2Thessalonians 2:13-17
Comfort to the Believers
I. \\#1:1-12\\ Paul’s Encouragement in Persecution
A. \\#1:1-2\\ Introduction
B. \\#1:3-4\\ Encouragement by Prayer and Spiritual Bragging
C. \\#1:5-10\\ Encouragement by Describing The End of Their Persecution
D. \\#1:11, 12\\ Encouragement with An Offer of Spiritual Blessing
II. \\#2:1-17\\ Paul’s Explanation of the Day of the Lord
A. \\#2:1-2\\ The Comfort of Truth
B. \\#2:3-12\\ The Events Preceding the Day of the Lord
C. \\#2:3-12\\ The Power of the Anti-Christ
D. \\#2:13-17\\ The Comfort of the Believer on the Day of the Lord -
Paul’s point in writing this letter was to comfort the Thessalonians.
He has now laid the doctrinal groundwork to be able to do so.
III. \\#3:1-18\\ Paul’s Exhortation to the Church
A. \\#3:1-5\\ Wait Patiently for Christ
B. \\#3:6-15\\ Withdraw from the Disorderly
C. \\#3:16-18\\ Conclusion
I. \\#2:13-17\\ The Comfort of the Believer on the Day of the Lord
A. \\#13\\ "God hath… chosen you to salvation"
1. This passage typically turns the conversation away from the
Thessalonians doctrinal error toward the topic of "predestination."
2. While I have no problem discussing that doctrine, let’s ask another
question first.
3. Which salvation is Paul talking about?
a. Christians are so accustomed to speaking of salvation in the
spiritual sense (especially in the Bible), that we no we sometimes
fail to recognize that the word could mean anything else?
(1) Remember that the context of this letter is the false thought
that the church might go through the tribulation.
(2) It possible that Paul, having shown that their notion was
not doctrinally sound, was now pointing out that they were
"saved" from the Day of the Lord?
b. If so Paul’s use of the word here does not refer to a spiritual
salvation at all but a physical one.
(1) Christians, because they will not go through the Day of the
Lord, have been "saved" from it.
(2) In the same moment when they were spiritual saved from sin and
hell, they were physically saved from the judgment of the
the tribulation and the Day of the Lord.
(3) I believe this is the second passage in these two letters
where Paul speaks of salvation in this manner.
1Thess 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ,
(a) It seems even more certain that 1Thess 5:9 is speaking of
being saved from the Day of the Lord.
(b) Yet, the context of both of these passages is the Day of
the Lord not hell and damnation,
4. If that is the case, and I think it is, then…
a. Paul was comforting the saints by telling them that God
determined "from the beginning" that we would be saved from
the coming days of wrath and judgment.
(1) Regardless of what we are being saved from. this would be an
example of God’s sovereign will.
(2) God decided that Himself, at the very beginning, before
there was sin, salvation, or a seven-year tribulation.
b. However, in the next verses, Paul explains what made them (and us)
part of that "saved" group.
(1) \\#13\\ The work of God makes us apart of that "saved" group.
(a) He says "sanctification of the Spirit" was necessary.
i. Sanctification mean being set a part.
ii. The Holy Spirit set every Christian a part from
the world to deal with him/her on a personal,
one-on-one basis.
(b) It is this personal work of the Holy Ghost which brings
us to Christ.
Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and
I will raise him up at the last day.
(c) It is my belief that the Holy Spirit speaks to every
person about the need for salvation.
(d) What we shall see is that when the Holy Ghost draws
with the presentation of the Word of God, something
marvelous can occur.
Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
(2) \\#13\\ A work of faith makes us apart of that "saved" group.
(a) It is also by "the belief of the truth."
(b) In order to believe in the truth, two things are
necessary.
i. A knowledge of truth.
aa. While the Holy Ghost does the drawing, some-
one must do the preaching.
bb. God’s plan for men and women to be saved has
always included an evangelist.
Ro 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how
shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear
without a preacher?
cc. No one will be spared the tribulation who
has not had the gospel preached to them.
ii. Faith in the truth.
aa. But even then, no one is automatically spared.
bb. Upon hearing the truth, one must believe the
truth and then apply it to their own life.
(3) \\#14\\ "Whereunto he called you by our gospel"
(a) When all three of these elements come together (the
convicting of the Holy Ghost, hearing the truth,
believing that truth), then the GOSPEL does its work!
(b) Paul credits the Thessalonians salvation from the Day
of the Lord to power of the gospel.
(c) It was Paul and his troop’s message of salvation that
allowed the Thessalonians to hear the truth, be
convicted by the Holy Ghost, and trust in Jesus.
(d) Paul’s work and the Thessalonians faith is what
allowed God’s predetermined will to be accomplished.
(e) While you are thinking on that thought, let’s discuss
the doctrine of predestination.
B. Has God predestined some to be saved and some to be lost?
1. NO. God has not predetermined WHO would go to heaven, but HOW all will
go to heaven.
2. This text illustrates that very thought.
a. \\#13\\ Paul describes God sovereignty.
(1) These Thessalonians, like all Christians, had been chosen to
be "saved" from the tribulation.
(2) Yet, to fulfill that determination, the Holy Ghost had to
separate them, the gospel had to be preached to them, and
the people had to believe.
b. So what had God determined? He determined that those who would
hear and accept the gospel through the ministry of the Holy Spirit
would escape the future earthly judgment.
3. So again I say, Paul’s work and the Thessalonians faith is what allowed
God’s predetermined will to be accomplished.
4. By the way, the end is the same no matter whether you define salvation
in this verse as saved physically from the Day of the Lord or saved
spiritually from hell.
a. To be one is to be the other.
b. However, to understand the word "salvation" in the context gives
the additional comfort to these and all believers that they need
not fear the Day of the Lord, which was what Paul wrote the letter
to accomplish.
C. Sometimes, those who are strong advocates for the sovereignty of God need
to really understand the fact that God is sovereign; meaning, He can
do whatever He wants.
1. I don’t mean that as an insult or sarcasm.
a. However, some advocates of the sovereignty of God want to insist
that man has no choice in his/her eternal destiny.
b. They believe that if a human being does, God ceases to be
sovereign.
2. What they fail to see is that God in His sovereignty made a decision.
a. God has determined HOW men and women will be saved and WHAT will
happen to them if they are not, THEN GOD LETS THEM DECIDE.
b. To deny that God can do that is to deny God’s sovereignty.
c. It is also to deny the Scriptures.
Re 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say,
Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water
of life freely.
Lu 9:5 And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off
the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.
Joh 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried,
saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and
who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him,
and he would have given thee living water.
3. Let me state that if God had wanted to predetermine who goes to heaven
and who goes to hell, I would have no theological problem with it.
a. If me and mine were selected to go, I’d have a really big personal
problem with it, but I completely understand that God is God and
He need not ask our permission to do anything.
b. However, that position cannot be justified based on ALL the
Scriptures.
c. The Scripture clearly states ANYONE can be saved, ANYONE can remain
lost, ANYONE can ask and receive!
4. It is SCRIPTURE that must determine our doctrine not merely TRUTH.
a. That may sound contradictory, but let me explain.
b. The Bible is a collection of truths that apply to the human race.
(1) There are many truths that do not apply to us.
(2) Scientists speak of our sun one day burning out, of the
probabilities of a meteorite hitting and destroying all human
life on our planet, or of some other world-wide annihilation.
(3) I don’t know if all of their facts are correct or not, but it
really doesn’t matter.
(4) Even if their facts and figure are correct, the world is not
going to end in one of those ways because God in the Bible
has given us TRUTH THAT TELLS US EXACTLY HOW LIFE ON THIS
PLANET WILL END.
(5) So then, the truth in this Book supersedes all other truths.
c. It is true that God is sovereign.
(1) However God, in the Bible, has given us promises of a choice
in where we spend eternity.
(2) When God made those promises, God bound Himself to keep those
promises.
(3) So then, the truth in this Book supersedes all other truths.
5. Now someone might ask, did God then abdicate His sovereignty?
a. I would say no.
b. I would say that God in His sovereignty gave us a choice.
c. The choice is limited to accept Jesus or not, but it is our choice
to make.
Now, let’s close by remembering what Paul was doing in this chapter. He had
corrected the doctrinal error of this church by telling them the order of events
for the end time.
1. First, a falling away.
2. Then, the Withholder (likely the Holy Spirit) would be withdrawn.
3. Then, the anti-Christ would be revealed.
Then Paul points out that God, in His sovereignty, had determined that those who
believed in Christ would be saved from the Day of the Lord.
\\#14\\ Instead, they are to "obtain the glory of the Lord."
\\#15\\ So, STAND FAST (stay strong) and HOLD THE TRADITIONS WHICH YE HAVE BEEN
TAUGHT (remember what you have been taught).
This is comfort. Paul comforts them and us that we need not fear the Day of the
Lord, for God has a better plan for us.
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