“To Tell The Truth”
2 Thessalonians 2:13-17
INTRODUCTION: In our last study we saw how Paul told them the TRUTH about the coming of the Lord (Rapture) … and events during the Tribulation Period (2:1-12)
Satan had sent LIES to the Christians at Thessalonica in the form of a fake, counterfeit letter – 2:2
Satan will bring LIES to those in the Tribulation Period from the lips of the Anti-Christ – 2:9-12
Paul has just told them the TRUTH about prophetic events … what life will be like in the Tribulation Period.
Paul is NOW going to tell them (us) the TRUTH about how we are to live NOW.
The study of prophecy should always impact our PRESENT life … NOT JUST get us ready for the future.
2:13b – “belief of the truth” – Do you remember the TV show (in the 60’s) – “To Tell The Truth”?
3 people were presented to a panel of 4 celebrities … 1 was the Real McCoy … the other 2 were imposters.
All 3 would answer questions from the panel, but only 1 was telling the truth … the panel had to guess which 1 was telling the truth … though all 3 were very convincing.
(If memory serves me correctly, the host was Bud Collier, and the panel was Bess Myerson, Polly Burgen, Henry Morgan & Tom Poston … or was that “What’s My Line?”)
ANYHOW … the LIE can often be very convincing … and the TRUTH can be very hard to distinguish.
Paul tells these Thessalonian Christians that he is thankful for their acceptance of the TRUTH.
In 2:13-14, Paul gives them the TRUTH about their SALVATION.
Here, we find the steps that God uses for our salvation:
1.- LOVE – “beloved” – 2:13
Why did God save you? Because He LOVED you.
You had done nothing worthy of His love … but He loved you anyhow.
Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
God’s love for you is totally by His “grace” … and He saved you because of His “mercy”.
“grace” – giving to you what you don’t deserve.
“mercy” – not giving to you what you do deserve.
Don’t ever think that you were “good enough” to be saved … even the BEST of us were without ANY merit whatsoever.
2.- ELECTION – “chose” – 2:13
It wasn’t God’s love alone that saved you … He loves everybody, but not all will be saved.
Why, then, did God save YOU? Simply because God “chose” you – 1 Thess. 1:4
God would have been justified in not choosing ANYBODY … but allowing ALL to go to Hell.
He didn’t HAVE to save ANYBODY … but He chose to extend His grace and mercy on SOME.
Eph. 1:4 – “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”
1 Peter 1:2 – “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father …”
I don’t understand all there is to know about God’s “election” … but I believe the Bible and the Bible says that every Christian is the “elect” of God … “chosen” by Him.
I wasn’t adopted … my parents didn’t have a choice … they didn’t CHOOSE me … they got stuck with me!
If I was adopted, they would have CHOSEN me out of all the other children that were up for adoption … that would have made me very “special” … an act of “grace” and “mercy”.
That’s 1 view of “election”.
HOWEVER … God CHOSE me to be given to my parents at birth.
I could have had parents who were abusive, addicts, or unloving.
I could have been born Asian, African, Hispanic or Indian.
I could have been born to parents who were Muslim, Hindu, agnostic or atheist.
God chose to give me to wonderful parents to be raised in a Christian home (I thank God for that!).
God knew who He was going to give me to (before my birth) “from the beginning”.
He made it REAL on October 1, 1949.
This is another view of “election” … both are an act of “grace” and “mercy”.
EITHER WAY … I didn’t have a choice … God did the choosing … He did the placing of me into my earthly family … He knew what He was doing.
When God chose you before you were ever born to be a part of His Heavenly family, He did it out of His LOVE, GRACE & MERCY.
John 15:16 – “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you.”
On your own, you would never have chosen Jesus … if He first hadn’t chosen you.
I can’t take any credit for my salvation … God didn’t CHOOSE me because I was better than anybody else.
He “chose me for salvation” because the CHOICE was His to make.
AND … on June 23, 1961 God made it REAL.
HOW DID GOD DO THIS?
3.- SANCTIFICATION – “through sanctification by the Spirit” – 2:13
God made salvation REAL in your life through the convicting work of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit CONVICTED you of the fact that you were a sinner and on the road to Hell.
He prepared your heart to RECEIVE “the belief in the truth” that Jesus could save you from the penalty of your sins.
AGAIN, this is the work of God … I didn’t have anything to do with that.
On my own, I never would have come to that “truth” … without the “sanctification by the Spirit”.
“sanctification” = ‘to set apart’
The Holy Spirit “set you apart” and drew you to Himself.
John 6:44 – “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.”
As a lost sinner, I could never be drawn to a holy God on my own … like oil & water …
It was God who DREW me to Himself, “through sanctification by the Spirit”.
4.- CALL – “He called you” – 2:14
HOW DID GOD CALL YOU? “by our gospel”
This is the “rope” that God used to draw you to Himself … the “gospel”.
God CALLS you by His Word … and when we respond to the drawing of the Holy Spirit, we answer His CALL.
Romans 10:13-14, 17
It is our responsibility to throw out the “rope” of the gospel for God to use in “drawing” the lost to Himself.
The Holy Spirit will use God’s Word to CONVICT them of their sin … and He will use it (us) to “draw” the elect to Himself.
Salvation is totally of God … we have no part in “election” … other than to RESPOND to what God is doing through the work of the Holy Spirit in “drawing” us to Him.
AND … the Holy Spirit even does all the work of opening up our heart to God’s CALL.
5.- DESTINY – “for the obtaining of the GLORY of our Lord Jesus Christ” – 2:14
God gets all the glory in saving us … we get to reap the blessing!
Our blessing will be fulfilled when we meet Jesus in “glory” and get to share His “glory” for all eternity.
A RECAP:
1.- God LOVED you when you didn’t love Him.
2.- God CHOSE you because of His grace & mercy.
3.- God DREW you to Himself by the convicting work of the Holy Spirit.
4.- God CALLED you to trust Him through the presentation of His Word.
5.- God will GLORIFY you fully when He returns at the Rapture.
NOW WHAT? “therefore” – 2:15
You know the TRUTH … “therefore” …
John 8:32 – “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
They have just been told the TRUTH … as contrasted by the LIES of the Devil.
They have TRUSTED in the Truth (“I am the way, the truth and the life.” – John 14:6).
NOW … they are FREE to LIVE the TRUTH.
WHAT IS THE TRUTH THAT THEY ARE TO LIVE BY?
“the traditions which you were taught …”
Paul isn’t talking about keeping the “traditions” of the church.
We have lots of “traditions” that should have been abolished long ago … they aren’t “inspired” … they are man-made “traditions” that have become LAW in the church.
“We’ve always done it this way!” Well, maybe we should stop doing it … it’s just a “tradition”!
BUT … that’s not to say that all “traditions” are bad, either.
A lot of churches are termed “contemporary” … and have cast off some of the old “traditions”.
Our church is considered a “traditional” church … we still hold on to many of the old “traditions” … YET … we have changed much over the past 50 years, haven’t we?
Paul isn’t talking here about the “traditions of man” (Col. 2:8), but about the truth of the Gospel … which has been handed down (first – orally, then- written).
He tells us to do 2 things with this “tradition”:
1.- “stand fast” … i.e., don’t move away from it.
While it’s OK to move away from the “traditions of man”, it’s NOT OK to move away from the truth of God’s Word.
The same TRUTH is preached & taught here that was preached & taught in 1886 … and in 51 AD.
Satan wants us to deviate from God’s Word … but we are to “stand fast”.
2.- “hold” … i.e. grip God’s Word tightly … don’t let Satan pry you loose from your faith in Christ.
We might disagree on minor areas of prophecy … or interpretation … or church polity.
BUT – we are to “hold” tightly onto the truth of God’s Word as the guiding force in our life.
Don’t let go of being governed by God’s Word.
2:16-17 –
Paul mentions 3 things God has given us (by His “grace”):
1.- “love” – to save us, and keep us, and guide us, and provide for us …
2.- “everlasting consolation” – GK – ‘paraklesis’ – the same word as used for the Holy Spirit … ‘comfort and encouragement’ …
3.- “good hope” – without Him, there is NO HOPE … for eternal life, comfort, peace, etc.
WHAT WILL HE DO FOR YOU?
1.- “comfort your hearts” – in times of distress, worry, doubt, fear … God is always there to “comfort” you.
2.- “establish you” – TO DO WHAT? “word and work”.
What we DO shouldn’t contradict what we SAY … our WALK should equal our TALK.
When we put our trust in Christ, He will give us the ability to live up to our testimony as “Christians”.
Only God can give us the ability to live the Christian life.
Just like SALVATION, our CHRISTIAN WALK is dependent on Him.
You can’t live the Christian life by trying your best … doing the best you can … giving it all you got.
We must depend daily on God’s strength to be our strength.
CONCLUSION:
Paul is giving us here the TRUTH … that we are dependent on God … for everything.
For salvation … for the TRUTH … for comfort … for hope … for good works.
It’s all given to us by His love … out of grace.
It’s God’s love-gift to you … Enjoy Him!
OUTLINE HANDOUT
“To Tell The Truth” – 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17
INTRODUCTION: Paul contrasts the LIES of Satan (2:2, 9-12) to the TRUTH about living in the present day.
2:13-14 – The steps God uses in our salvation experience:
1.- LOVE – “beloved” – 2:13
- God loved you in your sinful state – Romans 5:8
• “grace” – giving you what you don’t deserve.
• “mercy” – not giving you what you do deserve.
2.- ELECTION – “chose” – 2:13 (1 Thess. 1:4)
- God would have been justified in not saving ANYBODY.
- Ephesians 1:4, 1 Peter 1:2, 2 Timothy 1:9
- God does the choosing, out of His love, grace & mercy … it’s His choice to make.
3.- SANCTIFICATION – “sanctification by the Spirit” – 2:13
- The Holy Spirit ‘set you apart’ when He convicted you of your sins … otherwise you would never have come to Him – John 6:44
4.- CALL – “He called you” – 2:14
- God used the ROPE of the Gospel to draw you to Himself – Romans 10:13-14,17
- You responded to the work of the Spirit in calling you.
5.- DESTINY – “obtaining of the glory” – 2:14
- God gets the glory, you get the blessing.
2:15 – “therefore” – John 8:32 – Live by the TRUTH.
- “traditions” – not man-made, but the handing down of the Gospel.
1.- “stand fast” – don’t deviate from the Word of God.
2.- “hold” – grip the TRUTH tightly & let it govern your life.
2:16-17 – By His “grace”, God has given you:
1.- “love” – to save, keep, provide …
2.- “consolation” – PARAKLESIS – comfort & encouragement.
3.- “hope” – there is NO HOPE without Christ.
What will God do for you?
1.- “comfort your hearts” – He’s always there for you.
2.- “establish you” – in your “word and work”.
- Your WALK should equal your TALK.
- Our salvation & Christian walk are totally dependent on God.
CONCLUSION: The TRUTH is God’s love-gift to you … Enjoy Him!
PRISCILLA BAPTIST CHURCH – Ray Scott, Pastor
