Lesson 45b

We are in lesson, after our two-week hiatus, we are in lesson 45, going over Romans 10. And I just want to kind of finalize the, question 7. Kind of an interesting one. Again, we kind of ended a little bit on that one, kind of abruptly. But is everybody okay with that?

From verse 13, what does call upon the Lord mean? Is that all we need? Is that all that is needed for the Jews or us today? And I guess the thing that I think about is, and with Newell, what he was bringing out was, just calling upon the Lord is not necessarily for salvation. And there was some discussion, I don't know if everybody still has issues with that, or thoughts with that.

I have a thought. I don't have the verse in front of me, but I think it said, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord. I think the word name is the key thing, because name describes who God is. So, I mean, if you're calling upon the name of the Lord, that means you're believing on who He is. You know, He's God, He's deity, He's the Messiah, I think that was more kind of the end of the discussion was that because I look back as like Romans 1 you know we're the you know in Romans 10 now but in Romans 1 where it's just everybody knows there's a God and so as I was saying the soldier in the trench when the bombs are going off and it just saved me or help me, or get me through this battle, or does that necessarily constitute salvation?" And I think you're right, it's the name. If you actually know Christ, and you're recognizing Christ as the Son of God, then I think that's kind of the simple faith.

I was cracking up, I just listened to where the end of the tape was last week with Mike. Mike and I originally had a lot of discussions about this, and it was funny, we were kind of arguing from different positions this time, where I think there are millions of people, billions of people, who are believers, who have simple faith in Christ, the death of Christ, and paying for their sins, and realizing that, and believing that. Mike and I had discussions about, well, if you don't have the full identification truths, are you really, you know, saved and all this, and I'm like, well, no, you don't need the full identification.

I mean, it's great, and I think that's the foundation that starts you on a much greater path to growth in Christ. But I think it's still simple faith, like faith of a child and that, and I go to those, you know, very simple faith. If you believe Christ and who He is, that He died for your sins, you know, the basic gospel truth, then I think there's salvation. Now, you may be in the nursery, and a baby for the rest of your Christian life, but I believe you're saved.

It was funny, last week we kind of argued the other. I'm sitting in a foxhole and you're just saying, God help me. I don't think it's naming Christ and I don't think it's salvation. So that was kind of where you're just calling upon God or this amorphous God. It's like Muslims who call upon a god or anybody calls upon the force or whatever. That's not salvation.

But if you recognize Christ, then I believe that salvation. Ultimately, it's up to the Spirit and God and who knows who's a believer. It's a good start. Well, it may be. He may be taking you through those trials to ultimately bring you to a point of salvation through Christ. Say something.

Yeah, well I know a lot of believers that have never heard of growth truths. Yeah. But they're believers, I know. It's like a lot of, you know, maybe this is in some of the denominations, the very large ones that, you know, Catholic and some of those that I think are very strong believers, I know, but they still believe in the Pope and all this, you know. Maybe too strong though. They have to work their way up.

Well, but I believe they're saved. But they still are in this process in the Catholic or some of these big denominations. And they haven't heard the identification. I came out of the Brethren, and I hadn't heard these, even though these are mainly Brethren truths. And I believe I was saved many years before hearing the identification truths.

I think the foundation of what I argue with Mike, and I think we've come around to that, is that simple faith is their salvation. But if you want growth, I think knowing the identification truths is where you actually begin to grow, because you understand you can't fix up the old man. You can't do this. He's been, you know, judicially taken care of. So...

And I have a reference to Joel 2.32. And that really is a sense of tribulation for the Jews in Rome.

Yeah, and I said the verse from Joel is used to show that salvation is now for anyone, not that all you have to do is call upon the Lord and you have salvation. Remember that Paul has just explained that righteousness was through faith, not specifically to salvation. Righteousness, he's talking about. Paul's gospel message was Christ died for our sins, he was buried, raised, and so that's his salvation message.

Again, just calling upon the Lord, or calling upon God, is that enough? And I don't think it is. I think it may be the starting point, if you're at that point where you're calling upon God. And again, I go back to Romans 1, where it says, everybody in the heart knows that there is a God. Everybody. So they're calling upon a God. They know that there is a God, but they don't know Christ. They don't know anything about it. Excuse me. I've got a bit of a cough here. Question 8. Is the process laid out by Paul in verses 14 and 15 the same today to bring the gospel to the people? So, 14 and 15. And this is Romans 10.

How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things.

So these are issues for the Jews, but are they applicable today? Remember to go back to this subset. 9, 10, and 11 are kind of a subset that Paul is now addressing the Jews. So these are for the Jews, but is this applicable today? Yes. Any nose? Any chickens? In the New King James, of course it's in italic, so it's been accurate. How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace. He's the prince of peace. So, I think they're applicable.

Newell addresses the Jewish aspect of these verses. He says, if salvation were Tongue is not working today. If salvation were to come unto them that call on the name of the Lord, argues Paul, calling is impossible to one who has not believed on the Lord, and believing is impossible to one who has not heard the message about the Lord, and hearing is impossible unless someone comes preaching the message, and preaching is impossible except the messenger is divinely sent. So, again, you think that process is the same today?

Go ahead. It has to be information given out. I don't know where our little thing is, but the facts and the tracts and the, you know, whatever. Knowledge, you have to know, and then you believe. So you have to hear or get the word, and then you believe. So, again, that's one of those things, going back to the question prior to this, how much do you know when you call upon God? You have to know Christ, His name, who He is, that kind of stuff. So you need to know, you have to hear first, you have to know, you have to know what you're believing in. Because if you don't know what you're believing in, what good is that? So, the process is the same. You need to hear the salvation message first, delivered by someone with God's word, and then believe. The Holy Spirit is of course involved throughout all aspects of this process, but individuals are used. Why do we have evangelists? Why do we have teachers? Why do we have any of these things? It's to bring forth the Word. But again, there are some of those from evangelists.

Some people believe that the Word is out to everybody and everybody has salvation. available to them? Well, does somebody in deepest, darkest Africa who has never heard the Word, could they figure salvation out? No, but do you think God can bring somebody to them with the Word? Absolutely. If they have a seeking heart, do you think God would limit that ability to bring the Word to them?

No, somehow the Word would be there. So again, the process is still the same. And remember how even with the Jews, they brought prophets and they would proclaim God's word and then believing beyond that. But it had to be the facts first. You can't have belief without facts and what you're believing in. Otherwise, what are you believing in? Don't know.

So also note from these verses, the differences between what was delivered under Moses and the law. So that was a ministry of works, death, and condemnation. So as compared to Paul's gospel message, glad tidings, good news, good things, which is delivered by people who God thinks are beautiful, as we see in this verse. How beautiful are the feet of those people who bring God's word. So this is quite a difference. Remember, he's giving this to the Jewish audience.

And how different this is from Moses and the law. which was all about condemnation, about works, about all these limits, you know, the laws and the restrictions and all these things. Now he's saying the good news. Was the law good news? You think law was good news to people? I don't think so.

I think it was like, you know, chains and a burden to you because the law always required you to do things. And there was a You know, if you did this, you you got this. If you didn't, there was punishment. And it was like kind of kind of sleeping with a gun. You know, if you if everything went fine, you're good. But if not, you paid the price for violating the law. So I don't think there was a lot of joy in the law. And what did the law do? It condemned you. So was that a good thing? Could that be a happy thing that you were being condemned by the law?

So again, now he's saying about here, the good news of Christ is good news. There's no works. There's no law. There's no burden upon you. So that's why he's saying the good news by the gospel is actually so freeing, so nice versus the old law, which was under Moses.

So again, there's quite a bit of difference between what transpired before in the Moses and then Again, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things. So again, for those people who bring the good news, any of us, it's viewed as beautiful for those who bring the gospel.

Number nine, what are two important points about faith from verse 17? I'll read 16 and 17. Heed the good news, for as Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report? So, faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. So first, this is a cry from Isaiah.

You might state, when you clearly present the gospel to someone, and you reject or don't respond to it. So, he's saying, They did not all heed the good news. So, Isaiah is saying, I brought you the good news, and what did they do? Rejected it. So, he says, we brought all this good news to you, and who's believed our report?

Now, it's a different thing. What is the difference now? Faith. Faith is what you have. It's not a law system, it's not anything like that. First, faith comes by hearing. Second, hearing is by the word of Christ. So, I want to look at the second part first, which will help us with understanding the first part. Hearing is by the word of Christ.

So, it's interesting that the Greek word here is not logos, but brema, which means that which is spoken, a statement, or word. So it implies that there must be a message or a messenger, someone sent of God. You've got to have a messenger. So who would the messenger be today? Christians. You're looking at them. We're the messengers. We're the ones who bring forth the Word of Christ.

So faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of Christ. So hearing, we know the Word of the Lord, we know the Bible, we know what it says, and then faith comes by hearing. So now the first part, faith comes by hearing. Faith is important. It comes to you. It's kind of an interesting, faith comes to you. What does that mean? You have to believe it or reject it. Yeah, and it comes to you. So how does it come to you? Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, but what does the verse say? By hearing. It comes to you by hearing.

Do you just wake up one day and go, yeah, I know about Christ, I know all about the death, burial, resurrection, ascension. Is that how you got to know the Word? Somebody had to tell you. Somebody told you. Somebody pointed you to His Word. Somebody explained that Word to you, hopefully.

And so faith comes to you by hearing. So again, that's kind of an interesting thing. Faith comes to you by hearing. So, it comes to you. That's kind of an interesting... We always think it goes the other way, kind of. We have faith, but faith comes to you by hearing. So, the more you know the Word, the more you hear the Word, then your faith comes to you. If you don't have that, how much faith do you have if you don't know the knowledge, or you don't hear, you don't read, you don't understand the Word? How much faith can you have? It's thin. It's thin.

But it comes to you by His Word and people proclaiming His Word. And then your faith develops through the Holy Spirit. And as I said, the Holy Spirit is the one who is the key behind all this, the Holy Spirit and the Word. But the Word comes to you either by written or by people. But it comes to you and then your faith grows because of what you know and hear.

It implies that somebody sent that also. That thing comes directly from God. Well, does He use people? Oh, yes. That's the whole point of this and how beautiful are the people. God is saying you're a beautiful person or when you bring his word. But he uses people. But he sends you to that person.

You know, I've said this many times, and I think, Mike and I, we have a great discussion about all this stuff. Mike says, you know, I forget how he puts it, I said the right thing at the wrong time, and the wrong time at the right thing, or whatever. That's why we need the Holy Spirit. Then it's all smooth and in order and it works. Well, I go differently than that. Yes, we need the Holy Spirit all the time.

But my arguing to him is that, and this is my finger pointing, he said, I didn't use the right words at the right time for you. And I look at this and three fingers are pointing back at me. He used that for Mike at that time. He wanted to go and evangelize or do or say something to somebody and he thought it was the right thing, but guess what? Mike was learning through that. And I always say that God uses all things. Have we seen that somewhere in Scripture? All things? Hmm. Hmm. So when I think and I blow it, because I think I really wanted to give you the Word and it failed, was He using that for me? I think so.

When you point at somebody, you have three fingers pointing back at yourself. So I think in those things, you can't have a wrong time in a wrong place, because he's using all things. I've argued with Mike about that, and I think he's coming around to my way of thinking, but there's not a wrong time. If I think I messed up, well, I think from my perspective I messed up, but from God's perspective, did he use that for me? Now is the day of salvation. Well, it's just a thought that he's using all things. You may think you screw up or you did something wrong, but God's using that in a myriad of different ways. And you know, when you're talking to somebody and they reject what you say, God's still using that in His life. Well, absolutely. And I've used this example several times, too.

There's a guy His name was Bill Fay, and he was a guy who was very involved in the mafia, prostitution, all the worldly things. And he saw a guy, met a guy years ahead of what happened to him. This guy had all the pleasures, money, women, everything. He had all the worldly things at his disposal. Met a Christian guy, you know, came into his office, said everything, and the guy said, he looked at him and he said, I have a piece that you don't have. And Bill looked at him and went, what do you mean? I got like, I got women, I got money, I got everything. I got every pleasure known to man.

What do you mean, peace and all this stuff? Fast forward to X years past that, they busted him. And he was, they took it all away and he was, in trial and was supposed to have a mafia lawyer there, didn't show up. So Bill's in jail. And what came to his remembrance was what that guy said. And it was years later, one conversation with one person that the peace, and he said, I have a peace. And he explained why I had the peace. He had the Lord. And years later, when Bill is destitute in the prison, didn't have the lawyer show up, he's in jail. he remembered that.

And that was his first step into coming to know the Lord. And then strangely enough, after that, he became a very strong believer, comes and told the story. And I think he actually was the chaplain for Jefferson County Sheriff and another sheriff's group. So he now goes and preaches to the prisoners as well as a great model to this. But it was one guy saying, He had a piece that, you know, and that was it. And years later. So I always say that I think I screwed up today and I didn't say the right thing. But God knew. God used that word. God used that word. That was the pastor of Pine Community Church. That was it. Yes, Bill. Yeah. Where my folks went.

That was a prayer meeting. He happened to stop in and I forget who the pastor was then, but anyway, that's what happened. Oh yeah, no, so I use that as that, you know, you think you screwed up and everything is wrong, but God may use that ten years later, five years. We are a fast food microwave generation. We want to see results now. God doesn't work in that time frame.

And so when somebody says that you think you screwed up, but five years later that person goes, you know what Mike said to me that day, you know, or what But whoever said to me, wow, but he used that. So I always say, God uses all things. When you think you failed, He's using it for yours and His and a myriad of purposes.

So anyway, faith comes to you by hearing. So Newell puts it this way. If you hear with a willing heart the good news that Christ died for you, that He was buried and He was raised from the dead, by truly hearing, faith will come to you. You do not have to do a thing but to hear. So there is God's part.

He gave by the Spirit the written Word, and Christ's part, He speaks, quickening the Word, and your part, He that has ears, hear." So again, the faith comes to you by hearing. So your faith comes to you by hearing His Word, reading His Word, and then your faith develops from that. So it comes to you by His Word, ultimately by the Spirit too, you know, giving you and convincing you of His Word.

So, again, similar type process for today. Going on, what do verses 18 through 21 show about Israel and God? So I'll read the verses. But I say to you, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have. Their voice has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they?

First Moses says, I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation. By a nation without understanding will I anger you. And Isaiah is very bold and says, I was found by those who did not seek me. I became manifest to those who did not ask for me. But as for Israel, he says, all day long I have stretched out my hand to a disobedient and obstinate people."

So, from verse 18, Paul is asked if Israel has not heard. So, after just stating that faith comes by hearing, Paul says, indeed, Israel has heard. And he quotes from Psalm 19, 4. Then Paul asks, did Israel know? What was Israel to know? What were they to know in these verses? What would happen? Nobody knows? What happened? They've already heard. But what would happen if Israel rejected Christ at His first coming? What would happen? Jealousy. But what would transpire?

Why are we all here? Because the Gospel has now gone to the Gentiles. If you reject this, I'm going to give you to who is not a nation, who is not seeking, I'm going to give salvation to everyone. Remember what we've just gone through before, and I know we go very slowly and methodically through these, but the whoever's, remember the whoever's? Who are the whoever's? Whoever shall believe. I'm one. Everyone. Everyone. So, you know, basically he says, If Israel rejected Christ at His first coming, salvation would be offered to all, as was previously noted by Paul.

Paul first quotes Moses in Deuteronomy 32.21, I will make you, Israel, jealous by that which is not a nation, Gentiles, everybody else, by a nation without understanding will I anger you. So, he basically says, if you guys don't do, if you reject, which they did, What am I going to do? I'm going to offer salvation to everyone. And will I anger you? So, from the verses spoken by Moses, it states that he will make Israel or the Jewish nation jealous or angry. So, was God just being mean or vindictive to Israel?

Well, he isn't to start with. the logical answer would be no. He's not being vindictive. He can't be untrue to himself. Right. Who he is. But it says I will anger you. Well, he's going to anger them because they have rejected and now he's offering. But he's not being vindictive in this or unloving.

So, as we know from several paths, God is love, 1 John 4, 8 and 16. He wants no one to perish, John 3, 16. And from verse 21, but as for Israel, he says, all day long I have stretched out my hand to a disobedient and obstinate people. So, even though they're a disobedient and obstinate people, what does it say God did?

I'm telling you. Here it is. Here it is. My hand is up. You are obstinate, disobedient, but all day long He's offering it to Israel and the Jewish nation. Not vindictive at all. They're angry because the Gentiles now have salvation. They're angry because He now offers it to everyone. I go to my offending statement. Are they offended? They choose to be offended because of what God did. They are angry because of what God did. But in God's perspective, He says, okay, I'm going to offer this to everyone. Now, is that a bad thing? No. No. But they're angry about it because they were in kind of the catbird seat.

We were the chosen people. We're the ones who had proclaimed God's word for all these years, had the prophets, had all this. We were the chosen people. And now you're telling me it's available to everyone? I don't like that. I like to be the number one cat here. This was God's plan from the beginning. He wanted Israel to be a witness to the nation, spread the gospel to all the nations, but they wanted to become isolated. They didn't like the Gentiles. Well, they were the chosen and the prophets and explaining all this.

Remember in Galatians 3.23.24 that the law was a tutor to point us to Christ. So all the laws and everything that the Jews had were to point us to this position. The covenant between God and Christ was before there was ever a human being. So this was planned before there was a thought of a human.

You know, it was meant to be Jews, if they knew the scripture, which it was to point them that there would be a Messiah. They just didn't like when the Messiah showed up the way he did, you know, that he was supposed to conquer and kick these Romans out, you know, be the, you know, the millennial king, not what they saw the first coming of Christ. And so they rejected him. And so again, but Here is, God is extending his hand all day long to an obstinate and disobedient group. It wasn't vindictive. They became very isolated and proud of their position.

Remember about what we've also talked about in here where this has rocked their boat because, you know, like Nicodemus and, you know, I'm born a Jew. I'm in the kingdom because of my birthright. Now he's saying anybody can get in. simple faith, and it's not predicated on your birth. So, he's been rocking their boats, you know, and now it's coming where they got angry about that, because now it's salvation is open to all.

Those hideous and horrible Gentiles that we can't eat with, we can't sit down with, Samaritans that, you know, we go around Samaria because the Samaritans are these half-breed, half-Jew, half, you know, these impure, you know, it's available to them now. So they were angered by that. But all day long, I put up my hand, God saying.

They didn't see that age between the law and the kingdom in the scriptures. Well, yeah, they didn't see the church age. Right. Well, I can see it. But we all can. But they didn't see that. They wanted the Messiah to rule and reign, first come. They didn't see anything. And when you look at all the scriptures, Isaiah 52, he would die, I mean, crucified. All these things were pointing to that he would be crucified. And all these scriptures that pointed to what was going to happen. But they still didn't realize that.

They wanted a king because they were under the oppression of the Romans and all this. a king that would rule and kick these guys out of here. And then put them in the number one seat, too. That, you know, we're the Jews, we have this messiah that's coming that's going to rule, we're going to rule with him. And so they wanted that part.

They didn't want this intermediate part of the church age where, you know, and then offering to all people. And that was offensive. You know, again, you were taught Gentiles were, you know, less than humans. You didn't associate with them. And now God is now offering it to all you, you know, inhuman people. So that, again, why it says they're angry. So, Newell's states it this way about the disobedient and obstinate people. What yearning, what love, what pleading, what patience. And it is the Creator, God Himself, here spreading out His hand.

Towards whom? Towards the disobedient people. disobedient people, a people that being rebuked did deny and gainsay their prophets and even their own Messiah as they do unto this day. So, Paul goes on about Israel, quoting Isaiah, I was found by those who did not seek me. I became manifest to those who did not ask for me. So who is Isaiah referring to in these verses? Gentiles. All you. Gentiles. Those who do not seek, for me.

Remember, to put it into context, the book of Romans is a foundational scripture for believers. Paul has given all the identification truths that whoever may be placed into Christ by simple faith. Paul is showing by quoting Isaiah that Israel was the nation who should be seeking Christ, given its history history, a position as a chosen people. However, now, as developed through Romans, salvation is now offered to whoever should believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension."

So, let me see if there... Yeah, we'll get to another portion of this in the next question. So, Question 10. Is verse 20 God's program for unbelievers today? Isaiah is very bold and says, I was found by those who did not seek me. I became manifest to those who did not ask for me. Are we seekers of God? Do we actively pursue God as an unbeliever? Not until He pursues us. So we do seek, we don't seek. We don't seek. Don't seek. Some people do. I knew a lady whose brother was studying scripture like crazy because he wanted to know what she had. He wanted it too. So there's... A mixture, I would say. Well, who provided that? The Holy Spirit is the one convicting the draws.

So, we can go through several scriptures that say, we don't pursue. So, remember Romans 3, 10 and 11. There is none righteous, not even one, there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God. Pretty succinct. Any clauses in there that you can hold on to that you're not part of that?

You know, there is none who seeks for God. So we aren't the one seeking. He's the one who seeks us and begins to develop a desire to study, to hear the Word. You can reject it, but He's the one seeking us. We're not the ones seeking Him. He will seek us and then begin to either change our hearts and our thoughts or not.

Those verses are quoted from the Old Testament too. Yeah, exactly. So this is not something that's brand new. It's interesting how Newell responds to this. He says, no, we should not be seekers of God. This is how he addresses this. You should sit down and hear what is written in Romans.

First about your guilt, then about your helplessness, and then about the inability of the law to do anything but condemn you. And then believe on Christ, whom God has sent. And then praise God for righteousness apart from works, apart from ordinances. Hear how God laid sin, your sin, on a substitute, His own Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. And then now, sin being put away, God has raised Him from the dead.

Seek God. No. God is the seeker and has sought and has sought and is now seeking those that ask not of him and has been found of those who sought him not, but simply heard the good news and believed." So what do you think about that? All we are is needy. He feels that need. But again, we're not seekers. That's the thing. You know, we don't seek him. He seeks us and then we respond.

Because the verses say very clearly. Remember what he said about Israel. But it's for Israel, all day long I've stretched out my hand to a disobedient and obstinate people. Does that mean they were seeking Him? He was seeking them. Same thing as the Romans 3. Nobody seeks Him. He seeks them.

Sin is such a pleasurable draw. that what do I need God when I got my sin and I got all the things I want to do right here, why do I need God? When I was younger and stronger and healthier, even though I was a Christian, I didn't really, there wasn't much draw in Christianity for me except for salvation. Now that I'm older and unable to do many things and a lot of things have been taken away from me, Yeah, I'm hungry for God. Yeah. Once you have the Holy Spirit in you, it's a whole different game.

He's the one convincing you, and as you get to know intimately the Lord, you are drawn to Him. And you want Him. It's an object of your love. You don't neglect an object of your love. And so, as you do that, you're drawn to Him. And you will start seeking Him once you're positionally a new life in you.

Once you get tired of all the things in the world, you realize how empty it is, then you just have no other place to go but God. My Bill Faye example, everything offered to him, but in the end it was like nothing. Realized it was all the pleasures the world could offer. Paul said the same thing in Philippians 3. Yeah, it's rubbish. It's garbage. Garbage. Trash. So, who's the seeker here?

I stretched out my hand and it's God. So, if we look at 1 Chronicles 16, 8-11. Oh, give thanks to the Lord. Call upon His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him. Sing praises to Him. Speak of all His wonders. Glory in His holy name. Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad. Seek the Lord in His strength. Seek His faith continually.

How does that work? So it says we're to seek Him in those. First Chronicles what chapter? First Chronicles 16, 8 through 11. This is also referenced in Psalm 105 verse 4. So it says seek God. So are we supposed to seek Him? That's what it says. But do we seek Him? You know, we're supposed to, but no, not one. So even though it says, you know, you should seek me, I am the God of the universe. I am the one who created all things. I am the one who imparts life. I am the one. Seek me. And do we? No, not until the Holy Spirit works on us to a point where either we accept or reject the message. And again, at that point, then it's a different ballgame.

You have a new life, a new whole perspective, because now you know about the intimacy with Christ. You know His life. You know that you want to seek Him because you love Him. And it's the circle God first loved, then we loved. So you then want to pursue God because you love him, because you know he is love and he pursued you.

So again, it's just but on an on a unbeliever, there's no not one that will seek him. It's all because of what God does through, you know, believers bringing the word, hearing what we just talked about, hearing. We bring the word to people and then they make up their mind. They begin. And then the Holy Spirit uses that in them. and whether they accept or reject is up to them.

But again, they don't normally seek it. I don't remember seeking out, you know. I had somebody telling me about this when I was in college. I don't know who that person was, but anyway. And it started pointing me towards Christ. You know, it took somebody to point me to Christ. Otherwise, I would have gone merrily down the road. I don't know, Mike has not forwarded on question 46, so I don't know if I'm going to be quickly writing 46 for chapter 11 or if Mike's going to give that. So we'll see. So watch your emails and see. One of us will send you questions for chapter 11. All right, let's close. Heavenly Father, we thank you. We thank you for this time. We thank you for any time. Again, we can study your Word. We thank you again just for Uh, what we've, uh, seen in scripture that, uh, faith comes by hearing.

And, uh, we realized that as we, uh, uh, look at your word and, and, uh, fellowship around your word, uh, again, that our faith will grow. And, uh, again, the whole purpose is to conform us to the image of Christ and to manifest him through our life. And, uh, we just, uh, we thank you again for your word and the indwelling of the Holy spirit. And again, just the fellowship that we can have together around your word. So we just, uh, we pray for Roger in the next meeting. Again, just that she'll, uh, speak clearly the word through him and just prepare hearts to receive it. And again, pray that everything we say and do a lot and glorify you and send Jesus. And we pray. Amen.