The Exhortation and the Benediction

Cameron Porter2 Thessalonians 2:15–17

2 Thessalonians 2:15–17 closes a condensed apostolic letter with an exhortation and a benediction, and this sermon expounds both in turn. The exhortation — 'stand fast and hold the traditions' — summons believers to a posture of resolute, unified, apologetically vigorous fidelity to revealed apostolic doctrine, grounded in the certainty that the triune God saves from election to glorification. The benediction that follows prays that the same God who has loved his people and given them everlasting consolation by grace would comfort their hearts through believing the truth of Scripture and establish them in every good word and work. Listeners are called to resist the temptation to seek temporal, emotional remedies for troubled hearts, and instead to plant their eyes in the unshakeable promises of Holy Scripture.