Thank you again, Jake and Emily. Thank you for the wonderful singing. Congregation this morning and choir, what a blessing already it has been to sing praises to the Lord and great theology and great truths in those hymns that we sang this morning. 1 Thessalonians 5, and we're looking again at this last section. of this great letter that Paul wrote by the inspiration of God. We have taken several weeks now to work our way through this epistle, and we have seen Paul's heart for the Thessalonians. We've seen his heart for the local church. Much commendation, some warnings, some corrections, some admonitions and exhortations. And then we come down to what would be considered the salutation or the benediction, the closing of the letter. He has in the last section or sections, he has gone through about 16 different imperatives commands. We could go all the way back to verse 11, where for comfort yourselves together and edify one another. And then he makes some very practical imperatives, practical commands. working all the way from verses 12 down through verse 22. And we have spent some time looking at each one of those. But then we come to verse 23. brings the epistle, the letter to a close. I know it's maybe not the way we normally would close a letter. We don't do a lot of letter writing nowadays. What a blessing it has been to correspond with Eric at basic training and advanced training. And he wrote to us and we wrote to him. And what a great thing that that has been. We have appreciated that so very much. I know a lot is done by texting and by email. We talk on the phone some, but we don't do a lot of letter writing anymore. And I think it's kind of a lost art, so to speak. And there's something very personal and touching, isn't there, about a handwritten letter. And in this day, it would not have been easy to just go down to Staples or Office Depot or Walmart and buy a big box of copier paper. and stick it in a printer or a copier and print off hundreds of sheets. It didn't work that way back then. We're talking about an inkwell and writing out by hand. Sometimes Paul would use a secretary, so to speak. Some of the New Testament writers would have someone who would, as they would verbalize, as they would give them the words, someone would write it down. They would have a personal secretary, so to speak. But it would be on parchment or some sort of manuscripts or papyrus. It would then be taken, and in the case of the epistle to the Thessalonians, it appears, it was taken by Timothy, hand-delivered to the church. We will see in verse 27 that this epistle, Paul exhorts them, charges them with a solemn oath to take the epistle. to take the manuscript, the papyrus, whatever it would have been written on the animal skin or whatever to roll it out to lay it out. And there would not have been hundreds of copies in the seats of the scriptures. They may have had portions of the gospel accounts, they may have had some of those manuscripts in written form and some copies already by this time. But by and large, it was in hearts and minds. And here, in this case, in written form, it would have been one copy, read to the church, the people sitting in the seats listening And as they would receive the word, the word of God would burn within their hearts. We know this was penned by the inspiration of God. These are the very inspired words of God. It seems that Paul may have even recognized that as he was writing this epistle. Thus the verse there in verse 27, if anything, he was burdened for the church. Read this epistle. He wanted everybody in Thessalonica, all the people there at the church and in that surrounding region of Macedonia, he wanted them to hear what God had laid on his hearts. And again, it appears that even Paul knew that he was writing by the inspiration of God, that this was the very words of God that God had laid upon his heart. And as he penned these words, he was writing the very revelation of God, the inspired words of God. And he is saying, read this. To all the saints, to all the holy brethren, the church needs this message. And we are thankful that we have, through the revelation of God's word, the inspiration, the authority of God's word, and the preservation of God's word, we have this epistle in our hands today. Some of you, maybe you're on a screen and you're just going through in your Bible app. I love hearing the crinkling of Bible pages. I love that. And I know we have everything on tablets and digital form and we can have hundreds of different copies on a electronic version of the Bible, but I love having a written page. And even in my Bible study and my sermon prep, I will pull out a written, not just depend on my Logos and my other digital forms, though I do use those, there is still the prep that I do with literally a printed Bible and a patent paper. And here in written form, Paul delivers this inspired, authoritative revelation from God, this truth, and he closes this epistle with this benediction, and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. We see, first of all, this morning, the God of peace. The God of peace. Romans 15 and verse 33, now the God of peace be with you all. Romans 16 and verse 20, and the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. Philippians 4, a sister church in this Macedonian region in northern Greece, the church at Philippi, Paul wrote, those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do, and the God of peace shall be with you. Hebrews 13 in verse 20, now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant. God is the God of peace, the very God of peace. Our world is searching desperately for peace. peace in the world among nations, peace among people groups, peace in homes and families, peace in the streets, peace inwardly. And the lack of peace inwardly is the reason that we have a lack of peace in our streets, in our societies, in our homes, in our nations, and across international boundaries. James talks about the reason that there are wars and fighting among us. It's because of our lusts, of our hearts, our selfish, sensual desires that cause conflict and turmoil in the soul that is then reflected in broken relationships and hatred and envy and murder and jealousy and all that comes out of the heart of man. But God is the God of peace. Biblical peace is not merely a ceasefire. We hear about ceasefires. We know that there's a hot topic right now in the headlines over in the Middle East, and the quasi-ceasefire that's going on right now that appears to even have been violated. There's a ceasefire desired at least that much, some sort of truce over in Eastern Europe between Ukraine and Russia, and that has been in the headlines. We look at places like the DMZ, the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. There is still not peace. There is the 38th parallel. There is a demilitarized zone, but it's not peace. We think about the armistice that ended World War I, 11th hour, the 11th day, the 11th month, and we have Veterans Day that commemorates. And we're thankful for Veterans Day and for our veterans, but it was an armistice, the end of World War I. It wasn't an unconditional surrender. It wasn't true lasting peace, because the last I remember in our history books, there was World War II, not that many years later. And we have seen subsequent wars since then. There is peace, desired, yearned for, longing for, and man has all his various ideas about how he's gonna bring peace. Some people promise it who have no ability to make it happen. There are songs, there are movies, there are books and articles written about peace and how to have peace, but the way to have true, lasting, perfect peace. is to know the God of peace, to know real, true, biblical peace that comes from the Lord. We read in Romans 5, in verse number 1, that there is peace with God. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. So peace with God comes through being justified by faith. As we confess our sin and call upon the Lord in saving faith, and He declares us righteous, not guilty, justified, imputed with the righteousness of Christ, then there's peace with God. Ephesians 2 and verse 14, For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us. One of the reasons, and the primary reason that there isn't peace in the world is because so few people have peace with God. They don't know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. They don't know the God of peace in a real personal and intimate way through saving faith. So there's peace with God, there's the peace of God. Philippians 4 and verse 6, be careful or be anxious. for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. John 16 and verse 33, These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world, Jesus says. That's the peace of God. And then we see not only the peace of God and peace with God, but we see peace with others. Romans 12 and verse 18, if it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. People who don't know peace with God, who don't know the peace of God, are much more likely to not have peace with others. We read here that the church at Thessalonica was a church that had a great measure of peace. Verse nine of chapter number four, we read that, but as touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you, for ye ourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in Macedonia. This was a church that did not have a lot of discord, strife, and division. They were commended for their peace, their brotherly love. This was a church that exhibited a lot of unity in the midst of persecution, as they had pressures from without, and as this church had even been birthed out of opposition and persecution. We are thankful that they were a church with unity that wasn't divided up into discord and factious groups like 1 Corinthians or like the Church of Corinth. They are commended for their brotherly love, though we know that Paul warned them in 1 Thessalonians 4, he warned them about some challenges to that peace, to that brotherly love, to that unity because of some lust and some fornication that he was concerned about that appeared to be creeping into the church that could fracture that peace, that unity, that broadly love. He was concerned about some laziness, some busybodiness that was creeping in, some threats to that peace, to that broadly love. But overall, the church at Thessalonica is an example of peace with others, as believers. How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity, the psalmist writes. See, the God of peace delivers the gospel of peace. Romans 10 and verse 15, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. Ephesians 6 and verse 15, as part of the armor of God, our feet are to be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Thessalonica, the church there, had experienced the gospel of peace. They had been saved. They had turned to God from idols to serve the one true and living God, and it brought peace, even in the midst of persecution, even in the midst of hardship, even in the midst of opposition from all around. They had peace because they knew the God of peace. They had received, in faith, the gospel of peace. A church that has unity in reaching upward by exalting God through faithfulness to the scriptures in sound doctrine, in sound worship, in sound teaching. A church that has unity in reaching outward with the gospel of peace, I believe will have far less infighting and turmoil. Individually, there is greater peace inwardly. when we are exalting, glorifying God in our personal walk, in faithful living, and in our faithful witness, and in serving God and in serving others. It's amazing the measure of peace that God brings in our homes when we submit ourselves one to another, when a husband loves his wife as Christ loves the church and serves and sacrifices for her. and she respects and reverences and submits biblically properly to her husband. I know that that is countercultural. But there is a measure of peace, a slice of heaven on earth, isn't there? When a home is run by biblical principles according to God's commands, And there is a loving relationship between mom and dad, husband and wife, and even among the siblings and the children, there's a serving and a mutual submission. As each individual knows the God of peace, as the gospel of peace spreads throughout that home and there is a soil of the gospel that's fertilized and taught and is grown out of, it's not a perfect home. There are still individual choices that are made as each individual personally has to answer to God, but there is something about a peace that God brings to a home where God is obeyed, where the family worships together in church, and there is a unity around the gospel, around Jesus Christ, around the word of God, and it's true in the church, it's true in the home, and that should then influence society. But as a society, as a home, as individuals, don't know the God of peace, and haven't received the gospel of peace, then it's really hard, without peace with God, and not having the peace of God, it's really hard to have peace with men. And we see that in our society. Oh, that we would return to the God of peace, and know peace with God, and the peace of God, and how much that would change our homes, and our churches, Places of entertainment and work and recreation, how much that would change our culture and our society for the glory of God. Psalm 37 and verse 11, but the meek, that is the humble, but the meek who are strong in the Lord, the meek is humble, humble before God, but strong in the Lord, strong in conviction and obedience and faithfulness, but the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Psalm 119 and 165, great peace have they which love thy law. Proverbs 16 and verse 7, when a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. Doesn't mean that there isn't persecution, doesn't mean that there isn't ever confrontation or conflict, but it's a lot better in life if we don't walk around with a chip on our shoulder playing the victim card all the time, looking for a fight, being super hypersensitive and having our feelings hurt all the time and ready to take revenge and vengeance and let somebody have it who dares to offend. Don't you know who I am? Don't we live in that kind of society? It's a society that lacks peace. Psalm 85 in verse 10, mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. We see that connection between mercy and truth and righteousness and peace. The very God of peace we see in verse 23. But secondly, we also see the God who sanctifies. the God who sanctifies, and the very God of peace, sanctify you, what's the next word, holy, completely, and he emphasizes that with repetition, even to the point where he divides up into three parts, and I pray, God, your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The God who sanctifies desires that we have a personal holiness that reaches every aspect, every corner, and every crevice of our life. And I know that is painful, but progressive sanctification is necessarily painful sometimes, spiritually speaking. We need that chastisement. We need that rebuking and we need that repentance. Revelation two and three speaks of seven churches and frequently throughout those seven churches, there is the command to repent, to repent and do the first works. We have to have repentance and walking in the light as he is in the light and confessing our sins. And we are thankful that God sanctifies, that God forgives, that God purifies, that God makes us Christ-like, makes us holy. So we see aspects of sanctification that we are familiar with. I know I say it quite often in my teaching and my preaching, but it is only God who can sanctify a person's life. You can go to Barnes and Noble and you can find an entire section of self-help books. And you can go to one table, we were there the other day, and you can go to one table, and I think I leaned over to one of my boys and I said, if you read every book on this table, your life is gonna be totally transformed. Because seven steps to this and 10 steps to that, and this is your six steps to your life being fulfilled. I mean, just go to that table, buy all those books and read them all. And you've got every step necessary to have a fulfilling, purposeful, happy, satisfied life. And I dare say that not a single book on that table had anything to do with the word of God. But we read right here that it is God who sanctifies. It is God who makes us holy. It is God who purifies our life, who conforms us into the image of his son. Only God can do that. To sanctify means to make clean, it means to purify. We put clothes in the washing machine, and there are some clothes, they never come clean. I don't care how many scoops of OxiClean you put in, how many stain removers, how long you soak them. There are some stains that are just permanent. But we read in Isaiah that we can be as white as snow. That the blood of Jesus Christ cleanse us and make us whole. Only God can sanctify the hearts. Only God can make of us a new creation in Christ Jesus. Zechariah four and verse number six, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, sayeth the Lord of hosts. Ephesians three and verse 20, now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us. That is God's power that works within us to sanctify us. And again, I know I say it often, but there is the positional sanctification. When we trust Christ as our personal Savior, when we repent of our sins and put our full faith and trust in Christ and Christ alone for our salvation, and we are justified, we are forgiven, we are sanctified, that is the positional sanctification. That is in the past for all who know Christ as their Savior. But then that starts a process of progressive sanctification, of becoming more and more like Christ, of becoming more and more holy, so that we look more and more like what we already are positionally in Christ. And Paul makes reference to that in verse 23. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray, God, your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is saying, you are positionally sanctified, you are progressively being sanctified, and we look forward to that future glorification where the very presence of sin is removed. And we are in the very presence of our Lord and Savior in the glories of heaven, clothed in His righteousness in our glorified body, absent of sin. And Paul is longing urging, pleading, praying that the church at Thessalonica and us, by the inspiration and the preservation of God's word, the prayer is for us, that we would be wholly sanctified. Yes, positionally saved in Christ Jesus, but progressively becoming more and more like Christ, holier and holier, walking in the light as he is in the light. shining ever more and more unto the perfect day. And he makes it such an emphasis that he says spirit and soul and body. Now when we were in seminary, we would have fun arguing, splitting hairs, if you've ever been around seminary students, sometimes we can, be a little arrogant in our theology, and I apologize for that. But we enjoyed having some theological discussions. And one of the ones that we would discuss is trichotomy or dichotomy. And there would be those who would say that we are dichotomous, and there would be some who would say we are trichotomous. And then there'd be those people say, who cares? Why are you arguing about how many angels can be on the head of a needle? And things like that. And some of that theological discussion does get a little arrogant, gets a little carried away, and people get too bent out of shape. And we live in a culture today where some people, everything is a first order doctrine, and they will die on that hill, about everything and every little thing. It's incredible. You don't have to go very far online and look at some of the videos Some of the circles that I run in, and I mean, people argue about everything and anything, and you so much as go down to the comments section, and they're just going at each other. And apparently Ephesians 4, verse 32 doesn't apply when you're behind a screen or a keyboard, about being kind one to another. Sometimes I wonder, you know, what's going on online between so-called Christians. All that being said, the Bible teaches a trichotomy and a dichotomy, but it's simply this. the immaterial and the material part of man. And Paul is just writing, by the inspiration of God, with emphasis that every part of our being, down to the very nitty-gritty of our soul and our spirit within our body, is to be holy and completely sanctified. We use these kinds of phrases, I want every nook and cranny. I don't know what a nook is or a cranny, but I used to be told that I want every nook and cranny clean. I don't wanna see any, I don't wanna see one little piece of dust or whatever it might be. And don't know if you ever had to scrub anything with a toothbrush down on the grout and the tile. And they would come down and they would look. I did custodial work for six years to help pay my way through college and seminary. And we would have white glove inspection. And literally, our supervisor would come in literally with a white glove and wipe his finger on a windowsill. And if he saw dust, we would get deducted on points for our buildings. Paul is saying, to the very minutest, smallest, to the nook and cranny of our very being. God wants us to be holy. That's convicting, that's rebuking. Because we want to have closets, we want to have shelves, sometimes we want to have entire rooms. Lord, don't go in that room. You can have everything else in my life, but don't sanctify that room. Don't sanctify that cupboard underneath the kitchen sink. Don't sanctify that junk drawer of my life. I want to keep that. It doesn't really affect me. I have it under control. You ever have a junk drawer, or a junk room, or a junk cabinet, where everything that you don't know what to do with, and you might need for it later, you stick it there? And we do that with our spiritual lives. We have junk drawers, and closets, and rooms, and sometimes entire sections of our house, spiritually speaking, that we're saying, God, you can't touch that. You can sanctify everything else, but I'm gonna hold on to this. And all Paul is saying is that every part of our being, spirit, soul, and body, should be wholly given over to the Lord for Him to sanctify, for Him to make Christ-like, for Him to make holy, that we might be in our progressive sanctification as close as we possibly can be to that positional holiness that we have in Christ upon the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I don't believe in sinless perfection, that we can somehow achieve sinlessness this side of heaven, but we should be striving to be holy, for I am holy. 2 Corinthians 7, verse 1, having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves of all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, dichotomy, flesh and spirit, material and immaterial, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, James 2 and verse 26, for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 20, for you are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. We live in a culture today that looks at the body as just this blob of biological, chemical flesh. that's been produced through natural selection, evolution, millions of years, lady luck, and survival of the fittest. And so we just have this blob of flesh. And the body is bad, but the spirit and the soul and something deep down inside is what's really good. And where has that taken us? To the point now that gender is supposedly separated from sex. That you can have actually at one point in our federal government the recognition of over 240 genders. Nonsense. The Bible says male and female, created he them. There's only two genders, two sexes, male and female. But we have this idea in our culture that the body can be molded and shaped by however we feel deep down in our inner being. And if we can just get enlightened and we can have the right connections with God and we can say the right things and pray the right rosaries and on and on it goes and burn the right incense and read the right palms and have that secret knowledge and get into that special place, then we can reach God. And then we can have a higher purpose and a fulfillment and a satisfaction. And that's not what the Bible says. The Bible says to know the God of peace and let him sanctify you wholly. down to your very spirit and soul, your whole inner body, your whole inner being, your mind, your will, your emotions. Letting the word of God, as Hebrews 4 and verse 12 says, letting the word of God, which is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and joints and marrow, is in discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Letting the word of God, sanctify us, sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth, Jesus says. So Paul's desire for the Thessalonians is the same for us, to be as holy progressively as we already are positionally in Christ. So we see the God of peace and the God who sanctifies. Thirdly, we see the God who calls, the God who calls. Verse 24. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. This is a verse of eternal security. This is a verse that is parallel to Philippians 1, verse number six. Being confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Jude in verse 24, now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. This is a verse that teaches the doctrine of eternal security. whom He hath called, who have believed and received. But as many as received Him, to them gave He the power, the authority to be called the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. Those who receive Him, who call upon Him in faith, believe in Him, trust Him as Lord and Savior, confessing one's sins, turning to God from idols to serve the living and true God. We are promised right here in verse 24, That as God who loved you first, loved us first, we love Him because He first loved us. As He has called you, as you have believed and received, faithful is He who hath called you, who also will do it. He will keep those who are truly His, who have truly come to Him in saving faith. He will keep you by His power. No man can pluck you out of the Father's hand, John 10 in verses 28 and 29. But let's talk about, just for a few moments, this word call. We can go back to Genesis 12 and we see the call of Abram out of Ur of the Chaldeans. That led to Genesis 15, where Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. There's the call of salvation. There's the call of salvation and the call of ministry, The case of Isaiah as a prophet, and Jeremiah, as Isaiah in chapter six said, here am I, Lord, send me, as Jeremiah was told in verse five, before I formed you in the womb, I knew thee, and called thee to be a prophet unto the nations. There's the call of the disciples in Matthew four in verse 19, in Mark one in verse 17, the call of the apostles, each one of those 12. We know that one was a traitor. That was not truly born again Judas. We know that he never truly came fully to Christ. He was a hypocrite. But there was the call of the apostles. There's the call, I believe it's a call of salvation. That if we truly deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him, then we are receiving him as our savior, as our Lord. as a disciple of Christ, as a true follower of Jesus Christ, all who truly follow Christ in saving faith, in repentance of one's sins, we are all, as saved individuals, called to deny ourselves, to take up our cross, and to follow Him, to put our hand to the plow, and those who look back are not fit for the kingdom of God. They never truly had put their hand to the plow looking forward. They were still looking back. But we know that those who receive Christ in saving faith, whom he has called, who have received his salvation, believed in him, called upon him in saving faith, faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. As a prophet or an apostle, there's even the call to preach, the call to the pastor, the call to ministry. First Timothy three and verse number one. This is the true saying. If a man desire the office of a Bishop, he desireth a good work. There've been hard days, challenging days in the ministry. On some hard days, on some challenging days, I have had to do business with the Lord and I have had to go back to my call. And there have been more than one time that God has taken the spiritual two by four and hit me upside the head, and has reminded me of verse 24 in Thessalonians 5. Faithful is he who called you, who also will do it. But there's a call that we have to all take responsibility for. Maybe you're not called to the ministry to preach as a prophet, obviously not as an apostle. But Romans 10, verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. What's the call? The call to share the gospel. To be a preacher of the gospel. In a general sense, we all have been given that great commission as ambassadors with the Ministry of Reconciliation. I know that I sometimes use the word call to refer to the place that God has put us. Because in a general sense, yes, first of all, we've all been called. For those who know Christ as their Savior, who have received that call, and received Christ, and obeyed that command to repent, and have received Christ, and believed on Christ, and Christ alone, for one salvation, we have that call, that commission to share the gospel, but we also have places that God puts us. And I sometimes refer to it as a call. Because I want people to understand that God has put you there for a reason. And God has you in that place. A stay-at-home mom has a call from God to invest in those children that God has given her. God has called some to be soldiers, to be students, salespeople, office administrators, engineers, managers, accountants, teachers, paraprofessionals, whatever it is that God has called you to, that God has given you to do right now in this place. And I know we look ahead and we seek God's will and we have, what is my career? Where do I belong in life? I know we have all those questions. But in a general sense, there is a call that God gives each and every one of us to be the salt and the light. To use whatever talents and gifts and abilities to do whatever God has given us. To do it heartily as unto the Lord. and not unto men, for God's glory. We have a call to share the gospel. That might be the primary reason you are in that place, even if it's just temporary, because you might be the only one in that place, with the grace of God in your life, to be a testimony, to be salt and light, and to share the gospel with those people in that dark place. And so God moves you on to another place. Fulfill that call, and then take that call to the next place. And I'm thankful for the doctors and the lawyers, I'm thankful for the business people, I'm thankful for all the people who've been gifted and talented in very unique and special areas, but all of us have been given some measure of talent, five, two, or one, that we're to be stewards, that we are to fulfill that call in all the will of God. So as we close, and as we come to the conclusion of this great epistle, Paul says, brethren, pray for us. The power of prayer. the necessity of prayer, how important prayer is. There's the greeting with a holy kiss. I'm not gonna ask any of us to greet with a holy kiss. This is a cultural thing, and it's an affectionate way. It's not a command that we all have to go out and peck each other on the cheek, okay? And I'm just fine with a handshake and a hug. But I know some go a little further, and they peck each other on the cheek, and in that Eastern culture, and in some Eastern cultures, and in some families, that's still the case, and that's fine. It's the term of affection, that we have a bond in Christ, there's a fellowship of the Spirit, that we should love to be around each other, and to greet one another, and to be together as an ecclesia, local church. And then he has a charge. I charge you, as I mentioned at the beginning of the message, that this epistle be read to all the saints, to all the holy brethren. Paul, again, seemed to know and understand that this was the very inspired words of God that God had privileged him to pen. And he wanted, with a burden on his heart, for these truths to be read to all the saints, that they might know the truth, that they might follow through and keep all that Jesus has commanded them, and to go into all the world and to preach the gospel. And then he closes. And I wonder if maybe we should use this more. I think I should probably use this more in a greeting or in a final salutation, benediction. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, amen. I listened to a pastor this morning who I have admired for years, have looked up to for years, and he gave a short video after 50 plus years in his ministry, and he said, I'm on the last lap. He's not doing well physically, his heart is failing, and he ended his little short video to his church, he finished with, may the love of God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. And I close with these words, by the inspiration of God, and only by his grace, may the love of God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, be with us. Amen. May we live in the grace of God and see the grace of God at work in our lives for his honor and for his glory each and every day. That the God of peace sanctify us wholly down to our very spirit and soul and body. That we might know the call of God and that we then might be fully sanctified by the God of peace, awaiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, where we'll enter into his very presence without sin in our glorified state and say, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and honor and glory forever and ever, amen. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for your word, for these truths. Lord, we can't help but sense the heart of Paul Lord, we can't help but, as believers, though the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for all of us who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, as genuine believers, we can't help but be pricked by the power of these truths. And Lord, I pray that you will help us, wherever you have called us, to be faithful servants, ambassadors, that Lord, we might keep a right relationship with you, The God of peace, may we have true fellowship, peaceful fellowship through a right relationship with you. And Lord, may we fulfill all that you have given us to do. Lord, if there's someone here who does not know you as their Savior, does not know the God of peace, who has not been sanctified by coming to Christ and saving faith, may they, Lord, turn from their sin and turn to you in repentance and faith, trusting in your finished work on the cross and your resurrection for their salvation. through faith alone in Christ alone. I pray that you do your work in our hearts as we close this service with this hymn, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Jake's gonna come and lead us. Hymn number 621, we sang this hymn. If we'll stand together and find 621, we'll sing, we're marching to Zion, if we'll sing stanza number two. As Jake comes and leads us, if God has spoken to your heart, you can pray and seek the Lord while we sing. If we can help you after the service or sometime during the week, please let us know. The invitation is always open here at Berean. Jake's gonna come and lead us, and we're marching to Zion, stanza number two.