Thank you for your patience with me. Thank you so much, Clark, for helping. One of the things that I find very frustrating with what is going on, I love to sing. You probably know that. And it's frustrating not being able to really take part and enjoy it. I want to thank all of you for your prayers, your support over the last couple of weeks. And there are many who listen around the world, and I want to thank them as well for praying for me. It has been a difficult couple of weeks. We've got more to go. Perhaps this week we'll at least learn some more things. And so thank you for your prayers for me. Really appreciate it. Let's go to the Lord now in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you today for the word that you give us. Thank you, Lord, that we have here in our hands every word that you have ever spoken to men. You are our wonderful God, and we worship you. And we ask you, Lord, to build up your church today. And oh, Lord, if it be your will to call someone even today to true and saving faith. In Jesus' name, amen. I had prepared to preach from 2 Thessalonians two weeks ago, as many of you know, and then last week I spoke from another passage, but today we are going to attempt once more to study this second book of Thessalonians. As we've talked before, the books of Thessalonians 1 and 2 are some of the earliest books written of the New Testament. Along with them, probably James and maybe Matthew were written about this time. But it's very clear from the interior evidence of the books that they were written from Corinth to Thessalonica while Paul was there on that second missionary journey. And so, we saw in 1 Thessalonians, Paul had written to them to encourage them. They were a baby church. They were new. He did not get to spend a lot of time with them, and yet it's amazing how much theology he had taught them in the short time he was there. It's curious today that we have many so-called evangelical churches that resist the teaching of doctrine. believing it to be divisive or discouraging. I would say, no, it is what binds the church together. And so Paul in 1 Thessalonians has given them a lot of instruction, including in that what to think of those who had passed away, those who had died, either for their faith or just from natural causes. There was fear that something, they would never enjoy seeing Christ when He finally came. And He gave them some instructions about what that would look like, that it would not be a secret, that it would be loud, it would be visible, there'd be no question that it was Christ's return. Well then, shortly after that, he sends another letter, this letter that we're reading, to correct more problems, because as there are many today who love to read 1 Thessalonians, and don't pay attention to 2 Thessalonians, we have had people in our day that, oh, Jesus is coming on October the 12th, or some made-up number. And that was exactly the problem they had there. In fact, it was so bad that there were many, we find out later in the book, that had quit working and were just sponging off of others, waiting for Jesus to return. Just a few years ago, we had a false teacher named Harold Camping, who began teaching that the Lord was returning, there were billboards all over town here, somebody squandered their money on. He was encouraging people to run up their credit card debt, because they wouldn't have to pay it back, that they should sell all their stuff, and give it all, curiously enough, to his ministry. You know how that works. All of those guys, the ones that you hear on the television, the ones you hear on the radio, all they're interested in is getting into your pocketbook. Follow the money. Just follow the money. And so, in this case, they were having issues because there were folks saying, well, it may be any minute, so therefore, I don't have to do anything. That is exactly the wrong understanding of what the return of Christ means. And so, we'll be looking at that in this book, and he gives some stern warnings to how we ought to behave as we wait for Christ's return. So, now let's look at this book. We read the introduction is almost identical to 1 Thessalonians. He says Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, some places in Scripture Silvanus is referred to as Silas. Paul and Silas are, of course, the same Paul and Silas that were beaten and thrown into the dungeon in Philippi. Timothy was along with them. Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians, in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a very standard greeting of how Paul greets the churches. It's interesting that here he does not call himself the apostle, but just plain Paul. And so, then you come to verse 3 where we start to dig into more of the meat of this book, and he says, We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged. One of the evidences of genuine faith is that it grows. It's one of the ways you can know if your garden is alive or not. Is it growing? For quite a long time, there were some nice plants out in front of the other building. They didn't grow. They were plastic. They're fake. And it's interesting that time after time, Paul has this concern of vain faith. He mentions it over and over in Galatians, in Corinthians, we won't turn to all those passages, but time and again he will say, unless you've believed in vain. There is a danger of vain faith. We have many, especially in evangelical churches today, that have believed in vain. They are believing in their belief. They have faith in their faith. Well, I know that, I know that, I know that, I know. That means nothing at all. You can say that, but it doesn't mean anything. the Muslim is very certain of his right standing. Just because he's firm in that belief does not make it right. Faith, genuine faith, must be what we would call objective faith. Faith in Christ Himself. Not faith in your faith, but faith in Christ. And it's very clear from Scripture that those who truly believe in Christ, one of the evidences of that is that their faith in Christ continues to grow. They have more faith in Him now than when they started. I'd like you to look at Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. Here is one of the clearest presentations of the gospel, all in order. You have here in Ephesians 2, the doctrines of grace very clearly laid out for us. He says, and you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest." And so we see here very clearly, he spends several verses on just one clear doctrine, the depravity of man. The man truly is lost. The man truly is dead in his trespasses. How can a dead man exercise faith? It's like the picture of knocking on the door. How can a dead man open the door? And so, what do we see here? We were dead. First off, in the Gospel, in an understanding, is our actual condition. We have to be convinced that we really are dead. What's my favorite words in Scripture? But God. But God, verse 4, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. And so in the understanding of the Gospel and faith in Christ, firstly we must understand that we truly are lost. that we actually need a Savior. And then the message of that grace of God that is not based on any condition in us, not any kind of foreseen faith. I remember when I first heard the Gospel, I was quite upset. I heard about that God had sovereignly chosen to save men, I said, well, doesn't that mean God just looked down through the tunnel of time and saw who would respond and chose them? I'll never forget my professor. He says, no, that doesn't work. That would make you better than your neighbor. Are you better than your neighbor? My mouth said, oh, no. My heart said, well, yeah. God must save us by mercy and mercy alone. There's no such person that deserves mercy. That's a conundrum. How can you say he deserved mercy if he deserved mercy, he didn't need it. We must rely solely on the mercy of God. For whom did He do this great work? Because of His great love with which He loved every single individual that ever lived? It does not say that. He loved us. even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. It is that idea that when Christ died on the cross, He knew who for whom He was dying. He was laying down as the Great Shepherd His life for whom? The goats? Only the sheep. He lays down his life for the sheep. And as we hear the gospel, we're convinced of our sinful condition, we hear that God is merciful, and that Christ died for sinners. If your heart is open to hear that, like Lydia, you will say, that's exactly what I need. Christ never turns away anyone. This whole business of people saying, well, what if there's someone who wants to be saved, but he's not elect? There's no such person. No such person. That's a myth. There is no one that seeks after God. No one. So how do we come? His Holy Spirit convinces our heart of our dead condition. He regenerates us, making us able to hear the Gospel, to hear the voice of the Savior outside the tomb, saying, Lazarus, come forth. We're convinced by His Word that Christ died for me. I love the testimony of a dear friend of mine She had been raised a Buddhist. She had made pilgrimage to Nepal to meet some Lama there or something. Eventually, she moved into a trailer park across the street from a fellow who was a Christian. He gave her a Bible and asked her to read it. dangerous thing to do for a Buddhist or any of us. She began reading the scriptures and she came to John 10 talking about him laying down his life for the sheep and she said, suddenly, all I wanted was to be a sheep. How does that happen? It's a miracle of God. It is God who works to convince us of the truth of Scripture, that Christ died for me. not just generically, but for me. That He raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. It is He who accomplishes that. And here's the thing, we don't resist it. Yeah, we do in one sense at first, but when He begins to work, His callings to us where He says in John 6 that no man can come to the Father unless the Father what? Draws him. And that's not gentle whisperings and wooings. It literally means pull along like you drag something to you. Same word that's used for drawing a bucket up out of a well. It's irresistible, praise God. If we were left to our flesh, we would resist all the way. And so, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Faith is not you exercising your free will. It is God convincing you to believe what He has said of His Son. Very different. Genuine faith is based in this, that we are saved by grace, through faith, and that, that is, that grace through faith, not of yourselves. It is what? It's a gift of God, and it's not a result of works that no one should boast. And then look at verse 10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. This is that perseverance of the saints. that they are preserved by the power of God and that they persevere. One of the great evidences of a person being a genuine believer is that they continue to believe. It's what Paul was saying there in 2 Thessalonians. Let's return to that once more and look at that passage again. We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged. It's growing. It's continuing to grow. Paul warns the Corinthians to be examining the faith that they're walking in. Look at 2 Corinthians 13 verse 5. He says, test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves, or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you fail the test. It is important for us to honestly assess our lives. Am I genuinely a believer in Christ? Am I truly trusting in Him and Him alone for my salvation? Very important. As these believers there in Thessalonica were growing, they were growing in faith. Their faith in Christ was enlarged. I love that. What else is an evidence that they were genuine believers? Look at 2 Thessalonians 1.3, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater. Do you want some evidence of whether you're really a Christian or not? What is your relationship with your brothers and sisters in the church? What is your relationship with a local church? Do you love them? You'll hear people say, well, I love Jesus, but I hate the church. They don't love Jesus either. They're lying. It's impossible. If you love Jesus, you're going to love His bride. That's how it works. How would I respond to someone that says, Pastor, I really love you, but I can't stand your wife. That would be the last words we ever spoke, wouldn't it? What kind of person would even accept that? No, Christ loves His church. He loves her so much, He laid down His life for her. He paid the highest possible dowry for her. He paid His precious blood for His bride. Do you think He values her? Of course He does. Do you value her? Very important question. Your love for one another grows ever greater. Look with me at 1 John chapter 4. Not the Gospel of John, but 1 John, the letter of John. 1 John chapter 4. Look at verse 6. We are from God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. This is another evidence of a person. Are they really a Christian? Will they listen to the Word of God preached? Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this, the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. And this is love. Not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has beheld God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us. This is very important as we give an assessment of our own lives. What is my relationship with my brothers in Christ? Now this can be difficult. I have known a few brothers that were a little more difficult to love than others. You know, I tell folks, I'm just a lovable little fuzzball. No, in loving one another, it's in spite of our fallen flesh. We love one another because Christ died for us. That should give us pause when we mistreat one another. Look at verse 9, excuse me, 19 of 1 John 4. We love, some translations insert him, this one says we love, because he first loved us. We love him, because he first loved us. And we love, both are true, because he first loved us. Human beings are not very lovable. I love the way my friend Paul Washer puts it. He said he'll have people come, oh brother Paul, I just love the Chinese people. I have this great burden to preach the gospel to the Chinese people. I just love them. He says that's because you don't know any of them. There's a wonderful message online, if you can get a recording of it, by Paris Reedhead, old sermon called Ten Shackles and a Shirt. It's a lovely, lovely sermon. And he talks about going as a missionary. And what a shock it was that those people that he was going to teach as a missionary weren't actually waiting for him to come. And they weren't overjoyed to hear the gospel. They were just as rotten, ornery sinners as the people where he left. The only reason we love one another is because Christ loved us. It is interesting in our day to see as the influence of Judeo-Christian ethics disappears in our culture. Why do you think people are so violent and angry and yelling and wanting to kill one another? We see it on the news all the time. It is that there is no love. They have redefined love as merely lust. and there's no love for one another. Why is that? Christ is not in their lives. Look with me now at 1 Thessalonians. It's interesting that Paul says almost the same thing in 1 Thessalonians as in 2. Look in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. Verse 2, he says, we give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, constantly bearing in mind your work of faith, and labor of love, and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. in the presence of our God and Father. And so he goes back and says they're doing exactly the same things. You come to 2 Thessalonians and it's almost the same. He says, we give thanks to God, brethren, because your faith is greatly enlarged. The love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater. And so I would say today as you are listening to this sermon, I would ask you Assess your own so-called faith. In what are you trusting? Are you trusting in something you did? I've met so-called Christians. Well, yeah, I know I'm a Christian. Why do you know that? Well, I walked the aisle when I was 12. Well, that's nice. You moved from one part of a room to another. That means nothing at all. Well, I prayed a prayer with a pastor. Well, that's nice. You can go to the Catholic Church and pray a prayer with the priest. It means nothing at all. In what are you trusting? And then the person may say, I am trusting in Christ and His blood shed for me. Aha! Now we're getting somewhere. I read an incident that was told about of Billy Graham meeting with President Reagan many years ago. And Billy Graham was wont to use a method of witnessing where he would say, if you were to die tonight and come before God and he were to ask you why should I let you into my heaven, what would your answer be? And Reagan's response was, he shouldn't. But I come in the righteousness of another, my Savior, Jesus Christ. Now, that is a right understanding. God does not owe you heaven. but he loves his son and he loves everyone that his son laid down his life for. Praise God for that. So then he says in verse 4 of 2 Thessalonians, Therefore we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance. Remember in 1 Thessalonians, he talks about their work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope. That is what perseverance is all about. Why do we persevere? Merely because we're really stoic and we can take all kinds of pain and we can just soldier through and we're going to be strong? No. We persevere because we have hope. Why else would you persevere? I watched a show the other day about World War II veterans. It was about World War II, and they interviewed a number of these veterans that had survived World War II, seeing horrific things. Death, dismemberment, destruction all around them. And the common theme of these men was, I decided that if I survived, I must make my life count for something. It's very common thinking. Why did they persevere through the war? They had hope of returning. But more so for us, our perseverance and faith, when things get tough, He says, We speak proudly for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions. I can say by experience that faith is tested in affliction. What do you actually believe? Oh, it's all well and good to talk glowingly of Jesus in church. It's quite another thing when you have one of those difficult chats with your doctor. So Paul says, we speak proudly of you among the churches of God. Isn't that interesting? He's boasting about what God is doing in that church. That's amazing. You know how I have come back from various mission trips and shared with you the wonderful joy of seeing God at work in churches. Brothers and sisters growing in grace and understanding and walking with Christ and repenting of sin. It's wonderful. We need to hear more of that among believers. Wow, God's really working over there in Delta or Fruita or Elm Avenue Baptist. It's amazing, as he says, your perseverance and faith in the midst of your persecutions. Look with me, if you would, at 1 Corinthians 13. In 1 Corinthians 13, we often turn to this passage. We just did not that long ago at a wedding that we all enjoyed. And we talk about what genuine love looks like. And at the end of that passage, Paul says in verse 12, for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face, now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known, but now abide faith, hope, love, these three. The greatest of these is love. Paul, that is a common theme in his writing. That your faith would not be in vain, that your love would be genuine, and that you would persevere all the way to the end. One of the great preachers of the first Great Awakening, here in America, before it was the United States of America. One of those preachers said that the devil can imitate all of the doctrines of grace, save one. And that is perseverance. People can appear to be Christians and appear to be going with Christ and walking with Christ and part of the church, but in the end, reality will show that they will not persevere. And so, look at your own life today. Is your faith in Christ and Christ alone? Or is your faith in something else? There were those talked about in John that had faith in the miracles. It says in John chapter 2 that... Let's look at that. right at the end of John 2, verse 23. Now, when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, beholding His signs which He was doing. That sounds great. Great revival started. Lots of decisions for Jesus, right? We'll read the next verse. But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man." Very important that as you examine your faith, are you merely believing in things? Well, Jesus did lots of miracles. Well, that's nice. But what else? Jesus goes on to talk about one of these men. He knew what was in man. Now, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Ignore that chapter 3 heading there. The context flows from one verse to the next. named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to him by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you've come from God as a teacher. No one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. So he's recognizing that Jesus is something important, maybe even sent from God. He's seeing these signs, and look what Jesus said to him. Jesus answered and said to him, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born from above, that's what that word means, born again, means born from above, a miraculous birth of God. He cannot see the kingdom of God. So he has a level of faith that he sees that Jesus is important, that maybe he came from God, that he's doing these signs, and yet Jesus tells him, You need to be regenerated. Why is that so important? Well, remember what we read in Ephesians. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. We were just like poor old Lazarus at the bottom of that grave, dead and stinking. So were these dear people in Thessalonica until the Gospel came, until Christ opened their hearts to receive it. And so we go back to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and he says, verse 4, Therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure." Imagine that. The moment they came to Christ, they were immediately met with persecution. Jesus warned about such things in His parable of the sower. Remember? There's the ones along the road. They lose what little there was before they ever got it. Birds come and eat it. Then there's those that are on that thin soil on top of the rock, and it springs up. They receive the Word with joy, and it says, when persecution or tribulation comes, they quickly fall away. We have churches filled with people who receive the Word with joy and are lost, lost. As soon as any kind of adversity hit, they're out of there. Oh, dear ones, seek that understanding of Christ that perseveres. Why would they persevere in the midst of persecution and affliction unless they were absolutely convinced that Christ is more important than everything else? That's what happened. God opened their heart to see Christ, and He is the most precious thing they'd ever encountered. Jesus talks about the man who encounters this treasure in a field, sells all that he has to get it. Obviously, He's not talking about a fellow going and looking for gold. It is that picture of the person who encounters Christ and must have Him above all else. There was a tragedy here in town just this week. Did you guys hear about this? A pastor lost his life looking for buried treasure. I find this just completely incredible. What does Jesus say about earthly treasures? Oh my goodness. What a waste. What a wasted life. Oh dear ones, what are you wasting your life on? You may not be wandering alone in the desert looking for a silly buried treasure, but you may be spending your life on nothing of eternal value. These people understood this. Perhaps part of our problem in America is that our faith is too cheap. It costs nothing. I believe the days are coming when that may not be the case anymore. Oh dear ones, is your faith growing? Is your love growing for one another? And are you persevering? Oh, that You would. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank You for the witness of the Thessalonians that they persevered, that they continued, Lord. Oh, Father, may we grow in faith and grow in love, and especially, Lord, that we may persevere. In Jesus' name, Amen.