And it's particularly verses 13 to 17 that we're considering today. In the previous section that we read earlier, we saw about the Antichrist, we considered that last week, that the Antichrist deceives, that a strong delusion has been sent that leads to many people being condemned and perishing because they have not believed the truth. In the days of the Thessalonians here in the first century, the coming of the Antichrist was a future event. Although, as we saw last week, many Antichrists were present at the time, the spirit of the Antichrist was very much there. The embryonic form of the heresy was there in the first century. It would develop through time. the dependence upon the works of the law, the clinging to the ceremonies that were not commanded by God. These things were very much part of first century experience. Paul had to often speak against the Judaizers, those who had the spirit of the Pharisees. In our day, we come from a different perspective because Antichrist has been revealed. And we saw last time as we worked through the identity of this man of sin, this son of perdition, we saw that it is the office of the papacy. And so many people have been deluded and led astray. It's a sad thing for us to consider those in the grips of Roman Catholicism. To think that 17% of the world's population is within that system under the influence of the man of sin. That's nearly a fifth of the population of the world under one man's dominion. And he is a man who sets himself up in the place of Christ. So people are looking more towards him and his sacraments and the grace that trickles down from him through to the priests and to these things. rather than to the great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. There are 42 countries in this world that have more than 50% of their population that is Roman Catholic. So that means, as we saw last time, that this man of sin sets himself in the place of Christ, where Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, this man of sin seeks to take to himself kingdoms and nations to be King of Kings. and Lord of Lords. And we have that evidenced in these various countries under his sway. And yet, there's a contrast in the passage we're looking at. It begins with this word, but. We have those who were deluded in Paul's day by the embryonic form of Antichrist. We have those who are deluded in our day by what Antichrist teaches. But we have this glorious word, but we ought always to give thanks to God for you. There's a contrast. Not everyone is led astray. Not everyone is deluded. There are some who are believing the truth, there are some who are standing fast in the truth, and there are some whom the Lord is taking to glory. And that's what this passage today shows to us. There is hope for those within the Church of Christ, for those who are trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ alone and not looking to this man of sin. The first thing we see in this passage is that there is thankfulness in verses 13 and 14. We ought always to give thanks We ought always to give thanks. Now that might remind you of chapter one and verse three. We ought always to give thanks to God. Pretty much the exact same expression there, isn't it? Throughout 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians, Paul has been very clear that he is thankful for the church. He doesn't see them as an inconvenience. He loves them. He's concerned for their eternal good. And he is thankful when he sees evidence of faith, of things going well. In chapter one and verse three, we consider that the reason that Paul was thankful for the Thessalonians was that there was exponential growth in their lives. They were feeding on the word and growing by the word. He had exhorted them in 1 Thessalonians to pursue the will of God for their life, that is their sanctification. And then he comes and says, I can see the evidence of it. I can see that you're responding to God's word and you're growing in love, you're growing in faith. So he had a reason to be thankful. Here, he gives another reason that he's thankful to God. And it takes us from the start of their salvation to the conclusion of their salvation. It takes us from eternity to eternity, from everlasting to everlasting, because it takes us from election, which to us is in our past, to glorification, which to us is in our future. Do you see that there in verse 13? We ought always to give thanks. Why? Because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." So we have election, God's choice of the Thessalonians, and we have the glory of the Lord Jesus, something that Paul has spoken about before. So from start to end, we have this golden chain. Election is a word that many in the church don't like, although it's a perfectly biblical word. Election is just a choice. If there's an election in our country, at the minute there's another election, if you like, for a prime minister amongst the conservative MPs and perhaps through the conservative members. An election is where they each have a vote. They each make a choice. They opt for one or the other. And God has made a choice. God has elected. But of course, he hasn't done it in this way. He hasn't done it in that same way as these conservative MPs are doing, looking and comparing the various candidates. No, God has elected in grace. It tells us there in verse 13 that God chose you as the first fruits. Or another way to translate that would be God chose you from the beginning. From the beginning. And that is true. God's election of man is not something that has happened in time. It's not something that is a response to the way things are. It is from the beginning, or as we see in Paul's other letters, from eternity. That even before God created man, and even before man fell to sin, God had already chosen for himself his elect people, those whom he would save, and those whom he would glorify. God elects in love. Notice again in verse 13, we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, beloved by the Lord. What an amazing thought that is. Think of yourself, and I'll think of myself. What is there in us, in our nature, that God could ever possibly love? And yet God has chosen his people in love. It is his love That has led to him electing and predestining people for eternal glory. It is for his love's sake that he does it. And God elects to glory, as we see at the end of verse 14. That's the destination. It's predestination, we call it. It's another biblical term. That God is setting the destiny. for his people before that destiny comes, before they are even created. He is setting them on this course for eternal glory. In Romans chapter eight, Paul shows us this chain that takes us from predestination to glorification. Those whom he predestined, he also called. Those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, He also glorified. And the point of that chain is that if you are predestined or elected or chosen by God, then you will be glorified because there can be no breaks in this chain. God cannot fail. If he has made an eternal purpose to save his elect people, he will not fail to save them and to glorify them. And we know that's true from God's perspective. We know that God can do that. The problem becomes for us subjectively when we think about ourselves and how we fit into that. If we can only make sure that our calling and election is sure, then we can know for certain we will be glorified. If only we can know that we're elected by God in eternity, we can be sure we're going to heaven. We can be sure, as he says here, that we will obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Something which we have no right to, but something which he is willing to share with us, because he is the mediator in the covenant of grace. He has won it for us. But how can we be sure of our election? As we look at one another, we don't have a mark on our forehead, do we, that says elect or reprobate, that's the opposite of elect. We don't have a mark that says that we're set out for eternal glory. Although the names of God's elect people are recorded in what we call the Lamb's Book of Life, we have no access to that book to read it. We can't flip through the pages to see if we can find our name listed there. Although God has made an eternal decree that he has predestined some to everlasting life. The secret things belong to the Lord. Only the things that are revealed belong to us. And so we're left in this quandary, aren't we? We don't know, do we, if we're elect. Can we be certain? There's nothing tangible, is there? There's nothing set in stone written there for us to say, I am elect. So how can we be sure? of eternal glory. And that's where I think what Paul does here is very helpful. Because he's taking us from eternity past to eternity future. Election, God's choice from the beginning to eternal glory. But there are other links in the chain, aren't there? There are things that connect point A to point Z, if you like. We have point B, point C, and so on. Look at what it says here. in verse 13 first of all, because God chose you as the first fruits to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel. There are these things that we go through on the point getting from election to glorification. And friends, if we want to be sure of our election, We're not to look into the secret things of God that are in the past. We're not simply to think about what may or may not happen in the future. But let us look at our present and let's consider how we are now and see if we're passing through these things that Paul says we pass through on our way from election to glorification. And particularly, we have here sanctification and we have faith and we have the calling through the gospel. Let's consider first of all the sanctification by the Spirit. All those whom God has chosen, all those whom he will allow to obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus, pass through sanctification by the Spirit. We met this term sanctification in 1 Thessalonians. God's will for your life is your sanctification. that every one of his people becomes more and more holy, living less and less for sin, living more and more for Christ and for his righteousness. All believers are in a process of being sanctified. But I want you to see here that it doesn't say that God chose you because you were sanctified. God did not choose anyone because they were holy, nor did he choose anyone because they would become holy. There was nothing in us that was worthy of the choice of God. If God were to look through the corridors of time, which sometimes people speak of him looking forward to the future, If he was to look at us, what would he see but every reason not to choose us? He would see in us sin, unrighteousness, all the many different ways in which we have broken God's law in our thoughts, in our words, and in our actions. We are uglier inside than we give ourselves credit for, aren't we? There is more sin in us than we ever would dare to believe we have. And you can show that if this screen up here where the Psalms are put up, imagine if every thought you've thought through this week were written out there on the screen for everyone here to read it. And they were to read exactly what you thought and when. Wouldn't you be ashamed of your thoughts? Wouldn't you be utterly ashamed to have your brothers and sisters in Christ reading what you thought, it shows to you there is more sin inside, even amongst God's people, even among those who are saved. And so we have not been chosen by God because of any holiness in us, because we were sanctified. We've not been chosen because of what we would become. But God chose us simply for his own good pleasure. But all those whom God has chosen pass through this pathway, if you like, of sanctification. This is the road that we must go. We must become more and more holy. Sanctification is indispensable for God's people. There's no way in which you can say, well, I've been elected. I'm going to be glorified. Therefore, it doesn't matter how I live. It doesn't matter what I say or do or think, because my way is certain. Friends, if that's the way you're thinking, that's presumption. You're counting on God's mercies that may not be yours. No, if we are God's people, we will want to please Him. We'll want to live for Him. We'll want to sin less and less. We'll be growing more and more to hate our sin, to despise it in us. to see that nothing good dwells in our flesh, to see more and more our need of the Spirit. And notice that there, particularly in verse 13, that this sanctification that it speaks of is by the Spirit. It is the third person of the Trinity that sanctifies us. That is, he applies to us the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we may be enabled more and more to die to sin and to live to righteousness. Because there's a big difference between seeking sanctification by the spirit and seeking sanctification by the flesh. Remember what Paul said in Romans 8, if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body or the deeds of the flesh, you will live. If by the spirit You put to death these sins and unrighteous desires and lusts of the flesh. If by God's Spirit you're putting these things to death, then and only then will you live. But if it's done by the flesh, not only will you not manage it, not only will you not achieve it, but you will die. There's no way we can be sanctified simply by self-improvement. Sometimes, I'm not often at the airport, but you go through the WH Smith or whatever at the airport, and you look at all the books, and you can look at what the best sellers are, and you see what sort of books people are buying. And particularly in the non-fiction, and you see how many self-improvement books there are. People want a better life, and they think this is the way to get it. But the way to a better life, the way to improvement is not self-improvement. It is to be sanctified by the Spirit of God. Jesus, in saving us, saves us through the pathway of sanctification by his Spirit. And that's further clarified here for us in the next bit, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. So we want to know if we're elect. We want to have our calling and election sure. Are you being sanctified? And are you believing in the truth? You have the truth before you, don't you? You have the Bible. Do you believe it? Do you take God at his word? When God promises, do you believe his promise? When God threatens, do you tremble at his threat? When God criticizes us in our sin, do you feel it? Do you know it? Do you believe that God has the right to do such things? Do you believe in the truth? And notice that belief in the truth and sanctification are inseparably tied. Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, prayed, didn't he, in John 17. And he prayed, sanctify them in the truth, your word. is truth. So not only are we sanctified by the Spirit, but we're sanctified by the Spirit in the truth. This is the way to be sanctified, in this book, in the teaching of this book, in this gospel way. So those who are elected believe this truth, but also those who are elected, verse 14, are called through the gospel. This is the pathway. from election to glory. No one can pass from point A to point Z without going through this way. The gospel. The gospel call. You need to believe in Jesus Christ. And think of what that gospel says to you. That gospel points to your sin and your unworthiness. It points to your guilt before a holy God. Sin is lawlessness. And where the law is broken, there is the punishment of sin, which is death. The wages of sin is death. The gospel shows to us that we need to be rescued from our sin. We need salvation. And we can't save ourselves. Along comes the Lord Jesus Christ to seek and to save the lost. The Lord Jesus Christ comes into the pages of the scripture, into this world in which we live as a willing savior to live and to die and to rise again. And by doing this, he sets the captives free. By doing this, he gives life to the dead. He gives sight to the blind. And the gospel shows to us that if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we will be saved. if we respond to the call of the gospel by repentance. Because it does say here, doesn't it? He called you through our gospel so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, Jesus is the Lord or the King. And so his gospel calls us to bow before the King, to turn from our sin, our resistance to the Lord Jesus, and to bow and to serve him. The gospel call comes, but have you responded to it? See, these are the signs that you're truly elect. It's not trying to pry into the secret things of God that are in eternity. It's not trying to imagine whether your name is written in the Lamb's book of life. But do you believe the gospel? Do you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you believe that his sacrifice is sufficient for you and for your sin? That he can and is willing to save you as a person from your sin and your guilt. Have you responded to that in repentance? Do you believe the truth of the scripture as it's written here in black and white? Is this what you believe as being the rule for your life to show you how to obey? And are you seeking the spirit of God to help you live for Christ and not for the flesh? Friends, if you can answer yes to these questions, you can see that you're on the pathway from election to glorification because you're on the narrow road that leads to life. You see, this road is direct, isn't it? From point A to point Z, it takes you along the way, but this is the present reality for God's people. Those who are not elect, but rather are reprobated, those who are not heading for glory, but rather to condemnation and to hell forever, don't believe the gospel of Christ, don't believe in Jesus saving them from sin, Don't respond in repentance. Don't believe the truth of the scripture. Don't seek the spirit to sanctify them, but rather live for the lusts of the flesh. And thus we see the difference between the elect and the non-elect. We see the fruits of the spirit's work in the lives of God's people. So friends, can you say that your calling and your election is sure? Look to the promises. Look to the gospel. Do you believe it? Look and see if there's fruit in your life. See if you're passing through these pathways. But I want you just to see that these verses 13 to 14, not only do they take us from the start to the conclusion of our salvation, from election to glorification and everything in between, But it also gives to us a full description of the author of our salvation. That is the triune God. Notice how each member of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, appears in these two verses. We have how, verse 13, God chose you. And when Paul speaks of God, particularly when he has the Lord Jesus and the Spirit differentiated, He's speaking of God the Father. God chose you. We see that we were saved, how? Through our gospel. That is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. That you can obtain the glory that is his. We thought Psalm 22, the Lord Jesus, his humiliation, and therefore God has highly exalted him and given him glory. And we are allowed to obtain that glory that is his, that he has purchased. But also we see the spirit, that we're sanctified by the spirit, by believing in the truth that the spirit of God has himself inspired. And so we have Father, Son, and Holy Spirit working as one God. It shouldn't surprise us to have three persons working together as one. because the three persons have one substance, one will, the will of God. And when we see the Trinity at work in such a way, Paul tells us be thankful. Again, verse 13, we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, because of these things. The Thessalonian church had not bought in to the apostasy of the first century. And therefore Paul was thankful because he saw their election and calling was sure. And friends, where we have not bought into the deception and delusion of Antichrist, but are rather following the simple way of the gospel, we can be thankful to see the work of the triune God in our lives. He has spared us from such apostasy. So that's the first point, thankfulness, but then briefly, Exhortation. Paul gives an exhortation here in verse 15. Simply, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. He's been telling why he's thankful, what God has done, but he says there remains something for you to do. Now, this is not us topping up our salvation. I spoke of that earlier. But he's saying you must stand firm in these things. You must hold tightly to the traditions that you have been taught. We need a reference point. If we're to persevere, if we're to continue on, we need a reference point, something to hold on to, to look to. And Paul tells us here that they are the traditions taught to us And we have to distinguish here between the Roman Catholic view of tradition and the Protestant view of tradition, or to use more the idea in 2 Thessalonians, the traditions of the man of sin, of Antichrist, versus the tradition, the true tradition of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Roman Catholic view of tradition is that there are things that are not written in the Bible, there are things that can be spoken with so-called infallibility of the Pope, that must be held to with the obedience of faith. And these traditions don't just sit alongside scripture as having equal weight, but these traditions supersede scripture and interpret scripture. And so there are things that are not found in the Bible and yet take on full force. Think of things such as purgatory, The idea that after death, Roman Catholics pass through a time of purging so that the remaining sin is removed, totally bypassing the way of the gospel, which is free forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Bypassing that entirely. Or think about the whole idea of Mary, the perpetual virgin they call her. The idea of her being someone that you can pray to, someone that will intercede for you, the greatest of all the saints, someone who has the ear of Christ. These are traditions that have been added on over and beyond the scripture. Or think even of that idea of the Pope being able to speak from his chair with infallibility. Nowhere in the scripture do you see that a man, a mere man, can speak in such a way. So the Roman Catholic view is that there are these things, traditions, that are of such importance that not only, they might say, sit side and side with scripture, but we see taking preeminence over the scripture. That is not at all what Paul means here when he tells us to hold to the traditions. Because as you see there in verse 15, the traditions that he is speaking about are those things which he taught us either by spoken word or by letter. In other words, he's saying, hold fast to what I taught you when I was with you in person and what I wrote in First Thessalonians and now in Second Thessalonians. Tradition, according to the scripture, is consistent with the word of God. Remember that in the first century, they didn't have the New Testament finished. It was in development. Godly men were writing the scriptures as they were moved and carried on by the Holy Spirit. Peter, Paul, John, and so on are in the process of writing down the scriptures, but it wasn't finished yet. But now it is. Nothing is to be added to this, and nothing is to be taken away from it. We have the more sure word. We have it here written for us in black and white so that the traditions that you and I are to hold to are not things that man creates, but are things that are written by God himself and things that are biblical. You see, we do have our own forms of traditions, don't we? When it comes to church, some people have a tradition about what they wear to church, what sorts of clothes they wear. We might have the tradition of certain times of our services. Or how certain things are done. But none of these things are necessarily biblical things. But it must be done in that exact same way. There might be a good reason why they're done that way. Wisdom might suggest that's the best way. But we shouldn't say that these traditions are equal with scripture. So that if you don't do it our way, you're sinning. Take, for example, if someone wears a gray suit instead of a black suit, that they are sinning by not wearing the black suit they should be wearing. That's, of course, foolishness. That is taking a man-made tradition and teaching it as the doctrine of men. That's something the Pharisees were particularly guilty of. And as we see, the modern Pharisees in Rome do the same thing. But traditions, these are not the traditions we're speaking of. We're speaking of the tradition find in the Word of God. Hold fast to what God has spoken. Satan, of course, hates God's Word. It's shown to us in the Garden of Eden that he came to Eve and first planted a seed of doubt so that she would doubt God's Word. And having doubted God's Word, she went on to deny God's Word. And friends, that's how Satan works. He works in your life, he works in my life, and he works on the bigger scale through churches and institutions in the same way. First, a little doubt, but that doubt grows into denial. Are you tempted at times to doubt bits of the scripture? To doubt that things possibly could have been done in the way it says in black and white? To doubt that God really is who he says he is? To doubt, as we've been thinking in the Let's Worship, that God did really create the world in six days? Science says something different. Shouldn't we believe that? Friends, beware, because doubts grow into denials. And where scripture is under attack, this is the roadway to apostasy. Beware, friends, of those who come teaching the Bible, who claim to speak on behalf of God, and yet are teaching contrary to the word of God. That can happen. Look back at chapter two, verse two. Paul is saying that the Thessalonians had been quickly shaken and alarmed because there were those speaking in the spirit of Paul, bringing letters that were meant to be from Paul, but they weren't from Paul at all. They were teaching things contrary to what Paul had taught. And so Paul exhorts the Thessalonians and he exhorts us, stand firm in the faith and in these biblical traditions according to the word of God. And then finally in verses 16 and 17, having exhorted you and me to stand firm, he now prays, may the Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace. Comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word." Isn't it interesting? Isn't it a lovely thing in the scripture? Often when Paul gives an exhortation, that he sandwiches it in between the grace of God. Before this exhortation, stand firm, it tells us that God has elected the Thessalonians. that God will glorify it, that he's sanctifying them, that he's called them by the gospel, all this grace that God has poured into their life. And now after the exhortation comes the other bit of bread, to sandwich it in, that our Lord Jesus Christ will give comfort, that he will establish, because our God and Father loved us and gave eternal comfort and good hope. There's so much here that we could go into, we don't have time to. But consider the comfort that God gives us, comfort such as having our sins forgiven and having the knowledge of our sins being forgiven, having the assurance of sins forgiven. Think of the comfort that comes through the blessed and sure promises of God's word, words of comfort. Think of the comfort of God's presence that is sensed at particular times in our lives, particularly when we're going through hardship. Though I pass through the waters, though you pass through the waters, I am with you. God our Father gives us eternal comfort and the Lord Jesus Christ comforts our heart. He applies it to us. But not only does he give comfort, he also establishes to make us firm. Although the exhortation in verse 15 was for you and me to stand firm, here we see it's Christ who establishes us. Yes, there's something for us to do, but we don't do it in our own strength. If it's left to us to stand, we will fall. But friends, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ who will establish you in every good work and word. Remember, we're considering Is our calling and our election sure? Are we really going towards eternal glory? Can we be sure of a place in heaven? Well friends, although we must persevere by standing firm and holding to the traditions, although these exhortations are necessary, we are preserved. We are preserved by our God, by the Lord Jesus Christ who comforts our hearts, and establishes us in every good work and word. May our faith be in him and not in our own strength. Amen. Let's pray.