Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro:

Life is tough, and even Christians get tired and discouraged at times.

Have you ever heard the expression, “It’s enough to make a preacher cuss?”

A pastor stopped at a yard sale to buy a used lawnmower.

There was kid who was doing his best to make the sale.

The preacher pulled the rope several times to crank the mower, but it wouldn’t start.

The boy, “You have to kick it and say a few cuss words before it will crank.”

The preacher said, “Son, I can’t do that.

It’s been years since I used a cuss word.”

The kid said, “Just keep pullin’ the rope, it’ll come back to you.”

The world is in such chaos, that you may think it’s enough to make a preacher cuss.

But I’m not cussing today; However, I do want to look at how we can stand firm in an unstable world!

There is a lot of anxiety in our world today about what the future holds.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China threatening to do the same thing in Taiwan… On Thursday this past week, Israel suffered a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv, that resulted in death of at-least 3 people and many others severely wounded.

During which, it was reported that some of the Muslim Mosques in Gaza were praising the attacks over their loud speakers and then, to top it all off, there were fireworks that were being shot off in celebration of the killing of innocent Jews.

Here in U.S., we see the cost of everything going up, and at a rapid rate it would seem… don’t say this, don’t do that, kids asking themselves... who am I, who are you, what gender am I, what bathroom do I use… do I have a mom and a dad or is it two moms, two dads... Oh wait, it is not mom anymore it is “birth person”… it is not he or she, it is they and them… …

20 years ago, kids would never have asked these questions… and now they are wondering why the suicide rate has increased 30-35% since the year 2000… … Speculation here… But could it be from the mass confusion??… I wish there was something that could answer the questions about gender to clear up all of the confusion…

I wish there was an ancient book that talks about the Creator of humanity that would specifically state…

If we just had a Book that said that… and maybe an ancient Book that would clearly define marriage, that way we could clear up that confusion… Maybe it could say something like…

(Slide of a Bible) I just wish there was such a book!… …

Folks, the world around us is in a very unstable condition, and the further away that they get from God’s Word, the worse it is going to get…

So, how can we stand firm in the midst of an unstable world?

Well, as bad as you may think conditions are now, I think that Paul’s friends in Thessalonica had it much worse.

They had NO health insurance, no hospitals, and only quacks for doctors.

They had a crazed Roman Emperor who was killing Christians by the thousands.

They were losing their friends, family and jobs when they chose to follow Jesus Christ.

Someone had produced a fake letter from Paul saying Jesus had already returned.

In the preceding verses Paul wrote them that Jesus hadn’t returned yet.

And when He comes, He will win the final victory.

But until that happens, he encourages them to stand firm in an unstable world.

And since it hasn’t happened yet, that is the same encouragement that we have today… we are to Stand Firm.

Lets look at the passage together… (Read 2 Thess.

2:13-17)…

Meat:

In these few verses, Paul tells the believers to do two things: stand firm and hold onto the Word of God.

Knowing the truth and hanging onto it can give you stability and peace.

Anybody used to ever read the “Peanuts” cartoon strip in the paper???

In one episode Lucy and Linus are staring out the window at the pouring rain.

Lucy says, “Boy, look at it rain.

What if it floods the whole world?”

Linus replies, “It will never do that.

In the ninth chapter of Genesis, God promised Noah that would never happen again, and the sign of the promise is the rainbow.”

Lucy smiles and says, “You’ve taken a great load off my mind.”

Linus says, “Sound theology has a way of doing that!”

Folks, Truth is a good thing to get a hold of and In our passage today, Paul reminds us of four unshakable truths, on which we can Stand Firm.

1. God Loves Us Unconditionally

The first part of v. 13 says “But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord...” when Paul says “Brethren”, we know that he is talking to and/or about believers... brothers and sisters in Christ… and he describes them as “Beloved by the Lord”

If you have placed your faith in Jesus, then you too, are beloved by the Lord.

That word “Beloved (or Belov-ed depending on the context in which its used)” means:

1.1 Beloved - To have a deep level of affection and intimacy with someone.

You’ve heard me call you “My Belov-ed”, I had a professor in Bible College that would call us students the same thing… there are times when you here one spouse call the other “My Belov-ed”… … it is the strongest relationship that you can have with someone.

After Jesus was baptized, Matthew 3:17 says...

The word that is translated as “Beloved”, in 2 Thessalonians and “Belov-ed” in Matthew 3, come from the same Greek word… Agape.

I am not sure if you realize what that means, so let me brake it down for you… the same love that God the Father has for His only begotten Son, is the same love that He has for us…

If there is one overarching truth of the Bible, it is that God exists.

But right on the heels of that truth is reality that this God who created everything has chosen to love us.

Have you ever Googled something and looked at how many links there are?

(Picture example of Google Search)

For instance, if you Google the phrase “the love of God” there are over 2.5 billion links.

Much of the love we experience from people is conditional.

Conditional love is based upon your performance.

You have to earn it.

A person may say, “I will love you IF…” They may say, “I will love you if you will love me.”

Or “I will love you if you obey me.”

Or “I will love you IF you’ll make me feel a certain way.”

But God’s love is unconditional.

God doesn’t love me because I’m especially lovable; He loves me because HE is loving.

In other words, Someone once said “God doesn’t love us because of who WE are.

He loves us because of who HE is”.

Why does God love you?

Because God IS love.

God loves you because God loves you.

God knows more about you than anyone else.

He knows every mistake you’ve ever made, and every mistake you’ll ever make.

And yet, He still loves you with an everlasting, unconditional love.

God said through the prophet Jeremiah… Jeremiah 31:3

(Start here and edit what is below)

The Bible is full of examples of the love of God.

In Luke 15, Jesus said God is the kind of Shepherd who has 99 sheep safe in the sheepfold, and one lost sheep has wandered away.

He leaves those 99 and searches for that lost sheep … … God loves you so much that if you had been the only lost person on earth, He would have still come seeking you… the parable ends with Jesus saying Luke 15:7 “...there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.”

Also in Luke 15, Jesus said God is the kind of father who even loves a disobedient rebellious child.

He told the story of a son who broke his father’s heart by asking for the dad to give him his part of the inheritance.

Then the son took that money and ran off to the bright lights of the big city and spent it all on wine, women, and whatever else he thought would bring him joy.

But when that broken down, good-for-nothing son heads home, God is like a father who runs to embrace that wayward child… grants him forgiveness and shows him unconditional love…

Do you ever feel like that prodigal son?… you find yourself in a place that you should have never been, caught up in some sin that you should have never indulged in?… and when you come to your senses and get to a place where you repent and ask God to forgive you, you realize that He is right there, waiting with open arms… … God loves you… unconditionally!

The book of Hosea teaches us that God is like a husband who has an unfaithful wife.

She goes off and becomes a prostitute.

Then she becomes so corrupted that she ends up being a slave who is bought and sold like a piece of meat.

And yet, her husband gathers all the money he has and goes and buys back his adulterous wife.

And he loves her and restores her to purity and dignity… … This is the kind of love that God has for you!

Hang onto that truth!

Stand Firm on that truth!

The Second Truth to stand firm on… is the fact that…

2. God Chose Us

Still in v.13 “But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,”

We talked about the doctrine of election and pre-destination at the beginning of our study through 1 Thessalonians.

I had said then that… Both of these words are biblical words and their definitions are not that hard to understand.

This morning, Y’all chose (or elected) to come to Church... maybe you know exactly what you are having for lunch, whether it is roast and potatoes, or going to the restaurant... you have predetermined ahead of time what you are going to do and where you are going to go...

That is basically election and predestination.

But when we find these words in Scripture, it is not talking about Sunday dinner... it is talking about our Salvation.

But here’s the wonderful thing about it… It is God’s part of salvation.