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you you Second Thessalonians chapter number one the Bible reads Paul and Sylvanus and Timotheus unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ Grace unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ now this book Starts out with pretty much the identical wording that first Thessalonians started out with it's from the same people to the same people And in fact a lot of the same subjects are discussed in both books and both books have a big emphasis on end times Bible Prophecy they talk a lot about Tribulation they talk a lot about the second coming of Jesus Christ and this chapter is no exception now notice in verse number two It says grace unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ when you read Paul's epistles Over and over again You'll see something similar to that Grace unto you and peace and it's interesting because it's always in that order It's always grace and then peace why because the Bible teaches for example in Romans 5 1 it says therefore being justified by faith We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ So the Bible says by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves? It is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast and before we're saved The Bible says that we're at enmity with God the wrath of God abides on those who do not believe in Jesus Christ But we have peace with God through Salvation which is through faith, which is by grace That's why it's always in that order grace unto you and peace because you're never gonna have peace Without the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ the Bible says there's no grace, you know to the wicked So the Bible says in verse number three We are bound to thank God always for you brethren as it is meet because that your faith groweth exceedingly and the charity of every one of you all toward each other abounded now We all have faith and obviously without faith. You wouldn't even be a child of God You couldn't even be saved because we're saved by faith, but our faith grows After we're saved the Bible talks about how we move from faith to faith in Romans chapter 1 and so getting saved is easy The Bible says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised him From the dead thou shalt be saved and some people wonder did I believe enough? you know how much faith do you need and there was a guy who came to Jesus and said Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief So that guy had some doubt and yet Jesus came through for him even though he had that doubt So the question is how much do you have to believe well? You know Jesus talked about the fact that even if you had faith as a grain of mustard seed You would be able to say to this mountain You know be removed and cast into the sea and it would be done for you So it's not the quantity of our faith that matters It's not well how much did you believe or how much faith? Did you have the thing that matters is whether all of your faith is on Jesus? The Bible says in Acts 8 37 if thou believest with all thine heart thou mayest So it's not how much faith you have it's just whether you choose to put all of your faith in Jesus meaning that you can't be saved by having part of your faith in Jesus and part of your faith in Buddha or Part of your faith in Jesus and part of your faith is in your own works your own deeds Rituals that you've gone through at your church or the fact that you go to church No It has to all be the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and all of your faith is in him That saves you so you can have very little faith But if you have enough faith to confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus just enough to say it and believe it Well, then that's enough faith to get you saved. But as we go through our Christian life hopefully our faith is increasing we grow in faith and As we go through the Christian life We have less doubt and more faith and that's what the Bible is talking about here when it says in verse number three It says your faith groweth exceedingly and the charity of every one of you all toward each other Abounded so one of the things that he's complimenting this church for is that they're getting better. They're not backslidden They're not going backward. But actually they're growing their faith is better than it was when he wrote first Thessalonians You know their their charity their love one toward another is Increasing and abounding as they go look at verse 4 so that we ourselves Glory in you in the churches of God now our modern word for glory there would be bragging He's saying, you know, we boast about we we brag about what a great church the church of Thessalonica is He said so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your Persecutions and tribulations that ye endure now Tribulation is a very important word in the Bible and it is especially important when we're talking about end times Bible prophecy because of course there's going to be the great tribulation that everyone talks so much about and when it comes to the Rapture or the doctrine of us being caught up together in the clouds with Christ when he returns and the trumpet sounds People will talk about a pre-tribulation rapture meaning a rapture that comes before the tribulation a rapture that could happen at any moment and Then there are those who rightly believe in a post tribulation rapture meaning a rapture that comes after the tribulation but what confuses a lot of people is that they don't realize that the tribulation is not the same thing as God pouring out his wrath on this earth and Because people have been tricked into thinking that God pouring out his wrath is somehow referred to as the tribulation They say well, why would God pour out his wrath on his own people not realizing that yes, the rapture is pre-wrath It is pre-wrath, but it's not pre-tribulation Because tribulation and wrath are two completely different things now It should be easy for someone to figure that out if they just read the New Testament a few times Because over and over again the New Testament uses this word tribulation and It's so consistent the way it's used and by the way you look it up for yourself 90% of the time when the word tribulation is used in the New Testament. It's talking about believers going through Tribulation so we're not talking about the wrath of God. No tribulation simply put means trouble or Affliction or Persecution those are words that are associated with tribulation in the New Testament right here in this verse. We see it coupled with Persecution he said we thank God for your patience and faith in all your Persecutions and tribulations that you endure notice persecution and tribulation are used in the same breath Let's keep reading Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which he also Suffer so the suffering that they're going through that's the persecutions and tribulations Then it says this seeing it as a righteous thing with God to recompense Tribulation to them that trouble you now notice how it's used interchangeably with trouble there He says they're troubling you so God's gonna give them Tribulation in return. This is one of the few verses that refers to unbelievers going through tribulation as well But of course anybody can go through tribulation. Everybody has trouble in their life I mean unsaved people save people go through trials afflictions troubles Unsaved people could be persecuted for all manner of reasons And so that has nothing to do with the Great Tribulation except for the fact that the definition of the word Applies to the Great Tribulation. So the tribulation is just a time of trouble it's a time of affliction and it's a time of persecution and It is a time that Christians will be here for and there's plenty of scripture to prove that and I'm gonna prove that this evening From this very passage, but let's keep reading here It says seeing it as a righteous thing with God to recompense Tribulation to them that trouble you and to you who are troubled you see that so it's used together with tribulation To you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels, so let's look at a few scriptures on tribulation because remember I told you that Tribulation is associated with the word trouble the word affliction and the word persecution in the Bible Look at 2nd Corinthians chapter number 1 verse 3 the Bible reads who comforted us in all our tribulation That we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort Wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God so you see that tribulation and trouble are again used Interchangeably there flip back to Romans chapter number 5 Romans chapter number 5 verse 1 there therefore being justified by faith. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ But the Bible reads as we continue in that chapter by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and Rejoice in hope of the glory of God and not only so but we glory in tribulations also Knowing that tribulation worketh patience now. What did Paul say over in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 1? He said that he had gloried about them in the churches because of their Patience and faith and all their persecutions and tribulations that they endured So what are they being commended for patience and faith in tribulation? What's he say in Romans 5? He says that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and Experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost Which is given unto us for when we were yet without strength and due time Christ died for the ungodly So what do we see here tribulation in our lives troubles trials persecutions? They work patience why because we learn that we have to put up with these things We have to go through these rough times. We have to make it through these dark tunnels You know to get to light at the other side And so the more tribulations we go through the more patience we develop we learn to be content We learn to have patience and to wait, but then it says that patience worketh experience Obviously the more times we patiently go through tribulation the more experience we have with it And then it says that Experience worketh hope and what is hope me? Hope is when we believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel and our hope is Increased because of the fact that we've been through tribulations in the past and God always got us through it in the past So if he always got us through it in the past, he's gonna get us through it this time Why we have experience we have patience and that gives us hope and he said hope Maketh not ashamed and what he means there by being ashamed if you study the Bible on the word ashamed When people are ashamed basically, it's when they put their trust in somebody and they're let down You know the Bible talks about how if we trust in the Lord, we will not be ashamed We're not gonna be let down by him We're not gonna be left, you know with egg on our face that basically, you know, God didn't come through for us So he's saying hope maketh not ashamed God's not gonna let us down if we hope in him if we trust in him He's gonna come through it for us and the more tribulations we go through the more we know that to be the case So let me ask is our tribulations good in our lives or bad Well, they're good because they're working patience. He said we glory in tribulations. Does that sound like it's a bad thing? No, he's saying we glory in tribulations because we want patience. We want experience We want hope it's like David said in Psalm 119. It's good for me that I've been afflicted That I might keep thy word afflicted Tribulation those two words are related. So all throughout the Bible we see that this is something that Christians go through It makes them stronger and it builds their character now back in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 1 It said so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith and all your persecutions And tribulations that you endure which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God That you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which he also Suffer seeing it as a righteous thing with God to recompense Tribulation to them that trouble you why is that a righteous thing with God? Well if someone troubles someone else Then God is gonna bring that back around to them because the Bible says whatsoever a man soweth That shall he also Reap he that leadeth into captivity Shall go away into captivity. He that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword Here's the patience and the faith of the Saints notice those two words patience and faith Okay, so we see here that the Bible is saying that God will punish those who trouble us That's why the Bible says vengeance Belongeth unto me sayeth the Lord I will recompense which is why it says here that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense Tribulation to them that trouble you and to you who are troubled rest with us When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking Vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ now This is a key here because it says in verse 7 to you who are troubled rest with us when so we have some timing here because he's talking about the fact that the believers who today are Struggling going through trials and tribulations are one day going to have a rest from their trials rest from their troubles rest from their labels and and the question is When will they get that rest? Well, the Bible tells us when that rest will come the Bible says when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in Flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ So is this saying well, you know, you're gonna have rest with us Before the tribulation you're gonna disappear like on the Left Behind movie and everybody's gonna be wondering Where is everybody and nobody's gonna see Jesus coming in the clouds because it's a secret rapture. Is that what this passage is teaching? No, this passage teaches that we will have our rest we will go to our rest when Jesus is revealed from heaven meaning that people see him and when he comes in flaming fire Taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ you see Luke 17 makes it crystal clear that just as the same day Noah entered into the ark the flood came and The same day that lot was removed from Sodom and Gomorrah God rain fire and brimstone It's going to be exactly the same in the day when the Son of Man shall be revealed same word It says when the Son of Man shall be revealed then shall to be in the field The one shall be taken the other left, etc See all of this fits together. The only people who don't see it are people who just don't want to see it because Luke 17 is Consistent with first Thessalonians four and five Second Thessalonians one is telling us the same thing and all the other passages the book of Revelation it all fits together Perfectly once you just read it and take it for what it says now Stop and think about this back when we were in first Thessalonians We nailed down the timing of the rapture right there in first Thessalonians because it said That the timing of the rapture was basically the same timing as the day of the Lord He described the rapture and he said but of the times and the seasons brethren you have no need that I write unto you For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night for when they shall say peace and safety Then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape So notice the same day that we're caught up together to be with Christ in the clouds Sudden destruction is coming upon them those that are the unbelievers doesn't that sound like inflaming fire Taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ Not only that when you go to the book of Revelation and you look up where the day of the Lord occurs Easy to find because the Sun and Moon are darkened and the stars fall Revelation 6. What do you see in Revelation 6? Happening. Well first there's silence in heaven about the space of half an hour and then he's raining fire and brimstone That's the first Step to God pouring out his wrath The first trumpet and and in fact even before the first trumpet sounds just when the seventh seal is opened The angel takes fire from the altar and casts fire into the earth But then when the first of the seven trumpets sounds when the first trumpet sounds it talks about fire and brimstone Raining from heaven and the third part of the trees being burned up and all the green grass being burned up Sounds to me like Jesus Christ and flaming fire Taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ So the when here is key Look at Revelation chapter 1 if you would revelation chapter number 1 Because revelation chapter 1 makes this very clear as well While you're turning there, I'll read for you verse 9 because verse 9 gives us another great mention of tribulation in the Bible It says I John who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience notice how patience and tribulation are often associated because it's something that we have to patiently endure and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ was in the aisle that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the Testimony of Jesus Christ back up to verse 7. This is right at the beginning of the book of Revelation I consider this to be the most important verse in the entire book of Revelation This is the key verse and the reason I say that it's given a place of preeminence notice It has an amen right before it and it has an amen right after it's set off by amens Like it's just a standalone verse there. Just its own Statement it reminds me of when you'd write an essay in school and they'd have you give a topic sentence or some kind of a Key sentence. This is the key sentence of the book of Revelation. It says behold. He cometh with clouds and Every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him Even so Amen again fits perfectly with the day of the Lord Hey, Jesus is coming in the clouds and the unbelievers will be wailing They will be weeping and the trumpet will sound and the believers will be caught up together with Christ and those who are on this Earth will have God's wrath poured out upon them. So the pre tribulation rapture is false Okay, because this all happens after the tribulation the Bible says in Matthew 24 29 that after the tribulation The Sun and moon are darkened the stars fall, etc. That's when the day of the Lord takes place That's when the rapture takes place that is known as the second coming of Jesus Christ And that is when he begins to pour out his wrath on this earth Pouring out his wrath will take place over the course of several years and then at the end of those several years Jesus Christ will ride in on the white horse at Armageddon and set up an earthly millennial Kingdom Satan will be bound into the bottomless pit Etc. So back to 2nd Thessalonians chapter 1 here now that we got that timing nailed down of when our rest will come and we notice that it fits in perfectly with Matthew 24 Mark 13 Luke 21 1st Thessalonians 4 and 5 all of the passages fit together perfectly Look what it says in verse 8 in flaming fire Taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with everlasting destruction From the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power Now there's a doctrine out there that a lot of people teach that hell is separation from God And this is a really popular doctrine The Jehovah's Witnesses will talk about this the Pope has made statements about this and even independent Baptists will constantly tell you that hell is separation from God many of them even have it in their statement of faith Now this is a bad doctrine because of the fact that it's used to try to tone down What hell is really like? Instead of focusing on what the Bible focuses on that hell is fire brimstone torture Torment no rest day or night. No water this horrible place. There's what they say well hell is just being separated from God and I've even heard them say this Well the worst part about hell is that you're separated from God Not the fact that you're on fire Not the fact that you're there forever being tortured, but no no the worst part is that you are separated from God nonsense Here's the thing about that Unsaved people don't really care if they're separated from God in fact there are plenty of Atheists and plenty of reprobates out there who would be glad to tell you that they would enjoy being separated from God for all eternity In fact when you describe the God of the Bible to them They'll say things like well if that's the way God is then I'd rather just go to hell just to get away from him I don't even want to go to heaven if the God of the Bible is real We've all heard atheists make statements like that But the truth of the matter is that those who are in hell are not separated from God This view is a false doctrine And it was created by people who wanted to downplay the significance of hell people like Billy Graham People like the Pope who want to be popular and they basically would just say well hell is just separation from God I remember when I was a teenager, and you know you do a lot of prank calling when you're a teenager sometimes, but anyway Well, I was at a friend's house And we were used to calling 1-800 numbers and and whatever as a kid so he calls the 1-800 number on the Billy Graham Crusade he said let's call the Billy Graham Crusade and see what they say so he calls the Billy Graham Crusade on the 1-800 number And asked him you know hey, what do I need to do to be saved and of course they gave him a totally wrong answer But he asked the operator, and I was sitting there listening with him. He asked the operator. He said well What about hell you know? What do you believe about hell? And he said well, I don't want to go beyond what the Bible says Because my friend point-blank asked him is hell a place of fire is it a fire. He said well the Bible doesn't really tell us He said I don't want to go beyond what the Bible says he said But there's one thing we know about hell is that it's separation from God That's the one thing we know fire not sure and and you know it's amazing How people still listen to Billy Graham when he flat-out said I don't know if there's any fire in hell What you're not reading the Bible then Billy boy because the Bible says over and over again hell fire Everlasting fire fire and brimstone. I'm in torment in this flame. Hey just in case you don't understand fire flame I mean just every possible way of telling you you're on fire in hell But look what the Bible says in revelation 14 and tell me if hell is separation from God according to the Bible It says in verse 9 and the third angel followed them saying with a loud voice If any man worship the beast in his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb So the Bible says they'll be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of Jesus because the lamb is Jesus Then it says in the next verse and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever and they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast in his image and Whosoever receiveth the mark of his name not only that but back in the book of Psalms David said if I ascend into heaven thou art there and he said if I make my bed in hell behold thou art there See God is everywhere. He's in heaven. He's in hell. He's everywhere He's omnipresent is the word that we would use to describe that and right here it specifically tells us that people who are being tormented in hell are being tormented in the presence of The lamb so it's not a separation from God It's torment in his presence now keep your finger there in Revelation 14 and back in 2nd Thessalonians 1 You'll see a verse that is sometimes Misused to state that hell is separation from God because they'll point to this verse that says who shall be punished verse 9 Of course the flaming fire was in verse 8 but in verse 9 it says who shall be punished with everlasting destruction From the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power They interpret that as you know away from away from the presence of the Lord away from the presence of his power Now a big reason for this is because a lot of the new modern perversions of the Bible Actually changed this verse to say something along those lines This is one of the reasons why it's so important to be reading a King James Bible Because the new versions have been tampered with they are being translated from these false Manuscripts the Vaticanus the Sinai Atticus manuscripts just all of the Westcott and Hort Influenced Nestle Allen all this garbage, you know, the King James is the only Bible that has all the verses in it That's untampered with that's a whole nother subject for another sermon but one of the main changes that one of the biggest most popular versions will make to this chapter is That they'll change this verse. So for example the NIV the best-selling book in America today in 2015 Will change this verse instead of saying from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power It says that they'll be shut out from the presence of the Lord So they add that in to change the meaning now if we look at the verse for what it actually says It says they shall be punished with everlasting destruction From the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power what this is actually saying I'm gonna prove it to you. What this is actually saying is that the destruction of Is from the presence of the Lord It's not saying that they're going somewhere away from the present Lord it says they'll be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power and We can compare grammar with grammar Here's a verse in Revelation 15 8 that uses the same exact grammar as second Thessalonians 1 it says in the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and From his power and no man was able to enter into the temple Till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled now notice the beginning there. The temple was filled with smoke From the glory of God that's saying away from shut out from know what it's saying here. Is that the glory is coming from? The Lord so it says the temple is filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. That's the source So look back at second Thessalonians 1 they'll be punished With everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power say word from the glory from the glory both say from the glory and it's both talking about the source of where The destruction is coming from in this passage or where the smoke is coming from in the other passage now Go back to the book of Isaiah Because you say well, how is the destruction coming from the Lord? Well, it should be obvious because of the fact that hell was created by God You know a lot of people think of hell as being some kind of a kingdom of the devil where he rules and reigns But actually hell is a place where the devil himself will be tormented for all eternity He's not gonna be ruling and reigning down there. He's a victim of the punishment of hell It's actually God who rules over hell Jesus said I have the keys of Helen of death and the angel of the bottomless pit that opens and shuts it Known as Abaddon or Apollyon in the book of Revelation is not the devil Here's the proof. He throws the devil into hell a few chapters later. So how can they be the same person? Look at Isaiah chapter 30 verse 33 for tophat and tophat is a word being used here for hell Because tohat is Gehenna the valley of the son of Hinnom If you study the word tophat in the Bible You'll see it's synonymous with the valley of the sons of Hinnom or Gehenna Which is a picture of hell in the Bible the Bible says in verse 33 for tophat is ordained of old Yea for the king it is prepared He hath made it deep and large the pile thereof is fire and much wood the breath of the Lord Like a stream of brimstone Doth kindle it so it is actually the Lord's breath that kindles the fires of hell according to Isaiah 30 verse 33 and that concept is present throughout the Bible that hell is somewhere that God Created as a punishment for the devil and his angels and he created it and it's a place that he rules and reigns over because he rules and reigns over everything and everyone because he's God and So the Bible says in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 1 in Flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power now some people Will try to say obey the gospel Means you have to work your way to heaven I've had people pull this out and say well you you know you have to obey the gospel But here's the thing. What is the gospel the gospel is the good news? gospel literally means glad tidings So if the gospel is the good news and if the gospel is defined in 1st Corinthians 15 as the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ that Jesus died for our sins and That he was buried and that he rose from the dead if that's what the gospel is that Jesus died for our sins The only way to obey that is to believe that See the command of the gospel is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved And that's a that's an imperative by the way That's a command the sentence believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved is an imperative sentence It's a command so are you gonna obey that command? How do you obey it by living a good life? Oh, you obey the command to believe on Jesus Christ you obey the gospel, which is the death burial and resurrection by quitting drinking By Turning over a new leaf by living a good life of course not now you obey the gospel. I believe in the gospel So that's all that's referring to when it says obey the gospel. They don't obey the gospel They're gonna be punished in flaming fire notice. He doesn't say hey people who don't live a good enough life are gonna be punished No, it's people that know not God and then obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ They will be punished and it doesn't matter how good of a person they think there are or other people think they are if they Know not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ They will be punished in flaming fire and with destruction and by the way that destruction is an everlasting destruction We saw it in revelation 14 when it talked about how the smoke of their torment Ascendeth up forever and ever and they have no rest day or night. Hell is a very scary place It's a very Fearful scary terrible place and that's why people need to be saved To escape the fires of hell That's why we go out and try to reach people and and knock every single door in our area over and over again pleading with people to be saved because we don't want them to go to hell and God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance So the Bible says here in verse number 10 when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints now Here's another win and it's the same win as we saw earlier. We're still talking about the same event in all these verses It's a continuation of the same sentence In fact when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe Because our testimony among you was believed in that day now again Those who obey the gospel are equated with who those who believed because a minute ago he said well the people that are getting punished They obeyed not the gospel next verse he says that he's glorified in his Saints and To be admired in all them that believe watch this all them that believe all of them Not just well the ones that believed and did other stuff, too The ones who believed and lived a good life and joined the church and got baptized and repented of all their sins That's not what it says. It says to be admired in all them that believe Because our testimony among you was Believed in that day. So because of the fact that when Paul came and preached the gospel they believed it They obeyed the gospel. They received the Lord Jesus Christ their Savior That's why they're gonna be on the right side of things on that day When Jesus Christ comes in the clouds on the day of the Lord, they're gonna be on the right side Those who had not believed are on the wrong side those who believed Are on the right side again It comes back to salvation being 100% by faith not of works lest any man should boast Verse 11 says this wherefore also we pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling and Fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith with power That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and ye in him According to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ now go if you would to 2nd Timothy chapter number 2 2nd Timothy chapter number 2 Because They've believed already. He's writing to the saved. He's writing to the Saints. He's saying our testimony among you was believed You're saved you're gonna be on the right side of things But then he goes on to say that he's praying for them though that they would walk worthy of that calling there are a lot of scriptures that say something similar to that in the New Testament walk worthy of your calling and and to Be worthy and also he's praying that they would fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power. So it's not that God doesn't want us to work The Bible says for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves? It is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast for we are his workmanship Created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God had before ordained that we should Walk in them. So God has ordained works for us to do and we should walk in them What must we do to be saved believe that's it. But what should we do after we're saved? Well, we should do works So Paul here is saying look you're going to heaven. You're not gonna burn in hell Why because you believed but I'm praying for you because I want you to also work and I want God to work in you And I want God to fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness in you by the work of faith with power Why that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in? You and he and him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ So he's saying not only do I want you to be saved Not only do I want you to go to heaven versus hell, but I want you to glorify God I want you to bring him glory By fulfilling the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith with power He's saying I want God to be glorified in you and then one day God can glorify you Because you'll be rewarded with him now in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 it says in verse number 19 nevertheless The foundation of God standeth sure having this seal the Lord knoweth them that are his and Let everyone that name at the name of Christ depart from iniquity. So does God want us to depart from iniquity? Of course But here's the thing. We don't have to depart from iniquity to be saved or else number one. No one would be saved because no one has completely departed from iniquity, nobody's perfect and Secondly that would be salvation by works because departing from iniquity is a lot of work It takes a lot of effort to live right and to do good things and to abstain from sin. That's hard work So the Bible says let everyone that name at the name of Christ depart from iniquity But in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and of silver But also of wood and of earth and some to honor and some to dishonor. What's he saying? there are Children of God there are vessels of God vessels of the Holy Spirit That bring honor to our Lord Jesus Christ and then there are others that bring dishonor to our Lord Jesus Christ I mean think about it if you're saved and you name the name of Christ and you're a believer But then you go out and live according to the course of this world you go out and live as a heathen You go out and live just like the ungodly Well, then that gives Christianity a bad name and it gives our Lord Jesus and the gospel a bad name You're a bad testimony when you do that. You're a vessel unto dishonor You're bringing dishonor to the Lord and he says in a great house. There are gonna be vessels of honor Vessels of dishonor and even amongst God's kingdom and even amongst God's children There are God's children that make him proud That honor him and glorify him and then there are God's children that bring shame and reproach to the name of Jesus Christ now they're both saved it'd be sort of like if you had children and You had a child who did something right that would bring honor to you And then you had a child who disobeyed you and in fact They embarrassed you publicly or humiliated you by doing something so stupid imagine having a child who went out and got drunk or a child who went out and got pregnant out of wedlock or a child Who went out and just did some other major sin that was just public and visible That would be dishonoring to you as the parent and The Bible is teaching that we dishonor Christ when we go out and break his commandments and live a life of iniquity So Paul is praying at the end of 2nd Thessalonians chapter 1 that they would be a vessel unto honor That they would honor and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and not be a shame and a reproach unto him That's why the Bible says there in verse 12 of chapter 1 of 2nd Thessalonians that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ May be glorified in you and ye in him According to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ So we all have God's grace through faith if we believed in the gospel But we need to walk in that grace We need to not only take advantage of God's grace that saves us But we should also take advantage of the grace of God that actually enables us To serve him and obey him the power of the Holy Spirit that will help us turn from sin That will help us do great works for him not in our own strength not in our own power Not because of our own merits, but by his grace he allows us the privilege that we don't deserve of serving him and Of being a better person and of following his word and succeeding and being able to say like Paul I can do all things through Christ which strengthened at me, you know That's the grace of God that even gives us the ability to do what's right Like when Paul said I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who hath enabled me for that he counted me faithful Putting me into the ministry God enables us to do what's right through the power of the Holy Spirit Through his word and through the resources He's given us in the local church pastors teachers the Word of God itself And so we can live a life that pleases the Lord we can live a life that honors and glorifies him But listen, not every Christian lives a life that brings honor to our Savior. Some people are a dishonor unto them It doesn't mean they're not saved just like if your child dishonored you they'd still be your child Even if they humiliated you and were a shame unto you you'd still say well, yeah That's my son and you'd still love them Just like the prodigal son as an example goes out and humiliates the father By going out and living a life of riotous living wasting his substance But yet the father is still his father still his dad when he comes home He says make me as a hired servant, but no, he's the son Once a son always a son and so that's one of the things that we can learn from this passage in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 1 now in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 we get really into Some of the heavy Bible prophecy of 2nd Thessalonians. It's a very key passage It starts out in verse 1 now We beseech you brethren by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him So you can see right there that the chapter is going to deal with The coming of Jesus Christ and it's going to deal with what we know is the rapture because it says by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him That's going to be the key in chapter 2. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer father We thank you so much Lord for this chapter and for what we can learn from it Please just fill us with your spirit Lord as we study your word that we would have Understanding open our eyes Lord that we would see the plain truths of your word help us not to have preconceived ideas that someone has put in our head about Bible prophecy that you know It's got to be a preacher of rapture Lord help us to be able to see past that and just read the word For what it says with the Holy Spirit as our teacher and in Jesus name we pray. Amen You You You You