In the sermon 'A Very Familiar Greeting' by Jason Dohm, the speaker begins with an introduction to the second letter to the Thessalonians, noting its similarities and differences with the first letter. The sermon highlights the familiar pattern of greetings in Paul's letters and emphasizes their importance, as each word is considered a gift from God and not a mere formality. The speaker outlines the context in which 2 Thessalonians was written, including the timing and the setting in Corinth, and addresses questions about the letter's authenticity. Three major themes are identified: the end of persecutors and the persecuted, clarifications about the Day of the Lord, and warnings about disorderly conduct within the church. The sermon stresses the significance of repetition in scripture, arguing that foundational truths, such as the concepts of grace and peace from God, need to be revisited and cherished. The speaker explores the meaning of being 'in God' and how this relates to the believer's identity and relationship with God. The sermon concludes with a reminder of the unmerited favor (grace) and reconciliation (peace) offered to believers, encouraging them to live in light of these truths.

So as is our pattern, we're beginning a new book, the second letter of Thessalonians, second letter to the Thessalonians, and so we're going to read all three chapters this morning. So please turn in your Bibles to 2nd Thessalonians chapter 1. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are bound to thank God always for you brethren as it is fitting because your faith grows exceedingly and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer.

Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, when he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed. Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith with power that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and you in him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 2. Now brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us as though the day of Christ had come.

Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way and when the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 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, to which he called you by our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, Stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and our God and Father who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. Chapter 3.

Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified just as it is with you and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men for not all have faith but the Lord is faithful who will Establish you and guard you from the evil one and we have confidence in the Lord concerning you both that you do and will do The things we command you Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ But we command you brethren in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you, nor did we eat anyone's bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this, if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.

For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busy bodies. Now, those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread. But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not count him as an enemy but admonish him as a brother.

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all. The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is a sign in every epistle, so I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. We're beginning a new book, but we don't have a new greeting.

That's why the title of the sermon is A Very Familiar Greeting. On September 6th of last year we started our exposition of 1 Thessalonians. The only difference between the greetings and the two letters is a single word. 1 Thessalonians is the, and 2 Thessalonians is our. I'll just point it out to you right now.

If you've got your Bible open, hopefully to 2 Thessalonians. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. To the Church of the Thessalonians in God, our Father. In the first greeting, in 1 Thessalonians, it was, In God, the Father. We got one word swapped out.

Here's how I think we should think about this. We should think about it like Paul thinks about it. Listen to what Paul says in Philippians 3, verse 1. Paul writes, For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. So Paul acknowledges that he is likely to be writing the same things again.

He is likely to be repeating certain themes. And He says, it's not tedious for me to do that. I don't mind it. It's actually safe for you. For the readers of the Apostle, it is safe to have certain great themes, great truths of Scripture, not touched on and left, but pounded again and again, repeated and brought before our eyes again and again.

Why is that? It's because we need it. It's because the great truths of the faith are not to be skimmed over and left. They're to be cherished and meditated on and savored and brought before our eyes again and again. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe." And so it is with these greetings in the first and second letters to the Thessalonians.

So I sort of preached this sermon on September 6th. If you want to go back for a more detailed exposition of it, you can just go back to that sermon. I don't feel the need to preach the exact same sermon again, nor do you want to hear the exact same sermon again. But I will linger this morning on the two great truths that I believe are in this text. And it's safe for you that I linger on these two great truths.

It's good for all of us. This is not a form letter with a standard greeting that can be thrown away. Do you get that? Paul pretty much gives the same greeting, or a very similar greeting, in all of his thirteen letters. He either writes by himself or writes with a group, thirteen letters in the New Testament.

They all look pretty much alike. Not a form letter, with a greeting that you can just throw away to get to the important stuff. We do form letters, but God doesn't do form letters with throw away words. God gives scripture where every word is breathed out by God for a purpose. So we should view these letters, even the greetings and the conclusions of these letters in that context.

The words here have been breathed out by God and are given as a gift to His people. I'd like to give you some quick background on this letter on 2 Thessalonians. I'd like to give you four points to serve as background for this letter. The first point is this. I had said that 1 Thessalonians was Thessalonians was written in either 50 or 51 AD, roughly 20 years after the crucifixion of Jesus.

Second Thessalonians is almost comprehensively thought to have been written within a year of that, so either in 51 or 52 AD, while Paul and Silvanus and Timothy are still in Corinth. I'd like to read to you two verses from Acts chapter 18. In Acts chapter 18, Paul is in Corinth. Listen to Acts chapter 18 verse 5. When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

Here We have Paul in Corinth, and in Acts chapter 18 verse 5, it says that Silas, also Silvanus, two names for the same person, and Timothy come from Macedonia and join Paul in Corinth. This is the last time in the Acts account that we see them together. Does that mean they were never together at a subsequent time in a subsequent place? No, it just means that If they were, we don't know it from Acts. We don't know it from Scripture.

This is the last time that we actually see these three men together in Corinth. Now listen to Acts 18, verse 11. Paul continued there a year and six months, teaching the Word of God among them. We know that Paul had an extended time in Corinth among the converts there, a year and six months, a year and a half. We don't know if Silvanus and Timothy were there the whole time, but we know they were there at least part of this time.

It's almost universally believed that this second letter to the Thessalonian church was written during this time. That's the first point. The second point is this. It seems like 1 Thessalonians is referenced in this letter, and it's clear that this letter, 2 Thessalonians, is in response to a report that has been received by Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. Let me show you both of those things.

First look at chapter 2, verse 15. 2 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or by epistle." These authors are now pointing back to two sources of teaching that they had, past tense, received. One is the traditions which they were taught, I think that is the verbal teaching that Paul and Silvanus and Timothy did while they were there in Thessalonica. And then, by the word of our epistle, it seems clear to me that 1 Thessalonians is being referenced here. We have already written you.

You have already been taught by a letter that we have sent to you. Secondly, look at chapter 3 verse 11, for we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. Paul and Silvanus and Timothy are hearing about things that are happening in Thessalonica. They have received a report about the goings on in Thessalonica. What we have here is a two way communication.

We have reports that are coming from Thessalonica to these spiritual parents. They went to Thessalonica and they made converts by preaching Jesus crucified. This gospel was recognized as the Word of God by those people in Thessalonica, and they received it as the Word of God, and they were born again. Now you have spiritual parents and spiritual children, and there are reports going back and forth from one to the other. The spiritual parents are writing letters based on the things that they are hearing.

Number three. More recently there has been a question raised about the authenticity of this letter. Is it authentic? The chief objection is that they have contradictory eschatology. Eschatology is the study of the last things, the last days, the end times.

There are objections about the authenticity of the letter that say, can't be the same author, they can't both be authentic, because they teach different eschatology. And to that I would say, no, not contradictory eschatology, complementary eschatology. What we're going to find as we study the last days, and what's taught about them in 2 Thessalonians, is that it's not the same as what's taught in 1 Thessalonians, But it complements it. In 1 Thessalonians, we see that the emphasis is on the suddenness of Jesus' return. You remember that?

He's going to come like a thief in the night. It'll be like you wake up and there he is at your bedside. The thief is there. So the thrust of the teaching on the Day of the Lord in 1 Thessalonians is the suddenness of Jesus' coming. In 2 Thessalonians, the emphasis is on the events that will happen prior to Jesus coming back.

Nothing contradictory. It is not a problem at all to set those two things, the suddenness and the events that must happen before them, side by side, as a full range of teaching on the Day of the Lord, on Jesus returning. The reason why they're writing in this second letter is that they're clearing up misunderstandings about the Day of the Lord. Additional teaching is necessary. By the way, the questions about the authenticity are within the last 100 years, largely.

For the first 1900 years of church history, it was readily accepted as authentic. That should tell us something. Fourth and finally, there are three major themes in this letter. I'm going to give them to you and we're going to be spending our time on these three major themes as we work through the letter. The first is the end of persecutors and the end of those being persecuted.

Now you know why this is a theme. It's a theme because the Thessalonians are being persecuted, sharply persecuted, intensely persecuted. So Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy want these people who are undergoing persecution to be able to look out in the future and see what happens to the persecutors in the end of these things if they don't repent. And it's going to be fiery destruction. We'll be there in a couple of weeks.

And, Paul and Silvanus and Timothy want these precious new converts who are undergoing intense persecution to look out to the end and see what happens to those who are enduring persecution. And the glories and joys that await them. In business, the phrase is, begin with the end in mind. The thought is, whenever you begin a project or undertaking, you look out to see what you want the end point to be and then you make plans accordingly. I think as this applies to us, this is continue with the end in mind.

In other words, we are going to encounter as Christians trials and hardships and persecutions, the Scriptures promise us that. But we continue with the end in mind, knowing what the end of persecutors is. Knowing what the end of those who really have saving faith and endure those persecutions knowing the joys that await us. We continue with the end in mind. The second theme is clarifications about the Day of the Lord.

Some people have been saying that it's already happened. That Somehow Jesus has come and the impact of it is so slight that they missed it. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy are going to say that can't be. The way they described the coming of Jesus in 1 Thessalonians would preclude that from being possible. The trumpet will sound and Jesus will shout with the voice of an archangel.

We're not going to miss it. So they're going to clarify things about the day of the Lord, Jesus' second coming. Finally, the third major theme of the letter is a warning about the disorderly. Every local church that has been going for very long at all, has people within it who are walking disorderly. So what should we do about that?

For the benefit of ourselves corporately and for the benefit of the one who is walking disorderly. Paul and Silvanus and Timothy teach us with great clarity what we do when someone is walking disorderly among us. Those are the three major themes. As we go to the introduction, let's pray. We know how prone we are to forget, and how greatly we need the repetition of the foundational things of our faith.

God, I thank you that the Apostle didn't find it tedious to repeat these things, and knew that it was safe for us that He would say many of the same things, the great truths of the faith, over and over again. I pray that you would help us to drink it in, and to learn to love the things, not to despise the things that are repeated, but to love them and to savor them. As the same thing is brought to us again, it's because we need it and we know it is, God. We thank you for your patience in teaching us. Thank you in Jesus' name, Amen.

The greeting begins with who it's from, the team that it's from. If you want a longer introduction to Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, You can go back to September 6th of last year. It's on the internet. Here was the summary. I'll put it right out.

The summary is this. We have Paul, the persecutor turned apostle. Remember, Paul's not Paul when we meet him in the book of Acts. He is Saul, the violent blasphemer who is trying to choke the life out of God's church. He is the persecutor turned apostle.

You have Silvanus, the insider, a leading man of the leading church. This was a man highly regarded in the church of Jerusalem. The church in Jerusalem is the leading church. A bunch of their elders are the disciples. In this leading church, the leading church in the world at that time, because of who was leading it, Jesus' own disciples, here is a man who was so highly regarded that when the Jerusalem Council happens in Acts 15, and they sort out whether you have to be circumcised to be saved or not, when they send That verdict to the Gentile churches, they picked this man to deliver it because he's going to go and teach it with power.

That's what we see him doing in Acts in the church in Antioch. He's one of the few men who delivered this letter, and he's actually called a prophet in Acts 16. Silvanus is a leading man from the leading church. And then there's Timothy, Paul's faithful son in the faith, who we see dispatched on many occasions to go and do something in Paul's stead. He's not able to do these things from time to time personally, and so Timothy, as a faithful son in the faith, is his personal emissary to go do very important things.

That's who these three men are. The rest of my comments are going to be around two of the little insignificant words. Seemingly insignificant words. I hope they're not really insignificant since I've crafted my sermon around them. But I'm going to be speaking about two prepositions, in and from.

Prepositions are the most insignificant words in almost every sentence. They just help us chain together the words that matter. In other words, you could pluck out the prepositions from almost every sentence, and you'd sound more like a caveman or a cavewoman, but you would get the meaning. In this case, our prepositions are in and from. You can pluck those words out and you're going to sound like a caveman.

But in this case, and this is unusual, believe they are highly meaningful words. Here is the first preposition. Part of verse 1. To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a local church, and they are in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Local churches, like the Church of the Thessalonians, like Sovereign Redeemer Community Church, are part of a big church. All the little churches, all the local churches, are part of the big church that is made up of all those who are saved by faith past, present, and future. So there are people not even born yet, who are going to end up part of this church. This whole church is going to be gathered together to worship God for all eternity. It's all of those who have been saved by faith.

So clear in Romans, there's only one way anyone has ever been saved under the old covenant, under the new covenant, under any covenant, and that is by faith. Works never saved anyone. All those who have been saved by faith at any point in time are part of the big Church, of the universal Church, of all the godly and all ages, those who have been saved by faith. And they are in God who becomes our Father, and they are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I believe that there's a passage from Colossians that helps us understand what it means to be in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Please turn to Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3. It's only a few pages back. It will be easy to get there. I want you to see this.

Colossians 3, I'll be reading verses 1-3. Paul writes, If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." This is talking about people who were raised with Christ. That's in verse 1.

If then you were raised with Christ. If you were raised with Christ, you died. That's why you're raised with Christ, because you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. You are joined with Christ and You are in God. This is true of you personally, and it is true of us corporately.

That is what it means to be born again. It means to be joined to Christ in such a way that your life is gone. You died. And you were raised with Christ. And your life is hidden.

Your life has been swallowed up. It's hidden with Christ in God. The people of God are not just individuals. They form a body, a united body. This is the testimony of the whole New Testament.

We are not lone rangers. We are not islands unto ourselves. We, together, all who have saving faith, are joined together as one. We form a body, The body of Christ. We have a head.

We are not some separate entity that God the Father and Jesus keep at arm's length to see how we will perform. This is a beautiful truth. This is what it means to be hidden, to have our life hidden with Christ in God. We are not a separate entity that God and Jesus are doing this to, to see how we get along. God help us if that's what we are.

Our lives are hidden with Christ in God. We have been joined to Him. Our lives are swallowed up in Jesus' resurrection. We are raised with Christ. Now we are not a separate entity that God keeps out here to see whether we make the cut or not.

He said, you are making the cut in my son. You have made the cut in my son. So we are not earning, staying on that spot through our own words. Having begun by the Spirit, we are sanctified by the Spirit. It starts with Christ.

It continues with Christ. It is sustained by Christ. It is guaranteed by Christ. Our lives are hidden with Christ in God. These are what local churches are.

They are people that God joins together in a local fellowship. They are in God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a glorious truth. Brothers and sisters, this is a foundational truth that bears repeating. You lose sight of that and you have every form of mischief.

You have working to retain your spot. You'll be ground to powder working to sustain your spot. Away from me with that. That's why Paul and Sylvainus and Timothy think that it makes sense to say it again. It's not a form letter with a throwaway greeting.

It's a foundational truth of our faith that tells us who we are and why it matters. Does that matter? That we're in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ? You bet it matters. This is not something we can move on from.

Christians don't move on from the foundational truths. There are some truths. All the truth of the scripture is important. There are a million true things in here, but not all of them are on the ground floor. Not all of them are in the foundation of the building.

This is one that's in the foundation of the building. Christians don't move on from that. They might build on it, but they don't let go of it while they're building. They hold on to it, they cling to it, because it matters how we see everything in life. When you see the things in your life from the vantage point of being in God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

It changes how you think about everything. There is joy here. There is comfort here. There is a truth that will sustain us here when we are discouraged. This is why it is here.

This is why they are repeating it. Now, the second preposition. So that was our first preposition. In God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. You have that phrase repeated.

We have repetition within the same greeting. Our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The exact same phrase. It was used in the first verse. There is something that comes from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are two things actually. Grace and peace. This is the overwhelming Disposition of God towards his people. I won't say anything for a minute. God's overwhelming disposition towards His people is given to us on a silver platter here.

Grace and peace. You think you've made the last mistake you can ever make, and he's done with you. God's overwhelming disposition towards His people is grace and peace. Now, I'm not here to give you false comfort if you're not really in Christ. The Bible teaches clearly that there are those who say they are who aren't.

So let's just acknowledge that truth. There are people who say they are and who even think they are who are not. But for those who are, God's overwhelming disposition towards you is grace and peace. There is a constant, unbroken, overwhelming flow of grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ to you and to us. Unbroken flow of grace and peace.

There's an unbroken flow of grace. It means unmerited favor. Getting good that you don't deserve. Unmerited favor. It's good, You didn't deserve it, you didn't earn it, you couldn't have bought it, but you get it anyway.

That's what grace is. Peace is our state of being completely reconciled. Nothing between you and God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ if you are born again. Nothing between you. Built on grace.

How are you going to have peace if it's not for grace? So you see these two things are very closely related. I believe what is chiefly spoken of here by Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy is peace with God. But it's not separate than peace with each other, because our peace with each other is built on peace with God. It starts with peace with God, and that reconciles us to each other.

We don't have a basis to be reconciled to each other, except that God has made it so that we are completely reconciled to Him. Here's a song we sing. I love the song. All I have is Christ. Here's one of the lines from it.

You bore the wrath reserved for me. Now all I know is grace. I love the song, but for the longest time that line really bothered me. You bore the wrath reserved for me. So far so good.

Substitutionary atonement. Ground floor truth. I'm not bothered by that. That doesn't make me squirm at all. Then, Now all I know is grace.

This just gives me a little discomfort. Especially in the modern church world that we're living in, that has turned God into Santa Claus. Now all I know is grace. Grace, grace, grace. No room for truth in modern evangelicalism, or large parts of it.

Grace is the only thing that is spoken of. The judgment of God is lost and the truths of Scripture are way undervalued. That line for a long time made me really uncomfortable. Now all I know is grace. I don't think the God of the Bible is Santa.

As I've thought about it, the authors of this song got it just right. All the Lord's people know is grace. From the time that you are born again, all you know is grace. Yes, there is discipline when we are disobedient and when we are stubborn. Discipline is grace.

It's not sometimes we get grace and sometimes we get discipline. Discipline is grace. It's a mark of sonship. It is a mark of sonship. Hebrews 12 says, if you are not disciplined, you are a bastard.

You are illegitimate. You're illegitimate. Discipline from the Lord, because He's such a good Father, and He knows exactly what to do and exactly when to do it is an unmerited favor. Hatred would be him letting you have exactly what you want and just going your own way into destruction. But God's a good Father.

He doesn't do that to His children. He does exactly the right thing at exactly the right time. And you couldn't have bought it. It is grace. But discipline is not a curse.

Jesus has borne the curse of His people. Jesus became a curse for His people. He who knew no sin became sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. As the scripture says, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. This is Romans.

Jesus became our curse. Don't let anyone ever tell you that the people of God are under a curse, even for their disobedience. Yes, they are subject to discipline. No, they are not under a curse. Jesus is born the curse.

Anyone who tells you that is rejecting the work of Jesus on behalf of his people. Turn to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. I want you to see what all this is based on. What all the grace and peace, the unbroken, overwhelming flow of grace and peace is based on this from Romans chapter 8.

I'd like to read Romans 8 verses 15-17. Paul writes, For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Co-heirs with Christ.

So there's a great contrast given to us in Romans 8, 15-17. There are two spirits. One spirit is the spirit of fear. It is to be in bondage to fear. Or there is the spirit of adoption that cries out within you.

Abba, Father, Daddy, Father. Because you've been adopted, and the spirit indwells you, that acknowledges your adoption, and cries out on the basis of your adoption to your daddy. When we are adopted by God, we become co-heirs with Jesus Christ. Meaning, we are looked upon and treated as the natural children. God only has one natural child.

That is Jesus. The rest are adopted through the work of the natural child. Jesus is God's beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. That's the voice that comes from heaven, and Jesus' baptism. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

Why is that relevant to us? Because that's how God treats us when we are in Christ. Because God loves Jesus and is pleased with Jesus, when we are in Christ, it means that God loves us and is pleased with us, and that is how he relates to us. This is a glorious truth. This is a foundational ground floor truth that you can't move on from.

It's too glorious, and we need the comfort of it too much in the challenges of life to move on from it. God's disposition towards you is the same as His disposition towards his son, Jesus. Doesn't that make you say, How can that be? How can that possibly be? That God's disposition towards me with all my sins, in the way that I think, in the way that I speak, in the things that I do, that His disposition towards me would be the same as Jesus, the Son that He loves and who pleases Him.

It's because of Jesus. Because you're joined to Him. This is the foundation of the grace of God and Jesus towards us, and the peace of God and Jesus towards us. Brothers and sisters, this is a foundational truth that bears repeating. I'm glad Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy had the foresight of being inspired to give us scripture to repeat these things.

We are in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace are from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. They are unbroken and they are overwhelming. Here are the applications. They're obvious and won't take long.

One, how are you doing with the preposition, in? What is your relationship with this preposition? The first thing we should ask is, am I in? This is written, these comforts, these encouragements, are written to those who are in. We should ask ourselves, am I in?

God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ? And if you are, do you think like it and act like it? Don't you think if we're in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ that we should think like it? We should have our thoughts shaped by that. If that's our identity, we have some rights and privileges in how we think.

They're good and helpful to the Lord's people. If we really are in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, shouldn't we act like it? Wouldn't it matter if we acted like it? Number two, how are you doing with the preposition from? There's a far side cartoon And it's this goofy looking guy walking down the sidewalk, oblivious to everything, and there's a piano on a rope hanging over him.

He has no idea, he's just walking down the sidewalk, but there's a piano right over him. And in the picture is sort of a sub-frame with God with a keyboard and there's a smite button on the keyboard. And like the fingers right there, He's getting ready to push the smite. Of course, the implication is as soon as God pushes the smite button, the piano will fall on the unsuspected goofy guy. How many Christians think like that?

I do think we should fear God. I do think we should be very aware of the discipline of the Lord for disobedience. So I'm not preaching a grace that exempts that. But I don't think we should be afraid to preach grace without apology. It is unmerited favor.

You can't even buy it. If God were to wait until we merited it, He would never do good towards us. God is not waiting for you to do good towards you if you're His. He's not waiting for you. His good might be disciplined for a while to bring you around, to bring hardships into your life that force you to abandon your stubbornness and your disobedience.

That's grace. He's not going to wait for you. There's a sign down the road in front of the church. Jesus is right where you left Him. Poor Jesus.

Poor Jesus. Waiting on you. That is not the God of the Bible. It just isn't. I'm not saying there are no Christians in that church.

I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that isn't Jesus. Jesus on that sign isn't the Jesus of the Bible. Who's just waiting for you to turn around and come back. He's just waiting for you.

No. Jesus claims people. He claims them. He makes them His own. Not because they performed, but because He is good.

He is going to glorify himself by taking people who don't deserve it. That's the whole point. The whole point is that it's the people who don't deserve it. It's not skimming the cream off the top. He's calling out the people who don't deserve it to show His greatness and His graciousness.

If you really have saving faith, God is not hovering over the smite button, waiting to drop the piano on you. There's an unbroken, overwhelming flow of grace and peace. It says, overwhelming disposition towards you. God, I thank You for the foundational truths of our faith. What an encouragement they are to our souls.

I thank You that all whom You've given faith and repentance to are in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and that grace and peace are from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, unbroken, overwhelming. God, thank you for your love for your people on display in a simple greeting. It's not as simple as I thought it was. Thank you Lord just for opening up your word to us. Thank you for this great, mighty gift to your people, this deposit.

God, I pray that you would change the way we think based on the truths that you have revealed to us in your Word. We will be able to serve you without fear all of our days because of Jesus' work, knowing that you love Him, that you are pleased with Him, and that your disposition is the same towards us when we are in Him. Thank you for all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.