This is a sermon by Russ Atmore taken from 2 Thessalonians 2:13–17. This message was preached at Bethel Community Church, Sarasota, FL on Sunday Morning, May 10, 2020.
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Archives for May 2020
Sweet Flattery
“Now God’s truth requires us to look for something different when we think of ourselves – namely, a knowledge which banishes our arrogant belief in our own strength and which removes every excuse for vainglory, leading us instead to humility. This is a rule we ought to follow if we want to reach the goal of right thinking and right action. I know how much nicer it is for men to be allowed to recognize their gifts and praises than to see and understand their poverty, shame, vileness, and frailty. There is nothing our mind desires more than to be wooed by honeyed words and flattery…thus because man is so prone to self-flattery, nothing can please him more than to be tickled with empty praise.”
John Calvin (Institutes, French Edition, 1541, pp. 29, 30)