BUILT TO LAST – STAND FIRM!

2026-06-28

Charles Billingsley

It was September 13, 1814. The future of America hung perilously close to annihilation. 

The British had already burned the city of Washington, and now they had set their sights on Baltimore.   

A poem became a song, and that song became our National Anthem. The Star-Spangled Banner. 

And that flag has been flying ever since. Through many wars and much death and difficulty – after 250 years, our nation still stands. 

And for that we can be very thankful.

STAND FIRM!

I want to call your attention to one particular verse that will be the backdrop for my message title today.  

2 Thessalonians 2:15 (NKJV)

Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.

2 Thessalonians 2:15  (NLT) With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.

1. STAND FIRM In your troubles and tribulations

2 Thessalonians 1:1-2
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the gentiles joined the Jews in their persecution because this new church was a disruption of the social norms and the social construct to which they were accustomed.  

3 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,  4 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, 5 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;  

Getting through tribulations requires three things.  Paul mentions all 3 in vs 4.

PATIENCE – James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 

FAITH  – Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

ENDURANCE  –   Romans 5:3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

2 Thessalonians 1:6 since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, 7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 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. 

Stand firm in your troubles and your tribulations.  

2. STAND FIRM  In your testimony

9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,  

Annihilationism

Universalism 

10 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.

11 Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of thiscalling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, 12 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.

Our walk must match our talk

Stand firm in your testimony!   

2:1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 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.

 3 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, 4 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.

This is a very clear mentioning of the AntiChrist.   

But before the antiChrist comes to power, certain specific things will happen.  

The Rapture 

The falling away 

AntiChrist will appear on the world scene  

The Temple 

The Second Coming of Jesus 

5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 

7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do sountil He is taken out of the way. 8 And then 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.

3. STAND FIRM on the truth 

2:9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

Not only will those things happen then, they are happening now. 

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, we experienced something in our nation that hadn’t happened since Pearl Harbor. We were attacked on our own soil by an enemy that we didn’t realize was our greatest threat. 

We were not prepared. We did not have the enemy sized up properly. Our guard was down.

You probably remember where you were when we all watched in horror as those World Trade Center towers fell. 

9/11 commission report

Released on July 22, 2004. 

CS Lewis – Screwtape Letters 

Screwtape outlines several specific ways the Underworld distorts reality to pull humans away from God:

• Subtle Redefinition
• “The Historical Point of View”
• Distraction by Noise
• The Power of Omission

“It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing… Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” – C.S. Lewis

No matter what comes your way.

No matter how many bullets the enemy shoots your way. No matter what sort of difficulty you face. Stand firm. 

If you will, then just like old Fort McHenry, at dawn when the smoke settles and you reach the end of your battle – you’ll still be standing strong 

2:13….because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.  15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.

Stand firm in your troubles and your tribulations. 

Stand firm in your testimony. 

Stand firm on the truth.

16 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, 17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

That is my prayer for you. And that is my prayer for our nation.