“Receive The Truth And Be Saved”

II Thessalonians 2:7-12

7. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

8. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

9. Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

10. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

11. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

12. That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

I

t might seem pointless to say this, but salvation is based on the truth of the Word of God. No doubt the Lord finds this something that needs to be said because most preachers read many “sources” in order to be prepared to deliver a “message,” yet, in the process not only become confused, but in many cases, confuse their people, as well.

You see, one can read as many sources as he likes, but if one does not really know where the “weight” of God’s Word lies, the sources will do him no good. This is what is important to know: the “weight” of the Word lies in the Word, itself—not in the “interpretation” of that Word. Herein lies the onus of salvation: one must we willing to receive the truth of the Word of God if he would be saved.

Though it sees not to matter to many of the “people” of God in these last days, it is important to accept that not all that one hears about God is of God (in other words, not all one hears is truth.) To know the difference, one need only know this—that truth will never prove to be wrong and will always accomplish its prescribed purpose.

One will know that God is God by what He does. You see, He is what He does and He does what He says. Therefore, one never need wonder about Whom he is serving. Simply, watch his deeds.

One of the first “truths” that one must accept is that there is no salvation in “humanism.” What exactly is meant by “humanism?” It is best defined as “serving of the self.” Since all that Jesus was and did spoke against the serving of the self, it is illogical that we would be able to serve ourselves and partake of Him. It is also useless to serve oneself, for the “price” paid by Jesus was enough to redeem Man as well as provide for all that he might ever need.

Perhaps, this is precisely the problem. Yes, Jesus has provided for us, but in order to enjoy that “provision,” we must also pay a price. That “price” is the giving of oneself to Him. Perhaps the reluctance to do this is the reason that men continue to try to “do” for themselves after salvation.

Verse 7 of our text, today, while referring to the “Last Days,” is profitable to us now. When the scripture speaks of “letting,” contrary to our modern meaning, it refers to a “holding back.” So, in our scripture, today, we are being told that the only thing holding back the process of the work of iniquity is the Church. In other words, as long as the Church is in the world, the wicked one cannot come.

One’s willingness and ability to accept truth and be saved will be determined largely by his ability to be honest with himself. You see, to be saved, one must live a spiritual life and this requires reckoning oneself dead with Christ. In turn, “death” requires “change.” Most of us, as much as we might yearn to be saved, get “stopped” right here at the issue of change. We fight a constant battle with the concept and seem not to be able to overcome it.

This is why the Lord deals with us about honesty, for if one would be saved, he will have to change and in order to change, he will have to be honest enough to admit and accept that change is needed. Our fear in becoming “someone else” is that in the process, we will be “lost.” What we seem to forget is that God warns us of our tests and assures us help through them—both help from Him and being helped through them (the tests).

The devil so easily deceives us by finding out exactly what it is that we do not like—from our own mouths! You see, we boldly vocalize what really disturbs us and then he knows exactly what to send our way! Instead of this being what we speak, we need to get it into our spirit to speak the Word of God! Standing on it, unwavering, is what defeats the enemy. On the contrary, when we follow that which is human, we are on our own.

We will never be able to resist the devil through the human spirit. Any victory that will come to us will be through the Spirit of God—and It, alone. Only through operating in the Spirit is flesh silenced and it must be this way if we are to commune with God. The reason that we are so “tormented” in the flesh is because this is the devil’s “territory”—and where too many of us live. As long as he can keep us “attached” to it, he really needs no other weapons.

Not only are we to receive truth for ourselves, but for others, as well. The Lord would not “waste” salvation on any one individual just that he might be able to feel that he has “arrived.” God saves Man that He might build Himself a “soul-winning” army—and that “army” consists of all those who accept His Spirit. The chance of serving The General is worth “surrendering” to whatever it takes for us to be saved.