This is the Truth Network. Forever thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119, verse 89. I'm Stu Everson. Welcome to this special Wednesday in the Word Leader podcast, where we prepare and equip our leaders of this special Bible study outreach breakfast.
Every week to teach through the scriptures. Thirteen Dario locations. There's a men's group meeting and several of the Locations host the women on Thursday morning. Stay tuned. Be encouraged as we jump into this week's Wednesday in the Word.
Don't you love when people give you the choice? You want to hear the good news? Or the bad news first.
Well... Dr. Horn, I've got some good news. The good news is, in our journey through 2 Thessalonians, the bad news. Is kind of behind us.
Those first 12 verses of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, the man of sin, the coming doom. the perdition, the falling away, the removal of the restraint. and all that darkness and judgment. That was last week, this last time.
Now we're looking at some amazing good news. This is Paul. Opening up his heart. Dr. Horney really, unlike any other book, he's really opening his heart to these.
Dear Saints in Thessaloniki, like, you know, the first epistle, he talks about, hey, I was like a father to you. I was like a mother to you. I didn't just give you words, but I gave you my own self, my own soul. It's amazing to see the heart of a shepherd, isn't it, Dr. Horne, especially with this kind of heavy stuff that he's bringing to him.
Yeah, I think this is really where we all live. I mean, you can stop and think about it. The good news, bad news is always. A reality in our life while we're here on the planet, and the good news always outweighs the bad news, right? The bad news is always the first word.
But God always has the last word. And the last word is always good news. And that's exactly what we find here. There is this unbelievable pressure that has come into the life of these believers that we've been reading about now for a chapter and a half. And one of the things that's happened to them is The joy and the hope and the confidence.
And the assurance they've had in the gospel and particularly in the coming of the Lord, whose appearance they've been waiting for since chapter 1, verse 10, has been shaken. And it hasn't been shaken by an enemy like Nero, right? It wasn't shaken because they got afraid of persecution or they got tempted away by the world. It was shaken by false doctrine. A false letter had come into their midst.
and given them false teaching. that something Paul had promised that's core to the gospel. either wasn't going to happen or had already happened and they missed it. And so it shook them to the core. And Paul has been.
Bringing that assurance and reestablishing that confidence and refocusing that hope. in the life of these believers and that's what's been going on and as a part of that He gave them some real, like, you know, let's get down to brass tacks talk about the evil thing that's happening and the evil one that's coming. And now he's coming into the section of chapter two where he's actually going to pray for them. And the prayer is beautiful, it's an amazing prayer. I love this prayer.
I love this charge. It's really. Just a few verses closing out chapter two. And I thought about bundling it with the rest of chapter two. We didn't.
I thought about connecting it to the first part of chapter three, where Paul actually. Asks them to pray for him, but Dr. Horne. I'm just reading and studying. I heard one.
Pastors say that there's like six years of pulpit sermons just on these. Five or six verses, chapter two, verses 13 through 17, just God's salvation to us, his calling us, his choosing us. His sanctifying work in us. And then the beautiful rich tradition, which is a word that we get wrong, and sadly, some. Other false denominations have taken that word to say a little bit more flimsy and to be a little more loose, but.
the rich word of God that has been imparted to us. How would you approach Dr. Horne these verses starting in verse 13 where he just comes right out almost like chapter one verse three With this, I thank my God always. He is just. Effusive.
in his thanksgiving. For these saints, and then he just goes into this rich work. And I wanna just say one thing about good news before you jump in and break these verses down for us, Dr. Horn. The ultimate good news, the word good news, the word for that is gospel.
And we use this word a lot. And so often we make gospel about what we do, what we've done, my decision for Christ, my going forward, raising my hand, my work for him, the fruit I'm bearing. But the fact is, The gospel is the good news of his work for us. And this passage, it's a little Mount Everest right in the middle of Thessalonians, Dr. Horne, of God's work for us.
Break it down for us, will you?
Well, that's great. And I think you did such a great job setting it up for us. I would say, you know, if you really want to get to the heart of the prayer. It's in verse 15, and it's what. Paul is asking God to do for them, right?
Here's. Here's what he's asking for, and it comes in the form of a command. Actually, if you look at verse 15. He says, 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.
So whatever he's going to pray for in this prayer. This is why he's praying. He wants these believers to do two things. He wants them to stand firm, in other words, don't be shaken. Don't be moved off of the ground that the gospel gave you when you turn from idols to worship the true and living God.
Don't be moved away from that. be shaken in your In your stand for Christ on the gospel, right? Don't lose that. And then secondly, hold fast. And what you're supposed to hold fast to is the truth that we taught you when we were with you, and that we wrote you when we sent you an inspired letter.
So these two things. That were so important to Paul for the Thessalonians are the things that should be true in our lives. We should be very, very committed as Christians to standing fast, standing firm. and holding fast. In other words, don't let loose.
Don't give up your grip. On the traditions that we were taught in the scriptures. The word tradition, don't think of that as. Like a Christmas tradition.
Sometimes we'll say to people, Well, our family has a tradition. And like, we always open our gifts on Christmas morning after we read the gospel story. And we always take. Uh, turn so each year one of the kids reads the Christmas story, and that's a horn tradition. We have traditions around birthdays.
At every birthday dinner, we always have a big birthday dinner, and everybody at the table has to go around and say something they really appreciate About the person whose birthday we're celebrating. That's a horror tradition.
Well, everybody has traditions. That's not what Paul's talking about when he says, hold on to your tradition. He's not talking about a particular thing you do in your church or a particular way you order the service. He's talking about truth. there is an established truth that has been handed down by God through his apostles to the church.
That's the tradition that Paul has in mind. And that's what's behind that word that he uses. It's authoritative. Gospel, it's authoritative doctrine, it's authoritative teaching that has been given to the church. By which it is to order its life and establish its parameters.
And Paul says, you need to stand firm on that truth and you need to hold on to it. And the whole prayer. is oriented around those two big ideas and here's the thing we have been given that truth In the letter that we just covered a few months ago in 1 Thessalonians and that we're now covering in 2 Thessalonians.
So we're doing 2,000 plus years later the very thing that Paul was encouraging this church to do 2,000 years ago when he said. Stand firm and hold fast to the truth that we gave you, either in word or by letter.
So we're still doing it and the Prayer kind of opening prayer of Thanksgiving, and then the closing prayer specifically to, you know, for them, that God would preserve them and. And give them great comfort, the comfort of God, the encouragement of Almighty God. Hey, if you think you're encouraged by someone with a gift of exhortation, if you think you're encouraged by someone just giving you a good word after. You know, after maybe you did something big or they're a milestone in your life, imagine being encouraged. By God Almighty.
I love that. And Dr. Horn, it's all that. I love how you kind of made verse 15 the hinge point. It's just, it's important, don't you think, our leaders to go through each aspect of.
God's love, the work of the Father, the work of the Son, the work of the Holy Spirit sanctifying us. You know, this isn't a foreign concept to the Thessalonians. This is something Paul's talked about: sanctifying us, making us holy, making us more like Jesus, and preserving us. And then, you know, there is this idea of God choosing us. We don't want to chase rabbits here, and we don't want to.
You've got the hyper-Arminian view that, hey, I did it all. Hey, I chose him. You know, I asked Jesus in my heart, I did it. It's me. You know, this is on me.
I can walk away. I can walk in. You've got the hyper-Calvinism view that's like, nah. You know, it's all decided. I'm not going to go evangelize.
I'm not going to go share the word. I'm not going to invite anyone to church because. It's already done. We don't want to get. We don't want to become marginalized with this study.
We just want to stop and say, Wow. How do you How do you, Dr. Horn, how have you addressed this? And you're, you know, when you preach through passages like this where people tend to get. you know focused on one way or another and it can be it could be almost divisive Well, the first thing I always want to do is I want to see if there's something in the text.
that tells me how I'm supposed to respond. to whatever is in the text. And if I'm not responding that way to whatever's in the text, then I didn't get the intent. Of why Paul put that in the text.
So let me give you an example. Look at verse 13. Paul says, We ought always to give thanks to God. And We're supposed to give thanks to God for a work that he's doing in the lives of the Thessalonians and in our own life. And part of that work is this work of being chosen, right?
God did something. And when I think about it, instead of it being something that makes me question God's character or God's fairness or God's justice. or makes me at odds with my brother because I don't agree with his view. And if I walk away from verse 13 with an argumentative spirit, or I walk away from verse 13 with a divisive spirit, or I walk away from verse 13 with a jaded spirit toward God, then I totally miss the point of verse 13. Whatever is going on in verse 13, when I get done, my heart should be so full of gratitude to God.
Right. Because that's what Paul says. We ought always to give thanks to God for what I'm about to tell you. And so, what is it that we should be thankful for?
Well, first of all, we should be thankful because the Lord loves us. Right, look at look at their status in verse 13. You are brothers.
So this isn't just everybody, right? This is. A certain group of people who are deeply loved by Christ. The word Lord there. is not all caps if you look at it in your text.
It's a reference to the second member of the Trinity, and we're going to see all three of the members of the Trinity are mentioned in this verse. The first one is Jesus, and the first thing Paul says is: man, when you think about Jesus, And the love he has for you. as a believer who belongs to him it should fill your heart with gratitude And that's important. Because we live in a day and an age where everybody thinks that Jesus loves everybody. In fact, we actually talk this way: we ought to love everybody because Jesus loves everybody.
Well, The scriptures never describe that in those words, right? There are people with whom the Lord is angry. There are people in Romans chapter one who are under his wrath. with whom the Lord is not pleased. He is gracious to everyone.
He is kind and merciful to all, even to his enemies. But when Paul talks about Jesus loving people in this text, he's talking about the people to whom. Uh God has worked in their heart. and brought through the gospel to a relationship with him. And that's the second thing, right?
We are to be filled with gratitude because of the love that Jesus has for us. And that love. Is a result of something that God the Father did. God the Father actually chose us. to be something, right?
The reference here Is that there is a goal that God had? And we were chosen to be the first part of that goal, right? We are the first fruits of something. And the first fruits is a word that just means. There's more coming of whatever the first fruits are the first of.
So if you lived in Old Testament Israel and you were a farmer, And you put a lot of seed down in your field, and you went out, and all of a sudden, you looked over into a section of your field, and there were all of a sudden plants coming up, right? There was a crop coming up. You knew that soon the whole field was going to be full crop. That was just the first. appearance of it.
There's going to be a lot more. And God chose. to bring a harvest of people who would belong to his sons and you Thessalonians were chosen to be the first ones. That's a beautiful thing, right? You are the first ones.
of many more to come 2000 years later There are still people who are becoming part of God's. Church, right? They're coming and belonging to Jesus through the gospel. The gospel that came to the city of Thessalonica 2,000 years ago reaped a harvest. And these believers who are getting this letter were the very first ones.
And Paul says there's going to be a ton more behind you. You are the first ones to be saved.
Now, how are you going to be saved?
Well, the Holy Spirit's going to do something. The Holy Spirit is going to set you apart for a particular work. He's going to open your eyes.
so that you see the truth that you're hearing when I announce the gospel to you. You're going to see that truth. in the face of Jesus. You're going to realize that what you see in Jesus is actually the truth. He's going to quicken your heart.
He's going to give you the ability to respond. A heart that is dead in trespasses and sins not only doesn't want to respond, it can't. And so the Spirit of God is going to set you apart.
So that you understand the truth, and that you can respond to the truth, and you will respond to the truth. And the truth that you're responding to is this. And Paul says it this way. It is belief in the truth. What is the truth he's been telling them?
The truth of the gospel, right?
So verse 13 is a verse that should produce deep gratitude in the life of the Thessalonians for what God the Father has done, what God the Son has done, and what God the Spirit has done in them. that resulted ultimately in them believing the truth. The word belief there is not just intellectual. It's not just, oh yeah, I finally learned that two plus two is four. It's this deeply experiential knowledge.
I discovered the truth about Jesus of Nazareth. And I embrace that truth, and that truth has brought me into a relationship with the living God of heaven, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. Wow, and all that against the backdrop of the heavy. Very Intense gravity of the Antichrist, this evil system, the judgment and doom that he touched on toward the end of chapter one, and then really big in the early part of chapter two. And all these prognosticators, false prophets coming in, saying, Hey, you guys are, you guys are Paul, Paul lied to you.
Christ has come back. The people that have died in Christ, they're toast. You're not going to see your family again. You missed the rapture.
So on and so forth. And now you have this. Glorious news. Dr. Horn, if listen, if someone, next time someone asks me to pray for, asks how they can pray for me.
I, you know, I'm going to ask for wisdom. I always do that. Or pray for patience, right? But how about this? How about pray.
Two Thessalonians. Chapter two, verses thirteen through seventeen for me. Pray that God. Would comfort me with this eternal consolation, this eternal comfort, this eternal, the same word paraclete, I believe, is in there where the Holy Spirit's our comfort or encourager that he would comfort me and that he would establish me for every good work. I mean, this is, this has got to be, when they hear this, this is just such a, this is God wanting just to love us, to hug us, to warm our hearts with a warmth that is lasting.
And I'm just encouraged by this prayer. I woke up. Listen, Doc, I want to share this. I woke up at three in the morning. And man, I don't know why, but I had the worst thoughts hit my mind.
Stuff I'm related to my kids, related to decisions, related to previous conversations. And I just locked in. to the final verse of this passage. And I just say, God, comfort me. I just prayed, Lord, comfort me.
And I started praying that. I was out like a light. Thank the Lord. His word did something there, not me. And I just really believe, Doc, that This is such a beautiful prayer.
And I really want our leaders to not, we get hung up on this election and we get in these debates. Did I choose God? Did he choose me? You know, Spurgeon said, I'm going to preach the gospel. Spurgeon was attacked by the hyper-Calvinist.
They said, Hey, man, what are you doing preaching the gospel? What are you doing inviting people to get saved in your church? What are you thinking, man? You know, what in the world? Where's your high view of salvation?
Blah, blah, blah. And Spurgeon said, I'm going to preach the gospel. I have a high view of salvation because God calls me to. And until I see someone with a letter E stitched on their chest, I'm going to call people to repent because I don't know who is and who isn't elected. We don't know, but we do know this.
We know the God of all election, the God of all comfort, the God of all salvation. And we need to be about introducing people to Him. And we need to make our calling and elections sure, like 2 Peter 1 encouraged us, right, Dr. Horn? Rather than get off on tangents, this needs to be not just theology, this needs to be doxology.
Wouldn't you say, sir? Yeah, and that's exactly what you find in 14, right?
So you've got in verse 15 or 13 rather the work that God has done, you know, the love that Christ has had has for us, the calling that God extended to us, the privilege of being the first fruits of many more to come. and the work the Spirit did in setting us apart. to salvation. uh through belief in the word in the truth And then in verse 14, he says, Let me remind you of two realities. That are never going to change.
Number one, he called you through the gospel. That that is something that has happened that will never change god is never going to revoke that calling God is never going to revoke the citizenship that came with that calling. God is never going to revoke his plans for you. when he summoned you when he called you through the gospel that was a done deal And he's not going to remove you from being the first fruits of what is to come.
So there is a look back. At this glorious reality that has happened, no matter what kind of a bad day I'm having. No matter what kind of sin I fell into, no matter what kind of fear has come over me. There is an unchangeable, unmovable reality that Paul speaks to, and it is this: you were called by God through the gospel. And then there's a forward look.
And it has to do with The ultimate goal of that calling that's already happened, right? God's already called us. But there's a part of the calling that is as sure as the first part, but it hasn't happened yet. And that is this. He called you so that you would obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And that's a really... Odd way of expressing something, and it's this. When Jesus walked on the earth, he looked a lot like everybody else on the planet. Like when you looked at him, he didn't look special. And then one day he took Peter, James, and John up on a mountain and they saw a form of Jesus that they had never ever seen before and they never wanted to come down from that mountain after they saw him that way.
They saw him in the full strength of his glory. And They never really talked about it. They talked about who was there and kind of what they overheard, but they didn't want to come down. In fact, one of them said, let's just build.
Some tabernacles here. Let's build some tents. And just stay here and bask in this glory.
Okay. And then Years later, John Right. had a vision in Revelation 1 where he saw Jesus. And it's glorified. uh body and and he he said He was so overwhelmed by the beauty of what he saw that he fell down like he just fainted on his face.
And one of the things he said is that when I looked at Jesus, it was like looking at the sun. in in its full strength. That's the glory of Jesus. And Paul says. The God who called you through the gospel.
Has promised to give you that same glory. You are going to look. Like Jesus one day. These earthly bodies that are nothing to look at, that are so limited and so broken and so curse-ridden, are one day going to be transformed and they're going to look like Jesus. They're like a seed.
You know, when you take a seed, it looks wrinkled up. It's really nothing to look at. and you put it in the ground and it dies. And then this glorious tree grows out of it. Right, this little tiny acorn that's nothing to look at, and the next thing you know, you got this majestic tree there.
Well, we're going to take these little broken-down bodies, and either God is going to transform them in an instant, or he's going to raise them up out of the grave where we buried them, and they are going to be glorious, they're going to look just like Jesus. That's exactly what he's talking about in verse 14. That's why you can be grateful. Instead of getting bent out of shape about who predestined who to what, Look at what you've been called to, whatever that predestination is or isn't. Here's what it did.
It resulted in an unchangeable calling from God. To you. And it's going to lead to this amazing, glorious. end for you, this result for you, right? And that's why in verse 15 he says, So then, in light of that, brothers.
Stand fast. and hold firm to the teaching That brought this to you. I spoke it to you when I came in chapter one of First Thessalonians. I taught it to you in the letter I wrote to you in 1st Thessalonians, and now I'm writing a second letter to you. Stand firm on this ground.
Don't be moved away from this ground and hold fast to the truth.
So that's why I put that in the middle, right? We can get all bent out of shape about predestination and election and calling and miss. All of this and walk away angry and discouraged, and wondering if God is fair, or we can walk away so charged up. At what God did for us, however, He chose to do it, and what God has promised to do for us, and where He's pointing us, that we are unmovable. And that's the difference between an immature Christian.
who gets tripped up over these ideas and a mature Christian who trusts God. Amen. Such a good word. Jesus is the author, He's the finisher of our faith. He who began a good work, and you will complete it.
Till the day of Christ Jesus, so great, our so great a salvation He's given us, Dr. Horne. This wonderful prayer. Pray it, friends. Pray it in your group.
I might close our group when I leave this coming week. with this exact prayer. Be giving thanks for people, even people that annoy you, as you think about one thing you're thankful for for them. It's amazing how the fog, the anger, resentment will lift as you start to thank God for them. Thank you, Lord, that this person's in my life to challenge me.
I'm praying right now. to you, God, because Of this person and the difficulty I'm having with them.
So, thank you for that. And thank you for the opportunity I have to reach them and touch them. And let's seize this. Great salvation passage as a way to focus on the goodness of the gospel, what he's done for us. And we don't we can't what we don't understand is the Interworkings of the great mind, this great sovereign mind of God.
We don't understand how and why He would save me. such a wretch, such a sinner. What we do understand is that. Wow, the gospel's real. People need the Lord.
Let's take them the gospel and let's thank God for what He's done in our lives. Dr. Horne, will you pray us out of here if you have any other further thoughts too? I just love this passage: 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 13 through 17. Take us out of here, brother.
Yeah, so in verses 16 and 17 we have a benediction. And the benediction is the beauty of the passage, right? It's been going. And he says, Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And God, our Father, and He points us back like He's been doing, right?
Good prayers always point us back and ground us in realities that are true because we often come. Praying because those realities don't appear in our life. We're worried, we're afraid, there's issues that have come up. And Paul says, as I close out, I have a benediction for you, and the benediction is this: May the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us. And gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace.
You've already been given eternal comfort and good hope. What a word to be reminded of. And then he says, now let me tell you what I'm asking God to do for you. And here's what I thought he was going to ask God to do. I want God to get rid of the false teachers.
I want God to get rid of the persecution. I want God to change your circumstance. I want God to take care of everything that's bothering you. And that's not pe that doesn't even make the list. Of things Paul's asking for.
Paul said, I got three things I want God to do. I want God to comfort your heart. I want God to establish you in every good work. And I want God to establish you in every good word. Those are three things I want God to do for you.
And I'm like, well, can't you sneak in? get rid of the false teachers because they're really a pain in the butt. Can't you figure out a way to ask God to get rid of this persecution? Man, I'm being superimposed in the marketplace. I'm about to lose my job.
And Paul says, I'm not asking about those things. I want God to do three things for you: I want Him to comfort your heart. I want him to establish you in every good work. And I want to establish you in every good work word. I want your heart to be strengthened.
I want your labor for Christ to be established. And I want your commitment to his word to be unshakable. And I'm asking God to do those things. You know, that's really what we ought to pray for when we pray for ourselves and we pray for others. In the midst of everything going on, God, would you strengthen my heart so I don't grow discouraged?
Would you establish me in the work you've called me to do so I don't abandon it? And would you establish my commitment and my trust? and my embracing of your word as what governs my life. Not the opinion of my neighbor, not what I listen to on Fox News. not what I, you know, not what I read in some book.
Would you establish my commitment? to your word. And let that word govern my heart. And those are the things that we should be praying for.
So let me pray for those things in our lives and in the lives of our listeners. Lord, we. are so grateful. And we do give you thanks because you loved us and you chose us to be part of the great harvest of people that'll be saved. And Lord, you sent your Holy Spirit to do a work in our hearts so that we would see the truth.
and believe the truth. And Lord, we thank you for the gospel. to which you called us so that one day we would look like your son.
So help us, Lord, to stand firm and to hold fast to the truth of your word. Lord, we pray that you would strengthen our hearts.
so we would not be discouraged under pressure. Lord, establish us in the work you've called us to do so we don't lose heart and we don't grow discouraged. And Lord, give us a deep and abiding commitment. To embrace and know and do your word, and let that word shape us so that we look. And think and respond like your son, whose name we pray and we ask.
Amen. Thank you, Dr. Horn, and thank you for joining us for this Wednesday in the Word podcast. Learn more at wedintheword.com. Follow us on YouTube.
Facebook and all social media, including in Stu Graham. and be encouraged, stay in the word. Read it. Share it, study it, memorize it, and meditate on God's Word. Every word of God is pure.
He is a shield to those who put their trust in him. Proverbs 30 and verse 5.
