance. Rather than
appreciating that the Gospel is this great revelation of God,
from eternity to eternity that is bestowed upon an elect people
and a definite people. And most who use this language
of accepting the gospel, they think that they've accepted it,
though they've never heard the true gospel in its full breadth. when really they have merely
given an assent to a parody of the gospel and I dare say a grotesque
parody in many ways. So when we come to read these
verses in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 13 and 14, we discover
that we are giving thanks to God for a much greater, broader
gospel truth than that. 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. Whereunto
he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says, we are bound to give
thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. And that's a lovely thing for
us to realise when we think about this revelation of God, is that
he has revealed himself as a God of love, and a God who places
that love That everlasting love, because he's an everlasting God.
And it's an unalterable love, because he is an unchanging God. And it is an unconditional love,
because it was bestowed upon sinners long before they had
ever any action of their own. It was given to them in eternity,
before they were ever alive. So it was not based upon anything
that they did. or could do, or even would do,
but in its everlasting nature, in its unalterable nature, it
was unconditional upon them by God. And God has loved his people
from eternity. We've said it before and undoubtedly
it will be repeated again, that God's love is not a common, universal
love that is indiscriminately bestowed upon all people without
distinction. It is a gospel grace. It is the
very heart of the gospel and the heart of the gospel revelation
in this world. God's love is an accomplishing
love and it motivates God's actions. It motivates his dealings with
men and women in this world and his relationship to them. Romans
5, verse 8 shows us that, where we're told that God commendeth
His love towards us. While we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. And that shows us that the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ, while it was limited in particular
in its scope, the Lord Jesus Christ dying for the sins of
a definite people, not a universal atonement, otherwise every sin
would be paid for and no one would go to hell and there would
be no such place as hell or certainly no one to populate it. But Christ
died for us. He saved his people from their
sins and the love of God is to the same extensiveness as the
death of Christ and the application of the blood of Christ. For God
commendeth his love towards us that in while we were yet sinners
Christ died for us. And love, the love of God impelled
him to save those that he loved. That's just The Lord has taught
us in this great feeling, this great principle of love that
he has given into our lives. He has shown us something of
the nature, imperfect as human love is, he has shown us something
of the nature of the love of God. I have come to detest the
free will idea of God's love and the gospel that is preached
as a result of it. I detest that message which said
God has done what he can and now it's up to you. I would want
to ask such a preacher Does God say in that construction, I can't
save a sinner if he won't come to me? Or is it that God is saying,
I won't save a sinner if he won't come to me? Which is it? Because if it's the coming to
Christ that is the ground of our salvation, if that's the
condition of salvation, does God say he can't save a sinner
unless he comes or he won't save a sinner unless he comes? Is
God unable to save or unwilling to save? And what does that say about
his love? Some of us who are parents have
had occasion over the years to have to look after our children. And can you imagine a situation
where a child falls in the river or a child falls in a lake and
the child is unable to save himself? What does the father do? Does
he throw a rope to the child and say, catch hold, catch hold,
catch hold, catch hold, catch hold. And he keeps shouting it,
catch hold, catch hold. And the child can't catch hold.
What does the father do? What does his love impel him
to do? He ties that rope around his
waist and he jumps in that water. And if he doesn't have a rope,
he jumps in the water anyway. Why? Because he loves that child
and he knows that child can't save itself. And so the Apostle
says, we are bound to give thanks to God. He is bound. He is bound
because he sees that this love of God This love of God is the
force that impels God, that brings that revelation of the gospel
to an individual. And we cannot get away from acknowledging
that it is God who must be thanked. If it is a sinner who is saved,
then it is because God has loved them and God must be thanked
for that love. What is it that has made the
difference between one and another, between the saved and the unsaved?
It is the love of God. It is the electing will of God.
It is the sovereign purpose of God. And it is God's effectual
grace upon the life of that individual. motivated by that distinguishing,
powerful, saving love. There is a fallen people in this
world, there is a deluded people, there is a condemned people and
the Bible tells us that they are damned already. a people
that are under the condemnation of God, but there is a people
that God has loved, and a people that out of that love he has
chosen and called in by divine power and has effectually saved
in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross. And that's exactly what the apostle
is saying here to the Thessalonians. He says that We are bound to
give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you. That's
that eternal election that we speak about. God has from the
beginning chosen you. Chosen you to salvation. He's
explicit. He has, from the beginning, chosen
you to salvation. You know, there are some who
say that, yes, there's an election in the Bible. Yes, we see election
in the Bible, but it's an election to a role, or an election to
an office, like maybe Paul was chosen to be an apostle, or the
disciples were chosen to an office. Well, I don't disagree that there
is a choice of God in Scripture to a role or an office. But that's
not what Paul is talking about here. He is talking about election
to salvation. He is talking about a divine
act of grace and mercy, independent of the creature. forged in the
electing love of God, whereby God the Father has chosen a people
in the Lord Jesus Christ unto salvation, placed them in Him,
and views them eternally in the beloved Son of God. The Apostle goes on to say that
these people have been sanctified by the Spirit. They have been
set apart because that's what the word sanctification means,
especially in this context. They've been set apart, sanctified,
distinguished in the mind of God, distinguished in the mind
of the triune God. God the Father has chosen them.
And God the Holy Spirit takes those individuals of God's choice
and places them in the Lord Jesus Christ under the charge and under
the care of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so here is a people distinguished
in eternity from the mass of humanity. And their being distinguished
in eternity has a consequence in time. Having been placed under
the Lord Jesus Christ's care, his keeping, and his responsibility,
Christ was duty-bound to preserve, protect, and deliver those people. And that's why he came into the
world and went to the cross. The Holy Spirit has sanctified
the elect of God in eternity, and he has sanctified them in
time, because they are made alive by the imparting of spiritual
life to them. The Holy Spirit doesn't give
spiritual life to everyone. Not everyone is born again from
above, as the Lord spoke to Nicodemus and told him. It is a Holy Spirit
work to bring life, to bring regeneration. We sometimes call
it quickening. It is to make alive. Ye hath
ye quickened who were dead in trespasses and in sin, says the
apostle to the Ephesians. And that he in there is God,
the Holy Spirit. And so in time, the Holy Spirit
sanctifies the church, the elect, those for whom Christ died. and
he brings the gospel to them. You see, this is the triune work
of God. A wise man once said, a threefold
cord is not quickly broken. And here we see the intertwining
of this threefold work of God in the gospel. The choosing by
the father of a people to save, the placing of that people into
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ by God the Holy Spirit
and the taking care and keeping and responsibility by Christ
of those individuals even to their redemption and their atonement
on the cross. And then God the Holy Spirit
bringing the gospel message, this great gospel from eternity
to eternity of the revelation of God's grace and applying it
to the heart of the individual through preaching and bringing
those individuals to believe in that message. God desires the salvation of
the people that he loves. and he effects that salvation
in the person of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
working together to bring salvation to men and women. Everything
needful has been done. Every requirement satisfied,
and that's what makes this message good news. That's what the gospel
is. Now someone is going to say to
me, yes, but you still have to believe. No one goes to heaven
who doesn't believe. I agree. I agree that faith is
necessary. But faith is not a condition
of salvation. Faith is a means of salvation. Faith is a gift from God. God
gives faith as a gift. We've already quoted the verse,
by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourself,
it is the gift of God. Faith is a gift of God. He gives
that. It's the work of God, the Holy
Spirit, and it is given to those that God the Father has chosen
to save and God the Son has died to save. Chosen you to salvation,
says the apostle to the Thessalonians. Chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. The
Lord Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth. It is believing
in Jesus. Absolutely, it is faith in him.
It is through the preaching of the gospel that God sets Christ
before us. And the Holy Spirit imparts the
gift of faith in the new birth that enables and causes the sinner
to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only way of salvation,
and he makes us willing Our God makes his people willing to trust
and believe in him. How else will an enemy come to
Christ except he be made willing? How else will a rebel comply
to the will of God except he be made willing? How else will
the captive go free from his chains? How else do the dead
come to life? for we are dead in our trespasses
and in our sins. It takes a work of regenerating
power. It takes a work of quickening
grace to bring the dead to life and to trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ. So Paul says in verse 14, whereunto
he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of
our Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder how many of you who
are listening here today have used the word huiruntu in your
conversation this morning or this afternoon. It's not a word
that we use very frequently. Huiruntu, it simply means to
this or to which. And what the apostle is saying
is, whereunto he called you by our gospel, to this, to this
revelation, to this understanding, to this salvation, he called
you. by our gospel. God calls men
to salvation through the preaching of the word, by the gospel of
sovereign grace declared, by Paul's gospel, by Paul's gospel
that he preached to these Thessalonians, by the gospel that he preached
to the Romans, by the gospel that he preached to the Ephesians
and to the Colossians and to the Jews there in Antioch of
Pisidia, This is the gospel that was preached, the gospel of free
sovereign grace, the gospel of God's purpose of salvation to
his elect. Free grace, not free will. Free grace, God bestowing the
gift of faith upon the people of his choice. And you don't
need to take it from me. It's better if you take it from
Paul. God doesn't save sinners by a free will gospel. but he
does effectually call sinners to salvation by the gospel of
free grace. What else does Paul say of this
salvation whereunto we are chosen? Whereunto chosen sinners are
effectually called. He describes it as the obtaining
of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's a nice place
for us to end today, the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You see, God, the triune God,
gives grace and he promises glory. He gives grace now and he promises
glory hereafter. He gives grace today and everlasting
glory with the Lord Jesus Christ forevermore. And that's a promise. In Psalm 84, verse 11, he says,
the psalmist there writes, the Lord will give grace and glory. The salvation that God gives
and the salvation that the gospel declares is the salvation that
Christ has obtained and secured for all the elect of God. It's
all of grace and it culminates in the glory of that people that
had been chosen from before the foundation of this world. It is the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ that we receive. Yesterday, I watched the funeral
service of Pastor Don Fortner, and his body now lies in the
ground. But the man has obtained the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. The body decays in a hole of
our own digging. but the spirit rests resplendent
in the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. The body waits, but the resurrection
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is assured and it is promised
of God. Why do we preach the gospel? Of all the things that I might
say to you this morning, why this message? Maybe you think,
you know, we could have talked about a thousand more relevant
things. Well, no, we couldn't. Why would
I tell you about earthly things when I could tell you about heavenly
things, glorious things, soul-saving truths from God? If you are to obtain the resurrection
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, If you are to know salvation
in your soul, if you are to experience the redeeming love of God, feel
the quickening, enlivening call of God the Holy Spirit, God will
convince you of the truth of this gospel that I've preached
to you this morning, and he will cause you to trust in Jesus Christ
as your Lord and Saviour. Elsewhere, Paul could say, believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And I pray
that the Lord will give you faith to believe and that the Lord
will save you by this gospel that we have shared today. Amen.