Stand Firm

Good morning. Would y'all stand with us? We want to welcome you to Calvary Chapel this morning. As we gather to worship the Lord in song and study His Word, would you join me in prayer? Father, we thank you for this opportunity this morning, on this cold morning, that you would warm our hearts as we worship and as we study this morning, as we fellowship with you and one another.

Father, would you be glorified? We want to glorify you in all that we do, Lord. We want to depend on you, Lord, your strength, your wisdom, your guidance. And so as we gather, we pray that you would just impart your spirit of wisdom to us in the revelation of the knowledge of you, that we would just realize that light that you have shown on us, you, the light of the Lord.

The way, the truth, and the life. The inheritance we have in you, the hope we have in you, as you redeemed us. You paid the price as we were really slaves to sin. We're born sinners.

Your side was pure to have ascended to you. We're asking for your blessing on us, Lord. We're asking that you be with those that don't feel well, Lord. Those who may be discouraged. May we be built up in the faith this morning. By faith, we come to you.

We're still standing. We're still sitting. We're enjoying food and all that good stuff. We're enjoying him. And so as long as we're on topside of the earth, as old Dr. McGee used to say,

you want us to love you, to look to you, to trust you, to serve you, Lord. Because you loved us, we love you. May that be our motive to serve, Lord. You're so good, Lord. In our hearts, you drew us by your Holy Spirit. What a mess we were. Of course, we still are. But we're saved messes now. You're doing a work in our heart. And as we look to you and trust you, as you work us through those messes,

we experientially learn to walk through those things.

I was running, separated far too wide. But from the far side, heaven's throne of sin.

By the blood of the Lord to his name. Thank you, Jesus. Oh, we praise you. Thank you for saving us, Lord.

How lonely it was before we come to know you. We knew people and around people. I remember being in groups of people and just feeling by myself. My heart was empty. Tried to be good. Tried to do what was right. Could never measure up.

And it's hard on a perfectionist, I'll tell you. Because you try. You screw up. But oh, thank you for Lord Jesus. Yes. We're his. We belong to him. If there be any among us this morning, that don't know you, Lord Jesus, I pray you'd test your hearts. It will not be uneasy. Nobody's going to come up on him and say, be saved. Or anything like that. We're going to pray that you are.

But oh, God loves you. It's lonely without him. And the emptiness without him. The sin that separates. Thank you for the work of the cross. He's yours. Amen.

That's why we're yours, Lord Jesus. As we sang earlier, we thank you, Lord, that you're doing a work of the cross. You're working each of our hearts daily as we seek you, as we, to you, Lord, wanting to trust you, Lord.

And just lift us up right now, the Lord, you would just move in our hearts, Lord. Let us just continue to relax and worship, Lord. That is who you are. That is who you're touching.

Light in the light is who you are. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working. It's your work. It's your work. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working.

We thank you, Lord, that you.

It's the work of your Holy Spirit. We just seek to be your instruments, to be used of you, Lord.

You could do your work with the Holy Spirit in the way you chose. But it appears that you've chosen to use humans to share with humans. How interesting that is. Because our Lord Jesus, God Creator, took upon himself the form of a servant. Born a baby in Bethlehem. Needed to be tended to, held by his mama. His diapers changed and all that kind of thing, Lord.

That's quite a position to take as God. To walk among us. To live among us. To example to us. To example to us. To example to us. To example to us. To example to us. To example to us. To example to God. Because that's one of his names, Emmanuel, God with us. Oh, how wonderful that is, Lord. That you chose to do that for us. It just makes us want to say thank you, Lord.

To worship you. To praise you. To be willing to come down to earth for us. As old Dr. McGee said, it'd be like us becoming an ant and going down to another place. That'd be like us going down to another place. anthill trying to let them know about salvation. What an experience that would be, huh? Jesus God did it for us, became a man. Thank you, Lord. Would you all stand? A little stretch into the legs,

if you're able to stand. Let it ever cease to walk out to the earth. Let us sing majesty, praise, and bow down. Jesus, Lord, the strength. Let us shout to the sky for joy. Thank you, Lord Jesus. And so as we continue our service, Lord, please just anoint Pastor Ryan by the power of your Holy Spirit to bring forth your word, that it would do its work in each of our hearts, Lord,

that it would instruct, reprove all those things that your word does in our hearts. Teach us,

exhort us, encourage us. We thank you, Jesus. And just by your Holy Spirit, come upon us afresh. Overflow us, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. The Lord bless you all. Let's have a little fellowship.

Good morning. If you could begin to locate your seat, grab a bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you have joined us this morning. Some things to take note of. First of all, as always, on the left-hand side are things that go on throughout the week. So find yourself a spot to get plugged into. In the middle section,

just a reminder that we do have some opportunities for people to serve, places for people to serve. If you want to get involved in that, love to have you get involved. Come visit with me afterwards, and we can try to point you in the right direction for that. Also, today is Sanctity of Life Sunday. Sanctity of Life Sunday is when we remember that we still have a major issue that we deal with in

this nation, and that issue is abortion. We remember to pray for moms that are facing decisions, young moms that are facing hard decisions in their lives. We want to remember to pray for the unborn. We want to remember to pray for fathers, that they would point moms in the right direction. And we want to remember to pray for those moms who maybe at some point in time have made a life-altering decision, and now they

need the restorative power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. So that's today. I was hoping to have the Family Life Services girls here today. I'm going to ask them to pray for the unborn. But they were already booked for another church, so they're going to be coming to share next week about that ministry, but be praying for those things. So those are the things that are going

on. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 139. Psalm 139. Looking at the New American Standard for this part so that we sound the same. If you need a copy, there should be one in a row around you. And as you are turning to Psalm 139, we're going to be in Psalm 139.

Psalm 139, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word.

I will read the odd verses, if you will follow along with Pastor Allen, and the even verses. Psalm 139, for the choir director, a Psalm of David. O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down and are intimately in your sight. You know when I sit down and when I rise up.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You know when I sit down and when I rise up.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You know when I sit down and when I rise up.

with all my ways even before there is a word on my tongue behold O Lord you know it all you have enclosed me behind and before and laid your hand upon me such knowledge is too wonderful for me it is too high I cannot attain to it where can I go from your spirit or where can I flee from your presence if I ascend to heaven you are there if I make my bed and she'll be old you are there if I take the wings of the dawn if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea even there your hand will lead me and your right hand will lay hold of me if I say surely the darkness will overwhelm me and the light around me will be night even the darkness is not dark to you and the night is as bright as the day darkness and light are alike to you for you formed

my inward parts you wove me in my mother's womb I will give thanks to you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made wonderful are your works and my soul knows it very well my frame was not hidden from you when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth your eyes have seen my unformed substance and in your book were all written the days that were ordained for me when as yet there was no one of them how precious also are your thoughts to me O God how vast is the sum of them if I should count them they would outnumber the sand when I awake I am still with you oh that you would slay the wicked O God depart from me therefore men of bloodshed for they speak against you wickedly and your

enemies take your name in vain do I not hate those who hate you O Lord and do I not loathe those who arise against you I hate them with the utmost hatred they have become my enemies search me O God and know my heart try me and know my anxious thoughts and see if there be any hurtful way in me and lead me in the everlasting way and father we do pray that you would do that for us now Lord search our hearts see if there be any anxieties inside of us and Lord lead us in the way everlasting and father we do want to take a minute to pray for Lord for those in our nation that are continuing to perform a abortion that you would put a stop to it that you would put an end to it Lord we

pray for the heart of our nation the heart of mothers that as they're facing tough decisions Lord that they would know that there is a godly option father that we as the church would come along and support in those instances father I pray for for good dads that want to love and support their their wives and their kids and Lord we we pray for for those that have made wrong decisions and God we just pray for that that work of your Holy Spirit to be in their lives to bring restoration and to bring repentance Lord and redemption father we just thank you for who you are in Jesus name Amen you may be seated if you would open up in your Bibles to the book of 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 2nd Thessalonians

chapter 2 Paul had brought instructions to the Thessalonians people about the end times because they were concerned that because of the things that they were going through that they were actually living through the day of the Lord were living through that time of judgment that would come upon all of the world. They thought that they had missed the rapture, they had missed the escape, and that they were living through that time. And so Paul had written to them, first of all, to encourage them, second of all, to instruct them. And as he instructed them on the truth of the Antichrist, the end times, and some of those signs that would be there during the day of the Lord, he now takes time to encourage them

to stand firm. Because ultimately, at the end of the day, he was writing to a people who were broken because of the things that were going on around them. He was writing to a church, to a group of people that was facing intense affliction, that was facing deep persecution, and they were finding themselves in a place where they just wanted to give up. And because of that, he penned this book, not only to instruct them, but so that they could continue to stand in the midst of hard times, so that they could continue to stand.

In the midst of difficult times. And so as we look at these last few verses of chapter 2, I've given it the title, Stand Firm. Because when life is hard, we have to stand on what we know to be true. And so we pick up in verse 13, and this is what it says.

So then, brethren, stand firm. Hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word. Now, let's start to look at three things that he tells us in these last handful of verses about standing firm.

He's going to tell us about our position. He's going to tell us a command. And then he is going to give us God's comfort. And so the first thing that we want to look at is our position in Christ. He starts off by saying, but we should always, verse 13, give thanks to God for you, brethren. Now, what segues us into this is he had just talked about those who would give way to deception.

who would give way to the strong delusion, those who loved wickedness more than the truth. They loved unrighteousness more than righteousness, and so they gave in to the deception. And so in stark contrast to those people, he says, but we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren. He says, I'm so thankful for you. And I love the word that he uses there.

He uses the word brethren. Now, I think it was the Amplified Bible, it might have been the New Living Translation, that translated that just a little bit of a different way, and it translated it, my family. And I really appreciated that, because sometimes we hear the word brethren in Scripture, and we don't use that word real often, unless you're in a church setting, and even then, we don't always understand the idea that that carries with it. But when you look that word up, it literally means a brother by blood, or one who is bonded like a brother.

That's what the word brethren means. And so it's a family word, and I think that that's an important thing for us to pay attention to, because I like to remind us that that's what we are when we come together as the church. When you show up here on a Sunday morning, you're not just attending some sort of a club that you signed up for. You're not just attending a building with a bunch of other people who happen to believe the same way that you do.

You're showing up to a family meeting. You're showing up to a family reunion every Sunday morning. And if we will begin to view church like that, if we will begin to view every gathering like that, and the people sitting around you like that, it will change the way that you view the people sitting around you. Because then they are no longer your weird uncle.

Now they're your brother. They're your weird uncle in Christ, right? Because that's family. And family is together no matter what, because family has a deeper bond. And our bond goes deeper than physical family, because our bond is deeper than a physical blood bond. Our bond is a deeper spiritual blood bond, because it's the blood of Jesus Christ. And that should change the way that you view the people sitting around you,

because you have a vested interest in their life, because they are your family. And so no longer are they just that person that you sit next to sometimes on a Sunday morning, they're the people that you want to invest in, because they will be the people that you spend eternity with. And he says, we ought always to give thanks to you, to God for you, my family. And so start viewing each other as that kind of family.

And then he goes on to say, we ought always to give thanks for your brethren. And then he describes them one more way, beloved by the Lord, beloved by the Lord. That means God loves. Beloved by the Lord loves us. That's the idea of beloved. It means loved by God, dearly loved by God. Now, one of the greatest truths of all of scripture is that God loves us. As a matter of fact, it is written all over every single page of scripture.

You're like, Ryan, what about the genealogy? Have you ever thought about the fact that God thought it was so important to keep track of the genealogy that he wrote down everybody's names? You ever wonder why that's so important? It's because God knows everybody's names. God knows the names of everyone because he loves you so much. Your name is not unfamiliar to him.

Your name is not new to him. God knew your name before you were even created. That's how much God loves you. And that love of God is written all over the pages of all of scripture. It is one of the deepest theological truths you can ever find yourself knowing. Something that you can never exhaust the resources of. Something that you can never plumb the depths of.

Something that will give you greater comfort, greater joy, and greater understanding than anything else that you can know is to know the love of God. That's why Paul prayed, Lord, that they would be able to know the height and the depth and the width and the length, that they could know and understand the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge, because it'll take all of eternity for us to figure out the love of God. As a matter of fact, one of the great Bible teachers of all times, a guy by the name of Alan Redpath, sat in a meeting with a group of young pastors that were just about to graduate seminary, and he allowed a Q&A time. And these guys were asking him questions.

And one of them said, I want to know what the greatest theological truth you've ever learned in all of scripture is. And Dr. Alan Redpath sat back and thought for a second, and he said, Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells me so. This guy had been studying the Bible his entire life and had a doctorate in theology, and he says, that's the greatest truth I've ever learned.

Because the greatest truth that our heart longs for the most is to know that we are loved by the God. The God who created us, the very purpose for which we exist on this earth. He says, we ought always to give thanks to God for you, my family, you who are loved so deeply by God. And he goes on to talk about our position. Not only are we loved by God, but notice what he says.

We should always, verse 13, give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning. For salvation. Now, I don't know if you realize this about who you are. Some people struggle with this thought. They struggle with this theology. But you have been chosen by God. If you're here this morning, and you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you are a believer

in Jesus Christ because God chose you. As a matter of fact, we're told in the book of Ephesians that God chose you before the foundations of the world. Now, some people struggle with this because they believe that if this positive thing is true, that it automatically means that the negative is true. If God chose some people to be saved, then he might have chosen them.

If God chose some people to be saved, then he might have chosen them. If God chose some people to be saved, then he might have chosen them. Some people must have chosen some people to not be saved, and I don't see that in Scripture. But what I do see is that God chose you. And that if you're here this morning, and you have received Jesus as your Lord and Savior,

it's because God, out of all of the names, was like, I want him. I want her. Right? I always use the analogy of the fact that, I don't know if you realize this or not, but I'm a pretty short guy. And any time we were choosing up, and that's not new, okay? Some people are like, I was the tallest person in sixth grade. I was never the tallest person in any class I've ever been in, in my entire life.

I was never the tallest person in any class I've ever been in, in my entire life. Right? Like, I stopped growing at the age of 11, and I don't think I've done anything since then. And I didn't do a whole lot up to that point in time. But I was always chosen last. Basketball teams getting chosen. I'll take that guy. I'll take that guy. I guess we'll take Ryan.

Right? God chose me. Maybe you feel that way, too. Maybe sometimes you feel like you're the one that gets chosen last. You're the one that nobody wants. I want you to know, God wants you. Because God chose you. And you have been chosen from the beginning for salvation. So that he can... He can gift you with brand new life. Bask in that. Glory in that. Find your confidence in that.

Stop finding your confidence in the things of the world and what you can do and what you can own and what you can provide. And start finding your confidence in the fact that God chose you. And he chose you from the beginning. And so not only are you beloved by God, but you are chosen by God for salvation. But then notice what he says next. He says, But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord,

because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Holy Spirit. Now, I'm going to give you just a little bit of a different understanding. Usually we look at the word sanctification and we think about the process of becoming like Christ. And usually, a lot of times in Scripture, that's the context in which it's used. That's not the context it's used in here.

The idea here is somebody that sets something aside for a purpose. Let me put it to you this way. God set you apart for salvation by the working of the Holy Spirit. You know what that means? That means that if you are born again here this morning, you can look back and you can see all of the ways that God was setting you apart up until the point in time when you finally came to know Jesus.

Right? I think one of the best things you can do is to look back on your life and think about everything that led you up to the place where you became born again. Everything that led you up to the place of faith, right? I can tell those stories in my life, but one of the greatest joys for me is hearing those stories from my wife. When I first met my wife, she was a brand new baby Christian.

She got saved literally the month I moved back from California. It's almost like God knew exactly what was going on, right? So she's a brand new baby Christian. And it was fascinating for me in those times of us dating and then when we first got married for her to look back and go, I don't think I realized it, but that was the Holy Spirit. Like that was God at work in my life.

That was him setting me apart for salvation. And that's what God does with us. And so if you're here this morning, especially if you're a newer believer, I want you to think about all of the times that you're like, wow, that was God setting me apart for salvation. That was God doing his work in my life because that's the position that you're in. You are beloved by God.

You are chosen by God and you were set apart by God. Some of you, it took him a little bit longer than others. But in some of you, God is in the process of doing that now. And you're going, why? Why am I at this stupid church listening to that short, bald guy this morning? Because God is setting you apart for salvation. And this is just part of your story. And you'll be able to look back and go, I remember the first Sunday I finally went to church.

I remember the first Sunday somebody finally drug me to church. And he started talking about the Holy Spirit and Jesus and God and salvation. And I didn't get any of it at the point in time. But now I realize that was God setting me apart for salvation. That's what God was doing in me. And that's what maybe God is doing in you here this morning. So not only are you loved by God, not only are you chosen by God, not only are you set apart by God,

but all of that comes through faith in the truth. Now this is the only part we play in all of this. We believe what God said. We believe what God said to be true. He said, this is salvation. We believed it. John chapter 6. Jesus had just fed the 5,000. They wanted more bread. So they come to him. They're asking him all these questions and they say, what must we do to work the works of God?

And Jesus said, believe on him whom he has sent, indicating himself. So what is the work that we do? We believe, right? We show up and we believe God. I believe what you said was true. You're like, right. Aren't we supposed to do good works? Good works flow from your faith. Sanctification flows from your faith because what you believe affects the way you act, because what you believe affects the things that you do.

And so when you put your faith in Jesus, it changes everything about who you are. And so as he continues on with this idea of position, we see that we are loved by God. We are chosen by God. We are sanctified God. All we did was believe the truth, but there's an end to it as well. Notice what it says in verse 14. And it was for this salvation that he called you through our gospel that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus.

Christ. That means we have a hope of glory in the future. A couple of scriptures I want you to think about. You don't have to turn there, but I might want you to write them in the margin of your Bible. First one is Romans 8, verse 18. Romans 8, verse 18 says, For I consider that the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to come.

The sufferings of this present life, they're not worthy to be compared with the glory that we have waiting. They're not worthy to be compared with the glory that we have waiting for us in heaven. What glory do we have waiting for us in heaven? First John, chapter 3, verse 2 says, Beloved, now we are the children of God. And even though it's not yet been revealed what we shall be, we know that one day we will be like him, the glory, because we will see him as he truly is.

That's the hope that we have, and that hope purifies us. You see, brothers and sisters, things may be hard on this earth now, but we have glory waiting for us. Listen. We won't share in the deity of Christ, but we will share in the glory of Christ as we receive those glorified bodies from him. Can you imagine being a Thessalonian believer at this time? Life is so hard that you think you're living through the judgment of God with the affliction and the persecution that you're going through.

And Paul says, I'm just so thankful for you. I'm so thankful for you because you are loved by God, because you are chosen by God, because you've been set apart by God, because you have believed. And because you have a glory that's waiting for you, a glory that is waiting for you in the future that all of the hardships of this life do not compare to. They're not worthy to be compared with that kind of glory.

Hang on, kids, because there's hope. And so after he talks to them about their position in Christ, he now gives them the command. Notice what it says. Verse 15. So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions, which we're taught, whether by word of mouth or by a letter from us. He tells them to do two things. The first thing that he tells them to do is to stand firm.

The idea behind that in the Greek is to keep standing firm. It's what you're doing now. Keep doing it. Keep standing firm. And I want you to create a picture in your head of what this is, okay? I want you to picture you're driving out in the country in Kansas, right? We're there. We can see it, right? And you drive by one of those hedgerows, right? And in the middle of that hedgerow, you see all those trees,

and they may have a heavy lean one direction or the other, but they've stood strong. And if you're like me, you've been driving by them for the past 44 years of your life, right? And so you've seen those same trees there all the time, and they've continued to stand strong. And while they look a little beaten, while they have a little bit of a lean to them, they are standing firm.

Because nothing's going to, to prevent them standing in the midst, even of the biggest storms of life. That's the idea of what he wants us to do. Keep standing firm. Keep holding strong. Don't give up. So what does he mean by that? What, what does he mean by standing firm? What does that mean for us? Well, I wrote down a handful of things and, oh, I forgot to have him put them up there.

I wrote down a handful of things. So, so listen, there's no TikTok anymore. So you just got to take notes as we go. Okay. So just focus. Okay. Stand firm. Number one, you need to stand firm in who you are in Christ. Stand firm in who you are in Christ. Listen, that position that I just told you about, the enemy wants you to forget about that position every single day of your life.

He wants you to forget that you have been chosen by God, to forget that you are loved by God, to forget that you have been set apart unto God, and to forget that you have glory waiting for you. He wants you to forget about that. And listen, your flesh doesn't always think of it because your flesh is usually focused on this world and how hard this world is. But you've got to keep that position.

You've got to keep standing firm on who you are in Christ. Even if every single day you have to wake up and say, today I am a child of God and I have been chosen by God and I'm not going to believe any lies of the enemy. I'm really passionate about this because I went through years of my life not believing who I was in Christ. And even though I was a Christian, I lived like I wasn't.

Not because I was living in the world, but because I was living in despair. Because I struggled with really knowing who I was in Christ. And I want you to know and I want you to stand firm in that. Be like that hedgerow that says, the winds of doubt may come, the winds of difficulty may come, but I'm going to stand firm on who I am in Christ. Number two, stand firm in spite of the hardship that you are facing.

Stand firm in spite of the hardship that you are facing. It's amazing how when things get hard in our lives, sometimes the first thing that we do is we say, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. What we want to do is run from faith. You ever notice that? Usually we blame God. Usually we maybe even get a little mad at God. And then we go, you know what?

I'm just, I'm just not going to, it's just too hard. I'm just going to run from this thing. Listen, you have to keep standing firm, even in the face of trials, even in the midst of really hard things. Because your faith doesn't change, even when it's hard. You know what I've appreciated so much about, about what we've seen with a lot of pro and college athletes,

really proclaiming their faith in Jesus Christ is everybody's like, well, sure they can say that Jesus is good when they've won the championship. What about when they've lost? You know what I've started seeing they're standing firm, even when they lose. And I love that because they say, you know what? Nothing changed about who I am in Christ. Nothing changed about who I am as a believer in Jesus Christ.

And I appreciate that because listen, everybody can stand when everything's going right, right, man, when the bills are all paid and your vehicles paid off and, and everything's great at work and your kids cleaned their rooms that day and, and they're doing everything you want them to do and, and you love everybody that you work with and, and everything's the happiest it's ever been. It's easy to stand firm then, but then the other 365 days of the year come because that was a leap year, right? And you're like, what now? Well, you still got to stand firm because listen, faith isn't faith until it's tested, right?

So keep standing firm, even in the midst of hard thought, of hard times. Hard things. Number three, stand firm because God will bring relief and retribution. Stand firm because God will bring relief and retribution. Remember how we started in chapter one, they were going through hard times. They were facing persecution and Paul said, listen, God is just okay.

And he's going to bring you relief, sometimes temporary relief now, but definitely relief in the future when you have that future glory. But he also knows how to deal with the people that are giving you a hard time because some of y'all in here, just like the Thessalonians people, some of y'all are dealing with hard things because life's just hard. And you're dealing with sickness and you're dealing with illness, but there's not one person that did that to you. It's just, it's just life, right?

Except when your three year old brings sickness home and then it's their fault. But even then, you know, um, there's just life is just hard, but some of y'all are dealing with hard things because people have treated you like garbage. Some of y'all are dealing with hard things because, because people are making your life hard and God knows how to give relief and God knows how to bring retribution. God knows how to deal with the people that are creating the issues in your life.

Either on this side of eternity or on the other side of eternity. And we can stand strong because God will bring relief and retribution. Number four, we need to stand strong. Number four, I lettered these. Number four, we need to stand strong because the spirit of deception is already at work. Remember what he said last week? Remember we talked about that, that that spirit of lawlessness is already at work.

That spirit of deception is already at work. And we have to pay attention to that, because Paul wrote this 2000 years ago, and things haven't gotten better since then in that amount of time. There's been there's been more false doctrines. There's been more false teachings. There's been more cults and everything else that have been created in that spirit of deception.

That spirit of flesh is at work even more. So you have to stand strong on what's true because what's false is always put in front of you. And then number five, we stand strong. We stand firm because our sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory, because our sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory, because our sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory, because our sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory, listen, it's gonna end.

There's gonna come a time where we win, right? And our sufferings today don't compare to what's waiting for us. So stand firm. The second thing that he tells them to do after the fact that they need to stand firm is that they need to hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us. Now, before I get into this, I want to take just a moment and talk about traditions, right?

Because we need to be a little bit careful about tradition. There are some who have taken this verse and taken it out of its context and have said that we should now put the traditions of men on the same playing field with the Bible. There's actually an entire movement that started in the middle 500s that actually does this. They put traditions right alongside of the Word of God, and that's not good.

Because that's not even what Paul's saying here. See, at this point in time, there was no New Testament. The New Testament wasn't written yet because they were in the process of writing it. And so what they did is they taught the truth as given to them by Jesus through the Holy Spirit using the Old Testament. And that's what the New Testament is for us. So they were giving us this doctrine.

And so we have to be careful to understand what he means by traditions because, believe it or not, the Bible actually warns against a lot of traditions. It warns, first of all, against the traditions of religion. Actually, Jesus himself warned against that. Lots of times throughout, we just read the Gospels, and he's always talking about the problem with their traditions.

But one of the big ones is in the book of Matthew when he says, you teach as doctrine the traditions of man, and you ignore the weightier matters of the law. So we have to be careful because God's never going to violate his Word through traditions. So we always have to put the Word first. The second thing that we're told in the Bible, to be aware of when it comes to traditions, is the traditions of man.

In Colossians 1, verse 8, it says, And so we have to be careful with this. So what do we do? How do we know what the right traditions to hold on to are? Well, the right traditions will, first of all, always line up with what God's Word has to say. So if it's a tradition in a church or one that you hold for yourself, know that if it does not line up with God's Word,

it's not something that you need to do. The second thing is it will never violate God's Word. So if it's something that you're like, well, that's the opposite of what the Bible says, then it's probably not a good tradition. Because that means it's a tradition of man that we don't need to hold on to. But what he's talking about here is the Word of God is taught by the apostles.

That's why he says by word of mouth or by a letter from us. So we're taking this as the Word of God. And what he says that we need to do is that we need, to hold to the traditions that we were taught. That word hold means to hold fast or to maintain a tight grip. To maintain a tight grip. Now, it's so important for us to do this with the Word of God. Because one of the greatest attacks that the enemy brings against us

is against the Word of God. And the first thing that he will say is, did God really say? You know why I know that's the first thing he says? Because in Genesis chapter, did you remember the first thing he said to Eve? Did God really say? Did God really say this? And he'll do it in really big ways. We're making you question things about God and salvation and eternity and things like that.

And he'll do it in really small ways. Like, oh, that's not really sin, is it? I think we've learned a little bit more since then. I think we're a little more advanced than they were in biblical days. And we understand a little bit more what sin actually looks like. He'll do it in big and small ways. But that's what he'll do. He'll make us question it. And because of that, we have to hold tight.

We have to hold fast, maintain a firm grip on the Word of God. Now, that means something. That means that if you're going to maintain a tight grip on God's Word, you need to first of all have, wait for it, a tight grip on God's Word. It's really hard to hold fast to something that you haven't started holding on to to begin with. And so if you're going to hold fast to God's Word,

you need to first of all know what it has to say. That's why now for the second year in a row, we have put an opportunity in the bulletin for you to read all the way through the Bible in a year. I don't care if you read through the whole Bible in a year or the Old Testament in a year or the New Testament in a year or the book of Matthew in a year. Just be in the Bible every day.

Now, working with enough young people and me remembering myself what it's like to be this way, I hear people say it all the time, you know what the problem we have with the Bible is? I don't understand. I don't understand it. It's hard. It's hard to read, right? I've dealt with several different groups on this throughout this week. Matter of fact, I sat down with a wonderful group

of college kids the other night and I said, what do you guys want to see happen in your lives this year? What are your spiritual goals? And they were like, we want to be in the Word more. I said, okay, well, what's going to keep that from happening? They were like, we don't understand it. I'm like, well, that's fair. It's hard to understand the Word. So tonight we're going to start learning

how to study God's Word together because that's the thing you've got to do. But we talked about this in men's breakfast yesterday too. And we said, you know, the Bible's a little bit of an acquired taste, right? Because it reads differently than anything else you've ever read before. It's an ancient document, right? And it's kind of hard to read. It's kind of hard to understand.

But you just have to keep doing it because you have to acquire that taste for it, right? It's kind of like working out because the first week that you go to the gym, right, you're like, oh, sweet Jesus, what have I done to my life? Right? Like, this is so hard. My body hurts. I'm so tired. I didn't know my lungs could burn like that. I was unaware I had muscles in those places.

I don't know why that hurts, right? And it's hard and you don't like it. Nobody likes the gym the first couple of weeks because it's just hard. It's a new thing that you're doing. But if you decide to stick with it, you may never love it, but you do start to get used to it. And it starts to have its work. And if you're a freak like me, you're like, man, I just want to go

because I need to work those things out. I sit and study too much and I've got to work some things out and I can do that through physical activity. That's kind of how God's word is. When you first get into it, it's very hard, right? It's hard to understand. There's a lot of ancient things in there and you find yourself going, it doesn't make sense and it's trying to put my flesh to death.

It's telling me to not sin. It's telling me to stop doing the things that I've done forever. That hurts. Until you finally start to understand and you finally start to get into it. And when you make that commitment and you start reading it and getting into it, you go, oh, actually, I kind of like that. That's pretty good. When I first started getting into God's word,

and I shared this Wednesday night too, when I started walking with Jesus when I was 17 years old, the first thing I started reading was the book of Romans. As I was reading the book of Romans, I didn't understand any of it, right? Like Romans is super theological. Probably should have started with like Luke or something like that. Romans is really theological.

I didn't understand any of it until I came to Romans chapter eight. In Romans chapter eight, it said, nothing can separate you from the love of God. Neither height, nor depth, nor things past, nor things to come, nor angels, nor principalities, nor power, nor any created thing can keep you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And I didn't understand anything I read up to that point.

I didn't understand anything I read up to that point. I'm like, I get that. Because I'd been living in rebellion. And if anybody knew better, it was me. I was a pastor's kid, right? I should have known better. And I thought if anybody could be separated from the love of God, it was me because I deserved it. And then I read that nothing can separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.

And I was hooked. And I just wanted to keep coming back and learn it more. And that's the way we are with God's word. So get into it so that you can know it, so that you can hold fast to it. But you know, there's another idea that's presented to us here. Lloyd Pulley, I was listening to him yesterday and he was talking about this. He said, we have to understand something.

It's one thing for us to know it and quote it. But the idea of holding fast in the Greek there is not just to know it, but to put it into action. Because listen, there is nothing that will make people question the validity of your faith than when they watch your actions and see that it doesn't line up. I'm not saying you've gotta be perfect. I screw up. Well, you know, one of the biggest things

I've learned as a believer in Jesus Christ is that the Bible tells me that when I screw up, I gotta deal with it. I gotta make amends. I gotta apologize for things sometimes. I have to do this with my kids. I hate doing this with my kids, right? Listen, you know, the thing where I was kind of like, I mean, my bad, right? I don't like doing that. But that's what the Bible says I gotta do.

Because that's what real change is. Because when I put it into action, when I really hold fast, when I really hold fast to it and I know it, I then have to put it into action in my life. Otherwise, it doesn't do me any good. Yesterday at men's breakfast, we were talking about dealing with kids and the word and making sure we're good influences in their lives.

And one of the guys said, so what's more important, my actions or my words? And I kind of thought about it for a second. I said, both. And I looked at a couple of more seasoned saints than myself and they said, yep, both. I said, really? And they said, yeah. Because here's the thing, if you only live out your faith in front of somebody, nobody knows it's your faith.

They just think you're a really nice guy. They just think you're a really nice person. So you have to live it out in front of them. But eventually, you have to tell them what it is. I said, for me, growing up, I watched the example, and I used the example of my dad and Alan Brooke. I said, I watched the example of these two men who lived out their faith in front of me,

but also were constantly talking to me. And in the moment, it didn't feel like anything was getting through. In the moment, I think they were probably both like, well, this guy's never gonna get it. But eventually, the example and the word started to sink in, which is why sometimes I quote both of them. Because their example and their words eventually sunk in for me.

And that's the way it is with us. That's holding fast to God's word, is we know it, and we speak it, and we live it. Hold fast to the traditions which were taught to you. Hold fast to the truth. Hold fast to the truth which has been taught to you. So he tells us, stand firm, and he tells us to hold fast. Because of who you are in Christ, because you have been chosen by God,

because you are loved by God, because you've been set apart by God, you put your faith in God, and you have a hope and a glory that's to come, stand firm in what you know to be true, and hold fast to the teaching of God's word. And then he gives us some comfort, and maybe a little bit of strength to do those things. Notice what it says in verse 16. He says, Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who has loved us, and given us eternal comfort, and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

He says, now. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father. He calls on those other two members of the triune Godhead. Have you noticed that the Trinity was presented to us in this handful of verses? You've been set apart by the Holy Spirit, and now may the Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, the Trinity was just presented to us at the end of this chapter.

Now may he do something for you. But he describes Jesus in two different ways. He describes him once again as he who has loved us. As he who has loved us. Isn't that great? Here it is again. God's love being poured out to us. He describes him. He defines him. He describes him as the God who loves us. If you read any of Paul's writings, you will always come across the love of God.

It's written all over the pages of scripture, but it's especially written in the pages of Paul. In the book of Romans, he tells us no one can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ. In the book of First Corinthians, he tells us what love really looks like. In the book of Second Corinthians, he describes the comfort that love brings. In the book of Ephesians, he tells us

that it will take all of eternity for God to show us his grace and he prays that we would know the height and the depth and the width and the length of the love of Jesus Christ that surpasses all knowledge. And now in these books, First and Second Thessalonians, he's told us again about the love of Jesus Christ. It's almost like it's a really important theme for us to pay attention to. Now, may the Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father who loved us, and not only do they love us, but they gave us good, they gave us eternal comfort and good hope by grace.

Comfort and hope that comes by their grace. And now he gives a little prayer, a little benediction prayer for these people. And he prays two things. He says, now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who's loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope, may he first of all comfort you. May he first of all comfort you. That word comfort can also be translated encouragement.

May he encourage you. But it's the Greek word parakaleo. And that word is the same word that we've seen multiple times throughout 1 and 2 Thessalonians. It's the word that's used to describe the Holy Spirit as the comforter, but the idea behind the word is to come alongside or to call to one's side. David in the Psalms wrote Psalm 23, and one of the things that he wrote in Psalm 23 is he said,

he prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies. There's a great story. At the end of 2 Samuel of David, running from his son Absalom, who had rebelled against him. He had taken over the kingdom, and David knew he was gonna have to go into battle against his own son, and he's having a hard time with that. So he and the army that stayed loyal to him

fled into the wilderness, and as they're preparing for this battle, three elderly gentlemen who loved the Lord and loved David came out and they brought some supplies out to David and his men. And they brought food, and they brought drink, and they brought beds. And David said, it's a simple story, but it's really important to remember that God is so good to us, that he's always been there for us. And that's why when I studied that is, I bet that's what David was thinking of when he wrote the line, he prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies, because sometimes in the hardest times of our lives, God is so good to just call us to his side, just to pull us in close and say, I'm still here.

ministry, I didn't want to get into ministry because I didn't think I was good enough. And I was going through that time where I was struggling to believe in my position and who I was in Christ. My uncle Joe reached out to me and said, I want you to come speak at my church. I want you to do the Sunday morning sermon. I told him no. And then I prayed about it and I said yes.

And I taught Psalm 23. And at a time when I could hardly put complete thoughts together, God gave me the grace to sit and study Psalm 23. And I remember thinking, I think this is exactly what he meant by he prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Because in the hardest time of my life, God pulled me close to him and he gave me everything that I needed.

And because of that moment in life, I am where I am today. And that's what God wants to do with you. And that's what he prays that God will do. That he will bring comfort to you. That he will call you to his side in the hardest moment of your life. And that's what God wants to do with you. Of times in your life. But not only does he pray that God will comfort you and encourage you,

but that he will strengthen your hearts. The word strengthen means to stabilize or to make firm. But the Amplified Bible translates it this way, and I really like it. It says, keeping them steadfast and on course. He says, may God keep your heart steadfast and on course. Why? Because of what they were going through. Because of how hard their lives were. And he

said, may God keep your heart on course. My prayer for you in this time of affliction and persecution, in this time of doubt, and fear, and this time of despair, is that God would give you comfort and call you close to himself so that you could sense the comfort and encouragement that comes from God. And that God would stabilize your heart and keep you on track so that you don't get off the path just because things are hard. Brothers and sisters, I know that as I look at this room of people today, there are some people going through some hard things. I know that because it's the life that

we live. And some of y'all are going through, challenging things in your life. And I want you to know, number one, you belong to Jesus. You have been chosen by God. You have been set apart by God. You have been loved by God, and you have glory waiting for you. And I want to tell you, stand firm. Stand firm. Keep standing firm in the midst of the difficult things that you're going through right now, and hold on tight

to who Jesus is. And hold on tight to what his word says. And in all of those things, may God pull you close to himself. And may you just have a moment where he prepares a table before you in the presence of your enemies, and you sense the presence of God like you never have before, so that your heart can stay on track and focused on Jesus. Amen? Let's all stand. And if you'd bow with me.

Father, we come before you. And Lord, I thank you that your word remains true. That we can find our rest. That we can find our comfort. That we can find our peace. That we can find our hope in the truth of what your word says. And so, Father, may we find ourselves standing firm in who we are in you. May we know and understand your grace. May we know and understand

your love. And Lord, would you comfort our hearts? You, the God of all love, the God of all comfort, the God of all grace. Draw us near to you. And Father, keep us close to you. Keep our hearts on track, we pray. Father, we thank you. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed. So from heaven, mercy in your eyes to fulfill to and the church of Christ shall not strengthen each one of us. Lord, bless y'all. Have a great week.