Thessalonians and we'll complete that chapter beginning if we may to read tonight at verse thirteen after the beloved Apostle Paul had corrected the doctrinal trouble at Thessalonica relative to the day of the Lord and the judgments that had come upon the world and made it very clear and evident that the believers in the church will not go through the Great Tribulation. Then he begins words of encouragement and exhortation and admonition for those believers in Thessalonica to which you and I can certainly find and for which you and I can find help for even us today. But let me begin reading at verse thirteen which is the separation of that doctrinal section we had the preceding week. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which he had been taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, even our Father, which has loved us and has given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace comfort or encourage your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. May God bless the reading of this section of his precious word. Let me once again re-emphasize how precious to recognize the beloved Apostle Paul had undoubtedly comforted them and assured them from the teaching which he gave In the preceding portion of chapter two, they would never go through that period of the world's most tragic history, the Great Tribulation. May I re-emphasize, because we need it in our minds and hearts, to be emphasized upon our consciences and our souls today? The world is to faith and will faith and experience a period of trouble that will never have been equal in all of his history. Please may I say it again. The world has gone through a lot of trouble. Empires have come and gone. Battles and campaigns have been fought. Wars have been experienced. Sorrow and suffering. And much has been experienced throughout the annals of human history. But there is one experience to come which will be unequaled in all the past, history, and even future in the world's experience. And beloved, of course, in relations of that period called the Day of the Lord, let us remember it is to be a time of judgment. It is to begin with great judgment, as we know from the Word of God in many places. both in the Old as well as in the New Testament. But what assurance again, I say, the Word of God gives to the believer in the body of Christ, that blessed bride of the church, the saints of God of this particular period in the age of the Holy Spirit and the church's history, that the church will not be on the earth during the Greek tribulation. read Revelation chapter four and five and you'll find where it will be enjoying the glories of heaven when they have heard and we shall hear what John wrote in chapter four of that book I heard a voice saying come up hither so typical and expressive of the rapture of the church John does not teach the rapture of the church He had no need to. It was well known in his day. He touches upon the events that follow particularly. But he does suggest we will be called up hither and we will be. And if you want to know what you'll be like in heaven when you get there, read Revelation four and five. But then the dear apostle, and may I emphasize, what joy to recognize. He was more concerned. not merely about the unsound doctrine they had been taught and had been taught. He was concerned about their own spiritual condition and the condition of the Thessalonian testimony. That was more important. And may I say that to my own heart and to your heart, my fellow believer, it's a precious thing to know what the future holds. But it's a more responsible thing to be sure that you're living the way you should do before that future comes. And the condition of the church and the condition of the Thessalonians Paul was concerned and concerned about. He showed that in chapter one. Now he shows it again after revealing the truth regarding the day of the Lord. And we find in telling them first of all, if you may note, for he brings words of thanksgiving in verse thirteen and fourteen. Are we about to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord? Because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation, proofs out through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Now please, may we please notice how precious he addresses them. Brethren, beloved of the Lord, we give thanks to God for you. And here's the heart and the heart of the fellow missionaries with him. We're thankful for what God had done. Please let us not forget, as you go back to the book of the Acts, chapter seventeen particularly, the ministry of the Apostle Paul and his companions was a very short one in the city of Thessalonica but in the space of three particular Lord's days God raised up a testimony which the Apostle here acknowledges and did acknowledge before in the preceding letter and with joy to know the Spirit of God had worked and brought many souls to the Savior and he said we give thanks to God for you and he calls them so precious the beloved brethren beloved of the Lord and then he adds we're so glad we know that God has chosen you from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth or the joy of knowing not only does it suggest in my humble opinion that even before time began we know that in the election of God and the determined will of God preceding the foundation of the world he determined to have children even before the beginning of the world but then on the other hand thank God when they believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ that was their beginning in relation to God and his precious truth and it would have been accomplished by the work of the Holy Spirit who had set them apart and how it had been done, he declared, by belief of the truth. Note the coordination. God and indeed from the beginning wanted them. Then the Spirit of God had worked. And then the truth that had been preached had been believed. And then note in verse fourteen, Paul particularly tells them how they got the truth. Paul particularly tells them how the message came to them. Whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Please may I recognize with you the joy of knowing They were set apart by the Holy Spirit when they believed upon the Lord Jesus. It was their salvation. And then further still, it was to the joy of obtaining someday the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am sure you may remember in chapter one of this same epistle. He describes some of that glory when the Lord Jesus shall come from heaven with all of his holy angels. to take vengeance upon them that know not God and have not obeyed the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he mentions in that chapter, you'll be with him in that glory, and the glory will be going on forever and ever. And you obtained it when he called you by our gospel. You obtained that glory. My beloved look, what an amazing thing when you and I, I enjoy that old hymn tonight, And the joy of singing, I do believe, I now believe, that Jesus died for me, that on the cross they shed his blood for sin to set me free. I never realized that moment I did that, on that occasion, I came to the Lord Jesus. I was going to have eternal glory. Thank God. Paul has well placed it. It's the gospel of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And my beloved, to believe upon the Lord Jesus will bring you into eternal glory. Makes you wonder why folks don't want to get saved, doesn't it? Oh, the sad fact. The world is so occupied with what down here? They've got no thoughts or even desire for eternal glory. My beloved Lord, through that gospel, when you and I believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, it was a step to eternal glory. For me, I say very definitely, and I love to tell it, salvation is a work that is done entirely by God. whereby he saves a poor, lost, guilty, how deserving, but believing sinner from the penalty of his and her sins, and bestows upon them eternal life. Now, with the assurance he's going to bring us to eternal glory. Oh, my beloved, what a gospel. Oh, may God bless us as we pray tonight. the labors of our fellow believers and our fellow servants of God wherever they are, preaching the gospel. It's the gospel of the glory of our Lord. And he brings sinners from the depths of sin and from eternal hell and lifts them to eternal glory. Oh, the joy of knowing it. And Paul says, but look, we've got to thank God for you, saints. at Thessalonica, only young converts, but oh, you obtain the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now he gives them an admonition, an exhortation. Therefore, for this reason, brethren, stand fast. Stand fast. Don't give way. Oh, how we get the exhortation in Second Timothy, as Paul wrote to say to Timothy long ago, hold fast that which thou hast been taught stand fast my beloved may I say and this is what the apostle exhorting and properly exhorting look why did he exhort them to stand fast when you go back in the early part of the chapter they were shaking somebody had given them false teaching that made them shake and unstable them in their thinking and in their testimony. No, says Paul, stand fast. Hold it. Oh, well did the wise man write properly? Buy the truth. Sell it not. For you know the devil's always ready to bid for it. And my beloved believer, let me say this in these days particularly, we need to stand fast. Nobody adds hold the traditions which he had been taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now we must be careful to understand this verse properly. When the apostle wrote this epistle, there was no written scriptures containing our New Testament, not one. I believe the epistle to the Thessalonians was one of the first, if not the first. But they had been taught by word of mouth, by the apostles before the writing of the New Testament ever took place. And Paul doesn't mean the tradition of men, as we well know the Lord Jesus when he was here upon the earth. He condemned greatly the tradition of the Pharisees who changed the word of God and insisted upon their own traditions being taught and their interpretations instead of the word of God. But here the Apostle Paul means what you have heard, what you have been taught, the traditions which you have been taught by the word of mouth. And not only that, whether by word or even by our epistle that we've written. Oh, beloved, there's no question when you look at the early church, they didn't have the written epistles. But by the Spirit of God, We know those New Testament apostles and prophets gave out the Word of God led by the Spirit and prompted by the Spirit and taught. And Paul is exhorting them. Stand fast. Don't give up the truth whether you've been taught it orally or even read it in some of our epistles to you. And then he closes with a benediction. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself. How precious. Please let me say this. I don't know how long they'd been saved. Not too long. The dear apostle was only there as a short time as we well know. He had to leave. He wrote his first epistle. Even after he left from Corinth. And then he writes the second epistle undoubtedly from Corinth. When he gets the word back from Corinth. his companions regarding the condition of the Thessalonians but there's one thing then he knows our Lord Jesus Christ himself beloved may I say this one of the greatest truth I would see it is the greatest truth in the word of God from beginning to the end the doctrine of the person of Christ and here the apostle uses the language the Lord him, Lord Jesus Christ himself. Beloved, he could not speak of a greater person. And not only that, he goes on to say, And God, even our Father. You remember the words of John in his epistle, first epistle of John chapter one? Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son. And my beloved, may I suggest to you, far greater, though precious is the fellowship of saints, far greater is the truth that you and I, individually and collectively, should be enjoying fellowship with the Father and with his Son. And here the dear beloved apostle writes in his conclusion of this chapter and his exhortation to saints. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, even our Father. Or may I stop again? I love to think of him as our Lord Jesus Christ. It's his complete name. Lord Jesus Christ. The whole glory of his deity and the glory of his humanity and the glory of his messiahship. is involved in the title, Lord Jesus Christ. But then he says, even God our Father, and oh the beloved joy of knowing, I can call God my Father. And thus you can see from the two greatest persons in the universe to whom the Apostle says you've been brought, our Lord Jesus Christ, And even God our Father, he goes on to say, Who hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and word. Can I pause for just a few moments in meditation over these words? Oh, it is an exhortation. It is a prayer, really, a benediction and a description of praise, but a prayer for the best thing to happen to the saints of God of Thessalonica, that the Lord Jesus Christ himself, God, even our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your heart. and establish you in every good word and word. Now may I refer to the fact, you go to the early part of the chapter, their hearts were troubled, their hearts were in unrest, their hearts were in despair, thinking they were in the day of the Lord, the Great Tribulation. Now he says, look, the Lord Jesus himself, the Father God, the Father himself, the one who has given us great everlasting consolation and good hope through grace give the word everlasting please everlasting consolation we love that word we should love it for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should have what everlasting not perish but have everlasting life we love that word everlasting I think of the words of Jeremiah I think he wrote when God said, I've loved thee with an everlasting love to Israel. And here you have an everlasting consolation. And you've got good hope. Let me tell you this, my beloved. The best persons that can cheer you up is God the Father and God the Son. They can do more for you than the preacher could ever do for you. And beloved, please let me say, go to the top. Go to the ones. who are the head of all things, the Father and the Son, and to whose fellowship you've been brought, by His good grace and given you everlasting consolation. And then, as the Apostle exhorts, not only to comfort your hearts, but to establish you in all that you're doing, in all that you're saying. You know, the only testimony that you and I can give to the world is what we have heard and what we have seen. What we have heard and what we have seen. Remember John in his epistle? First epistle says, That which we have heard and that which we have seen declare we unto you. And is the apostle saying in his prayer, he says, I pray that the Lord will help you to do everything you can in all the good work you can do and in all the good words that you can say. I think in the Greek text it's reversed in the Greek text that he may comfort your heart and establish you in every good work and then word. And one suggestion you may get from that is this. The word comes before your words in importance. What you do as John wrote in his epistles President, love not in words, but in deed. For it's the deeds that make sure that your words are worth listening to. And so it's what you are and doing your testimony. Bring your good works that will give power and emphasis to your words. And that's the prayer of the dear apostle for the saints here at the close of this chapter. And one can well recognize one encouragement. But then let's go on. Let me read from verse one and down through verse five of chapter three. Finally, brethren, the Apostle writes, and our precious to see these words, the beloved Apostle Paul saying, Pray for us. Pray for us. Here is the great apostle of Christianity. asking the prayer of these new converts. Brethren, pray for us. Oh, what a blessed token of his humility. Acknowledging the need of prayer from the saints of God, no matter how young they were. Pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified even as it is with you. I'm sure this is a prayer, as I think of the prayers that we've given tonight, praying for on the behalf of God's servants elsewhere. This is a prayer that we can recognize is so suitable, praying for the blessing of the Word of the Lord, that it may have free cause and be glorified, even as it is with you. And my beloved, what a joy it is. Whenever the word of God goes forth, you and I can add our prayers to it, that that word may have its free message and be glorified even as it is with you. May I be reminded with you of Isaiah fifty-five, ten and eleven, where undoubtedly many of you may know, God gives the promise as the rain cometh down from heaven and blesses the earth, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth I remember hearing a good old servant of God now with the Lord many years and I think it was in this state of South Carolina I heard him say it as he was ministering the word of God never will I forget his statement are there any young preachers in the audience tonight let me remind you when you preach you put in your message as much as you can of the word of God For God has not promised to bless what you say, but He has promised to bless what He says. How true. And this is what Paul prays for. For the blessing of the Word of God, the Word of the Lord, in its free ministry, and let it be glorified as it had with the Thessalonians. Would the Thessalonians turn to the Lord? They turn from idols to serve the living and true God. and to look for his son from heaven, even Jesus, our deliverer from the coming wrath. As it happens, the Lord had blessed the word to them. And then he prays another request. And pray that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men. For all men have not seen. The apostle Paul recognized the dangers in the ministry. The dangers of wicked men. The dangers of men that would oppose them. and assailed them in their work. And Paul met much. May I give you the talk, if you've read the life of the Apostle Paul in detail and noted it carefully, you find the Apostle Paul had more trouble from his Jewish people than he did from many Gentiles. From the religious people of Judaism. You read in that is the Colossian epistle where he mentions he was not only in prison for the preaching of the gospel but also for preaching the truth of the body of Christ the church because the Jews hated that truth that Gentiles and Jews were together if they believed under all Jesus in the one body and Paul suffered much for preaching the truth of what the church was as much as he did the gospel and he felt it more from his own Jewish compatriots from back home or even where he found them. Now he said, Pray the Lord will deliver us from such. They're unreasonable and wicked men and they don't have faith. But how precious to know what he says here. But the Lord is faithful. Who shall establish you and keep you from evil? Here again he reminds them he doesn't turn away from himself as it were. unselfishly and thinks of them in their dangers anybody says the Lord is faithful who shall establish you and keep you from evil thank God for the faithfulness of him and then note verse four we have confidence in the Lord touching you that she both do and will do the things which we command you oh what a statement Confidence. Well, you know something. The confidence was in the Lord. He doesn't say that we have confidence in you. We have confidence in the Lord touching you. That she both do and will do the things which we command you. Or the beloved apostle Paul had the confidence of the Lord would see that they would do the will of God. and keep the commandments, the word of God that he had committed to them. But the confidence within the Lord said that you will do that, touching you. You will both do and will do the things which we command you. And now we have a prayer for them in verse five, a lovely prayer. And the Lord directs your hearts into the love of God. and into the patient waiting for Christ. May I read it again and quote it in the words of the original text I leave, and the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ. The first expression is wonderful. The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God. Someone has made a translation. The Lord helps you to love God more than ever. And to enjoy the love of God more than ever. And to show that love of God more than ever. For after all, that was the desire of the possible that the love of God would control them. My beloved, that's one of our great needs today. That the love of God would control them. Let me repeat again in substance that we might enjoy the love of God. Please, we may give you the first thought that to enjoy the love of God. That's what we need in our own hearts and in so doing. We'll love Him more too. And also the love will spread to others. Will I remember a dear old hymn, Gospel hymn many years ago? A quartet, it was really a number. I cannot drift beyond the circle of his love. My beloved, there's no question of doubt. You and I, who are his particularly? What a joy to know. You'll never get... No matter... Let me put it in this perspective. No matter how bad and faithless you might be as a believer, you can't get away from his love. You can't. You can't get away from his love. And that him went on to say, for his love reaches me. Well, we think another old him. And what a good old truth it is. Love, wonderful love. The love of God to me. He brought my Savior from above to die on Calvary and the joy of knowing. He'll love me. I can never get beyond the circle of the love of God. Alright, let me give you an example. Peter, for instance, denied the Blessed Lord Jesus and wept bitterly when he found out that he had so done. Did you ever notice when Peter denied the Lord? He could see where Jesus was. And the Lord Jesus turned and looked upon Peter. The Lord had told him, Peter, you're going to deny me. Oh, I'll never deny you, for Peter was self-confident. But in his self-confidence, he fell. The moment the Lord Jesus turned and just looked upon Peter, he went out, wept bitterly. And you know, the Lord restored him. as we well know. Remember how the Lord restored him? Simon Peter, lovest thou me more than thee? Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love you. I love you very much. You didn't use the same Greek word as the Lord did. What the Lord was asking me is, Peter, do you love me better than anyone else? Peter couldn't say it. No, you know I'm very fond of you, Lord. And then the second time the Lord said, Lovest thou me again. And again Peter said, Thou knowest that I am very fond of you. That was the meaning of his word. Then the Lord said it the third time and gave him a commission. And it broke his heart. Lord, thou knowest all things. But he couldn't say what he liked to have said. Thou knowest I am very much fond of you. But he was restored. That faithful love of God. And no wonder the Apostle prayed, The Lord direct your heart into the love of God. The love of God. May I give you the thought? It's causeless. You can not show me one reason why God should love you. No, don't try to do it. Because I know I can't. Can't find one reason. It's a causeless love. But it's a boundless love in its depth and in its breadth and in its length and in its depth and in its height. And no wonder the Apostle says, The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God. Love with everlasting love led by grace is love to know. Spirit breathing from above. Thou has taught me it is so. all this full and perfect peace, all this rapture, all divine, in a love which cannot cease, I am his, but he is mine. Oh, my beloved, may I say, the love of God is measureless, and may I encourage your heart as well as mine own, no matter where we are, what we are, what we do, that love remains the same. immovable. Though it is without question of doubt, he would be far more pleased to see us and he is when we obey him to his truth. But Paul prays right. The Lord direct your heart into the love of God and then into the patience of Christ. And I believe what he meant here for the whole doctrine in this book is the second coming of Christ. They were impatient. They thought they were in the Great Tribulation. But no, Paul said, you're not. And prove it to them. But the Lord direct you into the patience that Christ had. Remember the words of Psalm hundred and ten, which the Lord Jesus quoted in the New Testament. When the psalmist wrote, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy foot soon. How long has the Lord been waiting in heaven? Remember the promise that he gave in John chapter fourteen. If I go away and I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. We're not there yet. He's waited longer than you have, longer than I have, according. And the apostle said, The Lord directs your heart not only into his love, but into the patience of Christ. As one hymn writer wrote, I'm waiting for thee, Lord. Thy beauty to see, Lord. I'm waiting for thee for thy coming again. I think that'd be a good place to stop tonight. And take to our hearts the exhortation of the apostles. He prays for these saints and for us. The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ. for he's coming again. Shall we pray? Oh, beloved Father, we have to confess. Oh, we must and we do confess. How often we can be impatient. Blessed Lord, if we're enjoying thy love as we should, we would have more patience. And blessed Lord, we just pray tonight as our dear, thy dear servant Paul pray for these believers. Direct our own hearts in the right direction. Into the love of God. And may we lose ourselves in the circle of that great love. And then direct our hearts into the patience of our blessed Savior. We're waiting for him. And he's been waiting longer than we have. But we say earnestly, Lord Jesus. Even so, come Lord Jesus. I'm waiting for thee, Lord, thy beauty to see, Lord. I'm waiting for thee for thy coming again. The day must be near, Lord, of thy coming again. Lord, please direct our hearts into the love of God and its enjoyment as well as its practice and its manifestation one toward another and even to all men. We ask in the name of the Lord Jesus for his glory. Amen. Thank you for listening. The Lord bless you.