STAND FIRM – 2 THESSALONIANS 2:13-17 Our Heavenly Father, Creator of all things and Master Teacher, we humbly come into Your presence to seek Your Holy Spirit to open our eyes to these Holy Scriptures. We earnestly pray for enlightenment as we study together, and we ask You, Father, to open our eyes to see the truths contained in these words. Open our minds to comprehend that which we are reading, and open our hearts to receive the message that You have for us. Finally, dear Father, we ask for the strength and courage to live our lives in a manner of the called, constantly giving You the glory, honor, and praise that You deserve. We pray these things in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14 But we are bound to give thanks alway 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. From the beginning, God chose the Thessalonian believers. From the beginning, He chose you. That’s why you’re in the Word even now. You could be doing other things. You could be watching TV, or you could be stuck in a world that is unsatisfying and destructive. The Lord, however, chose you to be saved. “Wait a minute,” you say. “Didn’t we just read that God will not override our free will?” Yes. God’s sovereignty and man’s free will dwell side by side throughout Scripture. It is only in our finite minds that the two cannot be reconciled. If you ignore God’s tug on your heart, it will be because you are not chosen by God. If you choose God today, it will be because He already chose you. Choose Him now, dear people. Surely it is His grace that has brought you this far. 2 Thessalonians 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. Newer translations correctly render the word “traditions” as “ordinances.” There are those who say, “Baptism is no longer necessary. The Lord’s table is optional. There’s no need to pray the Lord’s prayer. Meeting together for Bible study is helpful, but not crucial.” Jesus was baptized in water. So was Peter. So was John. So was D. L. Moody, C. H. Spurgeon, and Billy Graham. I may not have the boldness of D. L. Moody, the fervency of C. H. Spurgeon, or the anointing of Billy Graham, but I can stand exactly where they stood in the waters of baptism. I can sit where the greatest Christians have sat through the ages, and have the same meal they had as I partake of Communion. I can’t preach like R. A. Torrey or Charles Finney, but I pray exactly as they did when I pray, “Our Father, which art in Heaven.…” I don’t have the power of the early church, but I do exactly as they did every time I meet with fellow believers to study the Word (Acts 2:42). We have a glorious heritage, beloved. Paul would say to us, even as he said to the Thessalonians, “Don’t minimize traditions. Hold on to them. Your faith will be the richer; your walk will be the surer for it.” 2 Thessalonians 2:16, 17 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work. Used six times, “comfort” is the watchword of Paul’s Epistles to the Thessalonians. The greatest comfort of all is the fact that Jesus could come even today and take us to heaven, where the forces of darkness will be obliterated by the “brightness of His coming.” Take comfort in that hope. Have a blessed day!
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 13:21:09 +0000
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