Second Thessalonians 2:13-14 Give Thanks to God for you

All right, so we're going to begin this morning, I guess, but tonight it is somewhere in the world. We're going to begin reading from verse seven down through the rest of the chapter. And I think what that does is set the stage very nicely for the topic before us today and also gives us an idea of where we're going. Okay, let me get arranged here in terms of the keyboard, my laptop and everything else. All right, verse seven, for the mystery of iniquity doth already work.

Only he who now lets will let until he be taken out of the way. And then shall the wicked be revealed where the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Even him who's coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and science and lying wonders, and with all deceitfulness. deceivableness, that's an interesting word, anyway I would probably reword that differently, unrighteousness in them that perish because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believe not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Here are verses today 13 and 14. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you in salvation through sanctification of the spirit and the belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word or by epistle. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, even our Father, which hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good work and word. I've combined both verses. So the verses today are verses 13 and 14. Let's read them again.

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. Wow, isn't that packed with great theology?

So excuse the cough here. I'll clean it up here. All right, let's proceed. This, I think, is in strong contrast to the future of the perishing that was covered by Andrew the last few weeks and described in verses 10 through 12. We read those today just to remind us of where we're coming from here. How about this for a contrast?

These two verses are as uplifting as they come, aren't they? He's reminding the Thessalonians about what had preceded in terms of his epistles to them and ultimately the downside of those who in fact do not accept the truth. And notice the Trinity is proclaimed in these two verses. Can anybody think of other areas of Scripture where the Trinity is proclaimed in just a verse or two?

There aren't too many. That's one criticism of the faith is where are all three of these things together. Can anybody think of anywhere else? There are, but it's hard to recall them off the top of your head. And by the way, that was a question I did not intend to ask, but there are other places.

But this is a good section to really show that God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Lord Jesus Christ are all intricately involved in what the message is to the Thessalonians. Why the sudden transition in theme, do you think? What preceded this? Well, he was talking about the faith of those who did not trust Christ as their Savior and that, you know, their fate is pretty bad because not only because they don't believe, but because of their unbelief, he justified why he was sent a strong delusion, which seems super harsh, but if you look through, like we did last week, through those verses, he's totally justified in doing that. He gave them every opportunity and they didn't receive the love of the truth, they didn't receive the Savior. Well, Roger, if you were in the setting of the church at Thessalonica and the message had been delivered that we taught the last couple of weeks, what would you expect to follow? Well, yeah, I mean, so after, yeah, you would expect encouragement because you already have showed them that it's going to be a terrible time in the end times and the tribulation period, so now you want to encourage them that their fate is different. Their fate is different from the unbelievers. Okay, good. I think that's a lead-in to what I want to project here. Doesn't this reflect kind of the need for the character of God to be portrayed for everything it is?

So let's just look at this, and I'll turn to Isaiah just as an example of God and who he is. Isaiah 40, 13 and 14, who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as his counselor has taught him? With whom did he take counsel and who instructed him and taught him in the path of justice? Who taught him knowledge and who showed him the way of understanding?

Isn't that profound? God Almighty, from the very beginning, is what's represented incredibly well in Isaiah 40. Of course, that's Old Testament, but that relates to the principle of God, who he is, his position, his ultimate lack of input from anybody but himself.

Anybody have some thoughts to further that statement? I mean, what a reminder. Here, I've lifted you up, you're doing okay in Thessalonica with the Church and its development, but yet I want to warn you about some things that are going on there and ultimately the future as it relates to the body of Christ and those who may fall aside and not, in fact, follow the truth. But let me remind you who I am.

And these verses really, I think, do reflect that. We'll get into those in more detail. Keithley III, again, he's very loquacious, and page after page after page. But I've lifted a little section of his that I thought was really very appropriate. Consequently, meaning after all of this, having assured these believers that they were not then in the day of the Lord. We've covered that in detail, right?

And having contrasted their glorious future with that of the unbelieving world, the Apostle returns to matters at hand in verses 14 to 17, namely the present danger of failing to hold to what they had been taught so that they might find their comfort and strength in that truth for fruitful living in the present world. And I highlight this. In this we see the necessary balance between prophecy and practical Christian living. I mean, isn't that so important?

I mean, you know, we were, Mark and I were at the CU football game, which was a disaster yesterday, but anyway, all that aside. We were just, you know, you're in the world system, you know, and you're seeing, anyway, so not being judgmental, but you know, this is not our home here. And you see of all the things that are surrounding us in the news or when you're in crowds and everything, You'd like to just continue to lift yourself up and position yourself where God has us. Andrew, you had a thought?

I was going to say, you only thought that because CU was losing. If they were winning... Not only did they lose, they scored no points. They had like three first downs in the whole game or something. Anyway, all that aside, Andrew has led us astray. I didn't intend to have that happen here. He's entered this world system. Anyway, their loss had nothing to do with us reflecting on our position and condition. Anyway, Andrew, you want to come up and teach her? It's good. Thank you. Somebody? Go ahead. Patty? No. Good. Who's up? Kathy, good, go ahead.

I just wanted to say that in these times, there's so much deception, there's just so much evil going on, and the only way to really keep your head together is to be in the Word of God. So that's what he's saying here, that there's a danger in failing to hold to what they have been taught. Yeah, and I think going back to Isaiah, again, it's a perfect set of verses to really look at where God's coming from here, Paul working in the Holy Spirit in terms of what's written.

Who's directed the Spirit of the Lord? And ultimately, who's taught the Lord? I mean, you know, if we don't believe what we believe, then we're on soft sand, aren't we? So always being called back to who we are based on who God is and how he works for the power of the Lord Jesus Christ's crucifixion, resurrection, and the Holy Spirit teaching us day in and day out.

That's the message I think that's reflected in these two verses. Other thoughts before we go ahead? So who's giving thanks to God always for whom? It says, but we're bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. Paul, Silas. Yeah, it says we. Yeah, so Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, right?

Those are the authors for Thessalonians 1.1. Okay, and who, to whom is it being directed? To God. I'm sorry? Give thanks to God, right? Okay, but to whom are they praying for? The Brethren. The Brethren, okay. And these are called Beloved.

And by the way, this greeting of giving thanks to God always for whom and giving thanks for the Beloved is really repeatedly demonstrated in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. So this is not unique to here. For some reason in this epistle, Paul repeatedly is ultimately, you know, giving thanks and praying for the Beloved. So the Brethren or Beloved is agapio by the Lord. Okay, so what do we make of that, the fact that it's agapio?

Well, first of all, let's look at the verb tense. This is a perfect passive participle. How do we interpret that? giving thanks. Well, the perfect is the idea of the past, you know, past completed action with abiding results. Yeah, right. So it's important to look at the perfect tense here because this is an act of God, meaning calling the brethren beloved. We're all beloved by the way. even though at times we feel like we shouldn't be. Anyway, we're all beloved, and this is an act of God that continues indefinitely and repeatedly. So I think this is a bonding way that Paul in the Scriptures has really represented what his view, Silvanus and Timothy's view, and God's view himself is of the body of Christ at Thessalonica. It's an uplifting term. All right, so just an example of that, a couple of examples.

Romans 8.39, nor height nor depth. I mean, we read this a lot. We're studying 1 Corinthians 15 now, but this is back in eight. But in a sense, 1 Corinthians 15 kind of reflects on the same idea. Nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Okay, so the idea of this, nothing's gonna be able to separate us from that.

So he's reminding them that this, you are beloved and nothing's going to ever change that relationship going forward. And this is selective, should be a D for the end. The term beloved is intended to lift them up and encourage them. It's not, you know, a term that's used loosely, okay?

And again, we all fit the criteria for being beloved. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, and longsuffering, we're called to this because of our qualifications. Okay, let's go into something that's a little bit interesting and it's always a topic for discussion. Because God, from the beginning, chose you for salvation.

All right? Chose. This is aorist tense and factual. So what do we make of that? We don't necessarily need to drill down on every word in terms of its Greek origin, but I think verb tense can be helpful at times in putting it into proper perspective. Well, the truth, I like to kind of flip it around.

Every believer can say truthfully that he was chosen because he believed he was chosen. Now, the problem you have is, well, how do you, you know, is that if I had not believed, would he have chosen me? You know, and so you get into, you know, God's choosing, you know, you choosing by faith him and he choosing you before the foundation of the world. So both are true. So this is a statement of God's work on the believer's behalf.

So Roger was kind of on a rabbit trail here for a little bit, but he's kind of returned to this. We're asking about the verb tense and how to interpret it. So you kind of got back to that. So Roger, what are your thoughts? Well, you know, it's a fact. It's a fact. OK. It's a factual. OK. That's what I was trying to allude to. What about the aorist tense? What do you make of that? Well, it's a past, you know. Usually it talks about the past completed action, or actually it's a past fact, if you will. Past fact, which remains operational, right? But this isn't perfect tense, where something needs to continue.

I mean, this is a fact, historically, that's documented scripturally. And the fact that we're chosen before the salvation of the world, we'll come back to your rabbit trail here in a second. But with the Lord, there's no timeline. So the Lord knew from the beginning that who was going to choose Him by faith and who was not. I mean, I think, you know, we talk about time and space. We think in time and space, but the Lord doesn't have that. I mean, He can look at the past and the future and all at one time. And no, because otherwise, then you get into that controversy. Well, we're going to get into it a little bit later, but not in great detail, because I think we all are on the same page.

But anyway, just to go to another verse that really is pretty solid, Ephesians 1.4, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him and love. How are you doing working at that? Again, this is not just unique to this epistle in the New Testament, but it's stated elsewhere.

Let's go ahead and look at the controversy a little bit further. Macaulay, I kind of like what he said here. What is the meaning of the phrase, from the beginning? Some interpreters take it to refer to the day Paul first preached the gospel to them. This misses an important distinction present in these verses.

The divine choice takes place in eternity. The divine call takes place in time. The words from the beginning are equivalent to from eternity. But back to what Margaret says, the divine call takes place in time for each and every one of us, right? But yet the call is there, and we cannot misinterpret really what that means. Back to Calvinism and Arminianism. That's not where we want to go. We want to go to scripture.

And I'm just going to show you a couple of verses that I think pretty much document that, you know, for God so loved the world, John 3, 6, and we all know this verse, that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. That's whosoever believes in him, right? So your name is written in the book of life based on his knowledge of who will come to that truth. But then another one which we know so well, 1st Timothy 2, 3, and 4, for this is good and acceptable on the side of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of this truth. So there's just no argument here. God is profound with it. Go ahead.

But I'm going to say he desires all men to choose him. Yeah, that's the point. But he doesn't say all men will choose him. It's his desire that everyone would. But Bonnie Henderson's name is written in the Book of Life. I mean, and so is Rogers and Andrews and Patties and everybody else in this room. not because of anything but His great grace and our response to the calling.

Right. Well, I kind of like to look at it, you know, God takes action and man takes action. And God is able to do that without violating, you know, He doesn't force us to believe, but He still chooses us. And that hurts your head initially. You think, well, how can that be? Isn't He kind of forcing me? No, He's not. He allows you to choose Him. but he also chooses you. And so that's the divine mystery of this, you know, God choosing us and we choosing him, or by faith, choosing him.

Yeah, and of course the intellectual argument will all take you out. What about people who have incurred and all these kinds of things, which I think are reasonable intellectual arguments, but they're intellectual. You have to accept both. And there's other places in the scripture that have similar ideas. You know, they seem contradictory at first, but when you take in the fact you have a infinite God and who spans all time he can do things that we can't our minds can't get our get around that so he's able to choose us and we and then he allows us by faith to choose him so how that you know that's that's where the many people go off the rails on that they can't you know But they shouldn't.

You know, it's a metaphor. The key is in the keyhole, and if you turn it, in fact, the door opens. I mean, these two verses really solidly convince that he would have all people to be saved. Our response is to respond. So another kind of a bit of a rabbit trail is who responds and where's that faith come from? That's an interesting discussion, too. Is that faith intrinsically in the individual who responds to the salvation message, or alternately, is that a special dose of faith that's given us at the time of salvation by the Spirit? Well, you know, what's interesting is a lot of us have to go down a rocky road longer. I mean, you know, nobody has the same path. So with some people, it's a long, rocky road to finally come to the end of yourself and realize you need a Savior.

With others, you know, it's a They hear it and, you know, they accept it and they get it. So I think it's very interesting how some people, it may not happen to the end of their life, you know, truly. And some of us can identify a date. I mean, I'll never forget July 14th, 1978, where I was going to a Bill Gothard seminar, the second time Sharon made me go.

She was saved a year earlier after the seminar, not at the seminar, but from a mainline church actually, came to the truth through a Bible study. But anyway, all that aside, that day I realized I couldn't do it on my own. See, I grew up in kind of a mainline church where it was all good works and things. I never heard a personal gospel presented, but maybe that's because I was blinded to it. But I don't know. I'm not blaming them. Blaming my own sin nature in resistance to that. Anyway, so that's a bit of a side.

All right, the process through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. And I'm going to ask the class, aren't these the conditions and process by which we are saved? And ultimately, the answer is yes. But I'm just wondering, do you think the order is reversed here? Sanctification before belief in the truth is the order? We always talk about you being sanctified right now until you're glorified. Sanctification is the middle part of this. Right, and I think that's the way we think about it.

Let's go to 1 Corinthians 6.11 and I'd like to discuss this more. And such were some of you but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Do these verses seem to contradict one another? I'm not looking for error in the Bible, I'm just thinking of interpretation of the 2 Thessalonians verse.

You want to ask, well why did the Lord choose in this verse to present it that way? I mean that's what we're always looking for. The Lord, it's amazing how he'll present truths in a way that we hadn't expected, so to speak, and it would seem sometimes contradictory. It can't be. Let's look at it again.

We're talking about us being called to salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. In a sense, do we get sanctified or separated at the time we come to be saved? When our own faith which I believe is the faith of us as humans, to believe in the cross, in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're kind of being sanctified right there to some extent, aren't we?

So maybe the order is correct. Some comments. Come on, everybody. I think you have to believe, certainly, first. But then I think the minute you believe and trust the Lord, even though you don't even maybe understand what that is and you have no growth because you don't know anything, but I think we're set apart right then. I mean, I don't think there's I think surely we grow with more information as we get to know the Lord and what it's all about. But I still think you have to at some point believe that you need a Savior and it's the Lord.

But back to 1 Corinthians 6.11, it says, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord.

Is that all in one? Well, Bob, it takes the work of the Holy Spirit in order to complete the salvation process. He's convincing you of what you need, and then will set you apart to himself. All right, so, you know, the Holy Spirit is really omnipresent in the world system, right?

But yet, most people are not impacted by ultimately coming to salvation. So in a sense, I think the order is probably correct, but it's just fun to think about these things because in 611, you know, we're washed, but maybe historically we've been clean, but yet we're not yet sanctified in that relationship, right? So you were washed, but you were then sanctified. And once you're sanctified, although you think of justification, really, you were washed, justified, and then sanctified.

Anyway, it's maybe a sidebar here. But it's interesting to think that, ultimately, Paul, in this section in 2 Thessalonians, tends to say we're sanctified by the Spirit and belief in the truth. Maybe kind of a simultaneous kind of process. But you know, truly, you don't have to have any growth to be set apart. I mean, that's the thing. Once we're saved, we are set apart. All they have to do, the gospel is really very simple. And there are many people who believe, but never grow. Never know anything more. But they're still sanctified.

You know? So, I mean, Anyway, I think it's you believe and then immediately you're sanctified. I mean, right then. I'm going to opine that I think the second part of this phrase is incredibly relevant. I'm going to opine that truth is the most important thing that we all seek. Comments. Right. Go ahead. Right.

He might be talking, but I don't think he can. Roy, are you on mute? We can't hear you. That's too bad. Yeah, I think he's talking. He's talking, but we can't hear him. Roy, we're not hearing you. Yeah, I heard a second. I don't know, what's going on? Wayne, is Bill around? Whether he can help us here or not. He's not muted. There we go. Is that working now? Yes, yes, we're good, right. Okay, just a thought here, guys. Look at Macaulay's comment. It may help us a great deal to think in terms of God and his thoughts versus ours. Our perspective is in time.

His is in eternity. And in eternity, based on when he offers salvation, he knows who's going to and who isn't going to believe. But he doesn't coerce us to believe. He just acts based on our response to the good news to set us apart from the womb. to be in an environment where that gospel reaches us. Paul said this in one of his letters where he says, I've been separated from the womb. In that kind of a thought, in time, Paul could say, God did this. But in eternity, he chose us based on his knowledge of how we would respond. I don't know if that helps or not. A good Bible teacher said it this way. Before salvation, whosoever will may come. After salvation, oh, thank you, Lord, for choosing me.

Right, you know, and again, we're often reminded of this temporal sequence of events we live in, in the world system. I mean, time is relevant to all of us, yesterday, today, and tomorrow, isn't it? But to God, it's irrelevant, totally irrelevant. And that has to do with the sanctification by the Spirit, because it's His work to separate us, to receive this Gospel in an environment of His choice. Yes, and I think sanctification by the Spirit is probably something that's occurring in the room next to us in terms of more detail. But anyway, good. Good comments. Thanks very much, Roy. Let's go on.

To which he called or invited you. In a sense, we think a called is really, we're called. But actually in the Greek, the better translation might be invited. He invites the whole world to be saved. And we know that's a calling, if you will, by the work of the Holy Spirit, ultimately to sanctify us in the truth. But all that, it's invitation, I think, makes a little bit more sense in terms of what the verse says. What are people's thoughts about invited versus being called? How about, you know, ultimately, after the service, Peter, our son, may join us for lunch, but he's invited to join us for lunch. We're not calling him to necessarily be there, but we've invited him. He's going to come, I hope. That's kind of a simple analogy.

He's invited the whole world to be saved. Bob, there is a verse that talks about calling and choosing in the same verse. are called to be saved, but not all are chosen, because not all respond with belief. Okay, you know, invitation would fit well there too, I think. I mean, invitation seems soft, but it's less controversial in terms of the way God works to bringing all men to himself. We're all invited to be saved. Seems unique, but in a sense that saying we're called puts people more in a Calvinistic position, which is not an argument we ever want to have, because the Bible said all are desired to be saved. Bob?

It just seems to me that the invitation versus called, invitation to me points out our will, that we can choose, whereas called seems a little little stronger, like it's not so much our choosing. So, that's what I think. I like that, Carolyn. That's in the way I see this. And again, let's not make invitation seem weak. Called is a stronger term, I think, but yet sometimes I think becomes pejorative in terms of the discussion.

He invites all members of the earthly. The incredible thing is, to be able to invite all, his son had to die. I mean, it's not like this was a, well, okay, I'll just invite all you folks to come if you wanted to, you know. No, he took the action so that that would be possible, that he could put the invitation out to all men. based on his son's death on the cross. Even though invite may be a little bit weak, it still has the power of God's action on man's behalf. It's more polite, right? And look at the pathway by which this occurs.

It's our gospel. Look who he's writing to. It's not the world's gospel. It's ours because we've been sanctified into that gospel account by and through the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the gospel is pretty simple and straightforward, isn't it? There's the more complicated, you know, approach to the gospel. 1 Corinthians 15, which Roger and Mike are teaching, really is a great chapter for the simple message of the first few verses of the gospel account.

And Paul? Yes. Is he talking about when he says our gospel, is he saying our gospel, like it's Paul's gospel, it's your gospel, my gospel, it all belongs to us? Or is he talking about his own particular gospel that he's been preaching? I think it relates to the ownership of the gospel by the people he's teaching and sending this letter to. Yeah, that's what I would...

Okay, so the purpose here is to obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Boy, Andrew and your dad were here, we could spend months and years on glory, but we're going to try to drill down here a little bit today. What begins with grace always leads to glory, and that's really the message that the Church needs to understand. This isn't our works that bring glory to the Lord, it's the operational principle of grace. which is the power of the Spirit in our lives.

Let's ponder this statement for a minute. Let me go back to it. What begins with grace always leads to glory. Some thoughts about that statement. That's my statement. I think it reflects the summary of many of the commentators. For me, it's absolutely mind-blowing. It's given by grace and it winds up in glory.

Okay, why? Why? Because that's God's plan. Okay, but how does that operate? Oh, sanctification. on the journey of life and also in eternity? Well, glory is always God's ultimate goal, right? John 17, that we'll be glorified, and yeah, that's always the end goal. So, yeah. Well, the idea then that grace is the foundation of God's glory being demonstrated, how does that occur?

How does that affect our lives? Well, it's not by works, for sure. Go ahead. I think what it does is it helps us to realize how much God loves us, that he would do all of this to his glory, but by grace. I mean, we don't deserve it. So the fact that he's doing that for us and his son, I mean, that was the agreement between him and his son, it's pretty powerful. So I think that leads to this.

It's not our existence as believers to manifest God's glory, and that's not by works. So what happens when we get a works mindset in terms of bringing glory to God? It tries to bring glory to ourselves instead of Him. We pervert His plan and His glory. It's perverted.

But the world system really honors people who do good things, right? And we as believers kind of enter into that space sometimes, and I'm not saying that doing good things is bad, but I've always opined that ultimately God's glory comes when we're in the walk, we're in the life, but that's not something we're thinking about or paying attention to. As your dad used to say, the only Bible people may ever read is you. And that's a message that I think rings true in all of our lives. Not you, perhaps you, Andrew, but it's true of all of us as believers.

I mean, you know, our walk is on a platform of grace where we do not... And by the way, that's where positional truth is so incredibly important. When we understand our position, then our condition, ultimately by the Holy Spirit, transforms our lives and conforms us to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's, I think, what's meant here. Let's look at some examples.

John 17.22, And the glory which you gave me, I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one.

1 Corinthians 10.31, Therefore, whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

2 Corinthians 3.18, but we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory just as by the Spirit of the Lord. For our light affliction which is but for a moment is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal way to glory while we look not at the things that are seen but the things that are not seen because of the things that are seen are temporal and but the things that are not seen are eternal. Incredible verse, one of my favorites.

Philippians 4.19, and my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. I mean, what do these verses say? It's all a matter of source, isn't it? The source of the glory.

You know, this came up a number of years ago at this body, the church, and I'll just reflect on the circumstances. But basically, the discussion was about choosing right versus wrong. And the conversation went, It's a life. It's not a choice. So it's not like we're dumbbells and the Holy Spirit leads us into this non, you know, or ephemeral existence. It's that the life itself lived out by the powers of the Spirit is really what Paul's calling them to. Let your life reflect God's glory by the sanctification of the Spirit and the truth of the Word of God. Yeah. Just a thought that goes in we've been placed into his body, and we have become the naos, the holy of holies of God, his dwelling place. Isn't that awesome? It is awesome. This whole section could be magnified into months of study, for sure. But this is not an intellectual experience, everyone.

It's a life lived by the power of the cross. No, exactly. And like I was saying earlier, that we can keep our heads together, or actually God does, with His Word and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, but also the Holy Spirit empowers our being able to live the Christian life.

And part of that working of the Holy Spirit relates to our class here today, relates to the messages we hear in the sanctuary, and it relates to being in the Word of God. It's really the only way we know how this great principle of grace is magnified. All right, to summarize, here's my summary for today. I sound like Roger. But anyway, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy have redirected the letter to the Thessalonians to reflect God's sovereignty, calling, and encouragement. And this reveals the critical and essential roles of the other two members of the Trinity the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Any other thoughts today before we close? Amen.

Great section, huh? So I'm with you next week, and Roger, remind me, am I finishing the chapter next week? You're finishing the chapter, yes. Okay, good. So you can go back if you want and, you know, review, you know, whatever, so each teacher can do what they Well, I wondered whether the text for today was going to be enough, but I don't have enough time. It's tremendous truth in these couple of verses and those to follow. Andrew, would you close us in prayer, please? Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time that we've had in your Word, studying about the great riches in grace that we have. Be with us throughout the week. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.