The Conclusion From the Day of the Lord

Let's bow for word of prayer together. Okay, Father We thank you for today, and we're grateful Lord for the midweek and the opportunity we have to spend time in the word A lot of us come from busy days Whether it's at work or at home with the kids Lord, there are so many things on our agenda each and every day Sometimes we can we can lose track of what it is. We're supposed to be doing and how we're supposed to be doing it The devil wants to distract us from the work of the ministry and The opportunity to share the gospel with people we come in contact with and yet Lord we know that we take a brief moment to spend time in your word we can be refueled and Get our batteries Recharged so that we know that when we wake up tomorrow and go back to work or go to school or whatever it is We're going to be doing we have the opportunity to impact other people's lives with the gospel of Jesus Christ Thank you Lord for calling us into your kingdom Thank you Lord for allowing us to be a part of a grand inheritance Thank you Lord for your choice of us.

We are blessed people and we are extremely grateful Bless our time together this evening Lord. We pray in your name. Amen Alright, if you got your Bible second Thessalonians chapter 2, we're gonna finish this chapter this evening This is the conclusion to the day of the Lord, which was the theme of chapter 2 Which is the theme of the book, but it brings it to a unique conclusion as you begin to understand what it is Paul wants these people to grasp and so he talks about praise he talks about Prayer and he talks about a particular precept they need to follow And so as we unfold God's Word for you this evening Hopefully we can answer some questions and on the flip side of that create a lot of extra questions in your mind Concerning the way God operates in the lives of his people The Bible says these words in verse number 13 of second Thessalonians 2 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 in the truth it was for this he called you through our gospel that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ So then brethren stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught Whether by word of mouth or by letter from us Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father Who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good.

Hope by grace comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word What the Apostle Paul does in just a few verses is give us a a vast overview of God's redemption of his people it's a verse that's filled with all kinds of Theology that will help us understand the plan of God for his people And what it does is that opens a door for us to understand more of how God works in your life and in mine And so doing we're able to understand more of how God is able to call us to himself and sanctify us by his Spirit and call us through the gospel itself as well as the fact that he's chosen us in eternity past And so as we study God's Word together, we're gonna look at some things this evening that will hopefully answer some questions For you, but let's begin with Paul's praise.

He gives praise to God He gives thanksgiving to God, you know One of the things we talked about on Sunday is that when you understand God's call upon your life the call that commences with God himself right the call that truly comes to the gospel and the call that is Is that which which compels us to be grateful? There's a compulsion here in Paul's heart and mind He says these words as you look at the constraint of praise he says but we should always Give thanks, you know praise is obligatory and yet We don't look at it that way as Christians You know, the Bible says in the book of Isaiah the 43rd chapter the 21st verse The Lord said the people that I have formed for myself.

They will declare my praise God makes it very clear that the people that I have formed for me The people that I've called to myself the people that I've worked in they're gonna declare my praise And so there's this certain compulsion about praise that we have that that's natural to us who are believers We want to give thanks to God remember what Psalm 33 says it says that praise is Becoming or praise is fitting or praise is beautiful for the upright In other words, what makes the Christian beautiful is the praise they give to God their desire to give Thanks to God.

We are a people of praise the Bible says over in Psalm 50 verse number 23 Whoso offer praise Glorifies me whatever you offer praise to God you put them on display You thank him for what he's done And Paul was compelled to give thanks to God for what had happened in the lives of these in Thessalonica I mean after all he just talked about the day of the Lord and the retribution that's going to come upon those who don't know God and don't obey the gospel and don't love the truth and Yet he recognizes that these people Have been loved by the Lord and these people Had been called by his name and therefore he can't help but give thanks to God for what is happening in their lives over in Psalm 107 remember the psalmist says these words Psalm 107 verse number 1 Oh give thanks to the Lord for he is good for his loving-kindness is everlasting let the redeemed of the Lord say so whom he has redeemed from the hand of The adversary the redeemed are the ones who give thanks to God the redeemed are the ones who have this Obligation to praise God not because it's like oh, I gotta do this or it's it's I want to do this There's this inner drive and passion to give praise to God for how he works in and through the life of his people but what Paul does is is help them understand the the the Security that they have in Christ because he's called them He wants them to understand that he's giving praise to God because they can have the assurance That they're gonna spend eternity with the Lord God of Israel Remember what it says over in the book of Romans the 8th chapter Verses that you and I know well Romans chapter 8 verse number 28 It says and we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God To those who are called according to his purpose For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to become conformed to the image of a son Said he would be the firstborn among many brethren and these whom he predestined He also called and these whom he called he justified and these whom he justified he also Glorified there's this promise of glorification These people that God has called will ultimately be glorified There's great security in the verses that he gives as he begins to help these people That doesn't like to understand that God has to be praised for what he has done so he says we should always Give thanks to God There's something about praise that is to be constant in our lives not to be sporadic but to be constant and Paul is Continually talking about always giving things and always giving praise Because he was compelled to do it there was something about the praise that he offered that had to be regular that couldn't be irregular and He couldn't help but Tell them that there's this constant praise.

We are giving to God for what he has done in your life You know that that's so important because we want to thank God for for what he's done in our lives But we also didn't want to thank God for what he's done each other's life that he saved us and and brought us to himself And we want to give praise to God for that and they give praise to God not just because of his his Redemption, but you even give thanks to God for his retribution We give thanks to God always for for everything that he does. We just don't give thanks to God for certain things We give thanks to God for for all Things remember what it says back in in the book of Revelation the 15th chapter Revelation chapter 15 The Bible says these words in verse number five and I heard The angel of the water saying righteous are you who are and who were a holy one?

Because you judged these things For they poured out the blood of saints and prophets and you have given them blood to drink They deserve it and I heard the author saying yes. Oh Lord. God the Almighty true and righteous are your judgments So even in in heaven there is this praise to God Not just for the salvation of those who are there But for the retribution the judgment that God pours out on those who truly deserve to be judged because of their rebellion against the Lord God of Israel and So they are praising him because he's righteous.

He's true and he is the Holy One of Israel How important is that? And so Paul begins by Saying to them we should always give thanks to God for you Brethren beloved by the Lord Think about that Beloved by the Lord We told you on Sunday that when the call of God commences with God it commences because he's chosen to love you He chose to love you before you were created he chose to love you simply because that was his choice and So Paul has reminded them that they were beloved of the Lord that God loved them over in Ephesians chapter 1 remember verse 4 Those beautiful verses that Paul says when he says these words Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in Love he predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself According to the kind intention of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved now think about that God loved us so much He chose us He predestined us to be conformed to his image for the glory of his name You see in behind that is the understanding that that the only reason you can give somebody as to why you love them is Simply because you choose to it's like when your wife asks you why do you love me?

Well, the only legit answer you can give her is because I choose to if you say anything else other than that Then you're telling your wife. There's something that you do or don't do that's gonna cause me to love you or not If I say well, I love you because you're a good cook or I love you because you're good clean You're good at cleaning the house. I love you because you're beautiful. I love you because yeah, you're always there for me I love you because you make more money than I do You're loving it for the wrong reasons But if you say I love you just because I I just want to I just choose to love you But see we want to be loved because of something that we've done Because somehow we think that we can gain the approval of somebody by by doing the right thing saying the right thing Looking the right way being the right way but with God he just chooses to love us and when we understand his love and what that means we choose to love others because That's what love is Anything else would would be manipulative.

It wouldn't be a true ministry to somebody else. I Can't love you because of something that you did Now I can do that, but that's not real love Because love is a choice that I make to give myself to you and Christ gave himself for us We're in the Beloved And so that whole call of God upon our lives that we're talking about on Sunday that commences with God It does so because of his great love with us. Remember 1st John 3 verse number 1 it says Oh what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God And how many times we told you over the years that that phrase what manner of love what manner is a phrase that that speaks?

About something that's from another Another world that's alien like in terms of its character. It's from another dimension It's something that's not from this dimension It's not something that we understand in this world because it's so otherworldly What manner of love is this that the Father bestows upon us that we should be called the children of God? There's nothing from this natural realm It's nothing from this dimension that helps us understand the love the Father has for his own It's like what the Bible says in Mark 4 what what manner of man is this that even the wind and the waves obey him?

Right same phrase is used That this man this otherworldly man is from another dimension he's not like from this world he's from another world He's an alien like creature from a another dimension because there's nothing in this world that can compare to that That's the way it is with God's love for us I'm not so sure that we'll ever truly comprehend God's love in in in this life We might in the next life eternity But I'm not even sure we're gonna comprehend it then because it goes way beyond anything that you and I can ever ever imagine and that's the the love that that compels God to call his own So Paul says I want to praise God For what he's done in your life.

I want to praise him always For the fact that you are beloved by him It goes on a little further when it says in verse 16 now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father who has Loved us so much. So he's given us eternal comfort. He's given us good. Hope by his grace He's done what he's done simply because he's chosen to love us We read it on Sunday Deuteronomy 7 verse number 7. Why did God choose Israel above all the other nations of the world? Just because he chose to love them There's no other reason there's nothing that Israel did that made made them lovable, right?

There's nothing about Israel that made them great so much so that he would say wow, this is fantastic I need you to be my nation because you're so intelligent. You're so smart. No, I just chose to love you and That you're the ones I want to use That's the way it is with with us God chose to love us And so Paul says but we should always give thanks to God a few brethren Beloved by the Lord because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation Wow Chosen you from the beginning for salvation now I mentioned something on Sunday that I I really want to kind of clarify with you this evening And hopefully it might even raise more questions for you Which would be a good thing because that will drive you to study the scriptures and that's always a great thing, right?

We talked about Sunday morning about I don't believe in a in a double predestination There's some people who believe in that well God has chosen us from the very beginning Does that mean then that he didn't choose others? Yes What does that mean that he that he chose them then to and appointed them to if we're appointed to salvation? That means they must be appointed to Damnation Well, you can logically say that in your mind, but you got to be careful that you prove that scripturally There are three passages scripture that people always refer to when they speak to me about God appointing man to Damnation the first one is in in Jude 4 if you got your Bible turn over the the book of Jude It's right before the book of Revelation Book of Revelation is the last book of the New Testament just in case you didn't know where that was Listen to what Jude says Jude wants to Write or Judas writing to these people.

He wants to talk to them about their salvation But was sidetracked by the necessity to contend for the faith He does so because verse 4 for certain persons have crept in unnoticed those who were long before marked out for this condemnation ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ So these are people okay that Maybe your text says have been ordained for this condemnation And so people say okay this verse here will tell you that there are certain people that have been ordained to be Condemned the problem is the word ordained is the word that means marked out for or written down long ago What was written down long ago was the judgment of those who are false teachers the judgment of those who?

apostatized the faith That's what was written down a long time ago that which was ordained or marked out was that Judgment that would come upon all those who would turn their back on the Lord and apostatized the faith It's not that they were appointed or written down for condemnation But the judgment itself was written down for those who would ultimately apostatized the faith Big difference there you can read about it in the book of Hosea Zephaniah Isaiah Jeremiah in fact over in Isaiah chapter 8 it says these words Isaiah 8 it says When they say to you consult the medians and the spiritists who whisper and mutter Should not a people consult their God?

Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony if they do not speak according to this world this word excuse me It is because they have no dawn or no light They will pass through the land hard-pressed and famished and it will turn out that when they are hungry They will be enraged and curse their King and their God it as they face upward Then they will look to the earth and behold the stress Darkness the gloom of anguish and they will be driven away into Darkness in other words.

This is the result of those who are false teachers They're driven away into darkness. This is what was pre-written long ago In fact, even in Jude's epistle, it says the verse number 14 Behold or verse 14 It was also about these men who's that? apostates that Enoch in the seventh generation from Adam prophesied saying behold the Lord came with many thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment upon all and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way and of all the harsh things which Ungodly sinners have spoken against them.

These are grumblers finding fault following up to their own lust They speak arrogant flattering people for their sake of gaining their advantage. In other words Enoch prophesied The fifth generation from Adam. What would happen to all those people who lived ungodly lives? They would be judged by God So what Jude is saying is that what was written down long ago was the judgment that would come upon people Who would turn their back on the Lord who would be false teachers who would apostatize the faith It's not that the apostates themselves were ordained or marked out for this But the judgment for all those Who apostatized the faith that was marked out?

Okay Next verse is this first Peter chapter 2 First Peter chapter 2 you still with me good. It's gonna get better here. Hold on First Peter chapter 2 it says verse number 7 this precious value then is for you who believe but for those who disbelieve the stone which the builders rejected this became the very cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense For they stumble because they are disobedient to the word and to this doom They were also appointed So now they say look, okay So here is Peter saying that these people who stumble have been Appointed to their doom.

No, that's not what it says It's the same thing that Jude says that is when you disobey what God says There is judgment that's going to come that judgment is Appointed because God appointed it in other words if you're a believer, right and you live a life of faith You live a life of obedience The result is joy and blessing, but if you're an unbeliever you live a life of disobedience the result of that is judgment and condemnation and so what he is saying is simply this that what has been Appointed is the judgment for all those who disobey the gospel That's all it says God is not saying that I am appointing people to damnation.

I Am predetermining the eternity to pass your doom That's not what the text says we can in our own minds logically come to that conclusion but remember You can't misrepresent what the Bible says you can only say what God says So, let me turn you to this one the most famous one Romans chapter 9 Romans chapter 9 is one of those chapters in the Bible that people wrestle over and have wrestled over for years How do how does God love Jacob and God?

How does God hate Esau? How can God hate somebody now remember? remember Psalm 5 5 Psalm 11 verse number 5 it says God hates those who do iniquity So you can't say well God loves the sinner, but hates the sin. That's not true God hates the sinner and hates us in Psalm 5 5 Psalm 11 5 So we know what the Bible says, so let's not go beyond what Scripture says So if God says I love Jacob and hate Esau No, he can do that because as we said on Sunday Esau remember in the book of Genesis That's never said of God toward Esau It's never said It wasn't till a thousand years later.

Remember that Obadiah wrote about God's hatred for Esau but it really does deals with the descendants of Esau and the descendants of of Jacob Because as we said on Sunday that Esau is representative of all those who take pleasure in worldly lusts That's why he sold his birthright. That's why he wanted to have nothing to do with the blessing that would come to him He was going to sell it for the sake of a pot of porridge Pot of whatever. I don't know what it was pot of stew I guess it was and so the bottom line is his worldly passions worldly lusts And so the Edomites which are the descendants of Esau are representative of all those people Who take pleasure in all the things of the world?

God hates that So he can legitimately say Jacob. I have loved and Esau. I've hated Remember in Romans 1 he had he had talked about a banding Abandoning man to his his own sinful devices. God gave them over to the desires of the heart God gave them over to degrading passions. God gave them over to a depraved mind. Why why did God do that? Because It represents all those people who willfully reject who willfully suppress the truth Who willfully deny the existence of God even though in their minds they they believe there is a God and they know there's truth They just don't want to be accountable to the truth and the God Who gave us that truth and so they suppress it and God gives them over?

to the desires of the heart to a depraved mind to degrading passions Then when you come to Romans chapter 9 You have to answer the question why God chooses some but not others Why did God choose Isaac and not Ishmael because he did So why did God choose Jacob and not Esau Because he did and we forget that Whenever God does something he does it because he's holy He's righteous and he's just God never chooses unrighteously God never shows Partiality because there's no partiality with God. That's what the Bible says So I can only go by what the scriptures tell me which is true In my mind I could think well God is unfair.

He's unjust. He's he's partial He's not treating people the same What standard do you go by where God's to treat everybody the same There is no standard like that God makes the standard God is the standard right for all sin and fallen short of God's standard the glory of God. He is the standard and The person who makes the standard can choose to do whatever he wants to do because he is a holy just and righteous God You see you must understand the character and nature of God Before you can ever begin to understand how it is.

God begins to operate and what what Paul does in Romans 9 listen is not Explain why God does what he does. He just proclaims What God does? That's very important He doesn't try to explain why God does what he does He just wants to proclaim what God does because sometimes we can't really comprehend it although in Scripture everything harmonizes together Sometimes in our little minds. It doesn't harmonize together. So there's lots of questions that we might have and so Paul as He writes the Romans talks about his love for Israel in the first six verses, right?

He just loves Israel's when he give his own life away. So Israel would be saved He's talking about what's what's gonna happen with Israel How can how can Israel be saved if God has set them aside for a time being because of their rebellion will Israel ever be saved And of course, we know that the gifts and calling of God are are irrevocable and God has a plan for Israel but in that plan There are choices that God made to help us to understand the character and nature of God He talks about in verses 7 the following how how he chooses Isaac over Ishmael Ishmael's is the descendant of the flesh where Isaac is as a descendant of the faith and The blessing was never given to Ishmael But it was given to Isaac But even though the blessing was given to Isaac down then through Jacob Even those descendants not all of them Would be chosen to be saved right Because you know that not every Jew that's ever lived is going to be saved So even in that God makes the choice Because he's sovereign It's a Romans 9 is about God's sovereign selection of some and his sovereign selection Not of some Very interesting, so it says these words in verse number 11 For though the twins Jacob a saw were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad Said God's purpose according to his choice would stand not because of works but because of him him who calls She made it very clear that when God chose Jacob.

He chose the younger to serve The older right because he saw would be the firstborn When he chose the younger to serve the older or excuse me the the older serve the younger He did it before they were ever born That was the plan of God to let you know that there's nothing that he saw did or Jacob did that would make them better or worse in the whole process God chose them This is it was said to her the older will serve The younger oh by the way in the book of Genesis Esau never served Jacob But the descendants of Esau the Edomites have served the Israelites For years, that's why you know, it's about the descendants of Jacob and Esau not Jacob and Esau themselves Because in the book of Genesis Esau never served Jacob but the the older will serve the younger and so it says Just as it is written Jacob.

I loved but Esau I I Hated very important quote quote it from where Malachi chapter 1. That's where it's quoted from and again, it's the descendants of Jacob and the descendants of Esau because their descendants of Esau were Idolatrous in nature and God hates idolatry, right? And so we can Literally say I hate Esau why because Esau is representative of all those who have other gods other than a true God All those who want to sin against the true God and rebel against his nature That doesn't mean that Jacob didn't sin he did Doesn't mean that Jacob didn't make bad choices.

He did But God chose Jacob God chose the descendants of Jacob the sons of Jacob the people of Israel for his purposes And even in the choosing of all of those descendants within that realm not all of them would be saved only some because many are called and few are chosen and That says in verse 14 What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God is there may never be for he says to Moses I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion This is a great illustration because he takes you back to exodus chapter 32 listen Where Israel was down below and and they were they made this golden calf and began to commit Idolatry and Moses was up on a mountain right Mount Sinai and then he comes down and God says, you know what?

I'm gonna kill him But he only kills 3,000 now if God is just He kills them all right, but because he's also mercy He only kills 3,000 of them They should have all died It's like when you're born in sin. Did your mother conceive you right? So as soon as you were conceived God because he's just Should kill you immediately upon conception Because you were born with the same nature So if God was all just You die, but because God is mercy You're born because God is grace He lets you live You see you can't take one attribute of God and fixate on it Because all the attributes of God are 100% he's 100% grace.

He's 100% mercy He's not a percent love. He's not a percent wrath. He's not a percent righteous just holy All those he's 100% And you can't take bits and pieces of God and like this part and not that part Because you're gonna misconstrue who God is and come up with a warp theology so Paul makes it very clear that that God's compassion is based on who he is and what he wants to do who he chooses to have mercy on and he chose to kill 3,000 of The Israelites got 2 million Jews. He kills 3,000 of them.

He lets the rest of them live That's mercy If he was all just they would have all died But it is justice and his mercy when they come together You're able to get a composite picture of the true identity and character of God It's what says in verse 16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs but on God who has mercy It all depends upon God. He's in charge For the scripture says to Pharaoh for this very purpose I raised you up to demonstrate my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth So then he has mercy on whom he desires and he hardens whom he desires Wow.

Think about that He says why did God raise up Pharaoh? for one purpose So he can make his name known in all the land God used Pharaoh to make his name known in all the land and And Moses would go and arrow would go and they would they would preach to Pharaoh but Pharaoh hardness heart Seven times it says Pharaoh hardness heart ten times. It says and God hardened his heart, right? Well, how can they both be true? How can they both be right? Because they both are Both are true and even though I can't reconcile that in my mind how Pharaoh could hardness heart and then God would hardness heart and then God raised up Pharaoh for his own purposes that he might make his name known in all of Israel read the book of Joshua How do you think Rahab got saved?

How do we have good say we'll talk about Rahab and he was 11 Sometime down the road when we finally get there But we look at Rahab she got saved because she had heard what God did to Pharaoh in all of Egypt Faith comes by hearing and hearing About a word concerning the Christ, but she heard the truth Joshua 9 9 says that even the pagans trembled at the God of Israel because of what he did to the Egyptians See that God raised up Pharaoh So he could make his name known in all the land That's what God did.

He chose to do that and Then it says he has mercy on whom he has mercy He hardens Who decides to harden? Remember Pharaoh's willful rejection of God led to Pharaoh's judicial rejection by God That's the way it always is Romans 1 willful rejection Willful rebellion against God will lead to a judicial rejection by God towards you And the Bible always explains it that way Very important to understand that And so it says this I must hurry You will say to me then why does he still find fault? For who resists his will on the contrary?

Who are you a man who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder Why do you make me like this will it or does not the Potter have a right over the clay to make? from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for Common use very important because what he does is what he's saying here when you begin to question God you revert back to Romans 1 You become like the characteristic of those in Romans 1 Who decide they want to create God in their image whenever you question God you automatically recreating God in your own image That's why Isaiah 45 Says that whoever questions God is to be cursed We have no right to question God But somehow we think we do because we think we have a better standard than God does We think we're smarter than God.

We think we deserve an answer We deserve nothing. The only thing we deserve is hell Because God has grace and mercy grants us heaven. We are a blessed people, but we deserve nothing but we think we have an answer and So he says Does the pot say to the Potter? Why did you make me this way? No pots don't speak they can't speak they can't do anything but be a pot And he used to use a very simple illustration and then we come to the point I want to get to here it is ready took me a while first 22 What if God although willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make his power known?

endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction And he did so to make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy which he prepared beforehand for glory even us whom he also called And people say well see right there. It says that God prepared vessels for destruction and God prepared vessels for mercy in other words God ordained those who would be destroyed and God ordained those who would be Or find mercy You think that's what it says, but that's not what it says two different words are used for the word prepare and With two different words being used you have two different tenses being used The first word is car tar tits.

Oh Okay, car to tits. Oh is used in the passive sense Vessels prepared or fitted for destruction It's in the passive tense. Why because God is not the subject who is actively involved in fitting them for destruction The next word prepared for mercy is the word Pro at 20 mod so which is from pro or it's oh, which is means Predetermined and it's in the active tense meaning that God is actively involved in preparing and fitting those vessels for mercy In other words one God is not involved in he's leaving them to their own devices The other one he's completely involved in why because if God's not involved in your life, guess what you never get saved God has to do it.

God raises dead men and we are dead in our trespasses and sin It's what makes it very clear It says what if God although willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make his power known listen Do you know that God is as glorified in creation as he is in destruction? You can't say that God is glorified when he saves men, but he's not glorified when he condemns men When the wrath of God is put on display guess what God is still glorified Because that's how God is seen how many times we tell you early on in our study that God is best known by the judgment he enacts The best way to understand God is to understand the judgment.

He enacts upon man Because then you understand Those who don't receive judgment and the mercy and grace of God So incredible to understand God wanted to demonstrate his wrath So God is glorified When he displays His anger, did you know that John 2 cleanses the temple, right? Zeal for my father's house consumes me, right? the Apostles knew When Christ went in to cleanse the temple with a whip and turned over the money changing tables, right? That he was portraying the anger the righteous indignation of a holy God He was being glorified when he did so God's just not glorified when he loves you He's glorified when he disciplines you God's not glorified when he saves you God is glorified when people are condemned to eternal hell Because the book of Revelation is all about the retribution of God upon man and God displaces glory When he judges man for sin Very important to understand that he makes his power known in creation and in destruction What if God although willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make his power known endured with much patience?

Vessels of wrath who by the way prepared themselves for destruction. That's exactly what it says They prepared themselves for destruction He endured patience What kind of patience their blasphemy their rejection their anger their animosity toward the king of kings the Lord of lords But he was patient he endured He was long-suffering with them And that's what God did You're able to see the patience of God the love of God and how he endures with sinful man over a long period of time But the patience of God does Does wear out?

In his spirit will always thrive with man in destruction comes He did so to make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he was actively involved in fitting beforehand for glory those Who he called not just Jewish people But Gentiles as well People say well if you look at these two words God ordained some for destruction and God ordained some for for for mercy That's not what it says Some fitted themselves for destruction they willfully rejected the king Others were fitted for mercy Because God had to involve himself in their lives or they would not be saved That's what God does God has a right to reveal his character anyway He chooses and we have no right To ever question How he chooses to reveal that character at any given moment of any given day God is so good So what does that do?

What does God's sovereign selection teach us? What does it do? Let me give you six things. Okay. Number one.

It pummels all pride It pummels all pride knowing that God is sovereign and God sovereignly selects some to salvation He makes his choice. He did it in eternity past. Our names are written in the lands book of life Revelation 13 8 revelation 17 8, right? God did this in eternity past it pummels all pride. I have nothing to do with my salvation book of Titus Right Titus chapter 3 verse number 5. What does Paul say? He says this Verse 4 but when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done a righteousness But according to his mercy by the washing of a generation and renewing by the Holy Spirit Whom he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior said being justified by his grace We would be made heirs according to the hope eternal life You see when you realize that it's it's not by anything that we've done not by works of righteousness You see if there was something you could do there'd be so much pride in our salvation.

There's nothing you can do It was God's choice It pummels pride Number two it promotes God It promotes God remember Psalm 115 verse number one Psalmist says it this way Psalm 115 Verse number one not unto us O Lord Not unto us but to your name give glory because of your loving kindness and because of your truth We tell you on Sunday Philippians 129 you believe in God for his sake Not your sake So when it pummels pride it promotes God the problem with us is we don't want to promote God We want to promote us.

That's why when we give our testimony you ever been to those people who give testimony 55 minutes they give on all the bad things they ever did and how wretched they were and in five minutes on God See they want to promote themselves When you ever hear a testimony like that write that person off because that testimony is a farce Because people to give testimonies that truly represent God spend 55 minutes on God and five minutes the way they used to be Because that testimony is all about God God saving grace what God did it's not about what you did Who cares what you did all of us are sinners all of us are separated from God It's because you might have done this or did that and you might think that your sin is more glorious than somebody else's sin And you want to tell everybody else about how bad you were.

Nobody really cares, right? It's all about God but because we want to promote ourselves and we promote ourselves because we don't want to Pummel our pride what a pride to be lifted up Well, you understand sovereign selection. It pummels your pride because it promotes God number three it produces joy It produces joy.

Remember Luke 10 verse number 20 the disciples came back. They were so excited because they saw The demons being subject to the name of God and people were getting saved and how powerful it was They were they were so filled with joy and with the Lord say Don't rejoice Over this but rejoice that your names are already written down in glory That's what you rejoice over Rejoice that your names have already been written down rejoice on the fact that you have been chosen from eternity past Rejoice in this this is what you give joy to God about And so it produces joy because it promotes God and it pummels pride It promises privileges Ephesians chapter 1 Verse number 3 we read it.

I guess we didn't read earlier We had Ephesians 1 for but in Ephesians chapter 1 verse number 3 It says this blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Just as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world It promises great privileges it propels holiness Colossians chapter 3 Colossians chapter 3 verse number 12 says so as those who have been chosen of God holy and beloved Put on a heart of compassion kindness humility Gentleness and patience Bearing with one another and forgiving each other whoever has a complaint against anyone just as the Lord forgave you so also should You what God does is he explains to us the beauty of those who are chosen in Christ?

They put on a heart of compassion They are for they forbear with one another They're willing to forgive others their sin. Why because God and eternity past Chose me for himself and was willing to forgive me of my sin and Therefore I am more than willing to forgive you of your sin And so it is that which truly propels holiness, and it provides security Being confident this very thing That he who began a good work, and you will complete it Philippians 1 verse number 6 until the day of Christ It truly provides security That's why God's Calling and choosing of us is so incredibly important So Paul 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 In the truth one's the divine side one's the human side the divine side is that we are sanctified by the Spirit of God It's the Spirit of God who sets us apart under his purposes But it's the truth that's been spoken to us and we told you on Sunday that the call that commences with God, right?

Comes to us through the gospel of God it's conceived by grace and Compels us to be grateful That's what Paul's saying here. We are compelled to give thanks to God Why because something began with him in eternity past know what it was his love for you his choosing of you and that choosing of you was evident when you were set apart by the Spirit of God and in Faith you believed the truth of God God is so good and Paul is is wanting to praise Praise him for what he has done He says It was for this He called you through our gospel that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ He called you through the gospel.

Remember Romans 1 16 Paul said I'm not ashamed of the power of the gospel of Christ or the gospel Christ It's the power of God into salvation, right? The gospel is so powerful. I Don't make the gospel powerful it just is I Don't make anything in the Word of God come alive. It's already alive You know, I I can make it sound dead, but I don't make it alive. God's Word is living All right. God's Word is powerful I don't have to make it alive and I have to make it powerful because it's already done that and So Paul says it's the gospel that saved you It's the gospel that called you It's powerful enough to take you from the pit of despair to take you from the depths of despair to take you from Satan's grasp, right and Release you into the presence of God's dear son That's the gospel we preach.

That's the gospel we live by So Paul begins this last section with praise and then he goes to this precept. He says this he says so then brethren stand firm hold true and Hold to the traditions which you were taught whether by word of mouth or by letter from us now The traditions are not just traditions passed down by men literally It is that which has already been passed down to you Which is the revelation of the Word of God first Corinthians 11 verse number 2 talks about the passing down of the revelation of God He says that which was given to you orally or that which was given to you in written form Listen, I want you to stand firm in that truth Stand firm in fact because you know remember in or your chapter 2 they didn't stand firm in that faith Did they they didn't stand firm in that truth?

That's why they were so easily Deceived by those who came and said that they're already in the day of the Lord You got to stand firm in the truth. You got to stand firm on the truth It's a word that truly is unique because it speaks the fact that we need to be strong You know Paul says I don't want you to be weak. I don't want you to vacillate I don't want you to be tossed to and fro. I want you to stand firm on the truth That's the only way you can stand firm only way you can be strong is Through the Word of God.

I Commend you to God the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up God's Word makes you strong Nothing else does just God's Word does and Paul says I want you to stand firm Based on all the word that was passed down to you Hold on to it get a firm grasp on the truth because if you do you won't vacillate you won't waver You'll be strong and then he gives this prayer verse 16 now May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good. Hope by grace comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and Word Wow Therefore he says we want you to stand that this God who loves us is the God of all comfort and This God who's the God of all comfort is going to strengthen you How do we know that look down and check the three verse number three?

But the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one So in one verse is praying that they be strengthened and the next verse is saying God's gonna do this I'm praying for God to do this in your life because I'm I'm assured of the fact that God will do this We pray for for strength for our families. We pray for strength for our husbands and wives We pray that we'd be strong a strong church But God will make us strong. God will protect us because we're strong in the Lord and in the power of his might He says I want you to be strengthened in your heart stare Rizzo word used 14 times in the New Testament It's a word that means to be firmly established and only God can do that and Paul will say look as we conclude this section on the day of the Lord.

I want you to know something You're not in the day of the Lord Don't let you know this That God who's called you and saved you you have to worry about those people who don't love the truth. You love the truth How to worry about those people who gonna face a retribution of God because they didn't know God, you know God You've been called by God you understand God relax be strengthened be comforted by the God of all comfort because God will use you in a mighty way as you hold fast his word and Complete the work.

He's given you to do. Let me pray with you father. We thank you for the night The brief moment that we have in your word We just pray that you strengthen us and teach us your word that we might live for you Thank you father for the Apostle Paul in the desire he has for those in Thessalonica to be strong Our prayer Lord is that we as a church will be strong Never waver on the truth, but realize Lord what you have done for us Salvation is all of God It's not of us Yes, we receive the gospel. Yes, we believe the gospel, but those are all gifts you grant us You grant us the faith to believe you grant us the grace to receive you grant us the gift of repentance We can't even turn from our sin unless you give us the gift according to second Timothy 2 25 Everything is salvation is a gift once received We see the beauty of the power of God working in our lives For that we are grateful We pray in Jesus name.

Amen