This is the Truth Network. Forever thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119, verse 89. I'm Stu Everson. Welcome to this special Wednesday in the Word Leader podcast, where we prepare and equip our leaders of this special Bible study outreach breakfast.
Every week to teach through the scriptures. Thirteen Dario locations. There's a men's group meeting and several of the Locations host the women on Thursday morning. Stay tuned. Be encouraged as we jump into this week's Wednesday in the Word.
Welcome back to Thessaloniki. We are here. in 2 Thessalonians. What a great book. We did 1 Thessalonians and then we took a little detour and did Nehemiah.
This is a book with three chapters, 47 verses. Takes about... 10 to 15 minutes to read in one sitting. It's power-packed. A lot about the coming of Christ, the return of Christ to clear some things up, but a lot of joy.
And a lot of encouragement. Paul is thankful for these believers at Thessaloniki. Dr. Horn, it almost picks up right where 1 Thessalonians leaves off, doesn't it, sir? Yeah, it really does.
It's so funny. You know, when we did 1 Thessalonians. Right after we finished, I went and led a Greece and Turkey study tour. And one of our stops was modern-day Thessaloniki.
So I reflected back on what we had. You know, conversed together in our podcast on First Thessalonians when I was there. And it was a really moving, moving moment. You know, Thessalonica. In Paul's day, it was the capital city of the entire Macedonian region.
That's the region that is modern-day Greece. It goes from. Philippi at the top all the way down to Corinth at the bottom. And it was just a land given to idolatry and to paganism. Um, you know, all of the Greek gods that later became the Roman gods were there.
In fact, from the city of Thessaloniki, you can look out on a really clear day. And you can see the very top of Mount Olympus, where back in that day, there would have been certainly a legend and People would have actually oriented their life around this legend that that's where the gods lived. And so Thessaloniki was a city given over to gods. It was a politically important city. It was about a day's walk, maybe, from the city of Philippi, the very first city that the gospel came to when Paul brought it over from Asia Minor.
when he had the Macedonian vision. Philippi was a different kind of a city than Thessaloniki. Philippi was a colony, it was a Roman colony. And it was thoroughly Roman. If you wanted to see.
And feel what Rome was like. You went to Philippi, everybody spoke Latin there. It it had been establish or re-established. After a very famous battle, a Roman battle, and the legionnaires that won the battle were given that city and they populated it.
So it was a center of Roman culture. And that's why, when you read the book of Philippians, Paul talks about it being a chief city. It's referred that way also in Acts. And by that he means it was the premier Roman city. When the Romans wanted you to know who they were in Greece, they pointed you to Philippi.
But the political center, the religious center. The Economic Center. The uh the the uh sort of Philosophical center of Greece at the time was Thessalonica. It wasn't too far. from where Philip of Macedon, that's Alexander the Great's.
Father established Greece as a powerful worldwide empire. which which of course Alexander inherited and expanded.
So the seeds of that were put in play by Philip of Macedon. And he's buried in a glorious tomb not too far from there.
So when we come to this book, There's a lot of ancient history that goes into what Paul was saying to these believers. You remember back in 1 Thessalonians, we saw how the gospel came. And Paul brought it into the city of Thessalonica, opened up his mouth. And just the Spirit of God attended to the word of the gospel that Paul announced. And these people, hundreds of them, turned from their idols and they turned from all of that religion that had been such a part of their life.
And such a part of their culture to serve and worship the true and living God, a God not seen with human eyes, not heard by human ears. And not worshipped in a physical temple. I mean, imagine how everybody else would have looked at these people. You have a make-believe God, you can't see him, you can't hear him, you don't have a temple for him, you don't have an image of him. And all you got is this.
Beat up dude who looks like death warmed over coming in claiming to be his apostle. And you're going to turn away from all of this. To serve and worship that invisible. Silent God. And that's exactly what these believers did.
They turned and worshiped the true and living God and to wait for the coming of the Son from heaven.
So by the time we get to the end of 1 Thessalonians, these people. have displayed for us what it is like to wait. Patiently and joyfully, and enthusiastically for the coming of God's Son from heaven. What are they doing in the city of Thessalonica? They're living out their faith consistently.
They're loving one another. They are reaching out with the gospel, and more and more people are coming to Christ. It started with the Jews, and then it went to the rest of the city. And so that's where we left. Everybody, at the end of the first letter that Paul wrote, he says to them in verse 14: We urge you, brothers, to admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with them all, see that no one repays anyone evil for evil.
Why? Because these people were suffering. We're going to see that in 2 Thessalonians. Always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. This is what they were busy doing while they were waiting.
You know, sometimes we have the idea they were waiting in some kind of whatever their church building might have looked like or wherever they worship, hiding behind closed doors. You know, kind of head down, buried in the scripture, quietly singing, desperately hoping nobody looked, nobody noticed. But that isn't the picture at all. They're actively seeking to do good to each other and to everyone in the city. Rejoice always.
Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances. What kind of circumstances? Persecution, hatred. all this ruthless resistance.
For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you, right? And then he says in verse 23: May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it. That's where we left everybody.
When we ended our journey through 1 Thessalonians and made a quick detour to hang out with Nehemiah. And now we're back to pick up the story in 2 Thessalonians. Yeah, what a story it is. And for folks that want to hear the account of how that church was started. On Paul's second missionary journey with Silas and Timothy, you just go to Acts chapter 17.
There at the beginning. And Dr. Horn, it's interesting because, you know, Nehemiah. Between Nehemiah 12 and Nehemiah 13, you know, Nehemiah, we wish we had ended chapter 12, right? Because they have this great revival and this great celebration.
Nehemiah goes away. And the the The people of Israel fall back into idolatry. They fall back into these mixed marriages and some sin. And it's almost a far departure from what happened with Paul. Paul is only in Thessaloniki planting that church for three or four weeks, you know, three Sabbaths, maybe a month at most.
He goes away. And it's the opposite. He hears these. These great praise reports of this church. That is under fire.
for the gospel, but they're on fire for Jesus. And they were. That's a great way to say it. Yeah, they were just not, they hadn't given in to compromise, they hadn't given in to idolatry. And so, but in this book, and a little bit in First S, but more in this book, he does address some things.
That there had been some points of confusion. There could have been some false prophets coming in saying, hey, Jesus has already come back and you got left behind. Hey, you're in the tribulation right now. And you didn't get raised with everyone else. And so Paul has to dispel some things, doesn't he, Dr.
Horn, related to the second coming of Christ? And then also, to challenge them in 2 Thessalonians. To work and not just live off of other people, don't be loafing because you think Christ is coming back any minute. Don't stop working. And don't be mooching off other folks.
Get to work and be diligent.
So that's another little theme in this. In this book, as we see these, as we look at the first seven verses here of chapter one. Yeah, so maybe what we should do is do three things. Let's talk about the people. And let's talk about what Paul is actually doing in the book.
And then let's quickly look at those seven verses because I think that's maybe the better way to do that. And so, the people, let's start there. Who were these people that Paul is writing to? And I know we kind of identified them. When we went through 1 Thessalonians.
And so I know our Bible study leaders and others who listen to this podcast. May recall that, but there are some interesting descriptions in this letter. That Paul is going to bring forward.
So, and we'll see him as we get to those chapters, but in chapter 2, verse 13. He describes these people as chosen from the beginning by the Father. And so, you know, if you think about that, Paul says, and he says, we ought to always give thanks to God for you, brothers. Beloved by the Lord because God chose you.
So, the first thing Paul wants to make sure we know about these people he's writing this letter to is they are deeply loved by God and they have been chosen by him to be the first fruits. Of people who are going to be saved in all of Macedonia.
So, this is a really special group of people. They were chosen from the beginning. To be the first fruits of a very big harvest, God is going to reap in that region.
So that's the first thing. Secondly, In verse 14, they had been called by God through the gospel. to share. in the glory of Jesus, in the glory of his son. You can see that, right?
Look at verse 14. To this, he called you through our gospel, so that you could obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So these people had been chosen to be the first fruits, and then they had been called. To be conformed to the glorious likeness of Christ. This is what Paul told the Corinthians when he said, We look into the word and we see the glory of God and we move from one glory to another. we see the different glorious parts. Of Christ's character and the Spirit of God begins to work on those different glories in our life.
That's what's going on here.
So these people have been chosen from the beginning. They have been called through the gospel to share in the glory of Jesus. And then in verses 16 through 17, God promised to strengthen them. in every good work and in every good word. And you can see that in the text.
Now, may the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace. Comfort your heart, that's the word for strengthen, and establish them in every good work and word.
So there was a ministry. And there was a message. that God had ordained for these people.
So that's who who is In mind, here they are called, they are chosen. And they are being conformed and strengthened so that their message. And their ministry will be effective in the city.
So that's who's in view. Make sense? Makes a lot of sense, and we do get to know them a little bit in these first few verses. You know, Paul just pours out this effusive praise. And thanks for them.
And it's kind of woven throughout. You can see a relationship that Paul has with these folks. I think every one of Paul's letters, he opens with the grace to you and the peace to you, and the I'm thankful for you, except for Galatians. He doesn't open Galatians with such grace. But yes, sir, but yeah, yes, sir.
So continue on. This is excellent. All right, so these people in verse one. are the church of god And they are in God. And in Christ.
So there is this indissolvable union. That Paul immediately wants us to note about these people. These are not just a new sort of religious group that sort of showed up in Thessalonica. These people are deeply, deeply united to God and to his Son. to the point that they are described as being in them.
Not just for them or belonging to them, but in them. There is this. relational Depth to what is being said here. The concept is is what would be used to describe you and julie or beth and i our wives and the relationship we have with one another we are in each other right we're not just with each other we're we're actually unified and united in an organic way With each other. That's what's being identified here.
So these people. Are deeply loved by God. They are deeply inseparably associated with God, and they are passionately serving and ministering and testifying and working for God. That's what you see in verses one and two. And Paul says: here is my prayer for you, grace.
and peace. that that God would give you grace. And that God would give you peace through his Son Jesus Christ. And it's more than just salvation, right? That He would give you strength and enablement.
That's the idea behind grace. And peace is this joyful.
Well-being, that in the midst of all of your suffering, in the midst of everything that's happening to you and the error that's coming against you, that God would strengthen you and God would encourage you. That's the idea there.
So Paul is writing this letter. And I'm going to give you four quick reasons why.
So, first of all, he's writing to strengthen and encourage these believers who are deeply, deeply associated with God in an inseparable way. In the midst of all of their suffering, so they will be encouraged and they will be not just encouraged, but they will be enabled to rejoice in the middle of all their suffering.
So, that's one reason why we have the book. Second reason. is to correct a false teaching. About a very important reality that has shaped their life. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, they turn from idols to serve the living God.
And to wait For the coming of his son from heaven. The Old Testament prophets. had talked about that day. For the entire Old Testament, right? And they had a word for it.
They had a sort of a theological way of talking about that day. They called it the day of the Lord. And so there was a group of people who had come in. and had started to teach or had maybe sent sort of an official sounding letter, and you mentioned this earlier. indicating, hey, you guys are waiting for something that's already happened.
There's not going to be a second coming. The first coming was all there is. Or if there was a second coming, you missed it. And I know Paul is telling you this. But trust us.
We have knowledge that you don't have. And it's very, very disconcerting. It's like any false teaching. It is very attractive, it is very appealing. And it is being presented in a winsome way, and it is gaining traction in the church.
And so, Paul has to write to correct that error. You brought up Galatians. In the book of Galatians, Paul is confronting an error relating to salvation. It's a gospel error relating to salvation. And here he is addressing a gospel area, a gospel error related to the second coming.
And the concept of God's judgment on sin at the second coming. And so, when you put these two books together, you kind of can see the pattern.
So, he is writing secondly to correct. and protect refute A false error that has come in related to the day of the Lord. And what he's gonna do in chapter two is he's gonna tell them: let me tell you what has to happen. and how you will know when that day of the Lord is upon you. And so we'll have to wait to chapter two to get there.
And then the third thing he's doing is he is exhorting the church to persevere. In their orderly conduct and in their responsible work for the Lord. And so he's going to really come hard at this in chapter two and in chapter three. especially, right? Particularly at the end of chapter three.
And then at the end of the book, he's going to come to them and he's going to model for them what it is like to pray.
So he's going to say, I want you to pray for me. And then he's going to tell them how to pray. He's going to actually teach them how to pray in the first part of the chapter. And then in the second chapter, he's going to have to deal with a mindset that has come into the church. Because of the false teaching that he's refuting.
In other words, because. Of this day of the Lord, one of the things that has happened is there are believers who have said, well, you know, if the day of the Lord is really coming. Um and it's coming at any moment. Why should we work? And now it's not a gospel error, but it is damaging the gospel because you have people who are creating just a really bad testimony in the town.
And Paul has to address that.
So in essence, you talked about it. I loved how you said it. You know, you talked about believers under fire who are still on fire. And he is burdened to feed that. He's burdened to fuel that.
Yeah, and Paul really, in these first seven verses, and let me just share a couple of things. If you Google sermons and listen to a lot, a lot of pastors, Dr. Horn will. Preach the whole chapter, chapter one. And I thought about this first week.
doing that but the reason I broke it up is a so we'd have some time for Some preliminary, really good background, which you've given, you've done a great job with, but, but B, These first seven verses, even just verse three, when he talks about their, of course, the grace and the peace is so important. Don't just gloss over those greetings in the first couple of verses, but in establishing who these are, Paul, Silas, Timothy, Silas likely was Paul's kind of scribe, his secretary helping them. Timothy was the courier. They all traveled together, significant role in the kingdom. Everyone's important, you know.
But verse three just gripped me where he praises them. He says, I'm bound to thank God always.
So there's this perpetual thanksgiving. He says the same thing in 1 Thessalonians. He'll say the same thing. Later on in Second Thess in chapter two, but Dr. Horne.
He He's thankful. To God for them. He doesn't thank them. He thanks God for them. for this exceedingly Growing faith.
And I looked up the Greek word, it's hyperenzio, which is kind of combines two words: it combines exceeding and growth. Which is like a hyper faith. Like they have a vibrant, growing faith. And then it says: not only do you have this hyper Growth in your faith, but you also have this love that's abounding. toward one another.
And so, you know, just in verse three, you have the entire Christian life, you know, the vertical relationship with God. I have this faith in God that's vibrant, that's alive. And then I have this love that's abounding. You know, toward others. And of course, verse 4, we learn this: hey, we know why, because the pressure from the outside.
Of persecutions and tribulations have brought a beautiful growth. of faith and a growth of love on the inside. And so, I mean, these are, this is some rich stuff. This is some really. What a great thing.
I mean, wouldn't you love for someone to say, man, I am thankful. I am thankful for Sam Horn because this guy has a faith. I'm thankful. Thank you, God. Who do I thank God for that has a vibrant faith, has an abounding love?
You know, and so what church do I thank God for? That is, the people thank God for your church, Palmoto Baptist Church, because, man, these folks are changing the kingdom, man, they're changing the world for the kingdom. They are vibrant. They are, and here Paul is thanking God always for them. And he goes on to say he's boasting about them.
Like he's saying, hey, this church is exhibiting this little baby church of new Christians that probably don't even, half of them don't even know what their spiritual gift is. They haven't taken that test yet. Half of them don't have a good soul-winning chart yet. Half of them haven't had theology degrees, or none of them do. And yet I'm saying this is exhibit A for what a healthy church looks like to all these other churches in these other regions.
And so that's really in these seven verses, I just I'm throwing some things out that I know you're about to touch on too, that I don't want our teachers to miss. And make sure you kind of hone in on these things and also in a way of saying, hey, These are great examples. Maybe I need to be mentored and discipled. by the believers in Thessalonike, you know? Yeah, amen.
Well, maybe the way to organize these seven verses, you know, as we go to teach them in the Bible studies and maybe even in our own lives, is verses one and two make up a unit. And we talked about that. That's the introduction. That's where you can talk about who these people are. We noted some things out of chapter two that describe them, but we really wanted to point out their deep, intimate association with God.
The Father and his Son Jesus Christ, and what God the Father and Jesus Christ are committed to giving to them grace and peace.
So that's verses one and two. I think the next big unit is verses three and four. And what you've you've pointed out there is that Paul is Is giving exemplary Thanksgiving. This is a deep. Deep gratitude on the part of Paul to God for something God has done in the lives of the people that Paul led to Christ.
So he starts off by saying. we we ought we ought to do something there's something that is morally important that we do That word ought is not like a suggestion. There is the idea there is there is a moral obligation we have. This is a necessary thing. We ought to do something, and what we ought to do is be constantly thankful to God for you.
Which is right. This is the right thing to do. This is the morally appropriate thing to do in light of what God has done, and in light of what you're doing. When we see what God has done and what you're doing as a result of what God has done, the only proper response is to give thanks to God. In other words, Paul is trying to make sure nobody credits him for anything that's going on.
Oh my goodness, you guys. You guys are doing great. Paul would be so proud of you. In fact, you are exhibit A of the power of Paul's words and the power of Paul's ministry. Paul is immediately making sure nobody comes to that conclusion.
Because, what he wants everybody to know is what is going on that is so stunning. In the lives of these people. Is a result of what he talked about in verses one and two. This is the result of the grace and the peace. Right.
If you want to know what grace and peace look like when God pours it out on a person, you see it in verses three and four. And so he wants to make sure nobody attributes it to him. And so he's very, very passionate. About his moral obligation and his spiritual obligation to thank God constantly for God's work in their lives. And so, What has God done?
What does grace and peace look like when God pours it out? It looks like four things. It looks like in verse three. uh a growing faith a faith that is growing by leaps and bounds It looks number two like a love for others that is increasing. It is increasing in all directions.
It's increasing in terms of its depth. It's increasing in terms of its strength. It's increasing in terms of its reach. And so the idea of increasing Is this idea that in every direction you can imagine, this love is growing and spreading? It's growing toward God.
It's growing toward each other. It's growing toward your family. It's growing toward the lost. And so Here is what is happening.
So, there is a growing faith that is being strengthened abundantly, an understanding of God. There is a love for one another that is increasing. And then thirdly, there is a steadfastness, right? And the word steadfastness is a word that isn't just what you do with a screwed-up face. And a just resigned attitude, the word steadfast there has the idea of triumphant in there.
There is this joyful triumph. As you endure, there's this triumphant spirit. That refuses to be quenched. That's the idea behind the word steadfast. You could put the word endurance there or patience.
It is The quality that God most delights in when He watches a believer live out his life on earth. That there is this joyful, triumphant spirit, no matter what comes in the life of that person, that just sustains that person consistently. And it produces the fourth thing, and it's faithfulness. The word faith there is actually a reference to remaining faithful in all your persecutions and in all the afflictions that you are enduring.
So there are present realities going on in the lives of these people. And those realities are: there is a growing, deepening faith in God. There is a growing and increasing love for one another. There is this incredible, joyful, triumphant endurance that is being manifested by these believers. And they are remaining faithful to the gospel in the midst of all.
And the word all there is intended to help you see the magnitude of what's piling up on these people. It's not one little suffering. or an occasional thing, it is like a mountain of suffering. And affliction has come upon them and they're having to endure this. And they're enduring it in these four ways.
they're enduring it with a growing faith they're enduring it with an abounding love and increasing love they're enduring it with joyful triumphant uh patience and they are remaining faithful to the gospel in extraordinarily difficult circumstances and paul says i want to give thanks to god for for his work in this that he has given you grace and peace Yeah. Right, and that's why he can look at them and say, now, this is why I want to boast about you to all the churches. Because what you're facing is what's going to happen at Corinth when the gospel gets there. What you're facing is what's going to happen at Athens when the gospel gets there. It's what happened at Ephesus when the gospel came there.
Everywhere the gospel goes, this is what's going to happen. And what God has done for you at Thessalonica. We need to pray that God will do for the believers in all of these other cities when the gospel gets there. That's why they're examples. Amen.
And you have this closing. Statement of judgment. And we'll get to that next week. You know, this week I call these first seven verses praise. You have this kind of purpose of the book and praise.
Next week, verses 6 through the end of chapter 13, we have perdition, then we have this beautiful prayer. That Paul prays for them. We'll get to that. Dr. Horne, it's interesting this kind of juxtaposition Paul does with.
uh the tribulation He kind of says, Hey, you know, he says, You are, you have people putting the heat on you in tribulation. and you're under fire. But then he he He terms that. almost inverts that in verse 6. And he says, but one day.
The tribulation is going to be put on them. And you're going to be in God's rest. And I love that idea of rest. You know, it's in Hebrews. It's all over the scriptures.
Right. Well, that's the third thing, right? That's the third thing that we can wrap up with.
So. Verses one and two make up the first sort of little unit. Verses three and four make up the unit we just talked about. But as you are mentioning here, that's verses five, six, and seven. and and suffering and how they are handling suffering, which we just saw back up in verse four.
Is evidence of something. And what it is evidence of is God's righteous judgment. God made a righteous judgment about you to declare you righteous. When God determined to call you and to save you and to declare you righteous on the basis of what you did when you repented of your sin, you turned from your idols. And you put your faith and trust in him and in his son.
When you did that, God made a righteous decision to righteous you. That's the idea. And the evidence of their Is that you're suffering for it? And the evidence of that righteous judgment in your life. Is that you are considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are suffering?
In other words, You're suffering. Is the evidence that you really are the worthy ones to inherit the kingdom of God? Why? Because you love the king. And you are faithful to the king, and you're waiting for the king, and you're serving the king while everybody else is hating the king, despising the king, and persecuting the people who belong to the king.
And you're evidence number one. How do we know they're really doing that?
Well, go look at the Thessalonians. When you go in that city, there's a group of people who love the king. They love each other. They are waiting for the king. They're serving the king.
They're talking about the king. And here's what's happening to them: everybody else in that city is persecuting them. Everybody else is heaping affliction on their head. It is. It is stunning what is happening to those believers.
And the evidence of all of that is that these are the ones who are worthy of the kingdom of God that is coming when the day of the Lord happens.
So, this is why that error stew is so important. Because when you say, Well, the error, you know, the kingdom's not coming, or it's already here, and there's not going to be a second coming, or the day of the Lord's already come, you're actually looking at something that is going on right now in the lives of these people and saying it really doesn't matter. It's not doing anything. When actually, the suffering is doing an incredible thing. It is displaying to God and to others and to us who in Thessalonica is worthy to enter the kingdom of God and who is not.
And the suffering. is the sort of the refining revealing moment. When suffering comes, it always comes to somebody. And when suffering comes to these believers because they love Jesus, they love the king. and they're gonna serve the king and they're gonna remain faithful to the king.
That suffering reveals that they are worthy to go into the kingdom. That they really are the true inheritors of the kingdom. But suffering also comes from somebody, somebody is bringing the suffering. And the reason these people are bringing the suffering is because they hate the king. They hate the idea of a God who replaces all their gods.
They hate the idea of a Jesus who demands repentance. And true life worship. And so they are going to persecute those who are announcing him. And they are displaying by bringing the suffering that they are not worthy of the kingdom of God, and so when. Christ does come in verse six, he will consider it just.
To repay, he's going to consider it righteous, right? He's going to make another righteous decision. He's going to consider it righteous to repay with affliction those who are afflicting you. and to grant relief to you who are afflicted. As well as to us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.
And we'll have to talk about that when we come back next week and do the rest of the chapter. But that's in essence what's going on here.
So it's a really, really sweet opening set of verses that we. You mind it out, it just puts it all out there. I love it, and it really sets the tone for the whole book. Really, Thessalonians kind of exposes itself. You know, it just will kind of take these kind of high points in the beginning and then work themselves out.
Dr. Horn, a lot of folks are suffering, a lot of folks are struggling. A lot of folks are, that's one thing they say, don't pray for. Don't pray for patience, right? Because God might answer that prayer, and it'll come in different forms that may not be pleasant.
But the fact is. Is they're not persecuting us, the world. They're persecuting Jesus. They're after him. I love what you said about that.
And James 1:4 comes to mind. Let patience have its perfect work.
So some folks are in a process that's painful right now, but God has them there to refine them, to make them more like his son. And to help them experience something that I think I don't know that we've really tasted in the West as much as our believers and brothers and sisters in Christ around the world who are suffering a lot, and that is this whole idea of the fellowship of his suffering that Paul says, I want to know him, I want to know that. The fellowship of his suffering, you know, in chapter three of Philippians. Hey, as you close this out in prayer, Dr. Horne, will you share a little bit?
Will you pray for those struggling, maybe, and pray for? for uh our our leaders that they'll really You know, to be able to flesh these verses out. This is so real. And of course, it all points to Christ. You know, He suffered greater than anyone, He is the personification.
Of perseverance, you know, to the point of death, even the death on the cross. And he connects with us in our union with Christ, there's nothing we can do. There's nothing we can't do. You know, when we have the power of Christ in us and we have the living Lord in us. And so I'd love for you to close us out in prayer and lift that up, sir.
That's great.
Well, let's do that. Lord, we are so grateful for. this incredible book that reminds us of your grace and your peace. And the phenomenal way in which they unfold around us for us. And so, Lord, I pray that as we...
As we labor together, as we serve together, as we work together. that lord our our faith would grow abundantly our love would increase exponentially our joyful, triumphant endurance would be enabled Personally, and most of all, Lord, our faithfulness to the gospel and to you would not waver. And Lord, we know that you are the only one who can bring this about. And so I pray for all who are suffering today. Uh even those in our our Bible study who Who may be wrestling through major, big issues in life.
Lord, be with them, help them. Lord, we love you and we're grateful. And we ask that you would help us in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you, Dr.
Horne, and thank you for joining us for this Wednesday in the Word podcast. Learn more at wedintheword.com. Follow us on YouTube, Facebook. And all social media, including in Stu Graham, and be encouraged, stay in the word, read it. Share it, study it, memorize it.
Meditate on God's word. Every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in him. Proverbs 30, verse 5. Uh
