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[0:00] Trusting once again in the help of the Lord, we'll turn to the second epistle to the Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 13.

[0:17] The second epistle to the Thessalonians, the second chapter and the thirteenth verse. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.

[0:54] The second epistle to the Thessalonians, the second chapter, verse 13. The apostle, that faithful minister or apostle of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

[1:15] First of all, in this chapter, he exhorts the church at Thessalonica to stand fast in faith.

[1:29] In that way, what he says, be not soon shaken in mind, nor be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter.

[1:41] And secondly, just very briefly, he also reminds them concerning, and that before the Lord Jesus Christ comes again, in that third verse he says, And there the dear apostle Paul says before us something, in verse 9, he says, And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie.

[2:52] Then he comes, dear friends, and to this awful, yet true and solemn declaration, that they all might be damned, who believe not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness.

[3:12] Then in that 13th verse that I've read to you by way of text this evening, he sets forth what he has experienced in the church at Thessalonica.

[3:31] He says, but we are bound to give thanks all the way to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord.

[3:44] Just very briefly, consider the awful consequence and the awful, the great difference between those that believe not the truth, that they all might be damned.

[4:07] But the dear apostle, he says, that we are bound to give thanks all the way to God for you, brethren, dear friends.

[4:18] What a vast contrast there is here. Brethren in Christ Jesus. Children of God.

[4:31] And those of the household of faith. And I know to believe the apostle had the experiences of some of those where he felt bound to give thanks all the way to God for you.

[4:52] What a wonderful thing it is. And for particularly, I expect a pastor to find in his hearers, in those things in which he is bound to give thanks all the way to God for them.

[5:13] Dear friends, we believe that these things are very scarce in our sad and our solemn day.

[5:25] And of course, we can see the awfulness and the greatness of those that would all deceive and bonus, of unrighteousness in them that perish.

[5:40] But how few. And yet we would be thankful that we know and believe there is still a remnant according to the election of grace.

[5:54] And what a great favor it is if you and I are one of those that the apostle calls in another place and a remnant according to the election of grace.

[6:14] And we should and we ought to, whether we are pastors or ministers and deacons or church members or in the congregation, we should be truly thankful if there are those whom we can, who speak that same language, who live that same life, dependent and relying upon the once crucified but now an exalted saviour.

[6:49] But what I want to come to more particularly, first of all, we read that the apostle Paul was bound to give thanks.

[7:02] Well, dear friends, sometimes you and I may think that we come behind in giving thanks. We know there is much in many ways to cast us down.

[7:19] But also, and there is much, I believe, that we should and we ought to give thanks unto the Lord. And especially if there is that unity and communion with the brethren.

[7:37] Because he says, brethren, beloved of the Lord. Dear friends, what a wonderful thing to be brethren of Christ, the beloved of the Lord.

[7:53] I cannot think of a greater favour that can be disposed upon sinful creatures as you and I are, to be brethren, one with the brethren.

[8:12] And if we are one with the brethren, we are one with the Lord. And also the beloved of the Lord. And then, of course, the verse goes on.

[8:26] It says, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Now, dear friends, what a great mercy and blessing and favour this is.

[8:45] To be chosen from the beginning to salvation. I very often look when I come across, or it may be connected with my family, it may be connected with someone else.

[9:04] But when there is a little one born into the world, it often comes into my mind. I wonder whether this little one hath been chosen from all eternity.

[9:21] There the little one laid in all its helplessness, in all its innocency, knowing nothing. If that one is chosen to salvation from the beginning, this little one knows nothing about it.

[9:42] But, dear friends, what a wonderful thing it is. If you and I know something of this great favour granted to all of God's dear people.

[9:58] Because, dear friends, all those that are chosen to salvation, they shall inherit every New Testament blessing that the Lord hath purchased on behalf of all his dear people, without exception, dear friends.

[10:22] Can we think of a greater favour than to come into this wonderful heritage? There are, of course, people that have great heritages.

[10:35] But what is that to be compared to being chosen of God from the beginning? And knowing that this act of the Father, it was the first act where all other favours and blessings shall follow in their lives and continue throughout an endless eternity.

[11:06] You see, dear friends, what things these are. And that the dear apostle Paul saw in the church of the Thessalonians, for he said, for only they were brethren beloved of the Lord.

[11:24] They were beloved of the Lord before the mountains and before the hills were settled. Because we know this. And the Father chose all his dear people in Christ Jesus in the very beginning.

[11:46] That is, from all eternity, he chose all his dear people. You see, dear friends, very often. And we look perhaps at this person or that person.

[12:03] Or we may look at our own children or our own grandchildren. And we wonder what life holds for them.

[12:18] But, dear friends, is it not, dear friends, our great concern whether and they were chosen from all eternity?

[12:29] Because we know this. However far they may be left to roam from the dear Lord. I am certain of this.

[12:42] As, of course, the parable of the prodigal son. He went, I believe he went as far away as ever he could from his father and from his father's house.

[12:57] But, dear friends, although he was out of the reach perhaps of his father, he was out of the reach of eternal love set upon him from all eternity.

[13:13] And he was brought back, as of course you know. And he was brought back in a vastly different way to what he went out. He said, Father, I have sinned against thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

[13:31] But make me one of thine hired servants. But, you see, the father, he knew this. That being what he had spoken unto him, he was a beloved of the Lord.

[13:50] And he was of the household of faith. And, of course, you know the reception. I'm not going into that this evening.

[14:00] You know the reception that the prodigal returned. And so, my dear friends, the great thing is our concern for our sin unto us and for those that we worship with constantly and continually.

[14:20] Where are they among the chosen of the dear Lord? What a wonderful thing, dear friends. If there was a wonderful spiritual revival and the father chose his dear son, many whom we know and also many that we do not know, whereby his kingdom shall be filled with those that have been chosen of the father from all eternity.

[14:59] And they were chosen in Christ Jesus. And that first and that wonderful blessing that the Lord bestowed of his dear people entitles them for that great inheritance of being an adopted son.

[15:20] And it entitles them in that way whereby they will be enriched with the riches of his grace.

[15:33] All these things, my dear friends, they come from this wonderful foundation.

[15:45] That our text says, chosen to salvation. Or perhaps we can just look at the 65th Psalm where the psalmist, he brings it the same thing, but it is in a very different or just a bit different wording or a bit different light.

[16:11] Where the psalmist speaks of those that are chosen. And he says, blessed, blessed is that man.

[16:24] And of course, what a wonderful blessing that is. Because he says, blessed is the man whom thou choosest.

[16:39] Could there be anything to enrich a soul? You see, dear friends, also, I know you all know this, but as it comes into mind, we had nothing to do with our first birth.

[16:56] Before our first birth, if we are amongst the brethren, the beloved of the Lord, we had nothing to do with our first birth.

[17:12] And it is certain that we had nothing to do, shall I say or call it, that second birth. It is all of the grace, the love, and the goodness of Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

[17:32] And so, dear friends, I wonder whether, and we, I was going to say this, we don't want to, I don't want to boister myself or anyone up, but I wonder if we live below the privileges that God had bestowed upon us before the mountains or the hills were settled.

[17:59] Because, if this is so, so, my dear friend, the psalmist in that 65th psalm, he says, blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee.

[18:13] Now, you see, so very often, we may underestimate one or more of God's dear people.

[18:28] And we may underestimate it in this way. They haven't had this, or they haven't had the other, or they come short in this or that.

[18:45] But, dear friends, the scripture says this, blessed is that man whom the Lord chooseth and causest to approach unto thee.

[19:00] Now, undoubtedly, you know, I know, and whether, whether we have been made, you see, it's something that, that we shall be called unto, something that we shall be drawn unto, to, to approach unto the dear Lord.

[19:20] Because, those that are chosen in Christ, and they will, they are chosen unto salvation. And, and, and, and, and, and, and salvation, of course, is to be saved.

[19:37] And, and they will, and they will, they will be taught what, what they are saved from. You see, one, one fears this, that many may, may, may suppose that they, they, they are, they are called to salvation.

[19:55] But, but they, but they, they, they, they hardly know what they are saved from. Because, my dear friends, naturally, you, you, you and I are not, are not, are not shown until the light of the Holy Spirit shines within our heart, what we are in the sight of the Holy God.

[20:19] And, and when that light is shown in your heart and my heart, it will reveal the things, the things that are in that heart. And, and you say, what are these then?

[20:29] Well, to be very brief, dear friends, there is one word for it, sin. And, and of course, you, you know, you, you, you, you, you, you all, you all know what the wages of sin is.

[20:44] The wages of sin are death. But, but, but the gift of God is eternal life. And so, and so, and so, and so, and so, and so this, this soul, and I trust it is you and I, yes, and this soul who has been brought, brought acquainted to, to what they, what they are by nature, nothing but sin.

[21:07] And they, and they, and they, they are brought to approach a holy God and for, for deliverance from sin, death and hell. But, you see, that, that isn't all.

[21:19] Because, as, as, our text goes on to say, from the beginning, that's the date, my dear friends, that, that, the salvation of all of God's dear people begun.

[21:33] It was the, it was the date that your salvation begun. It was the date, I trust that my salvation begun from the beginning. Now, that would be, as I say again, it was before the mountains were settled and, and, and the hills made, and, and, and, and before the, the Lord created those, those wonderful things in, in, in creation.

[21:59] He had chosen this people in Christ Jesus, his well-beloved Son. And, and, and, and, and, and they were, brethren, beloved of the Lord, dear friends.

[22:12] You know, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's a, it's a solemn word, because if we just look at one point, in the, in the, in the early days of the history of man, which, which, which, of course, is, is, is revealed in the, in the, in the, in the books of, of, of, of, the book of Genesis, we read this, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated.

[22:43] All you say, you don't want to preach that, my dear friends, it is, in, it is in the scriptures. And I would preach it affectionately, because I believe, my dear friends, when, when, if the Holy Spirit works in our poor heart, you will, you will, you and I will, will, will, will approach the dear Lord to, to know whether, whether, whether the Lord hath loved us from the beginning.

[23:12] And, and, and if he shows a little light, my dear friends, that, that, that he hath loved, loved you and I from, from, from the beginning, we, we, we know this, and that, that we were chosen in Christ Jesus.

[23:27] And, and, and, and our great favour is, we, we, we come in the possession of all those new covenant blessings.

[23:37] That is, that, that is, that I just mentioned before, the riches of his grace, justification by, by, by faith in the righteousness of, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the dear Lord, our pardon and forgiveness of all our sinners.

[23:56] You may not feel this, my dear friends, but, but, if, if, if you examine the scriptures, you will, you will, you will find that the dear Lord hath made these things known for the help and the come.

[24:09] It will not make, make you sit down, as it were, holding your heart, your arms and say, oh, I'm all right. I'm one of the chosen of the Lord. No, my dear friends.

[24:20] It will, it will, it will make, make you search diligently that, that, that, that you may, you may find grace in the sight of, of, of, of the Lord.

[24:31] And that, and that, and that, you may, you may know that, that your sins are all, all forgiven. That, that the, the, the dear Lord hath cleansed you and I by his own precious blood.

[24:46] And that, and that he will prepare us for that eternal life whereby we are chosen to salvation. And, of course, if you and I are chosen to salvation, we, we shall be chosen also to eternal glory.

[25:04] I believe it's in this, in the first chapter of the, of the, of the Thessalonians, and where, where, where we read, where, where we read, and that, that the Lord says, the, the, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord says this, For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain the offense.

[25:31] What a wonderful word. He hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

[25:49] Wherefore, comfort yourselves together and edify one another, even as also ye do. Well, well, dear friends, it's a wonderful thing because I just, I just want, well, also to, to just dwell, and just momentary perhaps on, on this, on this, on this first act of love and mercy and grace unto, unto sinners who, who were, who were, who were under the posterity of Adam, and they all fell in Adam, and yet, dear friends, they were, they were, they were, they were brought forth into eternal life by, by the Father, choosing or electing them unto salvation.

[26:40] And if he's elected you and I unto salvation, he has chose us also to eternal glory. That is the first thing, that is the first thing, that I've already said.

[26:51] The second thing, of course, is this, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, who, who, who went about, and to open up that way unto eternal life.

[27:06] Now, you know, dear friends, of course, this opened, such, such a, a great, and a most wondrous work, the, the, the, the, the work of the Father, and choosing, the work of the Son, in, in, in redeeming his dear people, and from that awful condition, which by nature, and that they were born in, redeeming them from sin, death, and hell, and bringing them into the light, and the liberty, of the gospel of our Lord, and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

[27:39] He, dear friend, has just, just think of the Father's work, the Son's work, and then thirdly, the, the, the work of God the Holy Spirit.

[27:52] God the Holy, Holy Spirit, he, he undertook to quicken all those, see, Christ undertook that work to redeem, all, all, all that Christ had, had given him, before time, before time began, the Holy Spirit undertook to quicken all, that, that, that, that Christ, and would, would, and, and, and should redeem, and from death, hell, and sin.

[28:22] And so, my dear friend, he, he, he, he, he, he put, he put that, that, that, that, that, that, that new, that new life into, into, into all his dear people, where old things passed away, and all things become new.

[28:43] And so, and so, and so, so dear friend, we will, we see, because I love to trace, in salvation, the work of the blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

[28:57] And not only to trace these works, my dear friends, but also has enabled, to, to, to give God the Father, that, that, a little that is due, unto his great and glorious name.

[29:14] Why, why, why was it that he chose, we hope and trust, you and I, in Christ Jesus? It was, my, my, my, my dear friend, be, because he'd set his love upon, upon even such creatures as, as you and I, before we were born.

[29:36] Why was it that the dear Lord, my dear friends, came, came, came to redeem them? Well, he came, he came, my dear friends, to redeem them, in that way which the dear apostle sets before us in the, in the epistle to the, the Hebrews, where, where, where, where, where he says, above, above when, wherefore when he cometh into the world, he says, sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me, in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou hast no pleasure.

[30:18] Then said I, lo, I come. Oh, look at, look at the love of the Son of God, the incarnate God.

[30:29] Lo, I come. What a fullness there is in, in this. There could never be any salvation. If, if God, the Holy Son, had not come, my dear friends, so willingly, so obediently, unto the will of the Father, lo, I come.

[30:50] In the volume of the book, it is written of me, to do thy will, O God. The will, and that the Father had, that they should inherit, and grace, and in inheriting grace, they should inherit eternal glory.

[31:08] Then he goes on above, when he said, sacrifice and offering, and burnt offering, for sin thou wouldest not, neither has pleasure therein, which are offered by the law.

[31:21] Then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may, that he may establish, the second, eternal life, through, through, through the sufferings, the death, and the resurrection, and ascension, and the life, of course, of, of, of the dear Lord Jesus, who came, in the, in the, became incarnate, where that body was prepared, for him, to suffer, bleed, and die.

[31:55] As I just mentioned in prayer, he who knew no sin, became sin for us, that we might be made, the righteousness of God, in him. Look at these wonderful blessings, dear friends.

[32:09] I want to pause here, just for a moment. I wonder how often, you and I, have to come before the Lord, in true thanksgiving, in hope, of, of, of, of being chosen, in Christ, redeemed, by the blood, of the Lord Jesus Christ, quickened, by the Spirit, and, and of course, as our text, goes on, goes on to say, from the beginning, chosen you, to salvation, through sanctification, of the Spirit, and belief, of the truth.

[32:48] Now, now you see, here we have, here we have, here we have a wonderful thing, because, in that same chapter, in Hebrews chapter 10, by the which will, we are sanctified, how they sanctified, through, the offering, of the body of Jesus, once, and for all.

[33:11] What, what does sanctification, mean then, my dear friends? It, it, it, it means, it means this, setting apart, those that are chosen, in Christ Jesus, they are set apart, from all eternity, to be sanctified, by that one offering, of our Lord Jesus Christ, to, to, to, to make, to make that, which was sinful, to make, and to, and to do away with sin, and, and bring in, the principle, of holiness, even while, we, we are, we are here, upon this, upon this earth, and, and, and, and a love, and a love, for, for holiness, and a hatred of sin, where, well he says, chosen to, chose you to salvation, through the sanctification, of the spirit, and the belief, of the truth.

[34:09] Dear friend, do we know, something, of these two things, now, is there a seeking, unto the spirit, that we may, be sanctified, you know, again, what the dear apostle, and Paul, Paul writes, to the church, at Corinth, he, he, he writes, in, in this way, in this way, where, whereby we, we see, we see him, in, in that way, in that, in that sixth chapter, he says, he says this, and such were, some of you, but ye are, washed, but ye, are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name, of the Lord Jesus, and by, the spirit, of, our God.

[34:55] Oh, what a wonderful, work this is, to be sanctified, by the spirit, set apart, and for, and for, the worship of God, to keep his commandment, and to do, and to do, to do what the word, the word commands us to do, and then just very briefly, and we, and, and, and, and the belief of the truth, well, what, what I just briefly want to lay before you, time's almost gone, the belief of the truth, you know what the Lord said of himself, I am the way, the truth, and the life, now this soul, these souls are chosen, chosen, chosen, from, chosen to, to salvation, they, they are brought to, believe, or shall I put it in this way, if it may be helpful, to what, to one or more, to have faith, in the person, work, blood, and righteousness, of our adorable Lord, and Savior,

[36:02] Jesus Christ, because you and I, I trust, we have been shown, there is no other way of salvation, but, but through, the belief or faith, in faith, of the truth, and if we have been brought, to, to, to that faith, to center, upon the dear Lord, for all our hope, of salvation, is it not scriptural, my dear friends, because, you see, the other characters, which I haven't time to, set before you, and they did not, they do not believe the truth, and they, and they do not want to believe the truth, they have no knowledge of the truth, but if you and I, dear friend, in a little measure, have been brought, to believe in the truth, as it is in Christ Jesus, that there is, there is only one name given, under heaven, whereby, we shall be saved, and that name, is nothing less, than the dear Lord Jesus, well, I do trust, these brief remarks, my dear friends, will be made, just a little help, to one another, there may be one, that has turned in, cast down, they, they, they feel, the powers of evil, and the temptations, of the adversary, the workings, of your own heart, all, all these, my dear friend, will be known, but if that soul, is, and I believe, that soul, is chosen, because, the old adversary, will leave, will leave, alone, his own, but he will, he will only, he will only tempt, and, and be, and put those, awful insinuations, in the lives, of God's dear people, but, he cannot overthrow, the chosen, of the Father, the redeemed, of the Son, and the, and the quickness, of the Holy Spirit, because they are brought, brought in this way, and they are sanctified, of the Spirit, and they are, brought in to, the belief, of, of, of the truth, well,

[38:11] I, of course, there is another, connection, with this text, which of course, I haven't had time, I didn't even read it, I just read, the 14th verse, where unto, this, this connects, of course, the 13th, the 14th, the 13th verse, and the 14th together, where unto, he called you, by our gospel, to, to the obtaining, of the glory, of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glory, my dear friends, of our, glorious inheritance, by our Lord Jesus Christ, there I must leave it, may the Lord, have his blessing, Amen.

[38:52] Amen. Let us close, by singing hymn number, 1119, the tune is, Ebenezer Chapel, 638, 638, in number, 1119, 1119,

[39:54] Jesus, thou almighty, saviour, prostrate, at thy feet, I lie, humbly, I entreat, thy favour, condescend, to hear my cry, hymn number, 1119, par Sigurd,union, saviour, MATTHEW, big 75.

[40:17] Amin. Okay. This is my life, traveling by the 플레ичес kingdom, of our whatever it is, or am I saying, oh, when the loseirez downало, the peace of the soul is Katy, rahare, while I am nation, in number, by that chaos, or am I saying, Thank you.

[41:09] Thank you.

[41:39] Thank you.

[42:09] Thank you.

[42:39] Thank you.

[43:09] Thank you.

[43:39] Thank you.

[44:09] Thank you.

[44:39] Thank you.

[45:09] Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the fellowship and communion of God the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, be with us now and forever and ever. Amen.