My sermon notes for Sunday morning, June 14th. Remember, these are my personal study notes and not a manuscript of the sermon. They are provided to help you follow the sermon as we walk through the Word each week.
2 Thessalonians 2:13–17 – Our Salvation and Sanctification
Intro:
Remember….
- He was thankful for their growing faith and love for one another
- They are considered worthy of their suffering and affliction.
- He reminded them about God’s righteous judgment and His second coming.
- In this section he is thanking the Lord for their salvation and sanctification and prays that they may be comforted and strengthened as they serve Christ.
THANKFUL FOR THEIR SALVATION – NEW BIRTH – vv. 13-14
(Because they embraced the truth of the Gospel)
We ought to always give thanks to God for you – Paul had absolute confidence in the power of the Gospel through Christ. That they would be OK.
- vv. 10, 12 – Because/If they loved and obeyed the truth. Compared to those who are perishing.
- John 6:37, 39, 40, 44; John 10: 27-29
His Confidence was base on what their salvation meant for God’s perspective:
God loved them – v. 13a
- Beloved
God chose them – v. 13b
- Haireo – chosen for a particular purpose
- Chose them to be the first fruits of salvation.
- Romans 8:29-30
- Lambs book of life – Rev. 13:8, 17:8
God sanctified them(transformed) – v. 13c
- Rendered Holy – Set apart
- By the Spirit
- By their Faith – Belief in the truth
- Eph. 2:8 – “By grace through faith
- Romans 10:9–10 – [9] because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. [10] For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (ESV)
God called them… to the glory of Christ – v. 14
- Called to this…all of v. 13 – The salvation process.
- So that they may obtain the Glory of Christ.
- Compared to those that are perishing v. 10… believers are OBTAINING.
- THE ACCUMULATION OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE PLAN – THEIR ULTIMATE GLORY AT THE RETURN OF CHRIST.
- Eternally reflecting the glory of Christ. Eph 1:3-5
PRAYED FOR THEIR SANCTIFICATION – NEW LIFE – vv. 15-17
THAT THEY WOULD LIVE OUT THEIR CALLING (from v. 14)
SO THEN… – EMBRACE AND LIVE OUR YOUR NEW LIFE
- Because you are saved. (REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE)
- New life is not just YOU, but you within the Kingdom. The body of Christ. The household of faith. (Isolation, Social Distancing)
A person of Gospel conviction – v. 15
- Make a stand. Do not move. Be somebody that believes in something. (TIMES ARE TOUGH…get over it!)
- Hold to – With power and strength.
- To stand and hold conveys GUARDING.
- At the end of the day, what do you want to be standing for?
- Traditions – things handed down. THE GOSPEL.
THAT THEY WOULD EMBRACE THE MEANS TO DO SO
God’s COMFORT in their hearts– vv. 16-17a
- With God’s Love
- Eternal comfort – Now in the midst of affliction and forever. In the day of the Lord.
- Good Hope through grace – The expectation of God’s promises fulfilled.
- Heart – represented the entire person. Emotions and intellect
God’s STRENGTH for every good work and word – v. 17
- For the endurance to bear the fruits of their life. WORK AND WORD
- ACTIONS and WORDS. What we SAY and DO
Scripture:
2 Thessalonians 2:13–17 – [13] But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. [14] To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. [15] So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.
[16] Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, [17] comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. (ESV)
John 6:37–44 – [37] All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. [38] For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. [39] And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. [40] For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
[41] So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” [42] They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” [43] Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. [44] No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. (ESV)
John 10:27–29 – [27] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. [28] I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. [29] My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. (ESV)
Romans 8:29–30 – [29] For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. [30] And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (ESV)
Revelation 13:8 – and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. (ESV)
Revelation 17:8 – The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. (ESV)
Ephesians 1:3–5 – [3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, [4] even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love [5] he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, (ESV)