No, we haven't changed directions, even though this is Memorial Day weekend. Take your Bibles and open to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 17. It should be, not 13, 17 to chapter 3 verse 5. Let me read. The text here before us, nine verses, very short section. Listen to the word of the Lord, please. But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoring more eagerly to see your face with great desire, Therefore, we wanted to come to you, even I, Paul, time and again, but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For you are our glory and joy. Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, that no one should be shaken by these afflictions, for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know. For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you and our labor might be in vain. May God bless His holy word. Join me in prayer. Father, bless the reading of the word from our text and pray that even in the reading of the word that our minds might be renewed. Our Father, again, I remind myself of the efficacy of the Word of God, how powerful it really is. It's food, it's water, it's drink. And it's what we need spiritually to survive as followers of Jesus in this day and age. Satisfy us again through the exposition of your word, and may Christ be honored and glorified and magnified. Father, there must take place something in the unseen realm for unbelievers, conviction of sin, it's regeneration, but for believers, its illumination that is shining the rays of understanding upon your word and giving us the ability to discern what is true from what is false. Oh our God in these days how Precious is that treasure, the treasure of understanding and discernment and prudence and guidance and leading of God in our approach to Scripture. Thank you that you've not abandoned us. You've sent the Spirit, and we bless you and thank you for that. In Jesus' name, amen. As I was thinking about this text and pointing out last week, his expanding on really what he wrote in chapter one. In chapter one, as I was meditating and thinking on it, I believe he answers the question of what happened at Thessalonica when he ministered in that particular town, beginning initially in the synagogue, arguing, debating, discussing, from the scriptures, all the prophecies that related to the coming of Messiah, his death and his resurrection, and so forth. He spent three Sabbaths there doing that, and then from there he built a nucleus of believers that became that founding assembly that was in Thessalonica. Chapter two, from where we've studied thus far, I think answers the question, why? What happened and why did it happen? And it answered it in a two-fold fashion. It answered it, first of all, in terms of the purity of his message. Paul went out of his way to make it clear and not to distort it in any fashion, not to come to these people and say one thing with his lips and mean something else altogether. And then secondly, He substantiates the why from the standpoint of the integrity of their lives as they lived them out before these people. Those two aspects answer why what happened in chapter one happened. Purity of the word, the gospel, its clarity, and secondly, they lived lives above reproach. They worked and labored on their own so that they would not be a burden to these people, so that they might understand that the gospel is free. In a text that we have before us, he continues along the same line. His major concern now is what's happening now in Thessalonica. I'm not there. Timothy's not there. Salvanus is not there. None of our team of evangelists are back in Thessalonica. And he thought about it. It was a great concern. And that's why he writes in chapter 3, verse 5, his concern is that the tempter had come in, tempted them, and our labor might be in vain. It's all been washed away. This is a reality that Paul experienced as he labored in the ancient world after he would establish a church and then appoint elders and deacons in the church. Invariably he had to leave. I mean he had other places to go, he had other ministries to conduct, he had other people to evangelize, but he was always concerned in the back of his mind with those to whom he'd ministry. How are they doing? Have some false teachers come in and swayed them and moved them away from following Christ. And so I think we catch a glimmer of why in verse 2 he sends Timothy back. It says, sent Timothy our brother and minister of God and our fellow labor in the gospel to establish you and encourage you. One of the goals in Christian education in the first century as well as it is today in every local church, their primary concern is with the stability of believers' lives spiritually. Christian education passage that was used in my Bible school training and seminary training is found in Ephesians chapter 4. You might turn there with me. Ephesians 4, verses 11 and following, and he himself, that is Jesus, gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. Now notice why they were given to the church. Verse 12, for the equipping of the saints, literally unto the work of ministry, for the edifying or the building up of the body of Christ. Till we all come, to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge, the idea there is the perfect knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, that is a complete or a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, In order that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro, carried about by every wind of teaching or doctrine, notice how it's done, by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. but speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head Christ. That's the purpose of Christian education. That's the purpose of believers is to bring them along to maturity in their Christian experience. That's what's happening here. He's concerned. Have they strayed? Have they wandered? Have they wavered in their Christian commitment? And it weighs heavy on his heart. There was no cell phones in those days. Communication was weak at best. Paul would send letters or send couriers with letters. He's separated from them and he's concerned about them. They're undergoing severe trial. He knew of that. He recounted that in the first chapter. They received the word of God in much tribulation. And so he tells them in verse 3 of chapter 3 that no one should be shaken by these afflictions. The reality is that the believer, once they make that transition from death to life, they come to faith in Jesus Christ, they are going to be under assault. from Satan, from the world, and from their own flesh internally. They have all of these struggles, all of these things with which to deal. And so consequently, if we're not on guard, if we're not watching out and being careful, we can be moved. And so as he opens this section of verse 17 of chapter two, I'm reminded of his great concern for them. Just to use an illustration to touch base here, there was a man who was an engineer, this is years ago, 90 years maybe or so ago. His name was Edwin or Ed Kiefer. He attended the School of Engineering at the University of Toledo in Ohio. And he was instrumental in developing an electrical device that could more perfectly bring campus-wide fame to those who were creating it. There were others in his team. And what this device was meant to do and to reveal was to somehow monitor or diagnose or meter with scientific precision what the true love of students on campus had for one another. It came subsequently to be known in the arcades, the penny arcades of the day as the love machine, the love tester, the love tester. And what they would do is put an electric impulse in there and the harder you squeezed it when you were showing your affection towards someone else, the meters could monitor your affection. And it proved to be somewhat successful. But what this text of Scripture proves, Paul's affection and love for them. That it was on the high end, it was very deep in his affection and his concern for these people, so much so in this period of separation. He's attempting to make a journey back to visit these people. He's exploring all of the possibilities that would be available to him to go back and minister and strengthen these people, albeit unsuccessfully. He's not able to do it. And verse 17 shows the eager endeavor literally endeavors, plural, at a visit to come back to these people. And so I read this text, but we, brethren, having been taken away from you, I think that King James says, have been bereaved from you. Literally the word is the word from which we derive the word orphan. It has a prefix in it which intensifies it. And some have translated it this way. Literally, it means being orphaned from you. The separation that has taken place between these two parties, between the believers back in Thessalonica and Paul and his team of evangelists, but especially the Apostle Paul, he has this sense of the bereavement that an orphan would have at the loss of his parents. or he's taken away from his parents for some reason. And you can only understand the emotions involved. I'm not saying necessarily that these were bad emotions. They were good emotions. But he has that sense of severance, being bereaved of these people and the knowledge of their experience at this point, or whether they're moving along in the Christian faith. And so, reading on in the text, we've been taken away, we've been orphanized from you for, and notice he says it's a short time, it's not a long time. How many days, how many weeks, not clear. In his journey from Thessalonica now down to Athens, And he says, we've been bereaved of you a short time in presence, but not in heart. And he's talking about their physical presence. I want you to know the word heart here is understood, well, literally it means the internal part of a man, but he's not talking about that in particular. He's using this figuratively, as one commentator says, as a metonymy. A metonymy of adjunct. Heart for the thoughts. It's out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, and evil thoughts come from the heart. Well, he's using the heart here for that aspect of what comprises the inward man of the mind. They are in his thoughts. We're not present there, but you're present in my mind. I'm processing. our ministry there, I'm processing what might be happening up there in Thessalonica. And so he goes on to say, supporting this situation, he says, endeavoring more eagerly to see you face, see your face. And it's interesting in the text, there's a play literally on words. In verse 17, it says, in presence, and that word is the same word as face. In other words, what he's saying there is a short time being face to face, in face, or in proximity of each other, endeavoring eagerly to see your face, and that is to be literally in your presence again. And notice he intensifies this all the more when he says, with great desire. So he expresses here the earnest desire on his part to come back and minister to these people. I believe that we get a window into the heart of the Apostle Paul, not only the way he ministered at Thessalonica, but wherever he went in the ancient world. When he went on his first missionary journey, This was his heart, the spiritual welfare of God's people. And I think that's what makes him as an evangelist, and I use that term credibly for him, is that he goes in and he doesn't just walk away from the people who've made professions and say, adios, glad you came down an aisle, glad you signed a card, glad you went into the waters of the... baptistry and are doing that and then off he goes and he may not see them again or not make that circuit again. Now that's not the heart of the Apostle Paul. He was always concerned about the welfare of the people and was want to see them grow. And now in verse 18, he relates to them that he's hindered from coming. Therefore we wanted, which expresses the same idea with great desire, we wanted to come to you. And notice this is intensive. Even I, Paul. And it states it that way in the text. It's a very intense way of saying on the part of the Apostle Paul that this matter is personal to me. Time and again. In other words, there wasn't just one attempt. There were multiple attempts at making his way back to Thessalonica. But he said there was a problem and that is Satan hindered us. The adversary, the devil, how that happened exactly, he doesn't go into detail. But I suspect that the Thessalonians understood because it depends on how you see the activity of Satan being manifest in the assembly. And it can be manifest in a variety of ways. One writer noted this. He says, by raising such a storm of persecution at Berea and other places, it was deemed prudent to delay his visit till the storm had somewhat allayed. Some apparently, with less propriety, suppose Satan may mean some adversary or some powerful opponent, as the word denotes, which he is. But you see, Sainton not only works directly sometimes, but he works through proxies. Some have said what's happening in the Middle East, for instance, around Israel with Hezbollah and Hamas, who are proxies of Iran. Iran. is fueling these people with all kinds of missiles and so forth like that. And Satan doesn't necessarily personally get involved, but he uses proxies. And in this case, as we saw, he uses the Jews. And the Jews stirred up some of the civic leaders with respect to Thessalonica. And they came into Jason's house and so forth. So there was this animosity. Even when Paul left Thessalonica and went to Berea, Again they send down and there was this constant opposition and anyone who can read the situation realizes that these men are being motivated by some sinister force and that force is Satan. Now whether that's taking place here, whether the hostilities toward Paul followed him even down that far into Athens is not clear from the text because Paul doesn't give us the full information nor does Luke in the accounts in the book of Acts give us full information. But Paul is clear in his language here that there has been hindrance after hindrance after hindrance in my attempt to come back and minister to these people. And some, therefore, have posed this idea. And I'm not saying commentators, but have suggested from what Paul says here that Paul really wasn't concerned. His delay, his interest in us has waned. But Paul reminds them when they receive this letter, no, my interest in you has not waned, as a matter of fact it's intensified. And every time I have attempted to come, Satan in some form or another has thrown a roadblock in the way. And I'm not able to come back. And to show now, in verses 19-20, what these people genuinely mean to him is more than words can describe, even from the pen of the Apostle Paul. Notice he explains for what, he has a series of questions here, And I've given this the heading, The Ultimate Expectation of Ministry. This is why the Apostle Paul ministered to these people that ultimately in one day, at the coming of Messiah, Yeshua, I will be joyful in the presence of my Savior for you because you are my joy. You are my crown of rejoicing. In other words, his affection for them transcends even the temple experiences under which they were going. It projects way on into the future in that day. when all hearts, all believers will be judged at the behemoth seat of Christ. And Paul can present these people to him with great sincerity because of his interest, because of the joy that they provided for him in ministering there. No matter what the hindrance, no matter what the persecution, no matter what the affliction, no matter what the tribulation, Paul exalted to see these disciples moving along in their Christian walk. And these conversions are important to him, and they provide a source of joy for him, because that's the goal of discipleship, is the stability and maturity of those who follow him. He poses the questions in verse 18. No, I'm sorry, 19. He says, what is our hope or joy or crown literally of boasting? Is it not even you? in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his parousia. Now we refer to this, one of the things that's characteristic, we did this in the introduction to this book, and that is it is a book filled with eschatology. It is an eschatological letter. And it was pointed out to me just last week or the week before as I was studying that each chapter ends on a note of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 1, verse 10, to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, to deliver us from the wrath to come. Wait for Jesus. That's eschatology. Here is eschatology. The presence of our Lord Jesus Christ that is coming. Look at chapter 3, verse 13. Let me read verse 12. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another. and to all just as we do to you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless and holiness before our God and Father at the coming, at the parousia of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. And then again in chapter four, the chapter ends on a note of eschatology. Verse 15, for this we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain unto his parousia, his coming. The coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. And then the last chapter, chapter 5. Verse 23, now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and make you, your whole spirit and body be preserved blameless at the parousia. So, dotting all the way through this epistle, he draws a line and draws the people back to the subject of the coming of Christ. And I believe that even in those days, there was this sense of the imminent coming of Christ. And there are those who deny that. No, they weren't looking. There were things that had to happen. Yeah, the destruction of Jerusalem, that had to happen. John had to live to old age. But there's no time point at which those could or couldn't be fulfilled. But they were turning away from idols in their conversion to wait for the true and living God from heaven. So he's asked these questions in verse 19. And then he answers again, and he uses very similar language. Is it not even you? You notice, is not even you is in italics. And it's a question, obviously, but it's a rhetorical question. Is it not even you at the coming of the Lord? Yes, it is, that's the answer. There's a negative particle in there. And the negative particle anticipates a yes or a positive answer. And he picks up that again and repeats it. For you are our glory, or you are our boasting. Notice the parallelisms here. Verse 19, joy, crown of rejoicing. Verse 20, our glory and joy. It's you. You're the ones in whom we are interested. We're interested in your spiritual growth. We're interested in your development. There's no reason, therefore, to question Paul's sincerity. And then in chapter three, we move on here quickly to the ultimate goal of evangelism, or I would suggest discipleship. The ultimate goal of discipleship, what is it? Number one and two is stability. That's verses one and two, is stability of faith. So what strategy do they use? Therefore, when we could endure no longer, Paul is saying we've contemplated, we've looked at all angles, I've tried to make a trip back there, I can't go for... The thought went through my mind, I don't know if it's true, but it's just a suggestion. Maybe not just the enemies of the faith made it impossible, but there may have been health problems. You remember that he attributes in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 some of his weakness to a messenger of Satan, who afflicted him seemingly in some way. Some say that it was the false apostles. I don't know. Some suggest some physical ailment. Some say it's his eyesight, may have had some eye malady or something. But God used something, a messenger of Satan, in Paul's life to humble him. And that may be the case here. Maybe there was some physical thing. Job experienced the attack of Satan himself physically. Took all his possessions, took his family, took his health. All of these things came into bear on Job, which incapacitated him almost entirely until God gave him relief at the end of the story. And so I just threw that out there as a possible suggestion for Satan's hindrances. And he may have been attacking the Apostle Paul from several vantage points. Don't know that, but he says, when we could no longer endure, We've come to a point that we've got to take some action to find out some information. We thought it good to be left in Athens alone. And so in verse two, he speaks here of the personnel. He sends Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ. A man whom he could trust. A man in whom he had great confidence. He had tutored this young man. And this man, no doubt, was a great preacher. A great teacher of God's word. And so he sends Timothy to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith. Be strong in the Lord in the power of His might, the scriptures say. There's a text found in that resurrection passage in 1 Corinthians as he sums up everything in verse 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. That's the goal of the Christian walk, is stability, being strong. They were in the fire. To establish and encourage you concerning your faith. in order that No one should be shaken by these afflictions. That particular phrase the Apostle uses in his second letter, which when we get there we'll deal with again. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. Now brethren, concerning the coming, the parousia of our Lord Jesus, and our gathering together to Him, which I believe to be the rapture, we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind. The first letter came and they're still under intense persecution. And they thought they had missed the coming of the Lord. They thought that the Lord had come and now they are in the great tribulation period. Their minds were shaken. Someone wrote a letter, someone preached something maybe, someone may have communicated by some means or another. He says, as if the day of Christ or the day of the Lord had come, and it hadn't. It cannot come until the church is taken. I believe that with all my heart. I know that there are all kinds of views on the eschatological spectrum. And I grant it. This is what I was taught in Bible college. This is what I was taught in seminary. I grant it. I was taught that. I acknowledge that. But I've listened to most, if not all, the arguments from amillennialists and postmillennialists and those who are idealists in their interpretation of eschatology. And I've not been convinced yet to waver from that position, that when Christ comes at the parousia, the first part of that is to take his people out of this planet and to resurrect saints who had died during this church age. Into their glorified state and bring them in to his presence and they will be judged at some point in that setting up there At the judgment seat of Christ not for their sins their sins have been forgiven they'll be judged for their service how they've served Christ in this in this life and And so they thought they were in the day of Christ. And he says, let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not come unless the falling away come first. And the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition. And Paul assures them that this hasn't happened yet. And he paints a picture of what's going to look like when he does come. And that is the son of perdition. We'll deal with that more fully. But he uses that same language that he uses here. I sent Timothy in order that you'll not be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we were appointed to this. This is what Paul taught. He's simply telling and teaching what Jesus taught. It is a given for those who are children of light to be in opposition by very nature to the children of darkness of this world. If you are fallen, if you are dead in your trespasses and sins, you're blinded, you can't see, you're a child of darkness, But a child of light. Now, they may have perfect sight physically, but they don't have perfect sight spiritually, or they would embrace the Lord. In verse 3, he relates to them as he did, and Christ did, the trauma of suffering. They were traumatized by what they were experiencing. As no doubt other Christians in the ancient world, as believers today in China and India, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, North Africa, Venezuela, other parts of South America, Cuba, believers are systematically persecuted simply because they're children of light. They're Christians. And it's real. And it's hard. as it was in East Europe during the Soviet occupation. There's a reality of the trauma of suffering. We're appointed to that. Paul reminds his readers, all who live godly in Christ Jesus, he writes to Timothy, will suffer persecution. As you live your light of life on some level, to some degree, you'll experience opposition. Let your light so shine, Jesus said, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Verse four, for in fact, we told you before, this is the affirmation of suffering. when we were with you that you would suffer tribulation just as it happened and you know. I'm not here, and he picks up that phrase that he'd used before, you remember? Chapter two, as you yourself know. Verse two, as you yourself know. Here, he's not informing them, he's just reminding them of something he taught and they knew. They just needed to be refreshed. How many of us in our Christian walk need a refresher course? I know I do. We have to be reminded of how we are to live our Christian life and what we'll face in our Christian experience. And so his solution is found in verse 5. And the reason why, for this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith. Lest by some means the tempter, and this is another title or another designation, another moniker for Saint in himself, he is the tempter. He tempted the Lord Jesus Christ. He tempted the apostles. He tempted Job. He tempted David. He tempts us all. He allures us. Not maybe directly, but using the means which he controls. And that is this world, our own flesh. He can put things in our face that appeal to us. I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter tempted you and our labor might be in vain. To no end, to no purpose, empty. Not a nilch. He sends Timothy back because he doesn't want to go over and see a burned over district. You see, the reality is that not everybody who receives the word necessarily follows the word. That's what Matthew chapter 13 is all about. Some of the seed is sown on stony soil or hard packed soil, I should say, the wayside. And Satan comes and plucks it away. Some is sown on soil with no depth to it. It's got a layer of rock underneath it. And it starts to grow, but when the sun beats down upon it as a picture of persecution, they fall away. There's no fruitfulness. And some falls among thorny ground, not as their seeds, what we used to call as kids, pickers. We call these thorns, these thistles out in the field. We say, oh, I got stuck by a picker, you know. And they do grow. They grow in our yards. They grow in the yards here at the church. It's just a reality. Those seeds blow all over. And sometimes they collect in certain areas. And here, some of the good seed is sown in infested ground and when the seed germinates it comes up and then these other seeds germinate and come up and they choke the life out of it. Picture the cares of life. What the world has to offer and it makes the plant ineffective. It dies. The last seed is good ground, fall on good ground and that has been cultivated. and it takes root and it bears fruit. That's what he's concerned about here. What kind of soil have I sown my seed on? Well, the reality is we'll find out next week. When we see in this contrasting conjunction, verse six, but now Timothy has come to us. And oh boy, does he have some news. He has some news for the apostle Paul. William Macdonald in his commentary on this section says trials form a necessary discipline in our lives and that's what they were undergoing. Number one they prove the reality of your faith and also weed out those who are mere professors. Secondly he said They enable us to comfort and encourage others who are going through similar trials. In other words, you go through a trial, and someone else is experiencing something similar. You can come along and say, this, you know, here's how it happened to me. Here's how I dealt with it. Let me help you. Thirdly, he says, they develop certain graces, such as endurance. That's why James writes, consider it joy when you fall into divers temptations knowing that the triangle of your faith works patience or endurance. Fourthly he said they make us more zealous in spreading the gospel. You see that in Acts chapter 4 that when they were persecuted they were more bold to present the gospel in the face of opposition. They weren't detoured. God gave them grace. And lastly he said they helped to remove the dross from our lives. And that is sin. You come forth, as Job said, purified as gold is refined, being placed in the fire. It removes the dross and sin in our lives. So there are purposes for it. But people can fold. People can wilt under those things and deny the faith. One writer said, I once read, this is John Yates, in an attitude of gratitude and preaching today. I read once the devil was having a yard sale, and all of his tools, and they were marked with different prices. And those tools, he said, were a fiendish lot. There was hatred. Jealousy, deceit, lying, pride, all at expensive prices. But over to the side of the yard on display was a tool more obviously worn than any of the other tools. It was also the most costly. The tool was labeled discouragement. Discouragement. And when questioned, the devil said, it's more useful to me than any other tool. When I can bring down my victims with any of the rest of these tools, or when I can't bring down my victims with any of the rest of these tools, I use the tool of discouragement because so few people realize that it belongs to me. Job was discouraged, and he uses that tool effectively. These were Christians, New Testament Christians, in the ancient Roman world. It's a pagan environment completely. Our nation is moving very rapidly toward paganism. I mean, Satanism and the whole nine yards is being promoted. And all of these false religions are being introduced into the public school and into the universities. All paganism. There was an epistle written in the second century. The title of that epistle was the Epistle to Dionysius. Some believe and have attributed that to a man by the name of Athanagoras. There's a section in there that described Christians and what they're like and why they were different from others. The difference, he writes, between Christians and the rest of mankind is not a matter of nationality. or language or customs. Christians do not live in separate cities of their own, speak any special dialect, nor practice any eccentric way of life. They pass their lives in whatever township, Greek or foreign, each man's lot has determined and conformed to ordinary local usage in their clothing, diet, and their habits, nevertheless. Here, listen, the organization of their community does not exhibit some features, or does exhibit some features that are remarkable and even surprising. For instance, though they are residents at home in their own countries, their behavior there is more like transience. Though destiny has placed them here in the flesh, they do not live after the flesh. Their days are passed on earth, but their citizenship is above in the heavens. They obey prescribed laws, but in their own private lives they transcend the laws. They show love to all men, and all men persecute them. They are misunderstood and condemned, yet by suffering death they are quickened into life. They are poor, yet making many rich. Lacking all things, yet having all things in abundance, they repay curses with blessings and abuse with courtesy. For the good they do, they suffer stripes as evildoers. That's the lot of Christians in the ancient first and second centuries of the Christian world. It's coming, it's here in the United States, it's happening and it's slowly intensifying. I believe. We're going to experience it. And we may not like it, but we need to be prepared. Because it is an ordained fact, an ordained fact that we will suffer persecution if we live godly in Christ Jesus. That's what characterized Christianity. Godliness of life. And the stability to live that Christian life is predicated on a faithful discipleship of those who are followers of Jesus Christ. That's why we must be fed by the Word. We must be guided by the Word. The Word is our source, our life. It is our all. It's not just a convenient coffee table decoration. The Word of God is very life itself. Let's close in prayer. Father, I thank you for those men who were instrumental, first of all, in my salvation. My pastor back in Michigan, he proclaimed the gospel and I came to Christ. And I thank you for those who've been mentors to me, to help me along in my Christian walk. O God, may I be faithful and true to what is in your word, and may I hide your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. O Father, may the Spirit of God work in each individual this morning and fortify us and comfort us and strengthen us For the battle we may face here in the not too distant future, that is the assault on the Christian church that is taking place even today. The world is not our friend. And it's not our home. We're passing through. Heaven is our home. Oh God, strengthen us in the inner man. In Jesus name. Amen.