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All right, my Bible in 365. 
Brothers and sisters, we have 

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arrived at the book of Second 
Thessalonians and folks, do I 

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love? 
Do I love, Do I love this one? 

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Now this is going to be a tough 
one for me to do because let me 

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just simply say that I want to 
go everywhere, but I had to pick

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something central to the theme 
of this book. 

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So I'm going to focus on 2nd 
Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 

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13 through 17. 
Now, let me just say this right 

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off the bat, if you are so 
inclined, and I hope you are, I 

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would encourage you to go to 
jameskadis.com and grab my whole

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teaching through this book. 
I actually do it in an end time 

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series that I really, really 
love concerning the last days. 

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And you are going to love, love 
the teaching that I do. 

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I think I have something like 20
Bible studies through these 

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three chapters and I think 
you're going to really, really 

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enjoy it. 
Now with that said, you can also

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go to Bible and 365 website. 
You can pull my many summaries 

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that I've done through Second 
Thessalonians. 

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I think I have something like 7 
or 8 generations of it, maybe a 

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little bit less. 
I don't remember. 

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But all of that to say, I want 
to focus on what I believe is a 

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powerful and central theme to 
the book of Second 

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Thessalonians. 
And yes, it all relates to the 

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end times. 
It relates to the last days. 

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And here's the phrase I want to 
give you. 

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Actually, it's just two words. 
Are you ready? 

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Here it is. 
Stand fast, stand fast. 

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Let me read verse 15 of Second 
Thessalonians chapter 2 to you. 

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It says, Therefore, brethren, 
stand fast and hold the 

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traditions which you have been 
taught, whether by word or our 

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epistle. 
I want to make myself clear 

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because this is so important. 
You have been chosen for 

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salvation. 
Let me say that you have been 

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chosen for salvation. 
Did you know that in verse 13 

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and 14 in Second Thessalonians, 
it speaks directly to that? 

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OK, Paul has just described the 
coming deception. 

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Literally. 
He talks about the man of sin. 

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Yes, that's the Antichrist and 
those who perish because they 

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refuse the truth. 
The Apostle Paul has just 

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finished talking about all of 
that. 

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Then he makes a very dramatic 
contrast and I want to just 

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quote this portion, this small 
little section. 

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It says, but we are bound notice
this to give thanks Alway God 

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for you. 
So instead of being destined for

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judgment, these believers, I 
said believers, these believers 

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have been called to salvation 
through Jesus Christ. 

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We've been called to salvation. 
Notice the connection between 

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salvation and what we refer to 
as sanctification and believing 

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the truth. 
In other words, God calls us, He

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gives us salvation. 
We don't earn it. 

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He sets us apart and we continue
to believe the very truths that 

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He gives us. 
Look, the ultimate destination 

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is the glory of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

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Folks, the world may be moving 
toward deception, but God has 

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called us to something 
completely different. 

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I want to bring up verse 13 and 
14. 

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As a matter of fact, I'm going 
to do that right now. 

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And if it takes a little bit 
longer, it's going to take a 

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little bit longer for me to pull
it up because I don't want to do

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this by memory. 
I want to do this very 

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specifically. 
I want, I don't want to miss 

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what I need to read to you in 
this passage. 

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So I'm going to bring this up to
you. 

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I'm going to read this to you 
and look at what it says in 

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verse 13. 
I don't want to I don't want to 

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do it by memory here because I 
want to make sure you see this, 

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but we are bound to give thanks 
alway to God for you quoted that

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correctly, brethren, beloved of 
the Lord, because God has from 

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the beginning chosen you to 
salvation through sanctification

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of the spirit and belief of the 
truth, whereunto he called you 

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by our gospel. 
Notice this to the obtaining of 

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the glory of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

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That is incredibly, incredibly 
powerful. 

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Verse 15. 
I just read it to you. 

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It's extraordinary. 
It's such a powerful verse. 

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Let me comment on it. 
The word therefore here connects

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everything that Paul has just 
said. 

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In this context, stand fast 
means to remain firmly 

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established. 
It means literally refusing to 

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be moved. 
Look, Paul isn't telling them to

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discover some new revelation. 
That's what he's saying here. 

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He's telling them to hold firmly
to the truth that they've 

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already received the truth 
that's been given to them. 

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That the reference to traditions
concerns literally the 

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authoritative teaching that was 
delivered by the apostles, not 

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some man made religious custom 
like what you may have seen in 

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the lives of the Pharisees. 
The implication here is it's 

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powerful. 
What it's wanting to communicate

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to us is that the truth doesn't 
change simply because the world 

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does. 
When deception increases, and 

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you guys need to hear this, 
please, please listen to me when

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I say this. 
When deception increases, our 

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response shouldn't be confusion.
It should be conviction. 

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It should be conviction. 
Let me read to you verse 16 and 

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17. 
It's so powerful. 

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Now our Lord Jesus Christ 
himself and God, even our 

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Father, which hath loved us, 
have given us everlasting 

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consolation and Good Hope 
through grace. 

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Comfort your hearts and 
establish you in every good word

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and work. 
Paul finishes this little 

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section here with something so 
critical, so important. 

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He finishes it with a prayer, 
not another warning. 

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He he gives them tons of 
warnings early on, but finishes 

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it in prayer. 
Our comfort, our comfort comes 

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from the love of God and 
certainly the grace that He is 

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extended to us as a result of 
that love. 

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Notice the phrase here, 
everlasting consolation, Good 

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Hope. 
Those aren't accidental words. 

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This hope is not based on the 
conditions of this world. 

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It's not even based on our own 
actions. 

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God doesn't simply want us to 
know the truth, you guys. 

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He wants us to understand that 
truth. 

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He he wants us to recognize 
something critical, that his 

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desire is that that truth will 
establish us in everything we 

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say and we do. 
Bible prophecy, which is what a 

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lot of Second Thessalonians is 
all about. 

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Bible prophecy isn't intended to
leave believers frightened. 

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It's not designed to get us to 
react emotionally and to start 

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panicking. 
It's intended to leave us 

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established in the truth. 
The remarkable thing about this 

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passage is that Paul has just 
described one of the greatest 

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periods of deception that the 
world will ever experience, and 

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we are rapidly running during 
that time into that time period.

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We are. 
His instruction to believers 

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isn't to panic or to speculate 
or even become consumed with 

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fear. 
That's not his exhortation. 

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His instruction is to do this. 
Stand fast. 

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We know where this world is 
headed. 

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More importantly, we know who 
holds our future. 

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The Lord has given us His truth.
We have His promises, and we 

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have an everlasting hope 
regardless of what happens 

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around us. 
We have every reason to stand 

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fast. 
We have every reason to stand 

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fast. 
This is powerful stuff. 

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It should give you insight and 
encouragement and remind you 

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that the God of heaven loves you
so much that he gave his Son for

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you and now wants to empower you
in the life that you are living,

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especially in these last days. 
God is good, He's faithful. 

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What a blessing it is to be able
to serve you as your pastor 

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here. 
Bible in 365. 

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I love you guys, do what I tell 
you to do every day. 

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Keep on fighting the good fight.
God bless you.

