1 Thesolonians 5: 16-22

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

Romans 8 · chapter mention

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

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

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.