Chosen by God… (5 points)

• Bound to give thanks… vs. 13
  • 1^st – Paul gave thanks…
    • BOUND – I Thessalonians 1:2 – Paul gave THANKS always for the church…
      • II Thessalonians 1:3 – he added he is BOUND – to owe a debt – to give THANKS! 
      • Now for a third time he again says he is BOUND to ALWAYS give thanks!
      • In light of the VERY heavy teaching on the Apocalypse – the rise of the antichrist…
      • The DAY of the LORD – and the STRONG DELUSION that ends with condemnation
    • Paul was in DEBT to give THANKS because they would NOT go through the Tribulation…
      • They would be raptured BEFORE the DAY of the LORD – I Thessalonians 4:16
      • Because God will not pour out His WRATH on them – I Thessalonians 1:10
      • A strong encouragement for us – make sure as many as we can – are saved…
      • We can also be BOUND to give thanks – knowing they will escape the WRATH to come!
  • 2^nd – Because they were – brethren beloved by the Lord…
    • Believers will NOT go through the Tribulation because we are BELOVED…
      • BELOVED – agapao (perfect / passive) – ALWAYS loved…
      • But note – the Lord LOVES those whom he CHOSES!
    • This can be a hard concept for us to comprehend – God chooses those who are saved…
      • John 15:16 – “You did not choose Me, but I chose you…”
      • It does not seem fair to us that God chooses whom gets to avoid the tribulation!
      • But when we got / or will get married – who chose the person we married…
      • Would we have liked it if someone else made that choice – committed for life!
      • We want the freedom to choose whom to spend our lives with…
      • Does it not seem fair that God gets to choose whom He spends eternity with!
      • BUT WHEN / HOW / WHY / and for WHAT purpose does God CHOSE!
• 1^st – When we were chosen… vs. 13
  • 1^st – In the BEGINNING – 58x in NT the word meaning origin – we might say at the start…
    • First used in the NT by Jesus to describe events in the Garden of Eden – Matthew 19:14
    • Meaning before sin ever came in the world – God CHOSE those who would be saved!
    • Ephesians 1:4 – “He has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world…”
  • 2^nd – God picked us – before we were ever born…
    • But that does not mean God did not know us – He knew EVERYTING about us…
    • Hebrews 4:13 – “All things are naked and open to the eyes of Him…”
    • I know how much of a challenge I can be – how many times I make mistakes…
    • I am always amazed – that God also knowing EVERYTHING I would ever do…
    • Still chose me – because God chooses foolish people – I Corinthians 1:26-28
    • That should bless us – since God knew we were foolish – what does He expect from us…
    • He is not shocked when we make mistakes – He knows we are but dust – Psalm 103:14
    • God chose us – desires to use us – knowing full well the sinners that we are!

• 2^nd – How we were chosen by God… vs. 13-14 (3 points)
  • 1^st – Through SANCTIFICATION… vs. 13
    • SANTIFICATION – hagiasmos – 10x in NT – noun form of the verb hagiazo…
      • HOLY – set apart – we are sanctified (made HOLY) by the SPIRIT!
      • Do not miss this – before the foundations of the earth – we were chosen…
      • To be made HOLY – SANCTIFIED – set apart for the Lord!
      • And HE is the one who SANCTIFIES us – God does all the work – Hebrews 2:11
    • Which speak of the SOVEREIGNTY of God…
      • He CHOOSES – He SANCTIFIES by His Spirit – He is the one in complete control!
      • Romans 9:20-21 – “Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor…”
      • When you built anything – you use various building materials…
      • You have wood / nails / hollow blocks / cement – that can be used to make anything…
      • If you take those supplies and build a CR – not the most honorable of purposes…
      • Can the hollow blocks and cement complain – why did you make us a CR…
      • The obvious answer is no – the builder has complete control over the materials!
      • The same way God has compete control over our lives…
      • God is the potter – we are the lumps of clay ready to be made into something…
      • God has every right to make us into what he wants – it is his choice – Isaiah 29:16
      • God is in complete control – SANCTIFY by His Spirit whomever He wants – which is true!
  • 2^nd – BELIEF in the truth… vs. 13
    • Does that mean we have no part in salvation – NO – we BELIEVE!
      • BELIEF – pistis – 244x in NT almost ALWAYS translated as FAITH…
      • We put our FAITH in TRUTH – who is TRUTH – Jesus Christ – John 14:6
      • God in His SOVEREIGNTY gives man the FREEDOM to CHOOSE – where to put their FAITH!
      • And ANYONE who puts their FAITH in Jesus – will be SAVED and SANCTIFIED!
      • Romans 10:13 – “Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
    • SOVEREIGNTY or FREE WILL…
      • So does God CHOOSE us – or do we CHOOSE God – both!
      • Romans 8:29 – God CHOSE those whom He foreknew – He knows who will CHOOSE Him…
      • God is eternal – that means He has no beginning or end – Revelation 1:8
      • That does not mean God has an endless amount of time – it means God is outside of time!
      • God sees all of time – from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 all at once!
      • Isaiah 46:10 – “Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done…”
      • If a guy knew a woman would say no if he asked her to marry him – he would not ask…
      • If that same guy knew a beautiful woman would say yes – he would ask today!
      • In a sense God CHEATS – He knows the choice everyone makes before they ever make it…
      • Since God sees EVERYTHING – He knows exactly who will put their FAITH in TRUTH….
      • He then CHOOSES those who He knows will CHOOSE Him!
    • What if you do not want to choose to believe in Jesus…
      • Then you are not one of those whom God has chosen to be SAVED and SANCTIFIED…
      • You might say – but I want to be SAVED and SANCTIFIED – then choose Jesus…
      • When you do you will find you are chosen before the foundations of the world!
  • 3^rd – Called by the GOSPEL… vs. 14
    • How do we put our FAITH in truth – responding to the CALL of THE GOSPEL…
    • GOSPEL – 77x in NT literally meaning the GOOD NEWS…
    • Romans 10:9 – “Confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
    • It could not be simpler – more obvious – we need to choose to put our FAITH in the GOSPEL…
    • See our need for Jesus – that we are NOT GOOD – believe what He did on the cross…
    • Then go and tell someone – tell anyone – tell everyone we believe in Jesus!
    • God did not make salvation hard – He wants everyone to be saved – II Peter 3:9
    • But at the same time – it is our CHOICE – heaven or hell / life or death…
    • God does NOT make anyone go to heaven – He just provides the way for ALL who believe!

• 3^rd – Why we were chosen by God… vs. 14
  • 1^st – To obtain Glory…
    • OBTAIN – 5x in NT – a compound word that means to possess or purchase something…
      • In this instance we were CHOSEN to OBTAIN the GLORY of Jesus Christ…
      • We might say to become LIKE Christ – so that our lives bring GLORY to God!
      • Romans 8:30 – “He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified [same root word].”
      • The God who – Called / CHOSE – also Justified – then Glorified (Aorist/Active/Indicative)!
    • How we bring GLORY to Jesus in our lives…
      • God does it – the same one who called us / justified us – took away our sin…
      • He is also the one who glorified us – made and is making us into the image of Jesus!
      • We can have complete confidence in our walk with Jesus because…
      • God Choose us! God forgave us! And He will also conform us – to be like Jesus!
      • He is the one who began a good work in our lives – and He will finish what He started!
      • Hebrews 12:2 – “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…”

• 4^th – What those chosen should do… vs. 15 (3 points)
  • 1^st – Two commands…
    • To those who are CHOSEN – STAND FAST( imperative) – to be immovable…
    • HOLD (imperative) – do not let go of – the TRADITIONS…
    • TRADITIONS – 13x in NT – meaning to deliver or pass on instructions…
    • The idea is we are to STAND FAST and HOLD the instructions we have been given!
    • But there are two kinds of TRADITIONS – those of God and those of Men!
  • 2^nd – TRADITION of men…
    • Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their TRADITIONS – Matthew 15:2 / Mark 7:8
    • Even Paul would warn the church about empty TRADITIONS – Colossians 2:8
    • Because they held the TRADITIONS of men above the WORD of God!
    • God command is for a man and woman to be married – Genesis 2:24
    • Yet we have traditions that say we can live together – and eventually get married
    • The reason we wait – we want to have the right wedding – please family / friends
    • When we are more concerned about the opinion of men than what God says…
    • When we put the traditions of men above the Word – we are NOT giving GLORY to Jesus!
    • Galatians 1:10 – “Am I trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
  • 3^rd – TRADITIONS of God…
    • Taught – by epistle…
      • EPISTLE – speaking of the written word – we might say personal devotions…
      • People often times talk about having quite time with the Lord in the morning…
      • You might ask – what is the best time when we should seek the Lord…
      • It is not about when we seek that Lord – the key is THAT we consistently seek the Lord!
      • Psalm 55:17 – “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.”
    • Taught – by hearing…
      • HEARING – logos – speaking of the spoken word – we might say Bible Studies…
      • They were commanded to STAND FAST / HOLD to what they had been taught by Paul!
      • That is why we take so much time studying the Word – simply teaching the Bible…
      • Sunday studies in the NT / Midweek studies in the OT / online Bible studies…
      • Are all done in an effort to get the Word of God out – so we can STAND FAST!
      • Romans 10:17– “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God…”

Romans 1:16 – “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.”

5^th – The result of being chosen… vs. 16-17 (7 points)

1^st – Christ is our LORD… vs. 16

It is easy to say that we have faith in Jesus Christ as our savior…

But the result of being CHOSEN – putting our FAITH in truth – bringing Glory to God…

Jesus Christ becomes our LORD – 747x in NT – can also be translated as MASTER…

If we are still acting like (or worse) than the world around us – is Jesus our MASTER…

If we are wondering where our walk with the Lord is – we should examine ourselves!

II Corinthians 13:5 – “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you.”

2^nd – God is our FATHER… vs. 16

Romans 8:15 – “You received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father.”

Abba – the Aramaic word for FATHER – 3x in NT – here / Galatians 5:6 / Mark 14:36 

It is a word of deep personal intimacy – papa / daddy…

If a stranger wanted to come and talk to you – you might / or might not take the time

If you son wanted to talk to you – no matter what – you would make the time!

Our papa in Heaven is always there for us – at any time we can cry out to Him…

He will ALWAYS make the time to be there for us – be there to help us!

3^rd – God loved us… vs. 16

LOVED – aorist – speaking of a specific event that proved God LOVED us…

I John 3:16 – “By this we know love, because [Jesus] laid down His life for us.”

In Jesus – God showed His great LOVE for us through the sacrifice of the cross!

God freely forgave us of all our sin – paid our penalty so we could have life!

If God offered up Jesus while we were still sinners – Romans 5:8

Now that we are sons what would He not be willing do for us – Romans 8:32

4^th – We have been given everlasting consolation… vs. 16

CONSOLATION – the noun form of the verb parakaleō – to be comforted…

We are given EVERLASTING COMFORT – we might say eternal life in heaven!

James 4:13-14 – “[Our life] is a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

Ultimately life is not about living – it is not about the short time we have here…

Life is about a choice – it is about deciding where we spend our eternity…

Heaven is our goal – it is our EVERLASTING COMFORT – a place beyond our imagination!

It will take ages – literally 1000s of years in heaven – for God to reveal it all to us!

I Corinthians 2:9 – “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

5^th – We have received a GOOD hope by GRACE… vs. 16

HOPE – 54x in NT carries the idea of expectation – what we EXPECT to happen…

Hope – is trusting God for the future – the amazing promises that God has given to us…

We cannot see God – have never been to heaven – have not seen Jesus…

But we have a GOOD HOPE – we believe the Gospel is true – GRACE has the power to save us…

By HOPE we believe that life is not only about living here on earth…

By HOPE we believe one day God will take us to be with Him forever in heaven!

Hebrews 11:1 – “Faith is the substance of things HOPED for, the evidence of things not seen.”

6^th – We MIGHT have COMFORT… vs. 17

All of these things have been given – so we MIGHT have COMFORT (aorist / optative) …

If we are CHOSEN – because of FAITH in TRUTH – if we GLORIFY Jesus in our lives…

STANDING FAST and HOLDING to the traditions we are taught / read in the Word…

Then Jesus will be our LORD – and God will be our FATHER…

Who proved His LOVE for us – and will give us EVERLASTING CONSOLATION!

The GOOD HOPE this is not our home – but one day we will be with Him – rapture!

Then we are COMFORTED because we will not have to go through the Tribulation!

7^th – We MIGHT be ESTABLISHED in every good word / work… vs. 17

All of these things have been given so we MIGHT be ESTABLISHED (aorist / optative) …

While we wait for Jesus to come and get us – rapture – we will be ESTABLISHED…

Our WORDS / WORKS will be used by God to share GOSPEL with others…

So that they also can have our HOPE – as they CHOOSE to believe in Jesus!