Let's now turn for our scripture reading to 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2. Now brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition. who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way, and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish. because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which he called you by our Gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, when I read this passage, and particularly verses 13 through 17 a few weeks ago, I thought to myself, what a great text for a profession of faith, not only for these young people this morning, but for all of us. It's a passage that gives a glorious description of the saving grace of God, and along with that, it gives this arousing summons to faithfulness, faithfulness to the truth. And then that is followed by rich assurance and comfort in God's provisions for a life of faith. Stand fast in the saving love of God for you. That's our theme from this passage this morning. And twice within this text, God's people are identified as those who are loved by him, loved by God, and loved by the Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace. This one who has loved us, has so blessed us with these wonderful gifts of assurance, divine love, eternal love. And that is at the very heart, the foundation of this great salvation that's described here. And we begin by looking at that description of salvation as we give attention to your calling as believers, your calling by grace. And so, We consider, especially verse 13 in this connection, but notice the way it begins, where it says, we are bound to give thanks to God always for you. And you may have noticed that the form for profession of faith begins with such language. We give thanks to God for you. We recognize that it is the grace of God that brings people to confess the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a great joy to hear people profess their faith in the Lord. It's a great joy to see this as God's work. Now after the service this morning, your brothers and sisters of the congregation will congratulate you. And they may even use such words as congratulations. But if they use such words, certainly they are not congratulating you as if you have accomplished some great feat now, as you have achieved something impressive that deserves great credit on your part, but rather this congratulation is congratulation for being blessed by grace. It's a congratulation that glorifies the triune God. And if you pay close attention to our text, we see that the persons of the Trinity are present in a marvelous way also in this passage with respect to their particular works of grace towards us. It is a salvation of grace from beginning to end. And we want to see how that is taught in our text. I asked you in the bulletin to identify three things, but actually there are four. And if you pay attention, you'll be able to find all four of them in our text. But it begins with grace that is rooted in God's choice. We are bound to give thanks to you always, beloved of the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation. Again, you might have noticed that language of the prayer in the foreign profession of faith, where we give thanks to God, not only for the fact that you've been nurtured in the Christian faith, but that you come of your own will to profess Christ here this morning. And that's important because no one makes a true Christian profession by some kind of a coercion or by some kind of a force or constraint. God's people are made willing in the day of his power. And it is from the heart that you willingly profess the Lord Jesus Christ. But you know that that very will and that very desire is itself the result of God's grace who called you The first cause is not a human choice, but a divine choice. Ephesians 1, verse 4, extols the grace of God and the fact that believers are chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world. And so this calling is an effective calling. It's not simply an invitation to grace. It's not like a telemarketer that might call you on the telephone. And there are various responses to such calls. Some people are patient or maybe gracious enough to listen to the whole spiel and then wait and wait to say, no thank you. And others will, after a few seconds, they know it's a telemarketing call and they just hang up. And actually, that describes the way a lot of people respond to the general call of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some people have an animosity towards it and a prejudice, so you need only speak a few words, and they say, I don't want to hear any more of that. And others may rather patiently and respectfully listen, but Whether they say it or they just show it, no thanks. But you know that apart from the grace of God, that would be your response. That would be my response to the gospel. We wouldn't respond in faith. It's the grace of God, the power of His work that reaches the heart and makes that call of the gospel effective to move us, to affect us, so that we respond willingly. And that's rooted in God's election. Paul acknowledges that in the opening chapter of the first letter to the epistles. In verse 4 he says, Knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power. The reality of their election became evident in their response to the gospel. It's not a kind of response that is natural to us. It's only the result of grace. Now, that describes the conversion of these Thessalonian believers, who were unbelievers, who were pagans, to use an old-fashioned term, who didn't know God. But the gospel came to them, and their lives were transformed by it. They turned from dead idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven. And for many of them, that might have been a rather sudden and a very drastic change in their life. Yes, a demonstration of God's saving power, but it's no less a demonstration of God's saving power when those who have been raised in the church believe that message that they've been taught as a child, and perhaps have believed it from a child, and come to profess faith in that gospel. willingly giving God the glory for His grace. A grace that's shown secondly through sanctification by the Spirit. Our text joins these things very closely together. God chose you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit. One of those big theological words. It makes clear that God's choice is actually effective. It's carried out through the powerful working of the Holy Spirit. In fact, we go back to the first chapter of the first book and we hear Paul say that the word, our gospel came to you not in word only, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance. Those aren't two separate things. That power was the power of the Holy Spirit. renewing their hearts and minds and making them receptive to the message. The Holy Spirit gave them new birth. He regenerated their hearts. He worked in such a way as to renew them inwardly, and the Holy Spirit continually renews the lives of His people. He puts them on a path of righteousness, and He keeps them on that path. He who begins a good work in us completes it unto the day of salvation. So God's choice is always known by its effects. And one big effect of that choice is a life that is turned toward holiness. A life that progressively is being sanctified, renewed after the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Where there is true faith, sanctification has begun and sanctification will progress. These things are inseparable. But notice also, our text describes the work of God's grace as entering our lives through belief in the truth. Through sanctification by the spirit and belief in the truth. In fact, that phrase is repeated in our text. The truth. This calling of salvation by grace. came to these Thessalonians through a message, through a report about what happened, about what God has done, and that's the same message that you heard from childhood concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, the one and only Savior, whom God promised from the beginning, who was born of a virgin, who lived a perfect life, who died an awful death, and he did so in our place, and was raised from the dead, And He's exalted now in glory. And He bestows through the power of His Holy Spirit those gifts that He obtained by His life and death and resurrection. And whoever believes that message receives the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. The proof of election is manifested in a belief of the truth. There's no other way to know it, right? There's no other way to know our election than by responding to the gospel in true faith. This message is the truth. It's a message that is true, objectively, positively. In other words, it's not just true for you this morning. It's not just true for me at the present stage of my journey. It may not be true for me tomorrow. Sometimes I have to remind my profession class that when they promise to persevere in the doctrine that they have been taught, in which they profess to believe, that they are promising that they are going to believe this message for the rest of their lives. Now you might say, well, that's obvious, but there's a sense in which today, especially, people have to wake up to the fact that truth is not some feeling. It's not some opinion. And to profess the truth of the gospel is to profess a faith in what is true, whether I believe it or not. And it remains true, whatever my relationship towards it may be. It doesn't change. And we persevere in that truth. The message saves when it is believed as such. These Thessalonian saints, they believed it. Can you believe it? And the result also is described here. It's for the obtaining of glory. The obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's not just simply the glory that the Lord Jesus gives, but it's a share in his exalted glory. The form for profession of faith speaks of those who will shine as the stars forever and ever. We will be glorified like unto our Lord Jesus Christ. Our bodies themselves will be transformed and made like unto his glorious body. And we will be all together forever freed from misery of every kind and pain and suffering, but also sin and perfect holiness. See how wonderful this great salvation is. see it in contrast. You know, our text begins with a contrast that says, but, but, it had just been talking about those who will be deceived by this revelation of the man of sin, who will be condemned, who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. They fell under strong delusion. They believed the lie. They did not receive the truth in the love of it. And in contrast to such a horrible condition, with such a dreadful future, but you, beloved of the Lord, been chosen by God through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth to obtain everlasting glory, are calling This wonderful calling of grace is a calling out of that misery and horror that's described there. To the heights of glory, eternal glory. Your calling by grace. Stand fast in that. And that leads us secondly to consider this charge that is given to be faithful. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. We might summarize this charge by two appeals. And the first one goes like this. Don't move. Don't move away. Don't give ground to the influences that would draw you away or push you off the cornerstone of the church, the cornerstone of your life, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the foundation of your life. In him you stand fast. On him you stand fast. And that's the only way. Always see the truth as it is in Jesus. Don't move away. You may move from your parents' home shortly if you have not already, but don't move away from your profession of faith. As you face new freedoms and responsibilities and opportunities, do not abandon the faith you profess. You may move to another city, you may move to another province, possibly to another country for reasons yet unforeseen, but don't move away from the gospel. and be very careful before you move anywhere where there's not a true Christian church to be joined to. You may move in with a young woman or a young man to be your spouse, but make sure that you marry in the Lord and that moving into a life together with another person does not involve moving away from your adherence and loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ. You may move from health to sickness. You may suffer the loss of loved ones. Or you may gain new friends or opportunities. But whatever the case, do not move away from this savior, from this gospel. And then the second exhortation is don't let go. Don't move and don't let go. Hold to the traditions, Paul says, which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now the word tradition has a bad rap, a bad reputation or associations in the minds of many people today, but here it's presented in the Bible and it's presented in a very positive way. And that doesn't mean that it's the traditions of man-made religion. Paul is referring to the teaching, the teaching of the gospel. But he's referring to that teaching as something that has a history, something that has been handed down. Paul himself received it. He didn't invent it. He didn't come up with it. He received it. That's true of every Christian. That's true of Adam's great-grandpa. This picture is in the consistory room. He was the first pastor of this church. When he was 75 years old, he came out of retirement. to pastor this congregation. Why? Well, for one thing, he was sympathetic to a desire to hold fast to the truth and not move away from it. When a church had been increasingly moving away from the profession of faith, that many of those first members, Angela has grandpa and grandma here this morning, who were part of that first congregation. And they joined that church because they were holding fast to their profession. They were being loyal to the I do that they spoke years before. See that James has grandparents here this morning. We have a similar story. Testimony of God's grace from generation to generation. Powerful testimony. Hold fast and don't let it go. You profess the faith as you have been taught in this Christian church. And it's the same teaching that your parents and your grandparents and probably your great grandparents and beyond profess. And probably with the same kind of form. They use very similar language, some of them probably in the Dutch language. But it was the same kind of testimony. Hold fast to what you've been taught. The truth doesn't change and neither may our belief in the truth. Now there are some assumptions behind this charge. There is an active devil. There are real threats to our faith. This chapter describes them in terms of the revelation of the man of sin with lying signs and wonders who will deceive many. There are innumerable lies and errors in this world in which we live. There is the deceitfulness of sin in our own hearts. Combine these enemies of the truth with the changing circumstances of our lives and these influences, and standing firm in the truth is not something to be taken for granted. We need this charge, and we need to take it very seriously. And it means always taking your needs, your fears, and your doubts, and your struggles to the Lord, to your faithful and loving God. because your security is in Him. And we close with that consideration of your consolation for living. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ, we read in verse 16 and 17, Himself and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. Now this is a prayer, but it teaches us more than Paul's desires for the church. Rather it points us to the source of our present comfort and the assurance that we have for the future. It is from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ equally. It's one of those incidental references of scripture that just assume the equality of the Father and the Son in their divine nature and in their grace and power. It is from their love for us, this provision of the free grace of everlasting salvation. And that could be filled out, that could be elaborated, even from these letters to the Ephesian Christians, where we hear of their and our deliverance from the wrath to come through Jesus Christ. died and rose again, or we read of the security of those who sleep in Jesus. Those who have died, but they're not lost. We're told of the glorious return of our savior, the resurrection from the dead and our gathering to him. We're told of the vindication of the saints who are hated and persecuted and judged by the world. When Christ comes, he will, he will vindicate them. and the righteousness of his judgment against their persecutors will be manifested. And then the glorification of the saints that will take place with the revelation of Jesus Christ. Each of these things could be enlarged upon greatly. But we notice that this great consolation is also joined with his provision for our lives. Provision, we might say, for consecrated living. That's what verse seven speaks of. It says, may he comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. That's our vocation. By grace, we have been saved, not by works, but for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Good works, good words. We're saved with a great salvation to serve by God's working. These concluding verses sound like a benediction. They're not simply a prayer, but they speak assurance to believers of God's grace. And in that light, they're similar to words that we hear towards the end of Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians. And we'll conclude with this wonderful assurance where it says, now may the God of peace himself sanctify you, And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. Amen.