3rd
Sunday in the END TIMES
Rev. Norman F. Seeger
2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:5
13
But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord,
because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying
work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our
gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and
hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by
letter.
16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
Finally,
brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be
honored, just as it was with you. 2
And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not
everyone has faith. 3 But the
Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 4 We have confidence in the Lord that
you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts into
God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.
2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:5
"STAND
FIRM IN THE FACE OF ANTICHRIST’S ATTACKS”
1. Rejoice
in God’s Gift of Salvation
2. Apply
Our Lord’s Promises in Our Life
3.
Pray Gospel Preaching Will Save Other Souls
Dear chosen children of God,
Reading John’s
Revelation previewing our New Testament times, we realize being a Christian
will not necessarily be a walk in the park but is apt to involve opposition or
even persecution. Paul also understood
evil enemies will continue to attack Jesus’ disciples as long as we live in this
world. In fact -- inspired by the Holy
Spirit – Paul warns these Thessalonian believers a great Antichrist will appear
before Jesus returns, a “man of lawlessness who opposes & exalts
himself over everything that is called God … a man who sets himself up in God’s
temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” Basically decreeing, ‘People must acknowledge
my supremacy to be saved,’ Antichrist will lead souls away from Jesus as he
denies Peter’s assertion, “Salvation is found in no one other than
Jesus of Nazareth, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by
which we must be saved.”[AC 4]
Antichristian
forces of all sorts still tempt us to trust in ‘my’ life rather than rely upon
Jesus’ righteousness to make me acceptable in God’s sight – tempt us to doubt
Jesus’ death actually absorbs all my guilt & erases my sins’ temporal &
eternal punishment. Antichristian voices
urge us to accept every imaginable god, as if all modern religions merely offer
alternate routes into heaven. Attacked by
supposedly enlightened souls trying to turn us away from our apparently foolish
faith, Paul encourages Christians to “Stand firm” in the face of
Antichrist’s attacks -- to “Hold to the teachings” Paul & other
apostles passed on to us as “the Lord Jesus Christ himself & God our
Father … encourages & strengthens us in every good deed & word.”
Urging us to “stand
firm” today & tomorrow, Paul first points us to the past, encouraging
us to rejoice in God’s gift of salvation because, “Brothers, loved by the Lord,
from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of
the Spirit & belief in the truth.” Incredibly;
graciously God decided he would save you & save me before he ever created
us. True… “God chose us in Christ before
the creation of the world, chose us to be holy & blameless in his sight. In love, God predestined us to be
adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure &
will.”[EPH 1] Not my life – neither my actions nor my
attitude – not ‘my’ life but our Lord’s undeserved love – love which does not disappear,
no matter how often or how many antichristian attacks I face in our world – our
Lord’s undeserved love moved God to “save us & call us to a holy life — not
because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose & grace -- grace
given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.”[2 TIM 1]
Before time began,
we know for a fact God chose to save us because the Holy Spirit sanctifies us
-- sets us apart from the world to live with God, to live like Christ. Sanctifying us, the Holy Spirit leads us to
believe God’s truth, to believe the gospel Paul preaches. Not everybody believes. “Not everyone has faith,” Paul points
out. In fact, souls who refuse to
believe the good news that Jesus’ perfect life is counted as our righteousness
while Jesus’ innocent death is accepted by God as full payment for our sins –
souls who refuse to believe the gospel truth Paul preaches in Thessalonica push
Paul out of their city. But faithful
souls receiving this letter believe in Jesus our Savior because “God
lovingly chose them to be saved…from the beginning… through the sanctifying
work of the Spirit…through belief in the truth.”
Our faith is obviously
not an accident. My salvation is not a
stroke of luck, as if I won a spiritual lottery. Blake Maas is not being baptized today because
he was fortunate enough to be born to a believing father & mother who would
bring him to the Lord to have his sins washed away as their son receives the
gift of the Holy Spirit. Blake is being
baptized, Blake is being saved as the Spirit creates faith connecting him to
the crucified but risen Jesus Christ in this sacrament because “God
chose Blake to be saved…from the beginning.” What about you? Were you also baptized as a baby? Did faithful parents teach you about Jesus
while you were growing up in their home?
Did I first hear about Jesus when a friend invited me to their Christmas
service? Did a college roommate or maybe
a co-worker talk to me about our Savior?
Whatever particular circumstances surround faith’s entrance into my
life, my faith -- my believing in Jesus -- is not an accident but is God’s eternal
intent.
Recalling the way
God intentionally led us to believe Jesus’ gospel truth – whoever or whatever
might be trying to tear me away from Christ today – Paul urges us to “stand
firm.” Ordering &
encouraging Christians to “hold to the teachings the apostles passed
on to us,” Paul is not telling me to store my Bible in some safe
deposit box where no one will be able to touch or twist God’s truth. Paul rather urges me to actively apply our
Lord’s promises in my life. If I will
use God’s Word, I will not lose our Lord’s truth. Conversely, if I do not use the Scriptures in
my daily life, Jesus’ saving truth will slowly slip out of my head & slide
from my heart.
Because wicked
& evil men will, without a doubt, continue attacking Christians until
Christ comes again -- “for not everyone has faith” – believers’
opportunities to apply the Lord’s plans & promises in my life will be plentiful.
Day by day, word by word, step by step
-- as our Lord’s inspired Word unrolls God’s expectations for our actions – the
Holy Spirit powers saints to practice what his apostles preach. Encouraging us to “hold to the teachings spoken or
written to us by the apostles,” Paul assures us saints, “Our
Lord Jesus Christ himself & God our Father, who loved us, will encourage your hearts & will strengthen
you in every good deed & word.” Paul
also reassures us, “the Lord will strengthen & protect us from the evil one.” Paul confidently prays, “May the Lord direct your hearts
into God’s love & into Christ’s perseverance.”
Providing protection
against every evil -- producing perseverance as I imitate Christ -- as saints apply
our Lord’s promises in life, Paul declares without a doubt, “God
who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of
Christ Jesus.”[PHIL 1] As I regularly read & study Scripture to
learn & re-learn our Lord’s truths, the Holy Spirit who first leads us to
trust our Savior Jesus moves me to faithfully follow the Lord Jesus in my
life. Studying God’s gospel truth, I
become more certain of salvation, focused on Jesus’ full & free
forgiveness. Studying our Lord’s law, I
learn to live my life for Christ who overpowers every evil trying to destroy my
soul today by first tempting me to sin & tempting me to doubt or distrust
God’s saving grace.
Bible study is doubt’s
antidote, of course. Reading Scripture
eradicates unbelief. So, properly
applying God’s gospel promises is Paul’s instruction as he tells us to “hold
to the apostles’ teaching” -- hold God’s eternal life-giving,
life-guiding truth in our heads & in our hearts. As we are openly opposed by evil or face some
more subtle antichristian attack, it is not only frustrating for a pastor but
can be fatal for a believer to excuse their absence from Bible study by saying they
do not understand Jesus’ parables or Revelation’s pictures when they read God’s
Word, so they simply stop reading rather than come to listen & learn as we open
God’s truth together. When some saints
say I am ‘too old’ for Bible study, as if anyone could already know all of
God’s truth – when younger souls stay away from Bible study because my children
might disturb somebody, as if parents do not need God’s strength & guidance
– when people avoid Bible study because they have not participated in the past,
as if good habits cannot begin at any age, it is not only frustrating, but can
become fatal. When we stop studying
Scripture, we may hear saints casually speaking antichristian excuses offered
by abortion proponents as if they are true – we hear a Christian excuse rather
than confess their sin by explaining how they are apparently repeating behavior
patterns set by parents & grandparents, as if yesterday’s mistakes could excuse
today’s sins. When we stop studying the
Bible, we stop applying our Lord’s plans & promises in our life, exposing
ourselves to evil’s attacks.
“Stand firm in
God’s gospel truth!” Paul urgently orders us disciples. “Hold to the teachings passed on by Jesus’
apostles, studying Scripture & applying the Lord’s instructions in our
life!” “Pray,” Paul adds, “Pray
for us … Pray the message of the Lord may spread rapidly & behonored, just
as it was with you.” Pray God’s
gospel preaching will save other souls.
Pray the Holy Spirit will use the good news about Jesus redeeming everybody
by living his holy life as our perfectly righteous replacement before
innocently dying as the one acceptable sacrifice for our sins – pray the Spirit
uses God’s good news to create faith in other hearts as the Spirit first
created saving faith in our heart.
Because “not
everyone has faith” today, yet “God our Father wants all to be saved &
come to a knowledge of his truth,”[1
TIM 2] these Thessalonians are asked to pray Paul will be kept free to keep
preaching Christ crucified. “Pray
for us,” Paul asks in other letters, “Pray that God opens a door for
our message so we may proclaim the mystery of Christ…Pray I may proclaim it
clearly, as I should.”[
Looking into the
future, as we focus on using God’s gospel truth to call more of our friends
& neighbors to faith, what opposition will appear? What evils will we face when Pastor Werre
arrives? I know no details, but I expect
evil people & powers will in some way oppose our plans to share the gospel
with more souls more often. When we
emphasize outreach, as well as stress education, Satan will certainly oppose
our efforts, but Paul would remind us “our faithful Lord will not only strengthen
& protect us from the evil one,” “our loving Lord Jesus & God our
faithful Father will also encourage our hearts & will strengthen us in
every good deed & word.” So,
in the face of every evil, antichristian attack, “Stand firm! Hold onto God’s truth! Pray! Pray we will be able to tell other souls the
good news about Jesus our Savior – to tell other individuals Jesus’ gracious gospel
truths the Holy Spirit uses to sanctify children he has chosen to believe in
the Lord Jesus & be saved.
Amen.