It's a time when our culture sets aside an opportunity to commemorate those that have paid with their lives, to make church services like this and the freedom to meet like we are today a possibility. And so we're mindful of your word, which says, greater love has no man than this, than he who is willing to lay down his life for his friends. And of course, you did that for us on the cross. But in another sense, people have done that with their lives, paying the ultimate price, making freedom possible. So we don't take it lightly. We don't take it for granted. Give us an attitude of gratitude as we gather today and work our way through your word. And in preparation for that ministry, we're just gonna take a couple of moments of silence to do personal business before you so that we can ready our hearts to receive from your word today. We're thankful, Lord, for the promise of 1 John 1, verse 9, which doesn't restore our position, but it can, if need be, restore broken fellowship. We praise you for the comprehensiveness of your provision for us, and we ask for the illuminating ministry of the Spirit of God as we study 2 Thessalonians in Sunday school. and the book of Genesis in the main service. We'll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus' name and God's people said, amen. So I realize that today is Memorial Day, not Veterans Day necessarily, but I'm just gonna do something a little unusual. If you've ever served our country in the military in any capacity, could I get you to just stand up for a second? And don't sit down too quick so we can all see who you are. We just want at Sugar Land Bible Church, commemorate you for your service and sacrifice to make freedom that we're enjoying right now possible. And we only have a fraction of our folks here in Sunday school compared to the main service. So we're gonna do this whole thing again in the main service. So you'll have a chance to recognize those that have served. Let's take our Bibles this morning, open them to 2 Thessalonians chapter two and verse 13, continuing to work our way through Second Thessalonians. As you know, Paul the Apostle planted the church there in Thessalonica on his second missionary journey. He was forced out of that church that he planted by the unbelieving Jews who pretty much gave Paul a hard time everywhere he went in the book of Acts. So that pushed him down south into Corinth, and it's in Corinth that he got a forged letter. Actually, he didn't receive it, but the Thessalonian church received it. And they thought from this forged letter that they were in the tribulation period. Paul had taught them that they would avoid the tribulation period via the pre-tribulational rapture, and the forged letter says, no, you're in the tribulation period. So that shook them. As you look back at verse two, it's a description of that forged letter. They were shaken. And one of the reasons they were shaken is how do you trust anything Paul says from this point on when now through a letter he's contradicting what he originally told us. So if he's wrong there, he could be wrong on anything. So what Paul explains to them in verses three through 12 is you're not in the tribulation period now. Because if you were, you'd be seeing five things, none of which you're seeing. The departure, which we've tried to argue is a synonym for the rapture. The desecration of the temple by the Antichrist. You haven't seen that yet. You haven't seen the restrainer removed. You haven't seen the destruction of the lawless one yet. As the Antichrist is going to be overthrown by Jesus. with the breath of his mouth and the splendor of his coming at the end of the tribulation period. You haven't seen that, and you haven't seen the destruction of the lawless one's followers. So you might recall our study through verses 10 through 12. Let me just read those verses to you, which is the final thing that Paul mentions, because we're actually moving on from this, believe it or not. I'm afraid to count how many weeks we've spent in this paragraph, it's really the heart of the letter. It's packed with eschatology, the study of the end. But when Paul describes the destruction of the lawless one's followers, he does so in verses 10 through 12. And he says, with all deception of wickedness, For those who perish because they do not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved, for this reason God will send upon them a diluting influence so that they will believe what is false in order that they all may be judged who did not believe in the truth but took pleasure in wickedness. So that's a pretty severe statement that he's making about the Antichrist followers at the end of the Tribulation period. But you'll notice verse 13, there's a contrast. In contrast to them, what about you, you Thessalonians, Thessalonian Christians? Notice the word but there, the conjunction, it's a contrast. But we, now he's not dealing with unsaved people at the end of the tribulation period. He's identifying with the spiritual status of the audience. Paul was saved, they are saved. He says, but we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved, by the Lord because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation. through sanctification by the Spirit and faith and truth. So in contrast to the destiny of the Antichrist followers, he now describes the destiny of the believer in the age of the church. And he does that in verses 13 through 17. And you can take verses 13 through 17, which we're moving into now, and divide it into three parts. Paul offers thanksgiving for them on account of their calling, these Thessalonian Christians, verses 13 and 14. And then in verse 15, he exhorts them to stand firm. And that exhortation makes a lot of sense, because they had just received a forged letter which had shaken them. So stand firm in apostolic truth, and then he closes the chapter by praying for their strength. And that prayer makes sense in light of the persecution that the Thessalonian Christians were under, as well as the false doctrine that was prevalent in their midst, receiving forged letters that contradicted the apostles. So first of all, notice he praises the Lord for their calling. He offers a thanksgiving for their calling. And you see that there in verse 13, but we should always give thanks to God for you. Paul was a man who was not involved in always asking God for things, petition. There's a time and a place for that, that's appropriate. Paul calls those prayers of supplication, where you're asking God to supply a need. But you notice that Paul's prayer life wasn't always involved in supplications. It wasn't always give us this day our daily bread. A lot of his prayer life was spent just thanking God for what he's already done. And one of the things that God has done is he's brought these Thessalonians that he's writing to, he's brought them to saving faith. So you notice that Paul doesn't get bogged down and disappointed in the fact that they're steeped in deception because of forged letters. He just kind of steps back for a minute and says, well, praise the Lord, y'all are saved. Praise the Lord that you all belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. So it's kind of a different way of approaching prayer. As that saying goes, you know, count your blessings, name them one by one, count your blessings, see what God has done. You know, sometimes we're in such a hurry and we have so many needs that that becomes the focus of our prayer life where the Lord is saying, hey, take time just a second to consider what you do have and what God has already done. And so Paul says, I'm actually glad I can write to you a letter trying to protect you from false doctrine, because at least that means you're saved. At least I'm not writing letters trying to get you saved. I just got to keep you on the right track in terms of your growth in Christ. And he praises the Lord for the fact that God has already done the greater work in their lives. He's allowed them, these Thessalonian Christians, to be spiritually birthed. Now, you'll notice there in verse 13, the word always. This is how Paul always operated. It wasn't just something he did once a month or whatever. This was just part of his mental disciplines in prayer. I'm reminded of Philippians chapter four, verse four, which says, rejoice in the Lord always. And if that weren't enough, then he says, again, I say rejoice. So rejoice in the Lord, how often? Always. And then do it again. That's basically what he's saying. He doesn't say rejoice in the Lord when things are going well, from the human perspective. Rejoice in the Lord when people are not running crossways with you. Rejoice in the Lord when they're not under deception. He just says rejoice in the Lord always when you're in deception or not in deception. I'm rejoicing in you that you're saved. And I'm offering thanksgiving to you, for you, unto God. It's very clear that he's talking now to believers because he uses the word brethren there, verse 13, and he uses the word beloved, verse 13. So there's a sharp contrast between the group that he had been addressing in verses 10 through 12. You'll notice that none of those words are used. As Paul is describing the events of the tribulation period itself, he never says brethren, he never says beloved, for the simple reason that the church of Jesus Christ will not be in that time period. He switches. He actually switches pronouns and he talks about we, not they or them, we, and he describes these people as brethren and beloved, and he's praising God for the fact that they're saved. Now, here you run into a controversial issue. Because it says, but we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation. So there is a reality in the Bible that God seems to choose those who would be saved. I do notice in Romans 8 verse 29 and 30 that the word foreknow precedes predestined. It says in Romans 8, 29 and 30, for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined. to become conformed to the image of his son so that he would be the firstborn among many brethren. And these whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. So many in our camp would say, well, God chose those who he already knew for new would choose him. And that's a legitimate reading. You know, of all of the points of Calvinism, the you is sort of the one that's always been the hangup for me, unconditional election. Do we choose God or did God choose us? And here's my final answer on this, you ready? The answer is yes. It's something that's just above my pay grade, to be frank with you. I need to study this a lot more. But I'm completely comfortable with the idea that God chooses people, but I'm also comfortable with the idea that we choose God. You know, to me, it's like a marriage. I mean, did you choose your spouse, or did your spouse choose you? And I hope your answer is yes to both, or you might need marriage counseling. I mean, I knew that I chose my wife, but it wouldn't have done much good if she didn't choose me. So I kind of like the way J. Vernon McGee articulates these kinds of things. He says, you'll enter heaven and it will say something like on the front door, all who wills may enter here. And then you enter heaven and you look back on the other side of the wall as you enter and it says, welcome all ye who are chosen from the foundations of the earth. I think the mistake that's made in this whole discussion of election and choosing is people have a tendency to gravitate towards one verse, one set of verses depending on their theological predilections and sort of marginalize the other verses that go against them. And people on the opposite side of the equation have a tendency to do the same thing. So there are Christians that will completely and totally focus on election and choosing by God, and they'll ignore all of the passages like John 3.16, which indicates that we choose God. Other people do the opposite. They go to all the free will passages, and then they'll try to write out of the Bible the passages that deal with God choosing us. My solution to the whole thing is I give up, I quit. How's that for a solution? I can see very clearly passages where it indicates God chose us, and I can see other passages which indicate that we chose God. And so at some point, you just have to say, well, God's ways are higher than our ways. Isaiah 55, what is it, verses eight and nine, As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God's ways higher than our ways. And the fact that this kind of tension even exists in the Bible, I used to get upset about it, but I think my attitude is a little different now. To me, the fact that this kind of tension exists in the Bible proves that this book came from a higher time dimension that I know of, which means that it came from God. Because I think if a human being wrote these words, you wouldn't have this kind of tension. But the fact that you're dealing with a communication from God to man who sees things different than man, the fact that that communication came from that higher time dimension indicates that it actually comes from God. So rather than let verses like this frustrate you, Maybe a different attitude would just be to rejoice in it. Because this proves this must have come from God, because it's dealing with a tension that a human mind cannot resolve. So however you take this idea of chosen or election, it's very clear that Paul is rejoicing in the fact that God has chosen from the beginning unto salvation. these Thessalonian believers. And of course, the sentence doesn't stop there. It says, because we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Holy Spirit. So sanctification is being set aside. There are three tenses of salvation. The past tense of salvation, the present tense of salvation, and the future tense of salvation. In justification, we are delivered from sin's penalty at the point of faith alone in Christ alone. Going to the far right hand of the screen, in glorification, we are delivered from sin's presence. We are justified at the point of faith alone in Christ alone, and then the person that is justified by faith alone in Christ alone experiences glorification at death or rapture, whichever comes first. So all a human being needs to do to be justified before God is to believe or to trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ. And then the only thing a human being needs to do who is now justified to experience glorification is they just need to die. So we kind of look at death as, boy, that's the worst thing that could happen to a person. In fact, it's actually your friend, death, because the Bible says, absent from the body is to be what? Present with the Lord. Paul in Philippians 1, 21 through 23 says, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. And he says, I really don't even know which to choose at this point, As long as I'm alive, God is using me for fruitful labor. But he says it'd be far better for me to just die and go into the presence of the Lord. And he almost sounds in Philippians 1, 21 through 23, resentful to the Philippians. Because he says it's because of you people that I have to stay here serving the Lord. So that's the way the Christian lives. As long as I'm on this earth, God has something for me to do. But when it's time to check out, either at rapture or death, praise the Lord, I'm not going into some kind of soul sleep or something like that. I'm going directly into the presence of the Lord in a conscious state. And then in between those, the first tense of salvation and the third tense of salvation, justification, And glorification, we have the walk of sanctification, the present tense of salvation, where we are gradually being delivered from sin's power. Justification just takes faith. Glorification just takes death or rapture. But sanctification in the middle there is a process. There are multiple commands that have to be obeyed under God's power for a Christian to become progressively sanctified to grow in their relationship to Jesus. Now that we have been born, the command is to grow. And that makes the middle tense of salvation very different from the outer edges of salvation, which are instantaneous. So sanctification, unfortunately, is not automatic in the life of every child of God, any more than learning how to brush your teeth or ride a bike is automatic, right? I mean, just because you're born doesn't mean you automatically know how to ride a bike. Just because you're born doesn't mean you know how to brush your teeth and floss your teeth. I mean, someone has to teach you how to do that, right? I mean, some of you may have come out of the womb with that ability. I mean, I never did. I had to have it explained to me, OK, here's how it works. Why do I have to do this? All that kind of stuff. So in the natural world, maturity is not automatic. So in the spiritual realm, maturity is not automatic. You have to be in an environment where you're being taught the word of God. You have to understand the commandments of God. And you have to learn to obey those commandments, which is contrary to our Adamic nature, under the direction of the new nature and the power of the Holy Spirit. So Paul here doesn't just talk about justification, he talks about sanctification, middle tense of salvation, by the Spirit. Now, I can't overemphasize this reference to by the Spirit. Unless we're walking according to the promptings and the yearnings of the Holy Spirit and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, the only thing we're gonna be doing in the Christian life is failing over and over again. God never intended his commands in the middle tense of salvation to be executed under human power and self-will. So this is why so many Christians are frustrated in the Christian life, is they're trying to do the right thing without divine enablement. New Year's resolutions and self-discipline, I mean, the only thing those really do is they try, all they can do is to try to get the flesh to try harder. But the flesh has no ability to execute the life of the spirit because the flesh is corrupted. So what God does is he, in progressive sanctification, gives us a new nature. Now the old nature is still there. A lot of people today, particularly in the Calvinistic circles, are saying the old nature is gone today. No, it's not. It is still alive and well. In fact, when you get saved and the Holy Spirit is inside of you with the new nature, you'll be more aware of the old nature than you ever were before. So the old nature with its yearnings and its temptations is always there. But you see, now something is different inside of you. You have the resources of Christ, which is a new nature, and the power of the Holy Spirit And so the goal of progressive sanctification is to walk according to the desires of the new nature and to reckon, Romans 6. The Greek is logizomai. It's an accounting term. Basically what it means is you look in the account and it's objectively true, because numbers don't lie, right? I mean, either your accounting says your bank account is this or it doesn't, right? So numbers don't lie. They're objectively true. Logizimae, when we're doing the walk of progressive sanctification, we are reckoning true what God has said about us in Romans 6. that we have the resources of Jesus Christ because we have been identified at the point of faith into his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, that's an objectively true thing. It has nothing to do with how you feel at any given moment. It's a theological truth which is as objective as looking at numbers in a bank account, or looking at a balance sheet, or looking at an income statement, So you have Romans 6, the baptism into Jesus, identification truth. You have Romans 8, the Holy Spirit inside of you. You have 2 Peter 1.4, the new nature. Now, the old nature can scream and yell and throw a tantrum and try to get you to come back, but the truth of the matter is you don't have to listen to the old nature anymore, even though it's very loud. All you do is reckon that old nature dead because God says it's dead, meaning you can feel a certain way, but you don't have to follow it anymore. And you start to live according to the desires of the new nature. And as you do that under God's power, what you're discovering now is you're not just a born person, but now you're a person that is developing. You know how to brush your teeth now. Congratulations. You know how to ride a bicycle now. You know how to get dressed in the morning. You know how to communicate. et cetera, et cetera. So as we grow in the Christian life, we are not doing it under our own power. So that's why Paul, when he mentioned sanctification, is very clear that it's sanctification by the Holy Spirit. This is why Galatians 5, verse 16 says, Paul says, but I say, walk by the Spirit. It doesn't say walk by New Year's resolutions. walk by self-help, self-empowerment principles. He says, walk by the Holy Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Oh, so the desires of the flesh are still there in a born again Christian. Obviously that's true or Paul wouldn't say walk by the spirit or you won't gratify the desires of the flesh. The old nature must still be there in some sense. But as I grow as a Christian, what I'm doing is I'm now walking by the Holy Spirit, and that allows me to routinely reckon dead the yearnings of the old nature. And if you wanna know what the old nature is like, just read verses 19 through 21 of Galatians 5. You'll see a description of it. I mean, I know immediately when I'm being pulled back into the old nature because I see the works of the flesh identified in the Bible. Mark Galatians 5, 19 through 21. You'll find another list in Mark 7, verses 20 through 23. So when I'm cut off on the freeway and I'm tired and I sense this anger coming over me, or when someone steals my parking spot, and I wanna write them a nasty note and put it on their windshield, learn to park, and I wanna lay on the horn, and I wanna do all kinds of things, I say to myself, you know what, that's my old nature, because one of the works of the flesh is outbursts of anger. So I don't want to follow the flesh, Lord. There's nothing good in the flesh. So I'm going to reckon that dead, even though I feel angry. I'm going to reckon that dead. I'm going to not follow the dictates of the old nature. And I'm going to live according to the desires of the new nature, which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5, 22 through 23, love, joy, peace. Sorry. It's just hard for me to get the word out. Love, joy, peace, patience. Joy and self-control. So that's how we handle the parking lot issues in our lives, right? When we want to get angry, we just say, no, I'm not going to do that today. I'm going to live according to the desires of the new nature. Now, every moment you spend doing that is a moment you're growing in Christ. Growth in Christ is not determined by the amount of time you've been a Christian. Let me say that again. Growth in Christ is not determined by the amount of time you've been a Christian. Because there's a lot of Christians out there that have been living according to the flesh for most of their Christian lives, and they should have grown up a long time ago, and they haven't. Growth in Christ is not determined by the amount of time you've been a Christian. Growth in Christ is determined by the amount of time that you have spent actively obeying God. There's growth. And by the way, when you select leaders for a church, that's what you look for. the amount of time that they've spent not being a Christian, but the amount of time that they have spent actively obeying God. Every moment you spend saying no to the things of the flesh and yes to the things of the spirit is another opportunity for you to grow into maturity. So now we're brushing our teeth, we're riding a bicycle, I'm driving a car, I'm making mortgage payments on a house. Maybe that analogy is not the best, but in other words, you're growing into spiritual adulthood. So Paul, when he talks about our growth into spiritual adulthood, says specifically that our sanctification, middle tense of salvation, is by the Spirit. Someone has said that the Christian life is difficult. That is untrue. The Christian life is not difficult. The Christian life is impossible. The Christian life is impossible if you're trying to fulfill the will of God in our lives through our own power. That is an impossible thing to do. God never intended the Christian life to be lived that way. He intended our development into the middle tense of our salvation to be conducted under the resources that he has given us at the point of faith alone in Christ alone. And you have three, at least. Your baptism into Christ, Romans 6. It's a done deal. Well, yeah, pastor, but I'm really trying to put to death the sin nature in my own life. Well, why in the world are you trying to do that? The sin nature has already been put to death. Why are you trying to put to death something God already says is dead? So you're not Logizomai looking into the bank account and seeing accurately what's happened. You already have your baptism into Christ. The sin nature's been disabled. Has it been annihilated? No, but it's been disabled. You don't have to obey it anymore. It can scream and yell and throw a tantrum all at once, but you don't have to say yes to it anymore. So you already have, number one, your baptism into Christ, Romans 6. You already have, number two, the ministry of the Holy Spirit inside of you, Romans 8. And remember what Jesus says, the Holy Spirit is in you forever. John 14, verses 16 through 17. Yeah, but pastor, I feel like the Holy Spirit has left me. Well, I don't really care what your feelings are, neither does God. Feelings are very deceptive. In fact, I just got off an airplane flying from Houston to Tulsa and Tulsa back to Houston. And it's not the biggest plane in the world, by the way, that I was stuffed into. And you see the crew. It's like they're trying to be funny and joking around. And I'm thinking to myself, I don't really need a comedy act right now. I just need people that know what they're doing. And the moment the pilot would take his eyes off the compass and fly by his feelings, is the moment that the plane is gonna crash, right? So feelings mean nothing. What the pilot does, logitimize, he keeps looking at the compass, because the compass is objectively true. It tells you where we are, where we're supposed to go, where we're gonna land. You don't look around at the clouds and the sun and the rain and the turbulence and how you feel. You just keep logitimizing, looking at the compass. Well, that's how you live the Christian life. You just keep looking at the record book that God says of you that is objectively true. Your baptism into Christ, Romans 6, the Holy Spirit in you forever, Romans 8, and the new nature, 2 Peter 1.4. And you say, those things are true. And yes, the sin nature is drawing me back, but I don't have to obey the sin nature today. I don't have to obey the sin nature this morning. I don't have to obey the sin nature this afternoon. I can reckon it dead and live according to the desires of the new nature. And what you'll see is every moment you spend as a Christian actively doing that is a moment that you're growing. So that's the significance of what Paul is saying here by the spirit. The Christian life is not Difficult, it's impossible without God's power. And then you'll notice that it's lived not just by the Spirit. He says here, verse 13, by the Spirit and faith. Man's relationship with God begins and ends with faith. Hebrews 11 verse six says, without faith it is impossible to please Him. You're believing these things by faith. You're believing these things because God said that they're true. Now in 2 Peter chapter one verses five through seven, the Apostle Paul kind of, excuse me, the Apostle Peter kind of lays out what a mature Christian life looks like. And he says over there, now for this very reason, also applying all diligence, you see how the spiritual life and growth is not automatic? You have to put in an effort. But the effort is not self-will, the effort is actively obeying God. It's not something that happens automatically any more than you learn to brush your teeth or ride a bike automatically. You have to put in a certain amount of discipline and learning and thought to learn to do those things. Now for this reason, also applying all diligence in your faith, supply moral excellence. And in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control. And in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. So Thomas Constable says, unlike other New Testament ethical lists, Peter here uses a literary device called a sorets, also called a climax or a, where we get the word gradual or graduation. It's a set of statements that proceed step by step to a climactic conclusion through the force of logic or reliance upon a series of indisputable facts. Each new statement picks up the last key word or phrase of the preceding one. So this is what development in the spiritual life looks like. It begins with faith, and then to faith apply goodness. And you may not feel like a good person, but the Holy Spirit inside of you will empower you for goodness. Add to that knowledge. Add to that self-control. Add to self-control perseverance. In other words, you don't just quit in life when something doesn't go right. You persevere through it. Add to that godliness. Add to that brotherly kindness. where you're not at war with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ over some issue that is more of a personality conflict. And then you add to that love, which is agape, which is a selfless kind of love. And what's happening is you're actively obeying God in the middle tense of your salvation. you're developing into a spiritually mature person. But I want you to notice here where everything starts. It starts with faith. You'll notice back in Peter's statement, Peter says, now for this reason also applying all diligence in your faith. What in the world is faith? Well, I think there's a definition of faith over in Hebrews 11, in the hall of faith. The author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 11 verse one, now faith is the assurance of things hoped for. The conviction of things not seen. So what is happening is you're beginning your walk with the Lord by believing what he says. You're trusting him. God says there's a real devil out there and demons. Well, I don't see him. Well, God says it doesn't matter if you see him or not, they're there. So put on your armor. So as you start putting on your armor, Ephesians chapter six, you're walking by faith. Well, Lord, I want to obey the old nature today. Well, you don't have to do that. I've given you resources where you can say no to the old nature. Yeah, but Lord, I don't see my resources. I can't physically see them. Well, they're there whether you see them or not. These are objectively true, whether you feel like it or see them or not. So obey the new nature today and say no to the old nature. So what's happening is you're stepping out in faith and you're actively obeying God. And that's the exact point that Paul is getting at there in verse 13 of 2 Thessalonians 2, when he says, by the spirit and faith. And then notice this next line, in truth, in the truth. You have to be exposed to biblical truth to grow. You have to be exposed to biblical truth to get saved. I mean, as long as you're sitting under someone that's talking about a bunch of things that have nothing to do with the Bible, which is like 90% of churches in the United States today. Great motivational speech, great psychological counseling, great relevant application. I'm just wondering, where in the world did you get all this stuff? I'm not seeing it in the Bible. As long as you're sitting in an environment that's not exposing you to the truth, how in the world could you grow? You can't. Paul is very clear here that our sanctification by the Spirit is through faith in the truth. John 8 verse 32, what did Jesus say? You will know the truth and the truth will set you free. And by the way, truth is not always there to make you, give you the warm fuzzy for the day. I mean, sometimes truth will make you miserable. You know, when I had my cancer situation, prostate cancer, I didn't really need a physician that was really all that interested in giving me a warm fuzzy and making me happy. What I needed is someone to accurately diagnose the situation so I could get the situation fixed. So truth then becomes a prerequisite for health. See that? You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. Truth is your best friend. Because once you're exposed to the truth, you can see now the path towards health. If you're not exposed to the truth, then how could you ever get on the pathway to health? I mean, what if I went to this doctor and he said, you know, I just don't wanna hurt your feelings and you're a great guy. come over to my house this weekend we'll have a big barbecue and we'll watch the game on TV you know I'll bring out the chips and guacamole and we'll just have a great time okay thank you doctor appreciate it boy you sure made me feel good all weekend and then I die of cancer what good has it done it's it's you know if you did this in the field of medicine hedge on the truth, you'd lose your license to practice. If you did this in the area of law, and you never told people the truth, but you were worried about their feelings, you'd lose your license to practice law. But in the world of Christianity, this is normal. Where, you know, people will flock around those who deliberately have a worship service designed to hide from them certain truths. You know, it's called church growth. meaning you sort of make the church like the unsaved world. And the unsaved world comes in. Well, that isn't God's design for the church. You can't grow as a Christian unless you've been exposed to the truth. So he continues on there in verse 14. And he says, it was for this he called you through our gospel. that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So notice in the steps of salvation here, there's a foreknowledge, prognosco. Then there's a predestination, meaning an election or a choosing. And then there's a calling. Now what is the calling? I think the calling is John 16, verses seven through 11. where the spirit in the unsaved person is convicting them of sin, righteousness, and judgment. That's the calling of God, where the Holy Spirit convicts a human being of their need to trust in Christ for salvation. There's the calling. And then as a person is called, they're not automatically justified unless they take the step that God requires which is to believe or trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ. And as they're justified, as we have studied, now God says to grow. Some do, some don't, because you have to take active steps there. And then at the point of death or rapture, a person is then in the presence of the Lord where they're glorified. So those are the different phases of salvation Paul the apostle there is focusing on calling, which is convicting. And the last time I checked, this conviction goes out to the whole world. Jesus was very clear in John 16 verses seven through 11, when he comes, the spirit, he will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. So every single human being today is savable because Jesus died for the whole world. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And every single human being today is under conviction to receive the finished work of Jesus Christ because this convicting work, John 16, verses seven through 11, goes out into the entire world. But they're not actually justified before God until they receive the pardon that God makes available in their place. So Paul here, I think, is emphasizing the calling part of this, the world under that state of conviction. Verse 14, he says, it was for this he called you through our gospel. Gospel, as you know, means good news. The personal gospel of salvation. It's very good news because Jesus, 2000 years ago, has fixed a problem that we can't fix. The fact that we're separated from God and headed towards an eternity separated from him. So God fixed a problem that we can't fix. Jesus' final words on the cross were, it is finished. And so as we receive what he has done as a free gift, we're pardoned. A pardon is applied to us. The righteousness of God is transferred to us on the basis of grace through faith. Now, if that's not good news, I don't know what is. You're not gonna get better news in your life than that. So don't hold out for a better deal. I mean, this is like the quintessential good news. This has to be taught and preached week after week after week. And you have to share this with people that you encounter with daily, because that's our function here on the earth, is to get this good news to as many people as we possibly can before it becomes too late for them to receive it, to receive the pardon. Because once you die and pass into the eternal realm, that's it. There's no second chances. It's appointed for a man once to die, then to face the judgment. So the good news is good, but it's also urgent because a person doesn't have forever to receive it. You gotta receive it now. You gotta receive it this side of the grave because once death hits, you're into the eternal realm and it's too late. That's why the Bible says things like, today is the day of salvation. So it was for this reason that he called you through our gospel. Now look at this, second part of verse 14, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our doxological purpose. What are the purposes of the church? Edify the saints, yes, that's number two. Fulfill the great commission, yes, that's number three. But what is the first purpose of the church? It's to glorify God. Ephesians 3 verse 21 of the church says to him, be the glory in the church. and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever, amen. So everything that takes place in God's church, you have to ask yourself, is this glorifying God and his church or not? And consequently, what we embrace at Sugar Land Bible Church is what's called dispensational theology. Don't let that word scare you, it has a very, Simple meaning. In fact, Charles Ryrie, who developed this, called the sine qua non of dispensationalism, if I understand the story right, was in a carpool riding with somebody, one of the scholars at Dallas Seminary, and he was asked in the ride in, Charles, what makes a dispensationalist? And he thought about it for a minute, and he wrote down these three things. This is the sine qua non of dispensationalism. Most people don't know this about Charles Ryrie, but his original ambition was to write children's books. He had an ability to take somewhat complicated topics and simplify them where a child could understand them. In fact, the very first book that Charles Ryrie wrote was a children's book. And you can watch on YouTube Charles Ryrie being invited onto a program by David Reagan going back decades, where David Reagan brought Charles Ryrie on to talk about the end times, and Charles Ryrie brought little object lessons to communicate the end times. He brought in a newspaper clipping of the reborn state of Israel. He brought in some currency featuring the euro. And rather than giving all of these long-winded explanations about the newborn state of Israel and the Antichrist Eurocentric empire, he would just pull out these little pictures to communicate his point. In fact, I saw when I was living in Dallas that Charles Ryrie was gonna be speaking at the church a few houses down from where we were living at the time. And I went to listen to him, and he was talking about the end times. He was talking about Revelation 6 and Revelation 9, which is the destruction of half of the world's population. And this is how he taught it. He says, now everybody in this room, put your thumb down and hold up four fingers. That is Revelation 6. That is Revelation 9. By the time you get to Revelation 9, half of the world's population is destroyed. And I sat there listening to him at this little church, and I said, that's one of the best teachings I've ever heard. Because that's who he was. He was able to just simplify things. That's why if you think you have the gift of teaching, the best advice I could give you is teach kids. Because if you can teach kids, you can teach anybody. When I first came to Dallas, my wife and I taught this little Sunday school class in this church. And I'm telling you, that Sunday school class was awesome, because my wife organized all of these games and competitions, and then she would let me talk for five minutes. And she would say, you can't use any theological terms. You just have to communicate at the simplest level you can. Now I know that's hard to believe because I don't do that at all now, particularly the five minutes part. But we were able to, in fact, that Sunday school class was so popular that the kids would go home and correct their parents' theology because of what they were learning in that class. So this is who Charles Ryrie is with his gift of simplicity. And he says, being a dispensationalist is not complicated at all. It's just three things. Number one, you take the whole Bible literally. Number two, when you take the whole Bible literally, you see God has a separate program for Israel in the church. There are two trains on different railroad tracks. And number three, and this is the reason I'm bringing up all of this, is God's overall purpose in history is to glorify himself. So all of God's works in creation are to glorify himself. All of his works in redemption are to glorify himself. And that's why Paul says there in verse 14, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. God takes the Christian and fits them into the purpose for which they exist, which is to glorify God. And that's the tragedy of spending so much of one's life outside of Christ, is people are created to glorify God. You can only be fulfilled when you're inside of your purpose. And if you're living outside of your purpose, you don't have a life that's glorifying to God, and you're missing the point of your existence. So these are all things that the Apostle Paul brings up as he's giving a thanksgiving for the Thessalonians in contrast to the Antichrist worshipers. at the end of the tribulation period. Let's pray. Father, we're grateful for your word, grateful for your truth, grateful for how it speaks and ministers to us. Help us to be good students of this section of your word. Help us to be grateful and mindful of the sacrifices that were paid to make our freedom in this country a possibility. We'll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus' name. And God's people said, amen.