This morning the second Thessalonians 2 I've completely reversed my messages Today, I hope not to preach real long this morning. I went to the doctor this week. I'm supposed to keep this thing on two more weeks and I wear it son and But then when I'm preaching I really got to wear it because I thought last week it was just you know You don't paint it. You don't think about your arm when you're preaching And you move it and jump and flip and everything else. 2 Thessalonians 2 is where we're going to be at today. Our focus verses is going to be verses 15-17. If you don't mind, would you please rise and show respect to the reading of the Word of God. Verse 15-17 says, Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you have been taught whereby by word or our epistle. Our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God even our Father which hath loved us and has given us everlasting consolation, that's everlasting comfort, and good hope through grace. Does that sound familiar to you? That's the name of our internet ministry, radio ministry. That's the name of it, good hope through grace. Comfort your hearts and establish you in every good work, let us pray. Heavenly Father, we're so thankful for the fine numbers you've brought here today. And Lord, we pray your blessings. We realize that we can't do anything on our own, and we request the unction of the Spirit of the living God to fall over this place today, that your word will go forth in power. And Lord, we pray to grant understanding of what is being preached to those that listen. And Lord, we pray that perhaps, if it be thy will, perhaps today someone be saved. Father, we'd love to see people saved, people touched. We pray perhaps folks will continue to come and join in with us on Sunday mornings. Lord, it'd be a great blessing. In Jesus' precious name, I pray. Amen. You can be seated. Now I'm teaching through the book of 2 Thessalonians on Sunday nights. I wanted to do, what I've done is just completely reverse what I normally do. So this morning we're gonna do 2 Thessalonians. Then tonight we'll get back on our series entitled Precious Things. Now we're gonna give this a title today of Everlasting Consolation. Everlasting Consolation. And the idea of consolation is comfort. Now how long is everlasting consolation? It's forever. It's absolutely forever. And when you're saved and you're born again and you have eternal life, that's what you have. You have everlasting consolation everlasting comfort today you trusted Jesus as your Savior the Father give you everlasting life and buddy isn't that an everlasting comfort knowing that you have everlasting life so that's the message title is everlasting consolation I will give you three points And here's the points I'm gonna give you. You listen for these. The call to stand fast will be the first thing we look at. He's calling upon the church of Thessalonia to stand fast. Number two, he calls on them to hold their traditions. That's the second call he makes. He calls on them to stand fast. Then he calls on them to hold the traditions, not to let the traditions go. We'll talk more about that when we get there. And then last of all, there's a call to comfort, and that will be in verses 16 and 17. It names the word comfort in verse 16. It mentions the word comfort in verse 17. So those are the three points that we're going to look at. Sound cool for you? Hope the Lord blesses you with it today. Let's notice, first of all, the call to steadfast. Notice what it says. Therefore, brethren, it says stand fast. I said steadfast, but they basically mean the same thing. Therefore, brethren, stand fast." And this is basically a call for them to persevere. That's what it is. It was actually a military term. I mean, if you can envision a group of men, and they're fighting in battle, and then they'd have their commander, and things were getting tough, and then you would have their commander. You've seen this at times in the Civil War, you know, in Civil War movies, anyhow, where they encouraged their men to stand fast. and not to give up and not to give in, but to keep on keeping on. And I think that's what He's encouraging them to do. Now the reason why He's encouraging them to stand fast, if you'll look back at chapter 1, it gives you the reason why they were doing it. The church of Thessalonica was going through a hard time. They were being persecuted. And you'll notice in verse 4, So we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and your faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure. So the church of Thessalonica was going through a hard time. And it's hard for us to imagine here in America, and I think eventually it's coming to where God's people will be persecuted as they once were. But in other parts of the world, there still is persecution of God's people. They're killed, they're put in prison, and they're beaten. I think as time goes on, you'll begin to see more and more of that. And I hope I don't see it in this nation, but I think eventually even in our own nation, eventually you will see that where God's people will be persecuted, where they'll be viewed as enemies. And it says they went through the persecutions, tribulations, but it said they endured them. They endured them. So that's the reason why He's encouraging them to stand fast because they were being persecuted. To stand fast means not to quit. That's what it means. Not to give up. Not to throw in the towel. That's basically what it means. So despite all they were going through and despite all they were facing, They needed to have a word of encouragement from the man that the Lord used to start the church of Thessalonica. Hey, hold. Stand fast. Don't give up. Don't give in. Just keep on keeping on. And sometimes God's people need to hear that. All God's people say it. My favorite verse My ministry verse, the verse that I've used all my days is 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 58. It says, finally, my brethren, be ye steadfast and unmovable. always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as much as you know that your labor for the Lord is not in vain. That's carried me for years. I don't wanna quit. You know, I pastored this church for a lot of years and we only had 15 to 20 people, not just in the beginning, but for a lot of years. And I actually had someone come to me one time and say, why do you waste your time there? Ain't nothing changed. Boy, that was an encouraging statement, wasn't it? You know what I just said? I said, well, I just feel the Lord wants me there. The Lord could use anybody, but I just feel the Lord wants me here in Bancroft. So I tried to remain steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Quitting's a big problem. in the ministry. Quitting is a big problem amongst people that make professions of faith. A lot of people make them, but a lot of people quit them too. And you'll notice that a lot over the years. So this is a call for them in spite of all they were going through, in spite of all the hardships they faced, He's saying to them, stand fast. Stand fast. Don't quit. Don't give up. Don't give in. Keep on serving the Lord. All God's people say it. The way I study it, and I'm gonna try to be quick this morning, but the way I read the parable of the sower, if you would, let's go ahead and turn to that. Luke chapter eight. It's sling. Makes me feel like I got a rope around my head. Tied to the pulpit. No, keep it on. Not because I'm afraid to, Debbie, just because I know I need to. Luke chapter 8. The parable of the sower, the reason why it was given, it was actually given, I think, to encourage sowers. And in the Bible, presenting the gospel is pictured like somebody's sowing seed. I mean, if you want to have a harvest, what do you got to do? You gotta sow seed. If you wanna have a lot of tomatoes, you don't plant one tomato plant. You plant a lot of plants, you sow a lot of seed. Well, that's what we do. That's what one of the things that a church does is they seek to sow the gospel seed in hope of having a what? Harvest. We love to see people saved. We love to see people born again. And the seed of the new birth is the gospel message. So we, what we do, we just constantly sow it. Well, we'll see different kinds of responses to that gospel message. And the parable of the sower actually gives you one response that's a no response. They listen to the message, but they just don't respond to it whatsoever. But the other three responses that's given in the parable of the sower, out of the three that makes a profession, two walk away. Did you hear what I just said? Out of three, I haven't got time to go into detail on the parable of the sower, but here's what it does. It makes a profession to walk away. And I'll be honest with you, brother, and that's pretty much what you see. So this is here, and the reason why the parable of the sower is here is to help you. It happens. Jesus told us about it in advance. Now, the parable of the sower depicts different types of ground. And each type of ground represents a different type of hearer. And let's go ahead and notice the bottom line to this parable. Verse 12 says, those that go by the wayside are they that hear, and then comes the devil and that takes away the word out of their heart. Where's your heart at? We always point here, don't we? Heart's your thinking. In other words, the devil takes the seed out of their mind. The ones that don't want them to think about it. It says, Then comes the devil, and he takes away the word out of their heart, lest they should believe and be saved. Everybody see that? Here you have someone sowing the seed, and that happens all the time. I preach the gospel in almost every message. I'm sowing it out there. And then sometimes people have it in their mind, and they're listening to it. And then you know what happens? The devil comes and plucks that right out of their mind. He gets their mind thinking on other things. I think one of the biggest things he does is he tells folks they've got plenty of time. You've got plenty of time. You don't need to react on this thing now. How many people today, how many people has there been over the years that have died? and planned on one of these days getting things right with their Lord, and never did, and died before it ever happened. I wonder how many people that way. What happened to them? I've seen people interested. Man, they've come, and they keep coming, and they're interested, and I'm thinking, man, they're getting ready to get saved, and they quit. And they never come back again. I think, what in the world did I do to turn them off? And I really didn't. Satan just comes and plucks the seeds. He gets their mind on other things, thinking about other things. Brethren, there's nothing any more important than having eternal life. There's nothing any more important than having victory over death. There's nothing any more important than being set for eternity. All God's people said. Well, he'll pluck that right out of your mind. I've seen it happen. I've seen it happen. Verse 13, though on the rock are they which they hear the word, they receive the word with joy. And this is a reception with a lot of enthusiasm. They received the word with a lot of enthusiasm. Man, they're happy about it. Man, they're on fire, for be it. Notice what else is said. They that are on the rock are they which when they have received the word with joy, but they don't have no what? They're not rooted good. They're not down in the ground like they should be. There's something wrong with the ground. And for a while they believe. For what? They just do believe for a while. For a while they believed, but in time of temptation, the word temptation is testing, they fall away. So when things get hot, when things get hard, what do they do? They quit. When things get tough, they don't persevere, they don't stay steadfast. Quit. Ever seen that happen? I have. I've seen a lot in 34 years. That happens to a lot of people. Start well, do well for a while, and then just absolutely, completely burn out. And then you think, what in the world did I do there? You didn't do anything. It's just the Lord told you that. That's why He gave the parable of the sower, so to prepare you for such responses as you see here. Verse 13, they that are on the rock, which hear, and notice what they do, they receive the word with joy. This is a lot of enthusiasm. But they have no what? They're not rooted. Their root's not down in the dirt. They're not rooted right. For a while they believed, but in time of testing, They fall away. I've seen all three of those. I've seen them for years. You say, Pastor, you get excited when people make professions? I do, but not as excited as you think I do. I wait and see if it's real. I wait and see if they continue. The Bible says if they continue, then they are my disciples indeed. Wait and see if they last. I get excited, don't get me wrong, but I've seen a lot of people fall away. I've seen a lot of people get preoccupied with other things. Don't got time for the Lord. And they're preoccupied with other things. Here's what you want to be. Let's look on down. Verse 14. They which fell among thorns are they which when they've heard they go forth but they get choked out. They get choked out. Look at verse 14. This is actually the third kind here. They get choked out with riches. cares and pleasures of this life. Everybody see those verse 14? What do they get choked out with? Look at it again. They get choked out with cares, riches, and pleasures. And these are the people I just now really just described. They get so preoccupied with pleasures, this is not necessarily sinful pleasures. It could be something that in and of itself is not a sin, but it comes to be sin because it takes the place of Christ. in your life. They choke out with cares, riches, and pleasure. You ever see anybody choke out? If you ever see anybody choke out, raise your right hand. They get choked out, and these are the things that does it. He wants you to know why it's there. So that's the reason why he's calling on them to be steadfast. Steadfast. Keep on keeping on. I want to run a good race, brethren. I'm running. But I want to run it all the way to the end. See, the Christian race isn't a sprint. The Christian race is an endurance race. And you continue, and you keep running, and you keep running until Jesus calls you out, or until Jesus comes and gets you. All God's people say it. All right. Let's go back to our text in 2 Thessalonians 2. That's a call to steadfastness, and I miss you in that call here in Bancroft. I'm issuing that call here today to you. Be steadfast. Don't quit. Don't quit. Stand fast with us. Come to God's house. Get in God's Word. Tell people about Jesus. Serve the Lord. When you get born again, it doesn't mean it's over. It means you've got a life to live. Serve Him all the days of your life. The next call that he makes here in 2 Thessalonians 2, and it's also, let's look back down at verse 15. 2 Thessalonians 2, therefore, brethren, stand fast. And it says to hold the traditions. Hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now, the word tradition, we hate that word, don't we? But there is some traditions that are not good. There is some traditions that people do that have no Bible base whatsoever. But the traditions that he's talking about here is traditions that they were taught by word and by epistle. These are traditions that was given to them by the Apostle Paul from Jesus Christ. He's basically saying what had been delivered to them was God's Word. Now they need to hold fast to the Word of God. Need to hold on to it and not to let it go. Proverbs chapter 23 and verse 23 says to buy the truth and to sell it not. Buy the truth and to sell it not. We need to hold to the truth of the Word of God. A lot of people do things that don't have no biblical base to it whatsoever. These are Bible traditions. These are traditions and teachings of God's Word that was given to them through the use of the epistle. Do you see our epistle in verse 15? We have those in the New Testament, and we certainly are to follow them also. Follow the traditions that you've been taught. Baptism is a tradition, isn't it? Is it a Bible-based tradition? It sure is. Assembling at God's house is a tradition. We're to do that too. We're to follow what God's Word says. We're to mind the Scriptures. And we need to be sure to hold to the traditions of God's Word. Ah, brethren, we need to teach them, we need to share them, and we need to live them. Because I want to address you, saints of God, some of you are the only Bible people ever read. I want to say that one more time. Some of you are the only Bible some people ever read. They should be able to look and see what a Christian is by looking at the way that you conduct yourself. I do fear that some of you have totally forgot the Lord and the things of the Lord, who you professed. I do. You need to get that straight. I'm telling you, you need to have that straight in your heart. You need to hold to the tradition that you've been taught. either by word or by epistle. So he calls them to stay true. Here's what he's trying to do, brethren. He's telling them to stay true to the scriptures. Stay true to the scriptures. Don't give them up. Everybody's always going to come up with a new way of doing stuff. Everybody's always going to come up with another way of doing Christian work. Teach the scriptures. That's what the Holy Spirit uses. When you go back into the New Testament, that's what they did. They taught them the scriptures. And he said, now you hold to those truths. Hold to them. Don't give them up. The devil goes after them. Man, when you get a church and it creeps into error, over time it'll cease to be a true church. All God's people said, don't let them slip. Hebrews 2.1 says, give more earnest heed to the things that you have learned, lest at any time you should let them slip. That's why you teach them and that's why you believe. That's a call to steadfastness, and then this second call is a call to hold to the truths of God's Word, hold to traditions. The last call is a call of comfort. Now this is the main embodiment of the message. You stay with them, we'll be quick. It says in verse 16, Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and our God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation. Now, consolation means comfort. He's given us how an everlasting Comfort. And good hope through grace. And the word hope in the Bible don't mean, you know, I might say I hope POCA wins next week, but the idea of hope in the Bible means to confidently expect. I have confident expectations, and I want to share them with you this morning. And these are everlasting consolations. I find comfort in what I'm about to give you now. I find comfort in these things. I rejoice in these things. I consider these good hopes through grace that I'm about to share with you the greatest riches this world has. I don't consider anything any greater than what I'm about to give to you. What is the good hope through grace that we have? Well, that comforts our hearts and establishes us in every good word and work. What is that good hope that we have? Well, I got the good hope of heaven. I got the good hope of heaven. And what's hope mean? Confidently expect. I confidently expect to go to heaven at the end of my days. I just don't know how a person could be happy without not knowing that, just to be blunt with you this morning. I just don't know. People tell you all of the plans that they have for this old world, don't they? And people, you know, work, they want to work, and they want to work until they get to retirement. And there's a great host of people that live for that old earthly Retirement and ain't nothing wrong with having retirement. I think you should have I used to be on a union negotiating committee We try to get a good retirement nothing wrong with that. But buddy, I can't be the only reason you live Those earthly retirements don't last too long How long they last How long they last not real long what I want you to understand and I believe it's called the scripture says that there's you're going to spend forever somewhere and You're going to spend eternity somewhere. And it's just a comforting thought to know that if I would die today, I'd go to heaven. I don't want to die today, but if I do, I'm ready to go up. And if you come to my service, it would be a celebration service, but it just means I ain't here. I'm just somewhere else that is a whole lot better. How can you live without that, brethren? How can you live without that expectation of knowing you're going to heaven? I don't think I'm going. I know I'm going. I close my eyes in this old life and I open them back up. I just believe I'll be with the Lord. I just believe I'll be in paradise. That's good hope, isn't it? I'm going to win. Already won. Already got the victory. Greatest victory I ever received was victory over sin and over death and over hell. Now, I'm going to tell you something, folks. It's more than believing in a God. More than believing there's a God. You got to trust Jesus. See, Jesus left heaven, didn't he? If all you had to do is believe that there's a God, all you would have is the Old Testament scriptures that tells you about creation. You have to trust Jesus. Jesus came, the whole Old Testament pictured what he was going to do. When you go back in the Old Testament and you look at that Old Testament sacrifice system where they offered a lamb every morning and every evening. Lamb every morning, every evening. And whenever Jesus come on the scene, what did they say? Behold the lamb. Here's what John the Baptist said. Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world. It all pictured Jesus and his death and his resurrection. That's what it pictures. You have to trust that message. And that message gives you victory over death. And it's the only way you can have this everlasting consolation. I don't want to die. I don't want it to hurt. But many people do. But the moment they leave, it's over. You just believe you cease to exist. Not according to that book, you don't. I got the good hope of heaven. And that old clock back there, each tick brings me closer to it. Used to be a saying up there on the loading dock that I worked on for years. I guess they'd like to hear me say it, but they'd say, how you doing over there today, preacher? I'd say, another day closer to paradise. That's how I view it. That's what it is. Well, you another day closer, too. Number two, I've got the good hope of heaven. I've got the good hope of seeing my Redeemer. Brethren, I want to see Jesus. You know, one of the things people say about poor old Brother Job, they say, Brother Job lost everything. You ever have anybody say that? They'll say, Job lost everything. No, he didn't. He lost his physical health. I think what he did, I think his appearance was different. I think Job was in bad shape. His sons and daughters all were killed. I mean, it looked like he lost everything that he had. He had some kind of skin disease that made him smell. But you know what he said in Job 19? He said, I know my Redeemer liveth and shall stand at latter day upon the earth. And though the skin worms destroy this body, yet in the flesh I shall see God. He never lost his hope. He never lost his good hope. I've got the good hope of heaven, but I've also got the good hope of seeing my Redeemer. I've got a lot of people there, but I want to see my Redeemer. I want to see Jesus. I want to thank Him for paying the price to set me free from the sin that I have. Wouldn't it be a horrible thing to say that you don't want Jesus? that you don't want redeemed. Wouldn't it be a horrible thing? I'm getting to remind you it's more than believing that there's a God. It's more than going around trying to be a good person. You got to trust Jesus. You got to ask Jesus to save you. You got to trust that he died on Calvary for you and rose again the third day and ask him to save you. You have to do that. Too many people never done that. Never done it because they think they're too good. You're not. That's why you needed Jesus. Doesn't it make common sense that if you could do the best you could and go to heaven and just believe that there's a God, doesn't it make common sense that then Jesus would have never had to leave glory and come here? and suffer the humiliating death of Calvary, doesn't it make sense that it could have been any other way? You remember Jesus prayed that in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before he died. He said, Father, if this can pass from me, if this cup can pass from me, let it pass. He seemed an angel to strengthen him, remember? But he had to die. To save an old hell-bound, no-good-for-nothing, rotten, depraved sinner like me, Jesus had to die and had to rise again. All God's people said. That's good hope. Well, I got the good hope of heaven, the good hope of seeing my Redeemer, that's who I want to see. I also got the good hope of seeing my loved ones. It's great having a family saved, isn't it? Great having a saved family. One of the Hardest statements I ever heard, I ain't gonna tell you where I was at, but I was in a certain spot where I could hear, and I was doing a service is what I was doing. And I can remember one of the people there talking about their loved one, and they were weeping, and they looked at me and they said, I will never see them again. I thought, oh my, had no comfort. didn't think the person know the Lord I I don't know whether they did or not but that's just it was a hopeless thing Jesus said in John 16 in a little while you should not see me then in a little while you shall see me because I go to the Father that's true of everybody that's been saved When I die, you can say the same thing that I can say the same. Well, I won't be talking to you. But anyhow, when that time comes, I go to the Father. And in a little while, there'll be a reunion. One of my favorite texts is in the book of Genesis. I think it's Genesis 49. I didn't write it down. Old Jacob had become an old man and said he's put his feet up in the bed and was gathered to his people. Let me say it one more time. He was gathered to his people. That means he left his people that were on this side and he was gathered to his people that are on the other side. All God's people's head. That's reunion, man. That's a great thing. I buried a lot of my people over the years. Y'all know that. Arthur family was massive at one time. All my aunts and my uncles, I think there's three, out of the 12, I think there's three left. Think about it. Well, that's sad, isn't it? But one of these days, when you're born again, that will be a, there'll be a kind of a reunion of sorts. You gather again to your people. You get to see them again. Jeff Sexton says this to me, and he says, you know what? We're gonna spend forever together. I said, well, Sexton, I don't know if such a good thing coming from you. Hey, think about it, brother. We're gonna spend forever together. I'm gonna tell you something, man. This is Father's Day. You know what the greatest thing you can leave behind in your family? The knowledge that you as a man have trusted the Lord Jesus as your Savior. Because the day you die, that's what gives them hope. The day you die, that's what's going to carry them. Knowing you're with the Lord is what gives you peace and comfort and strength. But when you don't have that hope, it's a horrible thing. It's a finality about it. Well, you can't do anything now. That's the greatest thing you can lay by. Something happened, brother. I'm just going off to be with Jesus. And that'll be the very best day of my life. All God's people said. One more. One more. Got the good hope of heaven. Good hope of seeing our Redeemer. A good hope of a reunion with our loved ones. And we're gonna get a new body, too, to throw on top of everything else, eventually. We'll get a new body. Philippians 3 says that he's gonna change our vile body, and it's gonna be fashioned like unto his glorious body. He's helping me preach this morning. Don't you worry about that. I can blow right over that. That ain't no trouble. The good hope of getting a new body. I can't wait to get a new body. You know, I hurt my arm and I've had a surgery on my arm. Surgery on my back. Surgery on my shoulder. Losing my hair. Gonna have to have surgery right here on my hip. What in the world's going on? You're getting old, that's exactly right. And so are you there, Bill. You're getting old too. Yeah. And as you age, what happens? Your body just gets weaker. You're just getting weaker. I used to always, ah, just getting stronger. No, you ain't. Neither am I either. I look at some of them weights in my garage. I used to swing all over the place. I got to roll them out of the way now. Hey, what's going on? Aging. We're going down. Entropy's taking over. But I'm going to get a new one. I'm going to get a new one one of these days, and that new one's never going to get sick, it's not going to age, and it's not going to die. That's good hope, isn't it? We'll get a new one. When we see him, the Bible says we'll be like him, be sinless. All that's coming. If the Lord doesn't come, they're going to plant this old body of mine in the ground. When they plant this body in the ground, I'm not there. I'll be at the Lord. And where they put this old seed at, one of these days there's going to be a body come out of there, but it's going to be a new one. One that never ages. One without sin. One that'll never die. That's good what? Good hope. Do you have it today? One of the saddest verses in the Bible is Ephesians 2.12, and it says this, no hope and without God in the world. I want you to know this morning I got good hope through grace. I got good hope. I want you to have what I have. Some of you I'd like to shake saved. I can't do that. It's something you have to do willingly. Something you have to do in the middle of the day. The Bible says that whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You say that's too simple. No, it's not. It's hard for people to do that because you cease to trust yourself and you're trusting all Jesus. He even saved a man so you'd know how you're saved. He saved the thief on the cross. Everybody knows he's a sinner. Everybody knows he got saved. In the six hours Jesus was there. What did he do? Lord, remember me. Probably felt like he's too bad to go. He didn't have nothing to offer. As a matter of fact, he was even mocking Jesus in the beginning. And he called and said, Lord, I want you to remember me. And Jesus said, today you'll be with me in paradise. What about that man's sin? Jesus paid for it. What about righteousness Jesus is giving me? Well, brethren, that's good hope. Do you got it? Is it in you? If it don't, why don't you trust him? You say, well, I did that one before and it didn't pan out, then it wasn't real. You need a genuine salvation experience, a genuine change. When it really changes you, it changes you. Don't mean you're gonna be perfect, but it does mean you'll be changed. Bible says old things pass away, old things become new. Let's all stand, thank you.