Take your Bibles and open with me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Continuing in this series through 1 and 2 Thessalonians, we've come to chapter 2 verse 13. And if we make good time, we'll make it through chapter three, verse five this morning. That'll leave one remaining message through the series to finish out versus six to 18 next week of second Thessalonians. And if we can finish on time with that, our next book, we'll go back to the Old Testament. We'll work our way through the book of Esther. In fact, ending the book of Esther, the last message in the book of Esther will be on the day that is this year, the Feast of Purim, which was established in the book of Esther. So we will be able to see when that was established, even as it is still being celebrated by Jews around the world today. We'll look at the significance of that feast, even to us in the church. But this series titled Do Not Grow Weary from 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, as we've worked our way through, the theme has been constantly throughout both of these letters, a theme of comfort. Paul is writing to a church that was planted rather quickly during his second missionary journey. We can read about that again in Acts 17. As Paul and Silas and Timothy planted the church there, they met for three weekends at the synagogue. They preached to the Jews. Then we know they spent several months preaching and ministering to the people at Thessalonica. To put this in perspective, the second largest city in Greece and at the time that these letters were written to them, two hundred thousand people living in Thessalonica. That is a large city by today's standards. If you can imagine then the hub that this was for that part of the world and this church was growing. Paul has already commended them several times for their faith, for their love, for their preaching and spreading the gospel. He's told them at least twice that their testimony is known all throughout the region. People know that God is at work in their midst. They're hearing the gospel because of the work that is going on at this church at Thessalonica. As he is now writing this second letter to them, again, comforting them. They're needing to persevere under persecution. They're suffering at the hands of the Jews and at the hands of the Romans. They are being persecuted for their faith and for their faithfulness, for their boldness in preaching. And so Paul has written to comfort them. He's also written, though, to correct them. Part of what we spent some time on in the first part of chapter two here in second Thessalonians was a correction for those who had heard and had believed false doctrine about the second coming. They had been told by someone claiming to have the authority of the apostle, possibly even, we believe, by a forged letter claiming to be from Paul that Jesus either was not coming or had already come. So these two groups arguing about it and where that caused concern for the church was that in the life of this new church members, since Paul had been there, several members had died. They had gone to be with the Lord. And the question was, if they're dead now, are they going to miss out on the second coming of Christ? They believed it was so imminent that if he's coming and these people have died, they're going to miss the coming of Christ. So where are they? What has happened to them? And is Christ even still coming? As we began chapter two last week, he tells them that he's writing to them concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him. And he says, 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. As we spent time in verses 1 through 12 last week, we learned that there were things that had to happen before Jesus was going to come back. Now, there is comfort in the message because Paul says Jesus is coming. And that is the hope for any church in any time, whether they're in a time of blessing and a time of peace or a time of persecution and a time of suffering. Our great hope in dealing with life in this fallen world is the hope that Christ is coming back for us. He explained to them Things that they needed to know and several of the gaps that we couldn't cover are there because he told him, I already told you about this when I was with you. So he didn't repeat it in his letter. And we all wish that Paul had repeated it in his letter because they know things that we don't. But what we do know is that Paul reiterated the same things that even Christ had said that's recorded for us in Mark and in Matthew 24, telling him about the signs of the times, about knowing that, yes, Christ is promised to return. Yes, his return is certain. And yes, it will not catch. The church by surprise to the world, it'll be like a thief at the night in the night to those who are watching, though we will see and we will know that he is coming. Well, as he reiterates to them and comforts them and corrects them for this now in the end of chapter two and moving into chapter three before he closes out the letter. There is a little bit of consolation, a little bit more comfort given, and then next week we'll see he actually ends the letter with a confrontation for those who have heard the truth, who have not been comforted by it and have been disobedient instead. And he wants to address those who are being disobedient to the truth and taking doctrine and twisting it to the point that they're living in discord with the scripture. But for now, in chapter 2, verse 13, we're going to pick up, because Paul has told them, with the coming of Christ and with all that's going to be revealed about that time, with the tribulation coming, with the promise of the lawless one being revealed, Satan and the Antichrist coming into power with signs and with wonders, We learned last week in verses 10 and 11 that he's going to rise 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. I enjoyed and found a actually a new translation of the New Testament this week in my studies. In Leon Morris's commentary on Second Thessalonians, he quotes the rendering of verse 11 from a guy who was known. He's from England and in Australia from the 1840s. And he lived up until about 1930, a scholar who translated ancient texts into English. And he did the works of Homer. He did the Odyssey and the Iliad. He did Euripides, Virgil, several other of the great Greek fathers and all of the tragedies and the stories and the riddles. And he translated those into English. The reason it caught my attention and the reason I stopped to pay attention is because the man's name is Arthur Way. And there aren't many ways out there. And I thought I might be related to him. I don't think I am. But I thought somebody named Way translated something from Greek to English. And it turns out that he actually worked with a friend of his, a professor friend of his, and worked on a translation of Paul's letters. From the Greek to English, a very interesting translation, still very close to what we would see as a good modern translation of the Scriptures. But his take on verse 11, I enjoy, because when we talk about God sending them a strong delusion with the hints of Romans 1 and Romans 2, God giving them over to a debased mind, God turning them over to their sin and to their uncleanness. The way Arthur Way translated this was that God gave them over to be inspired by infatuation. Interesting way to say that to be inspired with infatuation. And he said, what it is, is they are inspired to pursue whatever it is that they think that they want. And God is going to give it to them. And we think, well, that's good because then you get what you want. Well, no, that's not good, because when you're inspired to be infatuated with wickedness and with evil and with what is coming from Satan and from the Antichrist, with what is translated here as the strong delusion, this lie from the pit of hell, this is God's judgment. See, God doesn't judge them because they're infatuated with evil. Their infatuation with evil is God turning them over to their sin. And that is the judgment of God, the wrath of God in their life. That's why Jesus could tell us in John 3 that those who do not believe are already condemned already. They are living a life of condemnation bound in their sin. They are only able to be infatuated with what will kill them. Have you ever thought about sin that way? We are so infatuated. I love that he used that word to translate that. We are so infatuated with sin. And it's like any infatuation. Is it ever what you wanted when you get it? No, because it's based on a lie. And it says they have been given over to this. They're being condemned by this. They're believing a lie so that they may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But then he says in verse 13, but. In light of the judgment, in light of what's going to happen with the rise of the Antichrist, with with the results of all of this wickedness and all of this judgment and all of this condemnation on the law, while we rejoice at the coming of Christ, you understand it's going to be a terrible time of dread and judgment for the world. It's going to be the world reaping what they have sown at the hands of Christ himself. But he says, we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord. He turns it around and he says, I know that you're worried about the coming of Christ. I know you're worried that loved ones have missed out. I want to tell you that it is certain, it is a surety that Jesus is coming. When he does come, you will be gathered with us to be with him. All of the church, all of the redeemed from all time gathered in one place at one time in the heavens with Christ when he returns. Can you imagine the family reunion? But then Paul says, but look at the wicked. Look at what the revealing of the lawless one means. Look at those who are going to rebel with their last breath against the truth of the gospel. For them, it is going to be multiplied condemnation and judgment and wrath as God pours out his wrath on them for their sin. But he switches back to the comfort mode. He almost you get the impression he almost gets carried away. In fact, the way the Greek is written in chapter two of Second Thessalonians, it's actually difficult to translate in places because Paul is writing or he's dictating so quickly to who's writing that some of these sentences are actually incomplete sentences. They're not finished and there's no punctuation. And he goes to the next thought. He's from one thought to the next thought to the next thought. He's just wanting to get all of this out, get all of this on paper to send to the church at Thessalonica. And he's just almost about to get to, you know, preachers never get carried away. He's talking about the wrath of God, the unveiling of the lawless one, the culmination of all time, Jesus coming back and we can get excited about being gathered together with Christ in the air, can't we? And as he's working up with that excitement or that passion, he stops, he takes a breath and he says, but. In the light of all of this, the uncertainty, the confusion that he's trying to set straight while he's trying to correct them, he's still doing this with a sense of wanting them to understand. We give thanks to God for you. You may be confused and you may be struggling and you may be suffering, but we thank God all the time for you. Sometimes you just need to know that people are grateful for you, don't you? That whatever we face and whatever is going on and whatever we're excited about and whatever is about to happen. He stops and he says, whatever you're facing, whatever you're struggling with, whatever troubles there are in the church there. And trust me, he's writing from Corinthians. He knows by what he's experiencing right now while he's writing this letter, Thessalonica is not that bad. But he tells them. We're 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. OK, we could just preach there for the next month, couldn't we? Verses 13 and 14. But this is what Paul is telling them. So many people, when they assess eschatology, get passionate and they get heated and everybody has the timetable figured out and they have a chart they can pull out, show you. Here's what we need to know. Here's what we need to confess. Jesus is coming back visibly, physically. We're going to be called to meet him in the air. At that point in time, if we're alive, we'll be transformed and glorified. If we're dead, we'll be resurrected. We will meet him. And the point of his coming back is this. He will then be glorified by us wherever he is, because wherever he is now for the rest of eternity, we will be with him. That's the key to eschatology. When he comes back and gathers us to be with him, we're with him from that point forever. You figure it all out the rest of the way that you want to. Paul doesn't give us that many details here, does he? You know why? Because he's not trying to give them a timeline. He's trying to comfort their hearts because they're being persecuted and they're afraid they've been left out of this great blessing of the coming of Christ. And so in that eschatology, we find here's our true hope. And this is what I love, because Paul brings it all back. And as he's getting ready to get to the end of this letter, he wants to make this point. And this is really the point that this whole second letter turns on. We're giving thanks to you because he says this is our hope in eschatology as we discuss the end times, whatever is going to transpire when Christ comes back. Our hope in eschatology is the doctrine of election. How many times do you hear the doctrine of election tied to eschatology? Not very often, but it struck me this week. You know what Paul's telling us here? God's choice before the beginning about us determines where we'll be at the end. His choice before it all started, his choice to seek and to save that which was lost will impact where we end up when he comes back. The question, though, is the question that the church at Thessalonica has been asking, what do we do in the meantime? Has he come? Did we miss it? What about people who have died? How can we be sure? What do we do in the meantime? And Paul actually gives us five things that we can do in this text this morning. And the first he tells us is what he himself is doing. He tells us we can give thanks. He says we're bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord. And he gives us five reasons. that we are to give thanks, five reasons that he gives thanks. The first, he says, we give thanks because you're beloved by the Lord. Have you ever stopped and thought about that just for a moment? We always talk about this. God loves us and we love God. But have you ever really stopped and thought about this? You are beloved by God. Beloved to the point that he shed the blood of his son to have fellowship with you, to adopt you, to make you part of his family. You are beloved. By the Lord, Romans 8, 38 and 39, tell us about that love. Paul says, I'm persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present or things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Now, we have quoted that we've read that we hear that all the time. What does that mean? Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. Nothing. Why? Because Christ has got you in his hands and the Father has Christ in his hands. And he says nobody can pluck us from the Father's hands. Nobody. That's why he tells us in the Psalms that our names are engraved on God's palms. Now, does God literally physically have hands to have a name engraved upon it? No. But what is he telling us? By saying our name is engraved in his hand, we can't slip out. We can't get washed out. We can't drop. We can't be thrown away. We're there. We are part of who he is. His life is now in us. as he indwells us by the Spirit. And no matter how we die, no matter how we live, angels, principalities, powers, the demonic, the angelic, things that have happened, things that are happening, things that will happen, space, time, none of these things can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. That right there is a reason enough to give thanks, isn't it? Paul could have stopped right there. We are so loved by God, and as we look at the demonstration of His love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we were by nature children of wrath, He gave His Son for us to stand in our place, to bear that wrath upon Himself for us. Why? For God so loved the world. You really can't underestimate that verse, can you? Sometimes I know people get irritated that all these athletes and everybody, John 3, 16, John 3, 16, John 3, 16. But you know what? John 3, 16 really is a great word of truth for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Now, we're so familiar with it, just like singing Amazing Grace at every funeral, every event you go to, the word goes in one ear and out the other. But here's the good news. It's the word of God. And by his spirit, he can use that to accomplish his purposes. The purpose for us this morning is to see that we're beloved by God. Ephesians 2, 4 through 5 tells us God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace. You have been saved. Love is an extension of the grace of God for us. Paul says, I'm giving thanks for you because you're beloved by the Lord. Don't forget the standing you have being loved by God. So in the meantime, we need to give thanks because God has loved us. How has he demonstrated that love? He says we're 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. He says you've been chosen by him for salvation. Romans 8 30, Paul sums it up. Moreover, whom he predestined to these, he also called whom he called these. He also justified him. He justified these. He also glorified. God has chosen to save us. Aren't we glad for all the theological debates that revolve around the use of the term predestination and election? Here's the good news. If Jesus hadn't come after us, we never would have gone to him. He came to seek and save that which was lost. On our own, dead and bound in trespasses and sin, there was not an inkling, a divine spark, a hope or a seed that could have stretched out to help us want what God was offering. Because what God calls us to when he calls us to salvation is not come be fulfilled, it's come, give me everything that you are and die to yourself. And on our own, in our sinful state, that's the last thing we want. That's why the first word of the gospel is repent. Because to come to him, we have to turn from what we are without him. And the good news, it was his choice. He did not leave it up to us. The funniest or probably the saddest, if it can be the same illustration I've ever seen of somebody trying to find middle ground in the debate about election was that somebody said election is God votes for you and Satan votes for you and you cast the deciding vote. If that's true, God help us. Because who are we going to vote for? We're always going to vote for ourselves if it comes down to that. Well, who wins? Obviously, we don't see. There's the myth again. We're never in control. We're never in control. We are either bound the subject of the slave of sin or we are the slave of Christ bought by his blood. It's never us that's in control. So thankfully, he made the decision that we couldn't make. He chose us for salvation. And as we read this text, he. Because he loved us, he 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 the Lord Jesus Christ. That sounds an awful lot like Ephesians chapter one, doesn't it? Here's how Paul wrote it in Ephesians. 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 chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he made us accepted in the beloved. This is the reason we give thanks. God loved us and he chose to save us. And it's all about what he's done for us, not about what we do for him. It's what he's done for us to demonstrate that love for us in his son, giving his son to die for us while we were still sinners, seeing him coming to seek and to save us. I really do think that we need to redefine what it means to be seeker sensitive because people aren't the seekers. Jesus is. If you want to be seeker sensitive, do what Jesus wants. He's the one looking. He's seeking, actively seeking that sheep that has gone astray. He is looking for those. How's he doing it? Through us. That's why we preach the gospel is why we witness. It's why we're salt and light. It's why we support missionaries to take the word where it's never been heard before, because that is the spirit in this world, in this fallen creation, seeking those to point them to Christ, who he has called and chosen for salvation. The other good news about the doctrine of election is that when you understand that it's God's choice, then it's not up to us to lose it. He chose it. He accomplished it. He does it. And he is the author and finisher of our faith. I love it that John MacArthur said if we could lose our salvation, there's only one thing that's guaranteed. We would if we could lose it. None of us would be here this morning. We were lost. The good news is he chose to find us. He has saved us. He's chosen us for this salvation. He's called us. And in Romans 830, the great news there, those whom he's predestined, he's called him. He's called. He's justified him. He's justified these. He also glorified. You realize that Paul uses all of those in the past tense. Why? Because God decided before the world began, that's what was going to happen to us. And there's nothing that's going to stop him from doing what he wants. You know, that's what the doctrine of election boils down to. He's the potter. We're the pot. And we don't have any right or ability to tell him what to do. He's God. We're not. He does as he pleases, according to his will. That's why in John 3, we understand that salvation is all of his work. It's all of his will. How does he accomplish this salvation? This verse is so rich because he says we're beloved by the Lord because from the beginning he chose you for salvation through sanctification. The other high point there, of course, that we get from looking at from the beginning, one commentator actually tried to argue that Paul was saying from the beginning, meaning when you founded the church at Thessalonica, God chose to use you. This goes so much further back than that. God before the beginning. When he says from the beginning, that means from before the beginning began. When did the beginning begin? In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Before that, he chose to save us. Wait a minute. We didn't even exist. Yeah. And he knew us and he loved us. Let it let it sink in. He foreknew us. And you understand the word foreknow in Romans does not mean he knew what we would do, saw the path we would choose and then decided what he would do based on what we would do. The word foreknow is a relational term. He had an intimate knowledge of us before we ever were. How can he do that? Because he's God and he inhabits eternity. He knew us. He loved us. He chose us. And Paul talks about glorification in the past tense, because when you belong to him, it's a done deal. Why is that important to the church of Thessalonica? They're worried about being left out of the second coming. And so where does Paul go to give them hope? He goes to the hope of election. God chose you. He called you. He converted you. He adopted you. He sanctified you. He's going to glorify you. And it's all past tense because God has said that it's going to be so. And nothing can change his decrees. We are secure in God because of his choice to save us. How does he do it then? He says from the beginning he chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. He is saving us, actively saving us. You understand we're not just saved, we are being saved. When we talk about our conversion, we have been saved. When we talk about sanctification, we are being saved. We're being made more and more and more into the image of Christ, learning to mortify sin, learning to live in this fallen flesh. And we will be saved at that moment when he comes back and we are glorified or we are raised and called to meet him in the air. At that point, then even our physical bodies will be redeemed, will be given a new glorified body, never to be touched by the stain of the temptation of sin or sickness again. This is what he's promised us. As he's working that out in us now, he's sanctifying us. He chose us to make us holy. He predestined us for this to be adopted so that we could call him father and we could be his children. And he sanctifies us by the spirit and belief in the truth. This is how he does it. John 17, 17, Jesus prayed, sanctify them by truth. Your word is truth. People always want to know what you have to do to be sanctified. It's not what you do. You do what you do because you're being sanctified. Does that make sense? You don't do what you do to get sanctified. He's sanctifying you by his spirit in the word, conforming you more and more to the image of Christ by truth, by the truth of God's word. And as a result of you being sanctified, you then do what you do. It's being worked out in us so that now we walk in the good works he's prepared before us. The great news about salvation is that from start to finish and all the way in between, he's given us everything that we need to walk and to be pleasing to him. He's given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. And he's even, when he tells us in Ephesians 2, when he tells us, for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, not of works, lest any man should boast. He goes on to verse 10 and tells us that he's done this so that we can walk in the good works that he has prepared beforehand for us. People are always spending time trying to find God's will and looking for the good works that they're supposed to do. What can I do today? What can I do today? It's not a treasure hunt. It's not an Easter egg hunt. He's given us these good works to do. If you're not sure about God's will for your life, start here. All of the verses that say this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you, read those, do those, and then you can worry about the rest of it. If we're just doing those things, all the rest of life kind of takes care of itself, doesn't it? It really does. God's will is not complicated. It's not hidden. It's not a mystery. His will for us is, we're told in Scripture, our sanctification. And he accomplishes this by the power of the Spirit, by belief in the truth. 1 Peter 1, 2 reminds us that we are elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. We are elect according to the foreknowledge of God in sanctification of the Spirit for obedience. so that we can walk in a manner that's pleasing to him. The great news is, as we seek and strive to please him in what we do, God's level of pleasure with us is really not based on what we're able to do with what he gives us. His level of pleasure and love for us is based on what his son has done in our stead. Think about that. Think about that. Christ accomplished it. Christ finished it. Christ has done it. God is completely. We sang it this morning. The wrath of God is completely satisfied in Christ because of us. That's why Paul writes in Romans eight one. There is therefore no condemnation. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk in the spirit. There's nothing to condemn us of because Christ is already born in the penalty. Will we bear consequences for sin living in this fallen world as we make bad choices? Absolutely. But understand it. If we sin, we bear consequences because we make bad choices, because we depend upon ourselves instead of walking in the spirit. The promise is walking spirit. You won't fulfill the lust of the flesh. That almost sounds too easy, doesn't it? How easy is it? God says, I'm giving you everything that you need that pertains to living a godly life. It's all yours. Free by grace. Take it and use it. And what do we do? God, you haven't done enough for us. God, you've cursed us, you've abandoned us, you're mistreating us. God, we're suffering. We went from 32 degrees the other night to 75 today. God, what are you doing? No, he's given us everything that we need, and he sanctifies us by the power of the spirit working in our lives as we believe God's word. You remember our whole theme in the book of Hebrews as we got into Hebrews, especially the Hebrews 11 and the theme became that what you believe affects how you behave. Belief affects behavior. What you believe will impact the way you live. That's why sanctification is accomplished by the spirit, by belief in the truth. As we believe the truth, what do we do? We obey the truth. We hear it and we do it. Not only has he chosen us, not only are we being sanctified by the spirit, believe in the truth, but he also says the verse 14, to which he called you by our gospel. He's called us. We've been called to this. People are saying, well, I'm looking for a calling. I'm looking for my purpose. You've been called to embrace the gospel. That means whatever else you do in life, it's about advancing the gospel. Are we born into down to simply this morning, it's not complicated. He's called us. He saved us. He's sanctifying us. He's doing all of this for one purpose. This is what he's called us for so that we can be a part of his gospel work. And he tells us the end of verse 14, exactly what the culmination is for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's all to glorify Jesus. It is not so we can stand up and say, look at what God is doing in my life. It's so we can stand up and say, look at God. That's what Paul did. Paul said, if you're looking at me, if you're following me, if you're boasting about me, don't do it. You follow me as I follow Christ, because everything I do in this life is just a dunghill. Everything I count as that you count as a gain, I'm counting it as as loss. Everything but knowing Christ, pointing people to Christ. Point people to him. We're called to this in 1 Thessalonians 2.12. As we work our way through the first letter, Paul says that you would walk worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. He's called us into His kingdom. He's called us by this gospel command to come to Jesus, to repent of our sin, to believe Him, to trust Him with our life, to forsake what we are without Him and to embrace what we can only be as He lives through us and in us all for His glory. Ephesians 1, 11 and 12 says, In Him also we have obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory. This is why we preach that God is sovereign in the salvation of sinners, because it's all about glorifying himself. It's not about us. It's not about how many we can bring, how many we can lead, what a big crowd we can gather, how many people we can influence, persuade, argue, talk into praying, prayer, signing cards, shaking a hand or jumping in a baptistry. It's all about what we do, being faithful to him so that he is glorified. The other thing that struck me in studying this passage, just these two verses. I really sometimes don't understand the big debate about the doctrine of election, I really think the debate on the other side is just a debate because of the prideful thoughts of men who think that it's up to them to determine what God can do in their lives. You can't read these verses in Romans and in Ephesians and in second Thessalonians and make it say anything other than what it says, unless You change what the words mean. Isn't that always what Satan does, by the way? We'll just change the words. We'll use the same words, but we'll give them different meaning. He quoted scripture to Christ when he tempted him in the wilderness, didn't he? Was that a right use of the scripture? No, because he was twisting it to his own purposes. We can take the scripture and we can misunderstand it, but sometimes it's just as plain as it's written on the page. We can give thanks to God because our salvation is completely dependent upon him, upon his choice, upon his work, upon his son, upon the gospel that he's called us to for his glory. You know what David prays when he gets discouraged? He prays, restore to me the joy of my salvation. Is that what he says? Actually, he doesn't say restore to me the joy of my salvation. What does David pray over and over and over in the Psalms? Lord, restore to me the joy of your salvation. It's his work. He does it. He does it all. He is the author of our faith. beginning to end, start to finish, alpha to omega. And that is a reason that no matter what we face, no matter the persecution, no matter the suffering, no matter the hardship, no matter the things that are happening in our life because we live in a fallen, sin, cursed world, no matter what we are wondering about eschatology and about the coming of Christ and about our purpose in the life of the church, this is what we know. We can give thanks today because we're loved by God and he's chosen to save us. So now we can all go out and tell everybody how lucky we are because God chose us and not them, right? No. If anything, the doctrines of grace must produce humility. If the doctrines of grace produce anger, pride or any of that, then you haven't understood the doctrines of grace because the doctrines of grace drive you to lay flat on the floor in the face before God and to say it's all about him. It's David again. What's man that you're mindful of him? Who am I that you would do this? For me, to me, with me, about me, because it's not about us. And Paul, in this fantastic couple of verses, he's just done that. He's taken the focus and the spotlight off of a confused and hurting church. And he's shown the spotlight back on a loving, gracious, sovereign God. And he's showing them that your hope just isn't in the promise that Christ will come. Your hope is that he's coming back for you because he chose to save you and you belong to him. This is the work he's done for his glory. The next thing he tells us in verse 15 is hold on. That's always good to hear, isn't it? Hold on. He says, therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold their traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. He says, I want you to hold on. Why is he telling the hold on? Remember how he started the first part of chapter two. I ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled. Don't be alarmed. Don't be agitated. Don't be. The word there to be shaken in mind was the picture of a boat that had lost its anchor and was adrift just at the mercy of the waves. He says, I don't want you to live like that. Now, James gives us the solution. If you don't want to live like that, then you have to ask for wisdom and you have to believe God's going to give it to you. You ask God in faith, trusting that he'll give you what you need. He's already promised that he will. And when he does, you can stand fast. You can hold on. You can be firm, not be tossed about with every wind and every wave of whatever fad or new doctrine comes blasting through the church. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold traditions which you are taught, whether by word or our epistle. When he tells them to stand fast in 1 Corinthians 16, 13, he gives this exhortation. Watch. Stand fast in the faith. Be brave. Be strong. Here's the truth. If you're going to stand up to the world, the flesh and the devil, if you're going to stand up to yourself, you have to be brave and you have to be strong. It's going to be a fight. It's going to be a war. And there are winners and there are losers. And it's not that you're going to fight and be wounded and limp along. It's that you're going to live or you're going to die by the way you fight this fight with sin. Are you in the fight to win the fight? The good news is the fight's already been won on your behalf. Now you just get to put that into practice. Live like what you are more than a conqueror. We live so defeated and I'm not talking health, wealth and prosperity and all that garbage. OK, we live like we're defeated when it comes to living in this fallen world and circumstances and bad choices and relationships and work and school and family. And we live like we're defeated. We're down. We're just we're more than conquerors. More than conquered the word in Greek, in Romans, hyper Nike's, we are super victors. How, which is Christ has already secured the victory, it's done, he's already won. So what do we have to do? He doesn't say storm the gates of hell. He doesn't say advance. All he says is hold your ground, stand fast. That can be a task at times, can't it? Do you know why we were given the spiritual armor? We did this when we went through the spiritual armor in Ephesians 6 a couple of years ago. In Ephesians 6, how many times did he tell us? And having done all, to stand. Do this so that you can stand. Do this so that you can withstand. He didn't say do this so that you can charge. Do this so that you can stand. Why are we standing? Because there are those in the world who too often we think are the enemy and actually they're looking for refuge. They're the mission. They need help. They need to be rescued. And we need to stand our ground. We need to hold the line. We need to fight the world, the flesh and the devil. And we need to give them a safe place to come. So stand, stand fast, hold the traditions, he says, and everybody rolls their eyes. Oh, great traditions. Whose traditions? Well, thankfully, Paul answers that he doesn't say church tradition, historical tradition. He tells us exactly what traditions he says. I want you to stand fast and hold traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. In other words, hold traditions that you've heard in my sermons or in this scripture, in the spoken word of the written word that you've heard from us. You know where we get our traditions, the word of God. Word of God lays for us traditions, things that we are to do, the way we're to live, the way we're to act, the way we're to speak, we're to hold those traditions, preserve those traditions. And it says, oh, you're so traditional. If you're talking about biblical traditions, that's a good thing because there is nothing new under the sun. You ever thought about that? Every new fad, every new fangled thing that comes along. It's not that we're, you know, stick in the mud fundamentalist. It's the truth is that the world has nothing to offer other than the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. That's the only three pieces of bait that Satan can throw out before us to lure our flesh into sin. This is not new. So hold the traditions, the traditions of the sermons and the scripture, Paul says, that you've been given in first Corinthians. 1437, he says, if anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. He says, these are the commandments of God that I'm giving to you. I'm expounding God's word for you. In first Thessalonians 2.13, he said, for this reason, we also thank God without ceasing, because when you receive the word of God, which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. Hold to the word of God. Hold to good preaching, to good teaching, to those who are out there. We can name them. We know them, the teachers who are out there who rightly handle and rightly divide the word of God. And again, I don't care the celebrity. I don't care the reach. I don't care the scope of ministry. I don't care if you're a huge church. I don't care if you're a little church. Here's the truth. Everybody who preaches or teaches God's word to us needs to be held up against the light of God's word. Everybody, you take what is preaching, what's taught, and you look and you see, is that what God's word says? Search it out. The Bereans did that. And we've talked about the Bereans in Acts 17. That was right after Paul left Thessalonica. He went to Berea next. And, you know, he said that they were they were honorable because they tested what an apostle of the Lord said to them. And you realize at this point in time, they hadn't even been converted yet. They were still lost men in the synagogue, and they were hearing an apostle preach. And they went back and tested it against the scripture to see if it was so. It was so. And so they believed and embraced the gospel. And the church was planted at Berea. They went and they tested what they heard against the word of God. That's what we hold on to. We give thanks because God has loved us and saved us. And we hold on to his word as it's being rightly taught and understood and put into practice in verses 16 and 17. Then he encourages us to find the right motivation in living this life in the meantime, between the first and the second coming of Christ. We need to find our source of true strength. He says here 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. Almost sounds like a benediction, doesn't it? How are we going to do this? He says, I'm going to ask that the Lord remember this. He's giving thanks. He's praying for them. He says now, may the 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. May the Lord Jesus and God, our Father, by grace. And again, he defines for it. Who is this? This is the God who loved us. This is a God who has given us everlasting consolation and the God who, by grace, has given us good hope. We've talked about hope. And so often our hopes are dashed. If your hope's dashed, it's not true hope, because true hope can't fail. We've been told that. It's in the Word. This is what God's Word says. Now abide. That means now remain. These three. Faith, hope and love. But the greatest is love. What does that mean? True hope never lets you down. If your hopes have been dashed, you weren't hoping in the truth, because hope in the truth never fails. Why? Because hope in God's Word. God's Word is sure. It's certain. It's as sure and as certain as He is. And when you're hoping in Him, you will not be disappointed. Now, you might be discouraged, you might face hardship. In fact, it's guaranteed. He's told us twice, once in first Thessalonians, once in second Thessalonians. Adversity is a guarantee in the Christian life. Again, you listen to a lot of this preaching on TV, and I really think these guys don't read their Bibles. I think they pull verses out and put them in a PowerPoint because it has certain words in it that they want to use to try to make a point, but they are not reading the Bible. We've got to hold on to the word. We've got to find the right motivation. We've got to remember that Jesus is our source of strength because he's loved us and because he's given us everlasting consolation. The thing about this, we've talked about the mercy of God. God gives us mercy that lasts forever. Psalm 136, every other line in the psalm for his mercy endures forever. Isn't that good news? Well, the really good news is he gives you a fresh dose of new mercy every morning and that dose of mercy we got this morning. It will last forever. And tomorrow morning we'll get another dose of mercy that will last forever. And I've said it before. That just tells us how much mercy we need. We get a new dose every day of everlasting mercy. Well, he tells us here he's given us everlasting consolation. Do you need to be consoled? Sometimes when we need to be consoled, God is the last place we go. We go and try to find it from other people, from friends, from co-workers, from family, from church. He's given us in Christ everlasting consolation. If you need to be consoled, he's already given you consolation forever. You won't be able to need consoling more than he can console. What are we finding out? He really is our source. He really is our all in all. It really is all about Him. We really need to be going to Him with these things. And now He has entrusted us as a body. He's given us gifts to use. How? So that we can convey that consolation to one another. So that we can care for one another. Weeping with those who weep. Rejoicing with those who rejoice. Bearing one another's burdens. He does this through the work of His body. We are the hands and feet that put this into action. But this is the truth. He has given us everlasting consolation. And by grace, He's given us good hope. A good reason to hope. He says, with this, He wants God to comfort your hearts. The word for comfort, the Greek word pericaleo, to encourage, to come alongside and to bear you up. It's the same description of the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He comes and he comforts our hearts. And he says not only may he comfort your heart, but maybe may he establish you. And the word established means to strengthen you, to render you stable so that you can stand firm, so that you can hold on. He's done this by grace so that you can be established in every good word and work. I think it's interesting that he says that he wants God to comfort, to encourage our hearts and then strengthen us in every good, good word and work, because we have to deal with the heart before we get to the words and the actions, don't we? This is true. Ephesians 429, Paul reminds us, let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification that may impart grace to the hearers. Everybody always focuses on the first part of that verse. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth. All sorts of arguments about what does it mean to not let corrupt words come out of your mouth. Let's focus on the end of that verse. We need to be saying what's good for necessary edification, because the words that we choose to use do have the power to convey the grace of God to the people who are listening. How? If we speak God's word to them, we are a conduit of God's grace. How are people saved? For by grace are you saved through faith. Where does that grace come from? It is the gospel. It is the word of God that is powerful, that's active, that's alive as we speak God's word to people. Now, the faith teachers would have us speak God's word to our problems. Don't waste time talking to your problems. Don't waste time talking to your problems. They don't need any more attention than they've already got. Speak God's word to yourself. Speak God's word to people who need to hear God's word. Why? Because God's word is promised to never return void. It will always accomplish the purposes for which God sends it forth. It is fail safe. It always works. It's a conduit of grace. And Matthew 1234, Jesus reminds us in talking to the Pharisees, he says, you brood of vipers, how can you being evil speak good things for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks? Here's why he says, I want God to comfort to encourage your heart first before you're established in every good word and work, because that word and that work originates in the heart. It's the motive that counts. That's why we need new hearts. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 15, 18. Those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. You want to do a heart check? You want to find out about your spiritual state right now? James tells us how to do it. Just try to control your tongue. Just listen to the words that are coming out of your mouth. Preached a sermon years ago out of James 3, and I told everybody before I preached it that I was going to name the most troublesome member in our church from the pulpit. Record attendance. Who is the most troublesome member? The tongue. The tongue, the things that we can say to hurt, to destroy, to discourage others. And where do those words come from? They come from the heart. So he says, I want God to comfort your hearts, to encourage your heart so that you can be established, strengthened, rendered stable in every good word and word. The word good is the word to mean giving health, making helpful something that's good, that's abundant. Your word is just that the word logos, the word speech, speech, communication and your work or your deeds. He's going to comfort us so that he can establish us so that we can be steady in what we say and in the way we work. So first, three things we've seen this morning. What do we do in the face of our eschatology? We give thanks, we hold on and we need to find the right motivation, our source of strength being Christ renewing our hearts. Then in verses one and two of chapter three, he reminds us of the need to pray. He says, finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men for not all have faith. Pray for two things. First, pray for the gospel, that it would continue to spread quickly and unhindered. And then he says, pray that the gospel would be glorified or be honored. Literally, that means pray that the gospel would be accepted. The word for honor or glorify there means that the gospel would be given its proper place. Well, where is the proper place to be accepted and obeyed as a command? That the gospel would go, that it would be unhindered and that people would hear it and that they would obey it, that they would repent and that they would believe. Pray for the gospel. Do you pray for the gospel to go out? You pray for those who are preaching the gospel, those who are taking the gospel to people who need to hear it. Preachers and evangelists and missionaries. Paul says, pray for us. Pray for us, brethren, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified just as it is with you and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men. He also says, don't just pray for the gospel, pray for us, pray that we would be delivered. The word unreasonable means somebody who is out of line. It's an impropriety, somebody who's doing something they ought not to do. He said there are people around us. Remember, where is he writing from? He's in Corinth. And as he's writing, he's saying, pray for us that we would be delivered from these morons. He doesn't use the word moron, but that's the thought. These unreasonable and wicked men, they are improper. They're out of their minds. They're doing all that they do because they're wicked. The root word for wicked or for evil is those who seek to cause harm. He said they're seeking to harm us and harm the gospel and harm the church and harm you. So pray for us that we would be delivered. He says, by the way, in case you didn't know it, because not all have the faith. They may claim to, but they're evidencing that they don't. And Isaiah 25 for. The Lord says, for you have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, from the blast of the terrible ones. For the blast of the terrible ones is a storm against the wall. There are those who will bring a storm to bear in our life. They will be unreasonable. They will be wicked. What do we do for them? Well, of course, that's the enemy. So we identify them and we attack them. No, if somebody is acting that way toward us, what is that a reminder of? They're the mission. They're not the enemy. We don't wrestle against flesh and blood. They're not the enemy, no matter what they do to us. They're not the enemy. They're the enemy in the sense that Jesus says, love your enemies, love those who would treat you as a foe, love them, bless them, minister them, give them water if they're thirsty and clothes if they need clothing, sacrifice do without. And you understand he's not just saying. One church member to another. I know a church member has a need you do without so you can meet their need. No, he says these are enemies. These are enemies of the gospel and of God. You see them and you see them doing that way. You bless them, you give them, you sacrifice for them. Why? Because that's exactly what God did for us. He loved his enemies enough to send his son to die for us. We're to follow his example. So pray for the gospel and pray for us to be delivered. In Acts 18, he talks about these wicked men and what they were doing that he needed to be delivered from specifically at Corinth. He says, the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision. Do not be afraid, but speak and do not keep silent for I am with you and no one will attack you to hurt you. For I have many people in this city. And he continued there a year and six months teaching the word of God among them. When Galileo was pro council of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat, saying this fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law. And when Paul was about to open his mouth, Galileo said to the Jews, If it were a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes of Jews, there would be reason why I should hear you, should bear with you. But if it's a question of words and names in your own law, look to it yourselves, for I do not want to be a judge of such matters. And he drove them from the judgment seat. Then all the Greeks took Sophonis, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. But Gallio took no notice of these things. People were being taken out from the streets, falsely accused. And when those who were in charge wouldn't do anything about it, they were taking and beating them and imprisoning them and giving them stripes. All of these things were happening, and what is Paul asking the church back at Thessalonica? He says, I know you're suffering persecution. I know you're suffering affliction. And I want you now to pray for us that we would be delivered for people who are doing the same thing to us here where we are. It's no different. It doesn't matter where you go. It doesn't matter where you go. The world hates Christ. They abhor the gospel. They will fight. They will persecute. They will reject. The good news is we have the freedom to preach the gospel no matter how they treat us. You know, the only way that's really good news is that just means if we lived in a country where it wasn't free, it just means we would have to pay a price if we preach the gospel. Here, we don't have a price to pay other than allowing our pride to be hurt. And that's really not a price to pay, is it? Because it's all for the glory of Christ anyway. We do it for him. We do it to him. So he says, pray for the gospel and pray for us, because not all have faith. Now, with a play on words, he finishes this paragraph in verses three through five in the Greek. The last word in verse two is the word pistis, which is the word translated faith. They've put a conjunction in, in the English translations, and they say in verse 3, but the Lord is faithful. Here's the way Paul does this, and he writes this from verse 2 to verse 3 with no pause and no punctuation, and the word goes pistis pistos. What does that mean? Faith, faithful. What's he saying? Not all men have the faith. Faithful is the Lord. Men are going to fail us. Not all men have the faith. Not all men will persevere. Not all men will do what they're supposed to do. Not all men are going to love and embrace the truth. But no matter who you face out there that doesn't have the faith, faithful is God. See, too often what we fall for is this idea that we so need one another in the church That if the church fails us, if people fail us, if people don't minister to us in our time of need, we get all offended. We get hurt. We get angry at them. We blame them. And we tell God that there's nobody to help us. People will fail us, even the most faithful people at times will fail us. That is a reality of living in this fallen world. But here is the unalterable truth of things. God is always faithful. He's always faithful. He'll never leave us, forsake us, and he can't fail us. He won't fail us. Not all have the faith. Faithful is God. And here's what Paul says in verses three through five. He says you need to trust the Lord. He says, but the Lord is faithful who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you. Now, may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ. He says the Lord is faithful. He will establish you. God is the one who's going to strengthen us in his faithfulness. He will give us the strength that we need for the task at hand. As we look at this. In Romans, one eleven, Paul writes, for I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gifts so that you may be established. Spiritual gifts are one of the things that God gives the church so that we can help establish and strengthen one another. First Thessalonians 3, 13, back in first Thessalonians, he said so that he may establish your hearts blameless and holiness before our God and father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. He's going to establish us. James 5, 8 reminds us, you also be patient, establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand. There's the theme again. Christ is coming back. Stand your ground, stand firm, be strengthened. You've not been abandoned. He is coming back. And in first Peter 510, Peter says, but may the God of all grace who called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you. God will do this. We've heard before that God will not put on you more than you can bear. Let's announce what that is. That is a lie. God will always put on you more than you can bear on your own. But he will never put on you more than he can bear with you, through you and for you. There are things that we will face that we cannot bear in this world, but he can. He does and he will, because it's not about our strength. You see, we get this all backwards. We think that God is impressed when we demonstrate our strength. No, if God were ever to be impressed with us, it's when he can show his strength in our weakness. It's when we can't that he does. He will. He can. Nothing's impossible for him except to lie. He's not going to sin, but nothing's impossible. Whatever we face, he'll get us through it. Remembering the whole time that it's not about getting through it. It's about walking with him, depending upon him and humility in whatever circumstance we're in, wherever we are, whatever we're doing. It's for the sake of the gospel so that we can declare things that glorify him. So he's going to establish us because he's faithful. Also, because he's faithful, he says he's going to guard you from the evil one. Now, what good news is this? What did he just tell us earlier in chapter two? Before Christ comes, the man of sin, the man of lawlessness is going to be revealed. A man inspired by Satan and given power by Satan himself is going to come to power and is going to revolt and lead a rebellion the world over against Christ and the truth of the gospel. And this is what Paul says, closing out this thought. God is faithful. He's going to establish you. He's going to guard you from the evil one. He'll guard us. He's watching over us. In John 17, 15, he's already prayed. He says, I do not pray that you should take them out of the world. but that you should keep them from the evil one. See, so often we think that the answer would be if we could just go be with Jesus, it would all be better. Would it all be better? Absolutely. But if God wants us here, it's as good as it's going to get because we're where he wants us. So what do we have to trust? He'll keep us from the evil one. Luke 11, this is how he taught us how to pray when he's teaching the disciples how to pray. He said, pray like this, forgive us our sins as we forgive everyone who is indebted to us and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Deliver us from the evil one. And this is what Paul says. Trust the Lord. He's faithful. He will establish you. He will guard you from the evil one. Not only that, he goes on and the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and will guard you from the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you both that you do and will do the things we command you. He says, because God's faithful, he's going to motivate you to be obedient. Now, where is Paul's confidence here? He says, we have confidence in your ability to be obedient to the word of God, as we have rightly explained it to you. Is that what he says? We have confidence that you can hear, grasp, understand and put into practice God's word as it's known. He says my confidence is in the Lord concerning you. Why? Because who is ultimately responsible for what we do? He gives us the ability, he gives us the power, he gives us the desire. You understand everything about everything that we do that's right comes from him. So Paul's confidence is not in their ability to hear, understand and put into practice the word he's preaching to them. His confidence is in the Lord. My confidence is in the Lord concerning you. That's that's why Paul wrote, I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep what I've committed to him against that day. He's able to keep what I've committed. You ever committed things and you know when you committed that you're not going to be able to keep that commitment. God can. God will. He'll keep. What we commit, he will motivate us to be obedient. He says my confidence is in God, both that you do and will do the things we command you. Oh, this is to me, it almost sounds threatening because I know the disobedience of my own heart. He's I'm confident in God that you're going to obey. What can you say to that? Sure, Paul, OK, we'll obey your confidences in the Lord. But what is the truth? The truth is we wrote Philippians two thirteen. It is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure. He gives us the will, the desire and the power, the ability to do what is pleasing to him. This is what he's given to us by the spirit through Christ. He motivates our obedience. And then he closes with this phrase. He says. Now, may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ. The word for direct is a word that means to pilot a boat through rough seas. He says he's going to pilot your heart. I love that word picture, because too often when we face hardship and difficulty and despair and discouragement and suffering and persecution, what do we do? We ask God to help us. Paul didn't use the word help here. He used the word pilot. He said, God's not going to help. God's going to drive. He's not the copilot. He's not the navigator. He's not going to tell you how to get through. He's not going to tell you where to go. He's going to take you through it. How? David covered that in Psalm 23. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me, your rod and staff, they comfort me. Rod and staff, the staff to guide and to protect the rod to discipline. It is through his leading and his chastening of us that he pilots our heart. You see, we don't need God to help us do anything. We just need God to do it. Just do it, pilot us. Drive us through this. Take us where you want us to go. Now, may God comfort your hearts. May he establish you. May he direct your hearts in the love of God and into the patience of Christ. And this actually is a quote that Paul lifts from the Old Testament in the Septuagint, in the rendering of First Chronicles 29. David prays a prayer as he's gathered everything together for Solomon to build the temple. And he says, Oh, Lord, our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build you a house for your holy name is from your hand. And it's all your own. I know also, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me and the uprightness of my heart, I have willingly offered all these things. And now with joy, I have seen your people who are present here to offer willingly to you. Oh, Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the intent of the thoughts of the heart of your people and fix their heart toward you. Give my son Solomon a loyal heart to keep your commandments and your testimonies and your statutes to do all these things and to build a temple for which I have made provision. He says everything we've got, we've come to glorify and honor you with everything we're bringing to you. It's yours already. What is he concerned about? He's not concerned about the stuff he says, God, help us do this with the right heart. Help us do it with uprightness and heart to honor this willingly. And then he says, oh, Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the intent of the thoughts of the heart of your people and fix their heart toward you. Do you pray that for your children? That God would give them the intent of their heart, not give them what they want. We all know that Psalm 37 for delight yourself also in the law, Lord, and he'll give you the desire of your heart. Great. I'll read God's word. He'll give me whatever I want. No, you delight yourself in his law and by his law, he changes your heart. He renews your heart and he gives you the very desires that emanate from your heart. Do you pray this for your children like David did for Solomon? Give him a loyal heart, intent on pleasing you. Give him a heart. Don't help him. Don't encourage him. Don't motivate him. Give him the heart that he needs in his motives to be pleasing and loyal to you. This is what Paul is talking about. Now may the Lord direct your hearts. May He give you the intent that you need. And where is he wanting the heart to be directed? The two things to close, he says, I want you to direct their hearts into God's love and into Christ perseverance, direct them into God's love. He ends where he started this very thought. We are beloved by God. We can take great comfort in that. First, John three, one through three. John reminds us, behold, what a manner of love the father has bestowed on us that we should be called the children of God. Now, there's an exclamation point there. Do you understand that's an exclamation? Look at this. Behold, what a manner of love the Father has bestowed. Somebody should write a song. Behold, what a manner of love the Father has bestowed on us. that we should be called children of God. Therefore, the world does not know us because it did not know him. Beloved, now we are children of God. It is not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him or we shall see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure. Do you know what a right understanding the love of God motivates in our lives? Holiness. Now, that's backwards from the way the world does it. Because the world tells you that God is love and by that they mean God loves everybody equally. No, he doesn't. And when you tell people that God loves everybody equally, here's the myth. God loves you. So it's OK. But it's going to heaven. He doesn't care. You're good outweighs your bad. You can do whatever you want because God, after all, is God of love. And when it comes right down to it, he can't stare you in the face and send you to hell. Excuse me, when you understand the love of God for us, that love of God motivates holiness, not sinfulness. When you really know what it means that God loved us, it motivates the desire to be pleasing to him in every area and aspect of our lives. So may God direct us into God's love because it is being directed into God's love that we are motivated to walk in holiness. And he says, may God direct your hearts into the patience of Christ. Another way to translate that into Christ's perseverance. What did Christ persevere? Hebrews 12, one through three tells us, therefore, we also. Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight in the sandwich so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance. The race that is set before us, looking into Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him who endured such hostility from centers against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You want to find encouragement for what you face, whether you're being persecuted, whether you're suffering affliction, whether you're just suffering because we live in a fallen world, then look at what Christ had to endure in order to seek us and to save us. What did he endure? The cross. For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross. He despised the shame. How often do we go crying to God about something that we're ashamed of, something that we're hurt about? Somebody hurts our feelings. They attack us personally. They don't like us. What do we do? We go to God and we cry about it. Paul says in that case, you need to be directed into the perseverance of Christ. He did what he did for the joy that was set before him. Affliction is a purpose, a means for rejoicing, right? Isn't that where James started? My brethren counted all joy when you fall into various trials. Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, whatever happens, rejoice. Why? Because God's already written the story. He's already decreed what's going to happen. He's already promised it's for our good. It's going to glorify and exalt him. And in the end of the day, at the end of the day, at the end of the age, that's what matters. It glorifies him. Does it hurt? Yes. Is it miserable? Yes. Do we love living in a sinful, fallen world? No. But God has us here. He wants us here. He's using us here. It's for the glory of Christ. So we need to persevere a little. If Christ can persevere and endure what he endured for us, consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. We have no reason to be discouraged in what we do. He goes on there in Hebrews 12 to say this. You've not yet resisted the bloodshed. Here's the point. You really don't have a right to complain about it until they've killed you for it. And at that point, are you really going to complain? The worst they could do to us is send us to be with Jesus. What a threat! It's all for Him. It's all for His glory. It's all going to work out for good. And you understand that to close in Romans 8. When He says, all things work together for good, do you understand the whole context of that paragraph is God has known you, He's predestined you, He's adopted you, He's justified you, He's going to glorify you. You can't ever be separated from His love. And all of it points to that. The truth is, we can't be separated from his love. And because we have the promise of glorification past tense already done, it's over. He's finished it when he said from the cross, it's finished. He meant it. It's finished. Our salvation is secure because of that. The worst that this world can do to us is send us to be reunited with him. How is that not good? How is it not good? This is what we need to do if we're discouraged, if we're suffering, if we're persecuted, take hope in election. Give thanks because we're loved of God. Hold on to the traditions given to us from the word of God. Find your source of strength, the right motivation in Christ through the spirit by his word so that we can be established in every good word and work. Pray for the gospel and pray for deliverance from unreasonable and wicked men. And whatever we do, we know that men do not all have the faith, but faithful is the Lord. He will establish you. He will guard you from the evil one. He will motivate you to obedience and he will pilot your hearts into God's love and Christ perseverance. If that's true, what do we have to fear this week? If God's for us, who can be against us? Let's pray together. Father, we do thank you for your word this morning. So much here for us and even so much that we don't have time to cover. So much that we need to hear and be reminded of as we in the midst of living in a fallen world, so often our attention is driven and set and focused firmly on self. Father, take our eyes off of ourself this morning and help us see your love embodied in the person of Jesus Christ who came and who gave himself for us, who endured the cross, who despised the shame. So that we will not be weary or discouraged in what we face. We thank you that we can have hope in your decrees, we thank you that we have security in the salvation that you have accomplished for us through the life, the death, the resurrection of your son. We thank you for demonstrating your love for us, for continuing to love us, to give us mercy, to give us everlasting consolation, to establish us, to guard us, to do all of these things that we need so desperately day to day. Father, thank you for doing these things for your glory. Help us to glorify you in this week to come. Whatever the trial, whatever the struggle, whatever the persecution, whatever the temptation. Help us to hold fast, to stand firm and to do everything that we do with the motive of glorifying you. direct our hearts, pilot us, drive us where we need to go. Motivate us to obedience for your glory alone, we pray these things this morning in Jesus name. Amen.