You may be seated as the choir is dismissed and
coming down. If you've got a copy of the scriptures
this morning and you'd like to follow along,
we'll be in the New Testament this morning. Paul
identifies himself to be the author of this book.
It was written about 50 or 51 AD, most likely
from Corinth while Paul was on his second missionary
journey, and many scholars would place this letter
to be one of the earliest written in the New
Testament. The city of Thessalonica was founded
about 315 BC. By the time Paul arrived, which
is very pertinent to our time this morning, the
city had grown to about 200 ,000 people. Paul
started a small church plant there. He was forced
to leave prematurely. If we had time, we don't.
We'd read over in Acts 17 about persecution that
Paul faced that pushed him out of Thessalonica.
But he's concerned for this young, fledgling,
mainly Gentile congregation, so he sends Timothy
back to check on them and to give a report of
what's going on there since he had to leave.
So why the letter? Well, Timothy returns to Paul
with a mixed report. The young church had continued
strong in the faith, Paul encouraged them for
that, despite persecution that Timothy saw that
they were going through at that time. But there
were many issues and confusion that really had
this church sort of reeling a little bit. On
particular points of theology, mainly surrounding
the return of Christ, believers who had died,
and what a life lived in faith. looked like.
So three very theological but practical admonitions.
Paul writes to encourage them. He writes to clarify
misunderstandings and strengthen them and exhort
them towards steady, everyday faithfulness. And
that is the part that we're going to focus on
this morning is that steady, everyday faithfulness
that Paul encourages us. uh to living a life
of faith on us certainly within the church but
also within the community and within every facet
of our day -to -day lives and what that actually
looks like and I think this message comes at
a good time we're here almost at the end of 2025
getting ready to look into 2026 and it's a good
time to sort of recalibrate and evaluate where
we are with that. John Calvin stated though on
these verses, we'll look at verses 16 to 22 today,
he emphasized that they were dependent entirely
upon the power of the Holy Spirit. That's very
important for us to lay down this context this
morning. That this passage is certainly not about
trying harder. It's not about doing better. It's
about God working in His people to produce joy,
prayer, holiness, and ultimately perseverance
in His people. And we must exercise great caution
here, because as we do read through these verses,
we are tempted to sort of almost make this legalistic
and a list of rules and a checkbox of do and
don't and black and white. And we cannot do that.
We cannot reduce God's Word to a list of just
do's and don'ts. This is not a list of somehow
we make ourselves right with God. It is a reflection
on what God has already done. for us, the fact
that he has forgiven us, that we are accepted
and that we are called his children and welcomed
into his family. Based on that, we find that
we are not saved by doing something or not doing
something, but we are saved into a life of holiness
by Jesus Christ alone in faith in Him. And the
commands that Paul gives today should never be
felt as oppressive. They shouldn't be weighty
or burdensome. They certainly shouldn't be hung
over our heads. He gave them to serve as guides.
Along our way and certainly to live a life that
God has called us to in Christ Jesus So let's
look here just two main points this morning the
first joy dependence and gratitude verse 5 Paul
says very quickly rejoice always As Paul the
apostle begins to conclude this letter, five
chapters in 1 Thessalonians, he's writing this
letter to a faithful but yet fledgling congregation.
They've been kind of confused about particular
issues, and he gives a general pastoral encouragement
here for them to press on in fulfilling their
calling. These first three verses of verse 16,
17, and 18 all go together in a three -fold exhortation.
that Paul gave with this idea of living consciously
in the presence of God the Father's love. So
let's put some guardrails around the word joy
or rejoice always. There's certainly a difference
between spiritual joy and emotionalism or what
we would also call or refer to at times as worldly
joy. If someone is an unbeliever, that is they
do not know Christ, Generally, they are happy
when life circumstances are going very well.
Income is up. Things are good at the job. There
is no sickness. Family's doing well. All the
boxes are being checked. In contrast to that,
what we find in Scripture is that Christian joy
does not depend on how well things are going
externally in this present life. It's more of
a long -term perspective than that. It is present,
joyous present, and flourishes even amongst the
dark seasons and hard times of this life. Keep
in mind that Paul opens this section and exhorts
them to rejoice always. Now this was a young
church that was experiencing great persecution.
They were experiencing the loss of homes, the
loss of lands, the loss of freedoms, and even
their own lives. But Paul still says, rejoice
always, in spite of all that you are already
going through. Joy is the fruit of the Spirit,
Paul would tell us that in Galatians. Therefore,
this command to rejoice is always something that
God produces in us, not something that we manufacture
on our own. We are not capable. Our joy cannot
depend on outward prosperity. but it is generated
on the testimony of the Spirit that we are loved
by God. And church, that is a big statement.
We are to rejoice always, to praise God always
in every season of life and through every circumstance.
We must consider the context of this letter,
those we dive in. These charges are given to
motivate and to encourage the Thessalonians,
as well as you and I. and they were written in
the light of the Lord's return. We ask the question,
how can we rejoice in all circumstances? How
is it that we rejoice always? Because we were
never asked to go it alone. We rejoice because
the Lord is at hand. And for this young church,
things were bad, but the Lord is always at hand,
a present help in time of trouble. a trial of
persecution for these Thessalonian believers.
They were experiencing situations that we cannot
comprehend likewise, you and your life. You have
or are experiencing situations that I cannot
comprehend. You are going through things that
I don't understand and I'm going through things
that you do not understand. We all experience
hard challenges in this life, but as we go through
them, we have to realize that that challenge,
that circumstance, that sickness, that disease,
that hardship will not have the last word. It
cannot. Christ is coming and therefore we rejoice.
We rejoice always, as Paul wrote in Romans chapter
8. Paul wrote in 8 .28 of Romans, and we know
that all things, not some things, all things
work together for good to those who love God
and to those who are called according to His
purpose. Verse 32, He who did not spare His own
Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall
we not with Him also freely give us all things?
We constantly rejoice in the Father's gift of
His Son to be our Savior. Every Lord's Day we
gather here and we worship the One who created
all things and reigns over them both now and
forever. And it is He that is making all things
work for our good, even when it's hard for us
to see it. We rejoice always in all and every
circumstance that is working because we know
that it is God behind the scenes working all
things for our ultimate good. We rejoice, why?
Because it is not about. us. For us to rejoice
always, it's not about my present circumstances,
it is out of a thankful heart for God's sovereignly
ruling, His reign, and His eternal purposes.
Richard Phillips would put it very eloquently,
the knowledge of God's sovereign care compensates
for all manner of earthly troubles so that Christians
can rejoice even in the most barren of times.
There's a minor prophet in the Old Testament
in the book of Habakkuk, and it's a place we
don't get to very often. I preached through it
a few years ago on Sunday nights here. But Habakkuk
comes to the end of himself. He has done crying.
He has done mourning over the ruination of Israel
at this time. And here's what he says, though
the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on
the vine. Though the labor of the olive may fail
and the fields yield no food, though the flock
may be cut off from the field and there be no
herd in the stalls, literally saying, when there
There is nothing left when it is all gone. This
is an agrarian society. When the crops have failed,
when the livestock is gone, when there is nothing
left for me to cling to and hold on to. He says,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord and I will joy
in the God of my salvation. Why? The Lord God
is my strength. And it is the Lord that makes
me to walk on the high hills. We rejoice in the
hope of the glory of God, even as generations
of believers have done before us in various sufferings
and trials, resting in God's sovereign rule and
His care over His children. Verse 16. The second
part of this three -fold exhortation, Paul would
say, pray without ceasing. When he says pray
without ceasing, he does not mean to pray phrases
repetitiously or aimlessly. You remember Jesus,
when he was talking to his disciples about the
Lord's Prayer, was very clear. He said, do not
just ramble. Don't just have vain repetition,
assuming you're going to be heard for your much
speaking. But what Paul is describing here is
something much more profitable, and that is to
pray regularly, to be in a constant attitude
of prayer. When we pray, there is a spirit and
a revealing of dependence, reverence, and communion
with God. As we spoke last week, we have the
great privilege of prayer as children of God.
We have the advocacy and the mediation of Jesus
Christ the righteous. We have access to the throne
room of God, to the Father, through the Son,
praying in Jesus' name. And this is not something
that we should ever take lightly or for granted.
But if we are not careful, our prayers can almost
become routine. they can almost become robotic,
that we're praying the same things all the time,
really with no change, and our heart is almost
out of it, and we're just praying legalistically
or because we sit down to a meal or something
like that, and Paul is warning us against those
things. He is encouraging us here to have a constant
attitude of prayer, meaning we move through our
entire day where we are dependent on the Lord,
constantly seeking His face in prayer. When we
hear something or we hear about someone who is
struggling or going through a hard time, We take
it to the Lord in prayer. We don't just forget
those things. We pray about them. When something
comes up, we pray about it. We are to have a
constant time of prayer. It is to be something
that we are doing almost all the time. To have
a heart attitude of prayer throughout our day
as different things come up is what Paul is really
stressing here. Verse 18, Paul would say, in
everything give thanks, for this is the will
of God and Christ Jesus for you. our believers
to be thankful in times of hardship and trial.
It is because faith turns us away from ourselves
and turns us toward God. Away from ourselves
and towards the Lord. Believers worldwide face
all types of threats and dangers and persecution
with gratitude to the God who they know is sovereignly
ruling for His glory and for our salvation. In
our flesh, we are often tempted to look inwardly,
to be almost self -reliant. Selfishly, we often
think of our own circumstances as really the
main thing going on in our lives. And in this
natural life, we must realize that we cannot
solve. all of our own problems, no matter how
hard we try and fight and push against them,
we have to come to a point of Christian maturity
that we realize that God is sovereignly working
in all circumstances. And knowing His character,
His faithfulness, and His love, we then can thank
Him at all times, even when it is hard, even
when it hurts. because we know we have never
been asked to walk through this life alone. And
we had the constant indwelling presence of His
Holy Spirit leading us, guiding us, and delivering
us every step of the way. When we say, Lord,
I don't know what to do. God, I don't know where
to go. I don't even know how I'm going to put
my feet on the floor this morning and face the
day. We were never asked to face it alone. His
Holy Spirit resides with us. We look at this
verse 18, the third leg of this exhortation.
Paul calls us to live in God's presence, to be
thankful in all circumstances. It's the will
of God for us. And that can be challenging at
times because here we are living in a Western
world in America where we are not told in Scripture
ever that God necessarily wills that we should
have good health or even be financially well
off. Now, that is an assumption of the culture,
but that is not found anywhere in the pages of
Scripture. As far as these earthly standards
are considered, we are not promised to always
have faithful friends or even successful careers,
but what God does promise is something far better
than temporary earthly things. In God's Word,
He gives us His Son to be our Savior, and in
His Word, He promises us eternal life with Him
in glory. of God is that as a believer, that
we would grow and we would mature to joy and
prayer and thanksgiving. And because of and in
Christ Jesus, God's grace is revealed to us.
It is in Christ and in the Holy Spirit's power
for this transformation comes through Jesus Christ
alone. These blessings that Paul speaks of are
found in Christ. We do not Nor can we attain
true joy by just trying to be happy or having
a positive mental attitude or just trying our
best, but by seeking Christ's face and by coming
to God through the promises of His Word. And
in contrast to this, our flesh pulls very hard.
There are so many things that our flesh would
tend to chase after and seek after, looking for
joy and happiness and all these things. But whatever
temporary happiness we may find is just that.
It is temporary. It is fleeting. It is fading.
It will not last. Whatever it is that we begin
to, you fill in the blank here, begin to put
our time towards, our money towards, our efforts
towards, all of our resources towards, those
things will eventually leave you wanting. They
will always leave you wanting more. In the end,
every hobby, every pursuit will be a disappointment
because nothing temporary or carnal can ever
give you true joy. It will always leave you wanting
more. The psalmist would say in Psalm 16, I have
set the Lord always before me because he is at
my right hand. I shall not be moved. Therefore,
my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh
also will rest in hope." The only way that these
graces that we have been given by God are brought
to pass is from a heart that is directed to God
in worship, for He is worthy of all glory and
all honor and all praise. In our daily lives,
we are dependent upon the graces of a good God.
Every beat of our heart, every breath that we
take, while that seems so simplistic in nature,
as we draw in a breath, that is not something
that we take for granted. That's not something
that you're owed. That's not something that you're
due. Every beat of our heart, even though our
body is supposed to do it, every beat is a gift
from... above. And when we begin to walk and
operate in that way of just how good God has
been to us and the way that the human body even
functions and He allows it to function for every
breath, that is when we start seeing the goodness
of God. Our second point this morning, the Spirit's
work and testing all things. So Paul gives two
sets of threes here. Verse 19, do not quench
the Spirit. So one of the figures used for the
Holy Spirit as we look into the pages of Scripture
is fire. Now logically we would ask the question,
well then how could it be quenched? It would
have to be doused, it would have to be dampened
in some way. We can first of all do this when
we step outside the will of God, we quench the
Spirit. In addition, Paul wrote letters to the
Ephesians and also to the Galatians on the matter
that we should not only not grieve, the Holy
Spirit, but that we should walk in the Holy Spirit.
So one imperative, one admonition that we should
walk in the Spirit and follow His leading. In
fact, in Ephesians 4 30, we would read Paul writing,
and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby
you are sealed to the day of redemption. In Galatians
5, Paul would say, I say then, walk in the Spirit,
and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh,
for the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the
Spirit against the flesh. And these things are
contrary one to another, so that you do not do
the things that you wish. The Holy Spirit is
referred to as the third person of the Trinity.
In fact, the Holy Spirit is not a thing. The
Holy Spirit is a person, more specifically, He.
He is at work. The Holy Spirit leads us through
the common means of grace that God has given
to His people. He is building God's church. He
is equipping the saints in line with God's will,
continually reminding us of our salvation in
Christ, our adoption as God's children. And that
is the work that we must not quench. And you
say, all right, talk to me about the quenching.
To quench. is to extinguish a flame. Spiritually
speaking, it means to resist the Spirit's work
or to hinder it in some way, and it is serious
business. The most obvious way that we would
quench the Spirit of God is to ignore conviction
that we feel when the Holy Spirit presses upon
our heart. When we have transgressed against
God in some way, the Holy Spirit then convicts
us not to shame us, not to place guilt on us,
but to restore us, to point us back toward a
point of reconciliation. When we have sinned,
the Holy Spirit of God is always faithful to
grieve our hearts, to produce godly sorrow that
would produce repentance, not aimless guilt or
shame. Paul is very clear here that we grieve
the Holy Spirit in our lives at times when we
sin and then we refuse to do anything about it.
He's quenched when we step outside the will of
God in His very dangerous ground. When we ignore
the will of God, when we would resist conviction,
when we cling to sin that we so desperately are
holding on to, when we reject Godly wisdom and
counsel, or when we quench the Spirit's flame.
Let's look at verses 20 and 21 together. Paul
would say, do not despise prophecies. Test all
things and hold fast to what is good. Now we
must remember at this point of this particular
text that these are early New Testament believers
who at this point at 50 -51 AD did not yet possess
a written copy of the New Testament Scriptures.
So God provided apostles to declare the written
word, or at this point proclaimed word, concerning
the salvation of Jesus Christ. to them. Now the
main focus of these prophecies, if you will,
was to proclaim the gospel before the message
had been recorded in writing. These men who God
had gifted belonged to a foundation -laying era
of apostles in that first generation post -resurrection
of Christ. And they built upon that foundation,
Christ being the foundation, they built on that
foundation the early church. They taught the
apostles' doctrine, which were things that they
had been taught specifically from Christ. to
themselves, but they also possess gifts to do
miracles and ministry -affirming works in an
apostolic but pre -canon era. John MacArthur
put it very well when he said, prophecies most
often refer to the written Word of Scripture.
These prophecies were authoritative messages,
and they were of divine origin, and they were
not to be treated lightly. When God's Word is
preached or read, it is to be received with great
seriousness. What does that mean for us today?
God's Word, as God's people, we must first of
all honor the Word of God, these written scriptures
that we have, the canon. We must honor the Word
when it is read. We must honor the Word when
it is preached. We must honor the Word when it
is taught. And we must honor the Word by doing
so and honoring it. We obey the Word of God.
We are not to despise this word. We are not to
despise its teachings, but must follow every
instruction that is faithful to Scripture. But
just as importantly as do not despise the prophecies,
Paul said, test all things and hold fast to that
which is good. Today in 2025, almost 2026, we
have access to content and platforms of preaching,
teaching. all these things truly from anywhere
and all over the world. And while that is a great
privilege, it also comes with great responsibility.
As important as it was the day that Paul, under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote these
words, we ourselves are to test all things. We
are to test all content, because there is great
danger in some who would intentionally lead men
and women astray. Now, this is not accidental.
It is intentional. There is an intentional misleading
done by those who are religious, what we would
call charlatans, those who are self -serving.
John would write in 1 John 4, 1, beloved, do
not believe every spirit, but test the spirits,
whether they are of God, because many false prophets
have gone out into the world. Paul himself was
oppressed by many who were legalistic in nature.
in his ministry. He would even write in Philippians
chapter 3, for many walk of whom I have often
told you, and now tell you even weeping that
they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose
end is destruction, whose God is their belly,
and whose glory is in their shame, who set their
mind on earthly things. What's Paul driving at?
When we hear the Word of God preached or taught,
we must test it. You say even here at Mamrie?
Yes, right here at Mamrie. Everywhere that we
hear the Word preached or taught, we test it.
From this pulpit in the Sunday School, anywhere.
It must be proved true. It must be carefully
examined and discerned. How? The standard of
truth and accuracy to test what someone is teaching
has always been and will always be by comparing
it with the written Word of God. This is the
standard and the rule by which we determine truth,
and there is no other. It's not books that men
and women have written. It is this standard,
which is the Word of God. When someone goes to
teach, when they go to preach, they are to base
their messages off the Bible, off Scripture.
They are not to come with winsome arguments and
convincing emotionalism, clever stories, jokes,
or anything like that. And Paul says, what you
find to be profitable, keep it. Use it. Apply
it. Grow from it. And now which is bad?" He said,
discard it. Get rid of it. Verse 22, the last
verse in our text this morning, abstain from
every form of evil. I want to pause here for
just a moment. I think it's important to point
out, if we're going to be faithful to Scripture,
that this verse has probably been taken out of
context more than just about any other in the
Bible to make a point, to prove something, whatever
someone wanted to get across. And it has been
pulled out as a single verse, and it has been
used as a proof text without context, a classic
just slashing of rules of hermeneutics and homiletics
of how we interpret Scripture. And I want to
be very careful that as we preach this verse
this morning, we do it very faithfully. We strive
to get to the original meaning that Paul had
in mind when he wrote it down for the Thessalonian
church and convey that this morning. The first
thing that we cannot do when we ever go to preach
or teach is to lift one single verse out of the
Scriptures and pin everything we want to say
around that one verse. That is a proof text without
actual context. This verse, 22, is part of a
broader exhortation. It's supposed to go with
16, 17, 18, 19, 21, and 22. It cannot just be
lifted on its own to say abstain from the presence
of all evil, therefore don't go do blank. Don't
do this. We cannot do that. We must hold the
scripture together as it has been written and
interpret it as such. So what does this verse
mean? That's a good question. This verse calls
for believers to test all spiritual claims and
hold fast to that which is good, rejecting any
appearance of evil. Based on what Paul had just
said in verses 20 and verse 21, only then do
we arrive at verse 22. This guidance from Paul
is rooted in the context of the church's preparation
for the second coming. of Christ, urging one
another to live righteously and encouraging one
another to live in faith. The first three exhortations
in this passage are now built on by these last
three. Paul concludes with this warning to abstain,
to avoid from all forms of evil, to avoid doing
things, not casually, not just to dabble in them,
but to avoid them, avoid things that would quench
the Spirit. And for us to avoid all forms of
evil teaching regarding the Word of God, Paul
admonishes us here. to avoid every expression,
every appearance, and every imitation of evil,
and to do so consistently. And this is deeper
than just some sort of secular activity. It's
deeper than just something that is surface level.
It is a call, it is an imperative that speaks
to us internally and externally. This is not
just saying, don't just go do blank. It is internal
and external. This is a call for us to examine
our thoughts, our mind, our intentions, and not
just out. outward activities that we do, because
as a believer, Paul has cleared through his many
letters that we must develop an active resistance
against sin that so easily besets us. We must
put it to death, and we must deal with it or
it will conquer us. So now what? What do we do
with these two sets of three that Paul has given
us this morning as the saints gathered here at
Mamrie Baptist Church on top of Kitts Hill? First
of all, we must realize this is not a message
of do's and don'ts, and I don't want you to hear
it that way. God as our Creator has designed
us, and because He has designed us, He knows
how we work best. And under the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit, Paul has pinned these words
into the canon of Scripture that serve as guides
on our pathway of life. They are to guide us,
they are to lead us, they are to help us, and
that is why it is in the written, revealed Word.
He wrote them so that we would learn to mature
and walk peacefully with our God. And for some
of us, we're farther on that journey than others.
But every one of us is called as we are sanctified
to continually move deeper into that process
of sanctification, to walk peacefully with our
God, because it is God who not only strengthens
us, it is God who sanctifies His people. It is
God who tells us in His Word to not let this
text feel weighty, but to run to Christ who is
the anchor for our souls. These exhortations
to follow God's design as believers, it is God
who sanctifies us for specific purposes. So that
we begin to love the things that Christ loves,
and we begin to hate the things that Christ hates.
That we would believe the things that Christ
taught, and we would shun all things that are
against Christ, and we would be against the things
that He taught, and that we abstain from every
form of evil. That is the goal of the Spirit's
work within us. And the way we hear the Spirit
today is not by opening our hearts or some sort
of audible voice, but by directing our hearts
to the pages of Scripture. In the Bible is where
the Spirit of God speaks and gives life to the
people of God. Paul had a sincere desire for
the Thessalonian believers and us alike, that
while we've begun well in the faith, Paul urges
us to grow, to mature, and while he commends
them, That a childlike faith receives God's Word
to be true, a mature faith is one that is not
easily tossed back and forth by all manner of
teaching, some being faithful and some being
less than faithful. The first priority of these
whole list of admonitions is that the church
then and that the church now would have a new
devotion to the sacred scriptures of God. It
has always been the standard and the rule by
which we are to live our lives and how we find
how we are to walk with God. that we would use
the Bible to meet with God, that we would commune
with Him, and that we would live consciously
in the Father's love and walk intentionally in
step with the Holy Spirit. Finally, as we mature,
we are to take the joy that we have in this Christian
life as we are strangers and pilgrims in this
world and even in the hard seasons that we have
and we are to rejoice. evermore. We are to praise
God always, through every season of life, as
difficult as it may be, not because we are necessarily
happy about the circumstances we are in, but
because Christ is at hand. He has never called
us to walk it alone. He has never said He would
abandon us. In fact, He said He would never leave
us. He would never forsake us. Even in the darkest
valleys, we will not walk alone. David said,
yeah, I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death. I will fear no evil. Church, as we
gather here on this Lord's Day, we remember every
single Sunday that our Lord is returning. He
has not left us here forever just to deal with
the hard times of this life, but in eternity
it will all seem so brief. and so fleeting. And
I know it's hard because things happen in life,
and it hurts, and we mourn, and we cry, and we
should cry good, godly tears, but we must remain
sensitive to the Holy Spirit, knowing that it
is of divine origin, that the Holy Spirit leads
us, guides us, convicts us of sin and repentance,
guiding us back to restoration with the Father,
and it is a grace. to be so sensitive to the
Holy Spirit. As we are sanctified, we take joy
in this also, the continual indwelling of the
Holy Spirit of God residing in us. Regardless
of the circumstances of this life, the residing
of the Holy Spirit, continual residing in this
progressive sanctification that we have, Good
Day is the very worst we can imagine. It is the
faithfulness of God that we hang and pin our
joy upon. not external circumstances, not temporary
happiness brought on by hobbies. It is the personal
work of the Holy Spirit of God within us that
Christ has died, paid, and bought us with His
nail -scarred hands, Church, and that one day
He is returning for us, and in that we find our
joy. Yes, life is hard. Christ is greater, and
not only is He greater, He is at hand. When we
don't know where to turn, we run to Christ, the
one who is the lover of our souls, the one who
is an anchor for us. And you say, okay, this
is all so good. I plead with you, Jesus Christ,
the righteous, he is the ultimate source of our
joy. And that is the recalibration that as we
wind down this year, we ask ourselves, we look
into the next year, how do I want that year to
be, regardless of what it has in store, run to
Christ, the one who has given himself for us
and the one who is coming back for us, faithfully
to do so, the one who Paul would say and win
with this and this letter, he who has called
you is faithful also to do it. God has not brought
you this far to leave you, church, in your trouble,
but he will deliver you to eternal glory on the
basis of his written word. Amen. We've gathered
here this Lord's Day intentionally for the singing,
for the prayers of the saints, for the preaching
of God's word, but also to come to the table.
We'll have the deacons, if they will, come at
this time. And as the deacons come and begin
to get the trays and distribute.