I'm going to be speaking to you
today from the book of 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. I'd
like for you to get your Bibles and plan to follow along as I
speak from 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. We'll begin with verse 13
and go through verse 17. Now here's the subject. I call
this message six unforgettable gifts, six tremendous, unforgettable
gifts of God for His people. Let me read just two or three
verses from 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, beginning with verse 13. Now,
you following in the Scripture, Paul says, But we are bound to
give thanks to God for you, brethren, Beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning, God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth, whereunto, to the truth, whereunto He called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Paul had left Philippi.
You're familiar with the preaching at Philippi. That's where he
preached to the Philippian jailer and his family. That's where
God opened the heart of Lydia and brought her to know the Lord
Jesus and to listen to the words of Paul. Well, Paul left Philippi
and went down to Thessalonica, down to this city of Thessalonica.
And there he preached for about three weeks. It says he preached
for three Sabbath days. And during that time, the Lord
called out a number of people, Gentiles and Jews, to faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ while Paul was preaching these three weeks
in Thessalonica. Paul described this great work
of God in the hearts of the people in chapter one of 1 Thessalonians. This is the way he described
that we would call it a revival, a refreshing from heaven. That
time when Paul preached to them and like Lydia, God opened their
hearts and like the Philippian jailer, God set them free. And
here's the way Paul described those people down in Thessalonica.
He said, first of all, our gospel came to you, not in word only,
but in power. Our gospel. came to you in the
power of the Holy Spirit in much assurance. And secondly, he said,
and you became followers of us and the Lord. You became followers,
disciples, learners, students of the scriptures. And you became
examples to those about you. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature, a new person. an example to others. And you
receive the Word of God with joy, not as the Word of man,
but as the Word of God. You received it with great joy,
with affliction and persecution, but with joy. And you turn from
your idols, you turn from your religious idols and trinkets
and traditions to the living God, to true worship and true
faith. And you're waiting for the return
of his son from heaven. Now that's what happened down
there in three weeks. The power of God fell upon his
servant Paul. And he preached the gospel and
the people heard it. And God brought many of them
to faith in Christ. And what a joy they were to the
apostle Paul. He called them his crown of rejoicing. My crown of rejoicing. They were
such a joy. And he sent Timothy down there,
his son in the ministry, to minister to this church and to establish
this church and to help these people. And later he wrote these
epistles, 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians. He wrote these
epistles to be read in that church and all the other churches. And
my message today is taken from that second epistle. of Paul to the Thessalonians,
to the Church of Thessalonica. And he sets before us, I told
someone earlier, actually about ten unforgettable facts, but
I don't have time to give all ten of them. I'm going to give
you six. Six unforgettable facts that
Paul sets forth here. Six unforgettable gifts and tremendous
gifts. that Paul sets forth in this
second book of Thessalonians and chapter 2, verse 13. Now, you know, you know this,
of course, that most of the Bible is written to believers. That's
right. Most of the scripture is written
to believers. About all an unbeliever, about
all he has in the scripture is condemnation and judgment. The
promises of God are in Christ to believers. The Word of God
is God's Word of redemption to believers. The Word of God is
God's Word of grace and mercy to believers in Christ. The Word
of God is God's Word of comfort to believers. He said, Comfort
ye my people. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
to my people. And the Word of God is the promises
of God which are in Christ to believers. And the Word of God
is the Word of life. in Christ to believers. So you
who are listening to my voice today, who are believers in the
Lord Jesus Christ, who have received the Redeemer, you who rest in
His glorious finished work, you who trust in His blood and righteousness,
let me point out to you six unforgettable gifts. God has given to us in
Christ Jesus. Look at the first one. In verse
13, you heard me read it a moment ago. It says, but we're bound,
we're bound to give thanks always to God for you. Brethren, you
brethren, beloved of the Lord. Think of it. Beloved of the Lord. I am my beloved's and he's mine. We are beloved of the Lord. David
wrote in the Psalms, when I consider the heavens, the sun, the moon,
the stars, the things which thou hast made, O God, what is man
that thou art mindful of him? Let me tell you something. Paul
is saying here, God's not only mindful of us, but God loves
us. God loves us. That's right. He's
not only mindful of us, He loves us. And let me tell you what
kind of love this is. Don't talk ever flippantly and
carelessly of the love of God. The love of God, how rich, how
pure, how measureless, how strong. It shall forevermore endure,
the saints' and angels' song. God's love for His people is
everlasting. He said, I have loved you with
an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn you." An everlasting love. He's always loved us. Always
loved us. Secondly, His love is infinite.
What do you mean, preacher, infinite? I mean indescribable, unspeakable,
unexplainable. Christ said, listen, the Lord
Jesus said, Father, thou hast loved them as you love me. Can you imagine how much the
Father loves the Son? And yet He loves us the same
way. That's what He said infinitely.
And God's love is the greatest love. He says greater love than
this hath no man, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
And God's love is undeserved. We didn't love Him. Herein is
love. Not that we loved God. We didn't
love God. We loved ourselves. We loved
our sins. But we didn't love God. But He
loved us. It's unmerited, it's undeserved,
it's unreturned, it's unsought. The perfect love of God. And
let me tell you this, this love of God is in Christ. Nothing
can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus,
my Lord. Don't look for God's love outside
of Jesus Christ. The Father loveth the Son and
hath given all things into His hands. He that hath the Son hath
life. He that believeth not on the
Son, the wrath of God abideth on him. Not the love of God. It's in Christ. All right, here's
the second unspeakable, unforgettable gift. First, God loved us. And then he says in verse 13,
same verse, But we're bound to give thanks always to God for
you, brethren, Beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation. God loved us and God chose us. He chose us to salvation. One
day our Lord said to his disciples, you didn't choose me. You didn't
choose me. I chose you. And I ordained you
that you should go forth and bear fruit. Who chose us? God
did. God chose us. Moses said, Lord,
show me your glory. God said, I'll cause my goodness
to pass before you. I will be merciful to whom I
will be merciful. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. God chose us. God chose us. Listen to Ephesians 1 verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus according as He
chose us in Christ. He chose us. When did He choose
us? Before the foundation of the
world. You see this verse I just read?
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. When is the
beginning? In the beginning God created
the heavens. That's when He chose us before
the foundation of the world. And the question comes, how did
He choose us in Christ? The hymn writer put it this way,
Christ be my first elect, God said, then chose us in Christ
our head. Christ is the first elect. He
calls Him mine elect. He chose us in Christ. Why did
He choose us? Why me? Why you? Why us? Gentiles, aliens, enemies, strangers
from the commonwealth of Israel. God chose us. Why? I'll tell
you why. Even so, Father, it seemed good
in thy sight. That's the answer Christ gave.
He said, Lord, thou hast hid these things from the wise and
prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, It seemed
good in thy sight. And Paul twice in the first chapter
of Ephesians says, according to the good pleasure of his own
will. What is the results? I'm bound
to give thanks for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you, from the beginning chosen
you to salvation. That's the results. Salvation,
life everlasting. Life everlasting. God has chosen
us not to service, to life, to salvation. The hymn writer said,
chosen not for good in me, wakened up from wrath to flee, hidden
in my Savior's side, and by His Spirit sanctified. Well, look
at the next verse. The third unforgettable gift.
God loved us. David went in one day and sat
before the Lord and he said, Lord, who am I? Who am I? And what is my people that you
should show such mercy to us? Who am I? He loved us. He chose us. Thirdly, he called
us. Listen to verse 14. Whereunto
he called you by our gospel. God called us by his gospel to
the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Glorify
me with the glory which I had with thee before the world was,
and the glory which thou gavest me I've given them." He called
you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He called you. My friends, the
Bible is full of examples of our Lord calling His people.
calling them out of darkness into his marvelous light, calling
them out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear
son, calling them out of sin and self and self-righteousness
to Christ, to faith in Christ, faith in his son. God calls him
Abraham, 75 years old, son of an idolater, an idolater himself. Abraham, Get thee out of thy
father's house, and go to land. I'll show thee." God called him.
Moses, 80 years old, 40 years he spent in Egypt. Son of Pharaoh's
daughter, finally refusing to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter, he set foot into the wilderness, stayed there 40 years. One day as the bush burned and
was not consumed, the voice of God said, Moses, Moses, Take
off your shoes. You're on holy ground. I've got
a meeting with you, Moses. You're going to lead my people
out of Egypt. Isaiah, in the year that King
Uzziah died, Isaiah said, I saw the Lord. High and lifted up,
his train filled the temple. Matthew, follow me. James and John, follow me. Zacchaeus, come down. Our Lord calls His people whom
He foreknew. He predestinated to be conformed
to the image of His Son. Whom He predestinated, He called. He called. And whom He called,
He justified. And whom He justified, He glorified. The old timers used to call it
the effectual call. The effectual. You say, what
does the word effectual mean? Gets the job done. gets the job
done, the effectual call. Abraham, God called him, he followed. Matthew, he arose and followed
Christ. James and John left their nets
and followed him. When he calls, men respond. I can call all day, and every
preacher in this country can call all day, but when the Spirit
of God, when the Lord Jesus Christ calls my sheep, hear my voice,
and they follow me. And the old timers called it
the effectual call. They said there's a general call.
There's the law written in the heart. There's a conscience.
Man knows good from evil. There's the God is known by the
things that are made. The heavens declare the glory
of God. But these are not saving calls. Providence, judgment,
law, conscience, nature. The effectual call is through
the Word. The Samaritan woman, you've read
it many times, our Lord crossed her path. He created an interest. He spoke to her about heavenly,
eternal, spiritual matters. And He revealed Himself to her.
His Word. He called. He called. Alright, here's the fourth unforgettable
gift. God loved us. God chose us. God called us by His gospel to
faith in Christ. And God taught us. Look at verse
15. Brethren, beloved of the Lord,
loved of God, chosen of God, called of God, brethren, now
stand fast, hold fast to the things that you've been taught. by word and epistle. You know,
my friends, in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, Paul said, the princes
of this world did not know who he was. If they had known who
he was, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. As it is written,
eye hath not seen and ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered
the heart of man. the things God's prepared for
them that love Him. But God hath taught us, God hath
revealed Himself unto us by His Spirit. God hath taught us and
revealed unto us who Christ is, and where He came from, and what
He did, and why He did it, and where He is now. All that's been
revealed by the Spirit of God. through the word of God as God
teaches his people. He said, I'll give you another
comforter and he'll teach you. He'll take the things of mine
and show them to you. He'll not speak of himself, but
he'll speak of me. He'll glorify me and he'll take
the things of mine and reveal them to you. That's what God
does. He teaches us. One day our Lord
said, I am the bread from heaven. And a bunch of these religious
fellows said this, they said, How can He be the bread from
heaven, the Lord from heaven, when we know He's Jesus, and
we know He's the Son of Mary, and they said the Son of Joseph,
and we know He's brothers and sisters. How can He be the bread
from heaven? How can He be the Lord from heaven?
Do you know when our Lord answered them, how He answered them, what
He said? He said, murmur not among yourselves, no man, can
come to me, believe on me, see my glory, understand my mission. No man can come to me in faith
except my Father draw him. And it's written in the prophets,
they shall be taught of God. He that has heard and learned
of the Father comes to me. God's taught us who Christ is. I know who He is. You do too,
don't you? Many of you. I know what He did. Came to this
earth, born of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them
that were under the law. Died on the cross, bearing our
sins, ascended up to heaven as our intercessor and our mediator. Oh my! How shall they call on
Him in whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear except
they be taught of God, learned of the Father. Oh, the Son of
God hath come and given us an understanding, that we may know
Him that is true, and we're in Him that is true, even in His
Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and this
is eternal life. Understanding, learned, heard,
taught. That's the reason that I speak
to you in a teaching fashion, because you need to be taught.
God's people need to be taught. They need to hear and to learn
the mysteries of God, the Word of God. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ,
by His mighty Spirit, had taught us. All right, what's the fifth
unspeakable, unforgettable gift? Look at verse 16. God had given
us a good hope. He loved us. He's called us,
He chose us, He taught us, and now He's given us a good hope. Look at that verse. Our Lord
Jesus Christ Himself, and God our Father, who hath loved us,
hath given us everlasting comfort and a good hope through grace. You know, people need to be taught
not only to read the Word of God, but how to read it. Now,
I'm going to give you a little lesson here. Now, you listen
carefully. The best way to profit from the
Scriptures is to read the Scriptures slowly and carefully, thinking
upon each word. And remember, it's the Word of
God, not the words of men. And it takes the Spirit of God
to reveal these words. Now let me read that verse again,
verse 16. Now look at it and listen carefully. Here's how
to read God's Word. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself,
Who is that? That's the Messiah. That's our
Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the God-Man, our Representative,
our Substitute, our Savior. And God, even our Father, they're
One, the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father. He said, I am
a Father One. They're One in purpose, One in
essence, One in will. So what the Lord Jesus Christ
does, His Father does. Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself
and God, even our Father, He's our Father in Christ. He's Christ's
Father, that makes Him our Father, because He's our Brother, who
hath loved us. See, this is the basis of all
that God has given us, His love, His mercy. Everything God gives
us, it's because He loved us. For God so loved the world, He
gave His Son. Christ didn't come to get God
in the notion of loving us, He came because God did love us. He had loved us and he had given
us an everlasting comfort. You see, everything God does
is everlasting. Ecclesiastes says, I know that
what God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it. Nothing
can be taken from it because God does it. So God has given
us everlasting comfort. That's God's comfort. It's everlasting.
It's not spasmodic. Here today and gone tomorrow.
And He has given us a good hope. A good hope. It's a good hope. It's a living hope because Christ
lives. It's a good hope because Christ
continues the hope of glory. It's a blessed hope because we're
going to be like Him. And it's a good hope through
grace. And because it's by His grace, it's certain and sure. If it were not by grace, it would
not be sure. Now here's the last, last unforgettable
gift. God loved us. And God chose us. And God called us. And God taught
us. And God gave us comfort, everlasting
comfort and a good hope through grace in Christ. And verse 17
says, And the God of comfort encourage you, strengthen you,
make you steadfast and keep you faithful and establish you. Establish you, set you like concrete
sets. You know, people who always change
in their doctrine can't be taught of God. People who always change
in directions can't be taught of God. People who always change
in their methods and their message can't be taught of God because
He establishes us in faith in grace, in Christ, in his word,
in works of faith, and labor of love. And I'm confident of
this, Paul said, that he that hath begun a good work in you
shall finish it in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, unspeakable,
unforgettable, I call them facts. Well, they're facts, but they're
more than facts. They're the gift of God, the
gift of God. through our Lord Jesus Christ
by His grace. Now, if you'd like to have this
message, Six Unforgettable Gifts, write for it. Write, send two
dollars and we'll prepare it, mail it to you. It's an audio
cassette tape. On the other side will be a message
I'll be bringing next week on the principles of grace. Here's
the address. Until next week, may God bless
you, everyone.