0:00Amen. Wonderful. If you have your Bibles, take them to 2 Thessalonians. We're starting 2 Thessalonians here this week. As you're turning there, I want to tell you about a story about a a man in Budapest who went to a rabbi. He went to a rabbi to complain, and this is what he said to the rabbi, "Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. What is it that we can do?" The rabbi answered, "Take a goat and bring the goat into the room with you."
0:34The man looked incredulous. He thought, "You've got to be kidding me." The rabbi said, "Take a goat, bring it into your room, come back to me in 1 week." Okay. Brought the goat into the room, came back a week later. And the rabbi said, "So, how's it going?" He said, "Well, we cannot stand it. The goat is filthy. It's a disgusting creature. This is life is awful. It's worse than before." So, the rabbi said, "Okay, go home, remove the goat from your room, come back to me in a week."
1:08Okay. Went home, came back a week later beaming. Radiantly, he said this, "Life is beautiful. We enjoy every minute now that there's no goat, only the nine of us." What changed? Absolutely nothing other than his perspective. Perspective is an important thing for us to consider. We all have situations and circumstances in our life that can be difficult and hard, trials that we go through, and yet there is reason to give thanks even in the midst of it, especially and most importantly for you who are saved and in Christ.
1:54And so, we want to examine that perspective, and we're going to do that in the first four verses here this morning. Before I read those first four verses, let me give you a little bit of a backdrop here just really quickly of 2 Thessalonians. This was written very early, very quickly after 1 Thessalonians. In fact, the gap of time it's estimated somewhere between a year and a half to 2 years maximum between the end of 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians. Very briefly, it appears that there's a reason for this letter and it's listed for us in the first two verses of chapter two, actually. Look at the first two verses of chapter two.
2:29There we read this. Concerning Now, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed either by a spirit or by a spoken word or a letter seeming to be from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. It appears that since his teaching in 1 Thessalonians and specifically chapters 4 and 5 of 1 Thessalonians about the day of the Lord and the coming of the Lord, since that time they have received faulty information.
3:05There are false teachers in their midst, those perhaps even writing letters to make it look like it's Paul to say that the day of the Lord has already come. And so they're alarmed. And so Paul is now writing this second letter to them to clear up some of the confusion. And so as we get into the meat of the letter next week and in the weeks that follow, we're going to see that the bulk of 2 Thessalonians has to do with the the second coming and the day of the Lord and those end times events that are awaiting us. And so that's what we're going to get to.
3:37And we're going to examine what those things mean what what they would have meant for the Thessalonians and we're going to examine what they would mean then for us today. But before we get to the meat of that letter, we want to look at this opening salvo that Paul and his compatriots give to the Thessalonians. So that's what we're going to do this morning. The first four verses of chapter 1, here's what we read. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4:14We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as it is as is right because your faith is growing abundantly and the love of everyone of you for another for pardon me, for one another is increasing. Therefore, we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness in faith and all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. This is an encouraging opening statement. This should have been a shot in the arm for the Thessalonians.
4:46There's a lot of reasons for them to give thanks and those same reasons that they have to give thanks are the same reasons that we have to give thanks. And so, let's look at some of these things. First of all, they can give thanks that because their salvation is from God. They have salvation from God. Now, look look at verses 1 and 2. In that very initial greeting, notice something here that Paul lays the Lord Jesus Christ beside God the Father as one. Notice that? To the church of the Thessalonians in We're going to look at that what that word in means here in a minute.
5:20In God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." The Lord Jesus is laid alongside God our Father as one. It's What is he saying here? Salvation you are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is from the Father and the Son. And grace and peace are from the Father and the Son.
5:54What does that tell us? That Jesus is deity. That he is God. That salvation is not only in God the Father, but it's in God the Son. As well. It's not only that we find grace and peace in God the Father, we do, but also in the Son as the triune God is working all these things out. It's beautiful. So, Jesus is God according to Paul here. It seems very evident this is what Paul's teaching. Notice that we have this same refrain used twice in verses 1 and 2.
6:27God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The difference only being the word that precedes the the phrase. In verse 1, we read in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And in verse 2, we read from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Those are important words for us to understand. The word in is an important word in our Bibles. The phrase in Christ is used 91 times in the New Testament.
7:00The word the phrase in him is used 98 times in the New Testament. It is the number one descriptor of a Christian in the New Testament. In Christ. In him. We are in him. This is the the descriptor. And notice here he says to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father. This is an encouragement. What is Paul saying? I believe that you're saved. I'm writing to the redeemed. So, to read this, this initial statement is here, you who are Christians.
7:38You who are saved. You who are in him. And notice the word our. In God our father. He uses that word twice. I think the N the NIV uses word the words God the father for one of those phrases. But in the truth in the truest sense it should be God our father based on the Greek here. Our. What is Paul saying? The same God that saved me is the same God that saved you. Our. He is our savior. It wasn't that Paul was some super saint and he got saved a different way.
8:10No, no. He is saved in the same way that you are saved. He's our father. We are collectively adopted children of God. Salvation is from him. It's in him. But then we come to this phrase from grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. So grace is from God. Grace is what brings about our salvation. Grace is this unmerited favor. If you aren't familiar with Ephesians 2:8-9, let me just read those verses for you.
8:46Here's what it says there. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. Not a result of works so that no one may boast. We are saved by grace as unmerited favor through faith. And so this grace is from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And not only grace, peace. Peace from God our father. Peace is the result of salvation.
9:18Right? We have peace with God. At one time we were at enmity, the Bible says, of with God. We were his enemies. Actually is what it says. Go with me well if you will to Romans chapter 5. In verses 1 and 2, here's what we read. Romans 5:1 and 2. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
9:52Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. You see that? Because of God's grace in which we stand, we have peace with God. What an encouragement that should be. And lest you think, "Well, that's the Father and the Son. I guess the Holy Spirit's not involved in salvation." That's not true. In fact, if you were with us a couple of weeks ago when we did our sermon looking at Bill C-9, we walked through 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 9 to to 11.
10:26I don't know if you noticed that when we when we work through that text, look at verse 11 of 1 Corinthians chapter 6. And look at how the triune God is involved in salvation. And such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, and you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God. God the Father. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, all involved in justification, in sanctification, and washing.
11:05So, the triune God has saved these Thessalonian believers, and that should give them peace of heart, joy, comfort in the midst of affliction, which we'll look at here as we go through this letter. Yes, there's trials. They abound. But you're in him. You've received grace and peace from him. This is what makes you stand. This gives you hope. You should not among those who are anxious, but you should be settled in the midst of a weary world.
11:38I don't know how many of you fly. I mean, none of you fly. I understand. >> >> I don't know how many of you fly on an airplane. If anyone does fly, let me know. >> >> But if you fly on an airplane, if you've pre-purchased your ticket like any normal human does, you're relaxed. At least you should be. If you know what your gate number is, and you know when it's leaving, and all these things, you can be relaxed and you walk around the airport, especially if you're there early.
12:11I went to the Atlanta Airport on my way back from a conference a few years ago. Atlanta Airport is one of the biggest airports on planet Earth. They have eight terminals. And an incredible system whereby you can go from terminal to terminal to terminal underground. Quite an amazing thing. I knew I got I got there, got to my gate, saw where it was, saw what time it was. I had a 4-hour layover. So, I went to all eight terminals. Just to check them out. And I was totally relaxed cuz I knew exactly where I was going. Then you watch people who are flying standby.
12:47They're hovering around the desk hoping beyond hope that they can catch a flight they may or may not ever get on to. And they're anxious. >> >> Shouldn't be that way for us. If you're in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and you know that grace and peace that are from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, you should have a settled joy and a contentedness. In fact, that's why I had Sandy read for us 1 John chapter 5 or for us there cuz in verse 11 to 13, listen to what it says here of 1 John 5.
13:26This is the testimony that God gave us eternal life and this life is in his son. Whoever has the son has life. Whoever does not have the son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. We should we who know that we have eternal life as we've examined ourselves from scripture we should have a calmness and a joy about us.
14:03Our salvation's from God. That's a reason to give thanks. Now, out of that there are a couple things flowing from that salvation we have. One is growth of faith. Growing in your faith is possible. It says it here in the text. Look at verse 3. We ought always to give thanks for you, brothers, as is right because your faith is growing abundantly. And the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. So, this is Paul's external view of it.
14:38It'd be like someone coming to our church, observing us for a few weeks, heading back home, and sending us a letter and saying, "Here's what I observe about you." He's observing that they are growing in their faith and their love for one another is steadily increasing. This is a reason for thanks. Why? Well, first of all, it's God's will to give thanks. 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. But more than that, for Paul, it's exactly what he prayed for for them. Back in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3, in 1 Thessalonians 3:11 and 12, he said this.
15:15Now, may God Pardon me, may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you. So, he was praying, "Lord, may they have a love that's abounding and increasing." And here he says in 2 Thessalonians, "I can see your love is increasing." That's reason for Thanksgiving. Why is their love increasing? Because they're abounding in faith.
15:48Your faith is growing abundantly. That's what it says there in verse 3. Now, growing faith, that's an interesting statement. Isn't my faith just my faith? How does it grow? Do I need growing faith to be saved? Is Is faith something that I that we have differing measures of? What about in salvation? What about the faith that brings me to salvation? Well, if you have never watched D. A. Carson's illustration, I'm going to give you his illustration.
16:22He does a far better job at it. You can look this illustration up from D. A. Carson on YouTube. It's fantastic. But he gave this illustration once. Supposing that the 10th plague is about to come upon Egypt, and the Jewish people are living in the land of Goshen, and there are two Jewish men. Let's call them Samuel and Joel. It's Jewish-sounding names. And they're discussing the pending Passover. The angel of death is about to come.
16:54It hasn't come yet, and what are we going to do? And so, Joel, let's say is full of faith. "I know what God's going to do. He's going to save us. He's going to lead us out. He has the blood of the pure, spotless lamb on the doorpost and the lintel of his home." He's all excited, and he's talking to Samuel, who let's say he's got quite a bit less faith. He's anxious. He's trepidatious. He believes in his God, but he's trepidatious. And Joel says to him, "Aren't you excited? Isn't this thrilling?" And And Samuel says, "Well, how's it going to work out?
17:29I don't know how this is going to go." And Joel says, "If God's going to He's going to do it. Have you put the blood on the doorpost and the lintel of your home?" "Well, yes, of course I've done that. But But I'm just I'm concerned." That night when the angel of death came over the land, which one of their households was spared? The answer is both of them. Because they were under the blood of the lamb. It wasn't the amount of their faith, but rather the object of their faith that saved them.
18:03It's an important thing for us to understand. Yet here, we read about this growing faith. And that's the reality in sanctification. Upon coming to faith in Christ, we need to grow in our faith. That's the scriptural imperative for us throughout the throughout the New Testament. We need to grow in faith. The Greek word here for growing abundantly is used only here. It's nowhere It's found nowhere else in the New Testament. It conveys this this sense of being of increasing beyond measure.
18:38Some translations Some of your translations might use the phrase greatly enlarged there. They were actually growing beyond reasonable expectations. Why would we say beyond reasonable expectations? They were flourishing here. And by the way, this must have thrilled Paul's heart because you go back to 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 10 of 1 Corinthians 3. And this is Paul's prayer again for them.
19:09We pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith. He longs for them to to have a supply what's lacking in their faith. And here now he's able to say, "You're growing in your faith." How he must have been thrilled here. But it really is against all odds that this is happening. They are being persecuted. It is trial upon trial upon trial. They have enemies abounding.
19:39We've read about their We'll We'll come back to it again here in a in a few moments and look at Acts 17 again to see how this church started and inevitably how it was still going. In fact, in chapter 2 as I read earlier, there are those who were trying to teach them falsely. And so there's all kinds of turmoil going on. So how is it that they can be growing in their faith in the midst of this? Well, I would say friends, mark this. Hardships, trials, persecutions, these things destroy faulty faith.
20:18That's what John MacArthur That's how he words it. Those who are claiming to be believers, but aren't truly saved, they're they're along for the ride. When the hard times come, they're going to leave. They will not stay. And what you'll find at the end then is a faithful remnant. First John chapter 2 verse 19 says, "They went out from us, but they were not of us. >> >> For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might become plain that they are not of us."
20:53So what would have been left in this Thessalonian church were only those who were serious about their faith. And now you have this group of serious believers, and they're spurring one another on. They're having sweet fellowship. They're challenging one another. They're and one another. They're building one another up. It's a would have been a sweet time. And those who were in Christ here in this church were hungering and thirsting for righteousness. And they were growing in their faith. Think about Peter.
21:25Remember in the new in the in the gospel accounts we read that Satan sought to sift Peter like wheat. And we know what happened with Peter. He denied knowing Jesus three times. He wept bitterly. What an awful situation. But Jesus had prayed for Peter that when he when he had returned that he'd be an agent through whom God would use to strengthen the believers. And through that trial and through all that happened in it Peter became a champion for Jesus Christ and for the gospel of our Lord.
22:02So much so that we read this in 1 Peter chapter 1. In this you rejoice though now for a little while, if necessary, you've been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. That's where Peter got to. He grew enormously in his faith. Think about Job. Job was an upright man who feared God and shunned evil.
22:39And if you know the account of Job, he lost everything dear to him except his wife alone. But he lost all of his children, lost his livelihood, and then his physical body took on the toll of affliction. It was an awful existence for him. And we have the the book of Job and his three friends come and they're initially of comfort and then they're of no comfort. And then God comes and speaks to Job and says, "Where were you when I hung the earth?
23:14Where were you when my power was on display?" He doesn't give Job a single answer to any of his questions, but he says, "Look at me. I'm sovereign. I'm in control. And I'm I'm over you." And Job says this in Job 40 42. And starting in verse two, "I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore, I have uttered what I did not understand. Things too wonderful for me which I did not know. Hear and I will speak.
23:49I will question you all and I will and you will make it known to me. I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you." It's one thing to hear about I've heard about God, but now I've experienced God's provision, God's oversight, God's sovereignty in the hardest affliction. And here you have Job growing in his faith. Friends, growth of faith is possible for you and me, too.
24:24If I were to ask, I'm not going to, but if I were to ask for a show of hands, how many of you have had a terribly difficult season, but out of that season your faith grew enormously? I venture to say there would be a lot of hands that would go up. The furnace of affliction burns off the dross of immaturity and it leads us to a deeper walk with him. So, it's important that we gather together. This is why we should never stop meeting, Hebrews 10 tells us, because the day of the Lord is nearing.
24:58We should continue to meet to spur one another on, to encourage one another in our fellowship, in our study of the word, and our prayer, as we see him working in our lives. In all of these facets, God works together and weaves together to help the saints grow in their faith. This is what was happening to the Thessalonians, and he's giving thanks for that. He says, "We ought to give thanks for this." And we ought to give thanks for it, too. If you've seen your faith grow, you should give thanks to God. If If you've seen the the the growth of faith in others around you, you should give thanks to God.
25:33It's a reason for rejoicing. Cuz God's not done. He's going to bring to completion that which he began, Philippians 1:6 says. So, we're constantly growing in that sanctification process. But wait, there's one more thing. Steadfast endurance is also possible. Look at verse four. Therefore, we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.
26:07We boast. Now, some might say, "Well, that's not right." The word boast? He's He's not even saying, "I'm boasting in the Lord." He's saying, "I'm boasting in you." Some actually That word can actually be translated, "I glory in you." Isn't that interesting? Here he's saying, "I'm boasting in what God is doing." Cuz remember, God is the one who's growing their faith. God is the one who's enabling them to press on. He is the one who's causing their love to increase. So, in saying, "Look how great this church is doing," he's really saying, "Look how great God is doing in this church." In their midst.
26:40And he It seems that he's spreading it around to all the churches. He's visiting different churches, and he says, "Look at those Thessalonians. You got trial, I get it. It's hard. They got trial there, too, and look at their faith. It's growing. They're enduring even in the midst of persecution, even in the midst of trial. And did they have trial? If you have forgotten, let's look at the inception of this church in Acts 17. Just a few verses of it.
27:15You might say, "Pastor Matt, we've seen this text a few times already." Good. We're going to see it some more. We need to understand these things cuz this helps us understand what what what the context of the letter here. Verses 5 through 8 of Acts 17. After a number of folks have been persuaded to to receive Christ as savior, the the birth of this church, then in verse 5, we read this. "But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out of the crowd.
27:53And when they could find could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, 'These men who have turned the world upside down have come here, also. And Jason has received them, and they're all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king, Jesus.' And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things." And it goes on from there. They're dragging people out of their homes. Undoubtedly, there probably would have been some beatings involved here.
28:26Persecutions, afflictions. And then, on top of all that that might have been still going on, there's probably some trials going on just within the church, as happens. Maybe there were some interpersonal trials. I'm sure no one here ever has had an interpersonal challenge with anyone else in this church. Sure it's never happened here. But in lots of churches, it happens. Where you go, "Ooh, there's friction there. I don't get along with that person super great." All these things happen in all churches. And so they got all these things going on and yet here they are standing firm in their faith in the midst of persecutions it says here in verse four and afflictions.
29:03They are enduring. They would not leave the Lord. Reminds me of what we read in John chapter six. I don't know if you've read John six recently. Jesus there gives hard teaching for the people to hear. They found it very difficult. Look, I'm going to pick it up for you in verse 63. Here's what we read. John six starting at verse 63. It is the spirit who gives life.
29:36The flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning those those who were pardon me, those who were who did not believe and who it was who would betray him. And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted to him by the Father." After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the 12, "Do you want to go away as well?"
30:14Simon Peter answered, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have come to know that you are the holy one of God." Where else are we going to go? There are many left the hard teaching really centered on the whole of John six really is encapsulated largely by verse 65. No one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father. That teaching was hard for the folks, and they most of them left. But then there was this group who said, "We know you have the words of eternal life.
30:49We're not going anywhere else." And here these Thessalonians, in the midst of persecution and affliction and trial and even false teaching that's clearly coming into their midst, they're standing firm. They're not moving. They're steadfast. It's obvious that Paul needed to give this similar kind of message to the Roman believers. Earlier this this morning, I had you read Romans 5:1 and 2. Let's go back to Romans 5 for the verses that follow. Verses 1 and 2, we're told about this wonderful peace that that the believers have with God.
31:26Peace in the midst of all the storms that we are no longer enemies of God, but now we are at peace with him. But then it picks up in verse 3. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who's been given to us. For, while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
32:02For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
32:34More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. There's suffering, there's trial in verses 3 and 4 and 5 there, but that all leads to character and hope and endurance. And he reminds them of the gospel upon which they stand in the midst of those trials, in the midst of those persecutions, in the midst of their afflictions. You were once enemies of God. In fact, that's true of everyone in this room. Every person here, some of you might still be enemies of God.
33:09But I would imagine most of us here in this room were, past tense, enemies of God. And the Lord in his mercy made known to you Jesus Christ, your sin and your need for salvation. You repented, you believed, you called upon him as Lord, and today you have peace with God. This is our hope. This is the reason we can be steadfast in the midst of trial. Are trials going to come? Yes. Jesus said it in John 16, in this world you will have trouble.
33:40But, one of the great buts of the New Testament, but, take heart. I have overcome the world. So, endure, friends. Don't give up. Don't be one of those who, quote unquote, endures for 25 years and then gives up. No, endure to the end. Endure to the end, that you might be welcomed into the family and into the your eternal home and hear those words, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
34:18Henry Ford came up with a revolutionary plan. He wanted to create a new kind of engine, the V8. Now, there were V8s that had already been created in some really expensive high-end European vehicles. But he wanted to make a V8 engine that was accessible to the average man, who it was affordable, and could be mass-produced. And so, Henry Ford, with his eager idea, went to his got got some drawings made up, and he took those drawings to his engineers, and he said, "Okay, I want you to build this engine."
35:01And they looked at him and said, "It can't be done. This This can't work." He said, "I don't care how long it takes, you make this happen." They tried and tried and tried. Six months later, nothing. So, they kept They said, "Here's the report. Can't be done." Keep at it. Six months pass. Now, a full year has passed. He came and said, "How's it going?" And they're like, "It can't be done." Keep going.
35:34Multiple years later, the flathead V8 engine was invented. And it revolutionized the entire industry. But they had to endure. And that's just a little thing. We have to endure through trials. Your trials are real. Your hardships are real. No one is discrediting that. But the God we serve, the eternal weight of glory, which is beyond all compare, if you put them on a scale, here's the weight of glory, the eternity that awaits us, and here's our trials.
36:14The weight of glory far exceeds your trials. In comparison, they're light and momentary. What you have for eternity is in exactly that, eternity. Lasts forever. So, don't give up. Press on. The resurrection of Jesus Christ ensures that the perishable will put on the imperishable and that we have victory in Jesus. Before we sing to close, let me give you the last word to our brother Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 picking it up in verse 53.
36:57For this perishable body must put on the imperishable and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality then shall come to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory. O death where is your victory? O death where is your sting? The sting of death is sin. The power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
37:29Therefore my beloved brothers >> >> be steadfast immovable always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. So, Father, I pray that we would remember that at all times that our labor in the Lord is not in vain because we have come under the banner of the one who has won the war. You are the victor. And I pray Father that you might help us to understand what your son accomplished for us with increasingly great measure.
38:05That you would help our faith to abound more and more. That you would enable us to endure even in the midst of hardship and trial because the lamb of God has won the war, has settled it, has turned us from enemies to being adopted children of God, have put us at peace with you. Make us mindful of that. And give us thankful hearts, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's stand together in closing song.
Transcribed automatically from YouTube captions, so names and words may be misheard.