First Thessalonians 2:13-16 The Word of God welcomed and suffering endured

we're starting on verses 13 through 16. So this section I titled, The Word of God Welcomed and Suffered and Endured. It's kind of a chain, you know, they've been going back, you know, what we've been doing the last several weeks. We've been talking about the gospel. Roy did a great job last week and also Andrew the previous week.

But this is kind of a really neat section, especially verse 13. It's really kind of a special verse. So let's just look at the I like to use Macaulay as a lot of the teachers do. So Macaulay's outline, I'll just put it all up here. 13 through 16 talk about kind of two topics.

And it's the response to God's word. The first verse 13 talks about how God's word was welcomed by the body of believers in Thessalonica. And the response to the word and the effect of the word. And it's really a wonderful, wonderful verse that talks about the word of God. and how it's just incredible. It is a direct message from God given to man, and it has power. It accomplishes what God has in mind.

And so we'll get into that shortly. And then the last part of this, 14 through 16, talks about persecution. And I kind of think the more I thought about this, that persecution will naturally follow the true declaration of God's word. When God's word is truly heard, men either are drawn to it and accept the Savior or they rebel against it.

And we see that kind of over and over again in Paul's ministry. He would go into a town like Thessalonica and he would preach God's word, usually in the synagogues. And it didn't take very long. But people that opposed the message he was preaching would come out and just do awful things.

And that's kind of what's described in 14 through 16 in terms of persecution and the effect of persecution in four areas. Identity, hostility, and the effect and the judgment. So that's the last part of this. I'm going to spend most of the time on verse 13. So let's just kind of get into it here. So here's 13.

For this reason, we also constantly thank God that when you receive the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it, not as a word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. Then the other, the remaining set talks about this persecution. For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus. that are in Judea, for you also endured the same suffering at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved, with the result that they are always filling up the measure of their sins, but the wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.

Well, you know, verse 16 is just, uh, you know, it's amazing. It just, it really gives us insight into God's view of sin and how there's, you know, there's a filling up and there's a, I don't know, it's, it's a pretty, pretty frightful verse. I'm not sure I could totally have, uh, got it, uh, explained, but we'll, we'll take a, we'll take a crack at it. So let's jump into verse 13.

For this reason, we also constantly thank God. So he starts off, and this is what he's done earlier in Thessalonians. We, Paul, Silas, and Timothy, they thank. So the verb here is thank, eucharisto. It's used to give thanks to God. It's present tense. They're constantly giving thanks to God. And what's interesting is the thanks verb is modified by another. It's like a double whammy here.

I mean, I kind of know that there's a double emphasis on how constantly and how continuously they're thanking God, because it's not that one Greek word, but it's modified by this word for unceasing, unbroken. And we saw that actually back in in verse 3 of chapter 1, where it said, constantly bearing in mind your work of faith, your labor of love, your steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. So there's a double emphasis on how constantly they were doing that. And actually, what's interesting is, and Elyne kind of pointed that out, it's not that they're, you know, you hear, you know, the Hare Krishnas, right? They just, they repeat the same thing over and over again.

Well, this is not the idea you say, thank, thank. You just have a mantra of saying thanks. This is the idea that without omission, on every occasion that is appropriate, you're giving thanks. You're giving thanks when you're talking with people. You're thanking God, not like a Hare Krishna's do, but you're thanking God on every occasion that's proper. So I thought that was kind of interesting. And then you're thanking God. And then the reason for your thanking God is going to be given in the rest of this verse. So there's constant thanksgiving to God. And now we're going to learn why they're thanking God.

And it's pretty amazing. Okay. You received the word of God. You Thessalonians received. So the couple of words we're going to have here in this passage for receiving. They're different Greek words. This is paralimbano. is to receive from another. And this is what people have called objective reception. Merriman calls it, I listened to what he had to say about this verse. And this is what he described as objective reception.

And I was just thinking, you know, scripture is objective truth. It's truth independent of what we think of it. We may have a view of scripture, but it's objective truth from God. It's God's truth given to man. That's objective truth. So what's neat is they receive that truth.

And what's interesting is that same word is used talking about the gospel. And we'll get to this here in a little while, in the main service. In 1 Corinthians 15, the B part, it says, now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel, which I preach to you, which you also receive, or this word parambano. So they receive the objective truth of God. And it's modified.

You received the word of God, which you heard from us. So they heard it from Paul and his companions. It was so it's actually some translations. The inner lender has the word of report, but many translations render it the word of God, which I think is the best from us, from Paul, Silas and Timothy. So I was thinking about this. This is pretty. And we've all kind of pondered this.

God has entrusted this incredible word, which comes from his mind, comes from his mind to man. He's entrusted it to believers to give it out. And you think, wow, that's a risky business. And you might argue that, you know, you look around, there's a lot of people that aren't really giving out God's word. as they should necessarily. But it is amazing that he's entrusted believers to give out his word. You know, something to ponder there. So that's the first.

If you have questions, go ahead. Yeah, just a thought here that hit me when I was looking at this. If you notice the first four letters that is in the received word. Okay. That preposition ara. Yes, exactly. It has that idea of coming alongside, of being close to somebody. Right. And that's what we had last week, if you remember. Right. A par, a par, a par, four times, and here it is on the reception side. That we as listeners, we come, we join in that message. Right. closely. It isn't something like you're sitting off in the distance, but you're face-to-face.

You're right with the people communicating. Yeah, that's good, Roy. That's great. That's... I appreciate it. Actually, you know, I had realized that for some reason, you know, you start listing yourself and write notes, and then I got to doing the charts. I didn't... I had thought about that and then made some notes about that, but that's great. I really appreciate that.

Yeah, that intimacy, isn't it? It is. It is. So the first part is they receive this objective truth from God. But that's not the end of the story. So let's kind of carry on here. So okay. So now the next part is you accepted it. And this is key. Key to all of us. And it's the second verb here. And this is a different word for receive. Dekomai.

And this is to accept by deliberate and ready reception of what is offered. So, and the word accept, Macaulay says the word accepted, which points to a personal and subjective act. It can well be translated welcomed. And I, you know, I, uh, it's, and you start, this is interesting that they welcomed it. I mean, it just, and, and that's, I think that's the way when we really get a hold of God's word and we understand it, we say, wow. And, and, and there is a welcoming and it's actually in some verses that, uh, that talk about this.

So this is a Galatians 4.14. It says, and this is our word, decamai. You received or welcomed me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself. And that was Paul talking to the Galatians.

And this is what Merriman calls subjective reception. I think it's appropriate. I would say, and we talk about appropriating God's word. Well, this is where you take the objective truth of God's word and you make it your own. It impacts your life and you act in accordance with it. So you're what we call appropriated or subjectively receive it. So it's kind of cool. You believe it, you receive it, and then you accept it. So there's a two-part process here.

So now, the next part is, what's the source of this word is declared? And the source of it, not as a word for men, not having a source in men, but for what it really is, the Word of God. So actually in the inner linear it comes across, and I did this because I wanted to pull out this verb here. But it is truly the word of God.

So that word is one of our favorites, at least my favorite. Ami. It's a state in which something continuously exists. And this is kind of cool because they received, they did two things. They received and accepted it as truly the word. And it truly is God's word, and it will never cease to be God's word. By that verb, it kind of seals it. This is God's word and it exists. It will always exist as God's word. It continues to exist as God's word. It can never be something less than God's word. Man may try to make it less than God's word or change it, but it will always be God's word.

I think that's what really excited me about seeing that and bringing it across from the inner linear. I got to see that. that verb more clearly. The word was out of God as a source rather than out of men. So any thoughts about the idea of we receive it and then we accept it and it's truly God's word. Then we're going to go on. The next part is God's word is not just dormant.

It just doesn't Just doesn't sit in the page there. It does more than sit on the page of your Bible. It's going to do something. It's going to perform something. That's the next part of this. So I'll just move on to that. Okay. Which also it works in you who believe. So it's going to do something.

So actually, which is, uh, some people like, I remember how we would say, Merriman says it too, which is, it's a babysitter. It's a babysitter for, noun here. In this case, it's the word. The word also works in you, the ones believing. So work is this word. Energeo. If you remember our brother Vern, this is one of his favorites, right? He had the energizer money hopping around his charts. So this is a word that is the idea to bring to pass, to be active. I wrote a couple more down. see if I have it here.

To get the job done, the verse that kind of shows that, this is Paul speaking here I think, I labor striving according to his power which mightily intergeos within me, works within me. So it's God's word, his word, he's at work in me. Intergeo Macaulay says it's almost always used of supernatural activities. And I kind of put in, you know, it's, it's a Holy Spirit working, you know, kind of thinking about the fact that he takes the things of Christ and shows them to us. He's at work carrying out what God has in mind. And it's present tense, continuous action. It's constantly working. It doesn't take a break. And then Macaulay kind of adds here what I thought was good.

Faith or belief is a condition upon which the Word of God works, our word intergeo, in the believer's life. I mean, you know, this verse is just such a cool verse. And there's, I mean, I, you know, it's only, this is my eighth chart, but, you know, there's a lot more that you could bring across here. And if you guys have other thoughts you want to share. I just think it's neat, just such a, you know, the two aspects of receiving, and then that God does its work. Yeah, Roger, just a brief thought.

When we're dealing with folks that worship idols, and we produce the truth in that context, here's an evidence that it is God himself that produces the results, isn't it? should be that he would take the truth in that environment and make it real and make it effective. I think that's so precious here. That we can count on God doing that. Right. No, I agree. I think that's neat. And, you know, in today's world, you know, it's a different, many different idols out there, right? The idols of power and riches and all kinds of stuff.

But God's word, you know, it does have an effect. I mean, I know it had an effect in my life. I've told people about, I remember going past our brother Hal's Bible study at work. And I didn't know what they were doing inside that Bible study, but the fact that that was going on and that God's word was being given out, even though I didn't actually hear what the words were, it's just amazing. It does have an effect, and it does accomplish what God has in mind.

And it's able to make men and women's lives, which is, you know, incredible. It is, isn't it? I was thinking of Emmaus Road, where our Lord Jesus explains the scriptures. Right. And even though they didn't recognize this is God talking to them, yet they set out. Man, and while he was speaking, our hearts burned within us. I mean, the Word of God just does that. I mean, that's so precious, so infinite. It is. So, all right, we're actually moving too fast. I'm looking at the time. I'm getting through all the good points too fast. You guys got to ask more questions. Royce, you're doing a great job at A+. The other guys can get A+, too. Okay.

Actually, I was thinking about this, and I put in some other words about the Word of God. Just really familiar ones that I just really loved. So one is just really great that we've talked about a lot. The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. and piercing as far as the division of the soul and the spirit of both the joints and the marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intention of the heart. Wow, this is just, talk about, you know, that's just a jam-packed verse. It's just, you know, it's just not words on a page.

I mean, and that's probably one of the hardest things to, you know, and people, what's amazing is, and I was there too, I didn't even want to open up. People are actually afraid. to open up the Bible because they don't want them. So many times the only way you can ever get God's Word out is to tell it to them or talk about it or, you know, speak it. Sometimes they will not even open up the Bible. I mean, it's just, I don't know.

So just so many cool things here. I like the part about it, and when I've talked about this before, piercing as far as the division of the soul and spirit. This is one of the few places in Scripture where it talks about that there's something, you know, the soul and spirit, uh, uh, you know, are talked about in scripture, but, but this says God's word, uh, uh, has, you know, has an effect, can, you know, as a division of the soul and spirit with the joints and marrow, it gets down to the very, um, nature of man, his very, uh, person. And it's a discern of that. and it judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Okay, so my next verse is, For you have been born again, not of seed, which is perishable, but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring Word of God. So here's another intergale effect, if you will. It's, you know, you've been born again, you know, by the You know, by the word of God, I mean, it's just through the living and enduring word of God, just amazing.

And then the last one I have here, 1 John 2.14, I have written to you fathers because you know him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you young men because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one.

So, you know, the Word of God, we ought to hide it in our heart. It is to abide in us. It is to be part of us, part of our lives, and part of our very person. Because it's what gives us the path and the way we should follow. It tells us, you know, All the things, actually my very last verse I want to share at the end of this message talks about the different aspects of God's word, how it helps us in all aspects of life. Okay, so now I'm going to kind of change focus here. We're going to get to the rest of the other verses here. Okay, any questions on this verse 13 or the word of God? All right, let's just carry on then.

It says, for you brethren became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you also endured the same suffering at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews. So this is kind of a contrast. You start out and you talk about God's word, and now we're going to talk about suffering. We're going to talk about conflict here. So it talks about you brethren, the Thessalonians, came into a new state of being. And this is interesting.

I didn't get the best definition down here for imitator. Mimicus, like mimics. But if, you know, you think of a mimic sometimes as like a negative connotation. And I copied this down and I didn't actually put in what I wanted to put in. This talks about the fact that the company verb, the genomi verb that's, so this is became imitators that came into as a result of God's word, they became imitators. It's a past point, fat heiress tense. But I think the more important point is that the meaning of the word imitators, and this is what I should have put down, it's the idea, I noticed in the King James, it comes across as followers, for you brothers became followers of the churches of God and Christ Jesus in Judea. It's either followers or becoming like, or modeling.

And one commentator had decided it's a living example for the life of faith. So it's like, you may see a brother or sister and you see how they live their life as a believer. And you, in a sense, see what your faith can produce. It's an example for you.

You know, you're an imitator in the sense that you realize that as I have faith in the Lord, as I walk by faith, that's what can be the product of, I saw the product in their life, their stability, their faithfulness, their whatever. And that can be something that I want to have the same stability there too. It's not that you try to copy them word for word or you say what they say. Or like how Mike says, sometimes you have a car just like their car or something like that. No, this is, you see their faith in action and you just are, because you're so excited about that. I want to have, I want the Lord to take, you know, so I can reproduce that faith in my life.

And he wants to do that. So I think that's the idea about imitating the churches of God and Christ Jesus. And what's interesting, they're going to imitate them in a sense in something you wouldn't, you wouldn't want to. I don't want to imitate somebody. Well, imitate me in suffering? Doesn't sound like a lot of fun. I want to imitate you in something, you know, maybe more, not so stressful possibly.

So it says, you brethren became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. So Macaulay kind of points back to the fact that they imitated This word showed up earlier, back in verse 6, where it talked about they imitated the conduct of the apostles. And now they're going to imitate, by God's plan and purpose, they're going to imitate the brotherhood in the church in Judea by the common suffering. They're going to suffer like the church in Judea suffered in a similar way because they're going to have opposition to God's word.

Okay, so now it's the second part of the verse. For, or because, you also endured the same suffering or suffered the same thing. So suffered here is the idea as a follower of Christ. Suffering as a follower of Christ. So I thought this verse in Philippians was good.

For to you, it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer. for his sake. And it's interesting is, you know, we think of God's will in our lives, and we're thankful for his will and his purposes. And we realize that he has accomplished these things in our life. And you think, well, thank you, Lord, that I trusted you. You know, I trusted you as my savior for believing in him, but it says also to suffer for his sake.

And you think, wow, maybe that one, I'm not, you know, it sounds like that's going to be painful and it is going to be painful, but that's part of his, his plan and purpose for us. So it talks here, and this is something that I hadn't, you know, you know, when you see it, I haven't actually thought through it exactly.

He says, so here's how they were suffering. at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews. So the countrymen they're talking about here, Thessalonica, there were some Jews, because he went to the synagogue, but there were a lot of Gentiles too. So they were suffering. And we saw some of their suffering, right in Acts there, where it talked about Acts 17, I think it was.

They didn't stay in town very long. Paul wasn't there. You know, there's different opinions about how long Paul Paul was there in Thessalonica, but he wasn't a very long time, maybe a month, maybe a little bit over a month, but not much more than that. He was there a very short time and he had to leave and the Jews were part and parcel of that.

So we have this resource now that I got this, I think probably from Vern, but it's from Keith Lee. And he had some pretty good things to say so I kind of use some of his quotes here It says thus as an evidence of the power of the indwelling word by the Holy Spirit The suffering experience of the churches in Judea was reproduced in the believers at Thessalonica So this is just you know Thinking about this passage in during the same suffering at the hands of your own countrymen even as they did from the Jews. They had heard about the Jews, apparently. Well, Paul knew, you know, Paul speaking here, he could make a comparison. He could say, well, wow, you guys are suffering just like I saw what was happening in Judea. And Paul was part of that, too.

He was part of that suffering. So here's part of the details of the suffering. Not real pleasant for who both, the Jews here, killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets. It's having killed, talking about the past. So Paul reminds them, the Thessalonians, and us that suffering at the hand of one's own countrymen, even family, is par for the course. It's going to happen as a result of God's word going out. People will suffer for that.

And, you know, as we've, I could say many times, we haven't seen a lot. And I can't think in my lifetime that I've, I suffered a lot for the Lord. Um, I, you know, maybe, maybe looks or maybe people not wanting to associate with me or me making, you know, unusual statements, but I really haven't suffered nothing like the, what Paul suffered and what the, uh, all the apostles suffered, nothing even coming close. But then, you know, that may change, you know, times are changing. you know, that may be coming.

And they drove us out. And actually the idea of driving out has the idea of severe persecution. Luke here says, and I think Price is speaking here, and he says, he says, I will send them prophets and apostles. So he's talking about, he's talking to the Jews here. And he's saying, I will send them prophets and apostles, I think. And some of them, They will slay and persecute. So this is in a long dialogue in Luke there in that chapter that has a long discussion here. And in that discussion, he talks about send them apostles and prophets and some of them, they will slay and persecute.

And Paul had been driven out, you know, just one of his many times he was driven out. And the Acts there, the Hellenistic Jews, they were going to put him to death. And his brethren got him out of town quickly, out of Jerusalem. And Paul always seemed to be escaping different places he preached, different synagogues he went into. Many, many times, almost, you know, universally was that he was driven out of town.

It continues on, they are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men. So it speaks to they, the Jews, and it could be the countrymen they were talking about too, our countrymen in Thessalonica. They are not pleasing to God. And it's a word to please or to be acceptable. It's present tense, continuous condition. The Jews really, as we're going to see here, they came under the God's severe judgment, really. So Keith Lee kind of shares here, the religious leaders who rejected Christ turned the majority of the nation away from the Lord, but are hostile to all men. So hostility is opposing, adversary, antagonistic. So in Acts it says, so then.

I, Paul, thought to myself that I had to... Oh yeah, this is one. I forgot what this was. This is a recount of Paul before he was a believer, right? This is the same word. This is why I chose this. This is the same word, same Greek word that we have in our passage, but Paul is describing himself.

And he said, I did many hostile things to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. So he's recounting before he was a believer that he did hostile things against those who those believers of that before he became a believer. So here's part of the hostile things they did, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles. So to hinder, to restrain, to forbid.

So in Acts 17 it says, and some of them were persecuted along with a large number, actually this is a section, I don't know what I did here, this is a section in Acts that talks about what happened with the Jews and how they objected and how they were hindering the gospel. So it starts off in verse four here. And some of them were persuaded along with a large number of God-fearing Greeks and a number of leading women. And then I kind of borrowed, I didn't want to put all the rest of the verses, they were taken up several in a lot of pages, so I kind of used a summary that Vernon put together.

But the Jews became jealous, taking a wicked mob of Gentiles from the marketplace, and they tried to drag Paul out of the house of one named Jason. He was a Gentile. In blind rage, the Jews stirred up the crowd with hatred. So this is the best example you have of what this verse is talking about. hindering us from speaking the gospel. They were so, so incensed. They, you know, they dragged Paul out of the, out of the Gentiles house, Jason, and they stirred up the crowd just, you know, and this is just one of many occasion, but this particularly shows this hindering the gospel, getting to the Gentiles.

So that, or with the purpose that they maybe say, so Paul is trying to bring the good news to the Gentiles. And he was the apostle of the Gentiles. And the Jews are just not angry with him about that. They are going to prevent him from getting that word out, getting it to the Gentiles, from getting the word to the Gentiles. They're going to physically drag him out of there to prevent that. A pretty sad picture.

As a result, or so as, the Jews, and this is the part that's just really, I mean, I'm not sure I totally comprehend this. The Jews fill up the measure of their sins always. That's Weiss's rendering of this. So this idea of filling up, to fill up adequately, completely of the Jews who persisted in their course of antagonism, unbelief. It's an infinity. The infinity to fill up implies a quotient or limitation.

Macaulay points out that it's a point at which divine wrath has become inevitable. and fully deserved. So it's sort of saying that the Jews deserve, because of their actions in preventing God's work from going out, that they deserve, they got to the point.

I was thinking about Pharaoh. You know, you think about Pharaoh and, you know, Pharaoh hardened his heart. You know, Moses came to him, told him what's going to happen, and they went back and forth. And it says that Pharaoh hardened his heart. But at some point, After so many back and forth, so many times, eventually it says God hardened Pharaoh's heart. So it kind of came to a point where that's enough. He took action against Pharaoh and he hardened his heart. It kind of gave me the same kind of flavor here, filling up the sin quotient, which is pretty amazing. And then the last part is even more amazing. But wrath has come upon them to the uttermost. The wrath has come upon them. So I have a quote from Macaulay here.

The sense of the verb is the arrival at a threshold of judgment, not the actual entering into judgment. So, I don't know, these last two phrases here, the filling up of the measure of the sins always, but wrath has come upon them to the utmost. So it seems like God is saying, you know, I've judged you. And it seems like the true judgment of all the unbelievers will come with the great white throne. So, you know, you got to kind of think about that. So it seems like they've already filled up their measure and God's looking at it like it's already complete. but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.

Because that's actually a, the verb tense there is not future, it's not, it's going to come upon them, it says it has come upon them. So that's kind of something to ponder. So there's quite a few things, this last part of this verse is quite a few things to ponder and think about. I don't, I'm not sure I have a Let me find Matthew 12 for you.

Put it down there. I've got it here, Roger. Go ahead. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Okay, I think it has come upon you. So it's another one of those things where God looks at something as if it already happened. You know, but it hasn't happened. So I think that's why it was an occurrence that has come upon. That's why I put that down there. So I said a lot of things. I'm not sure I have a lot of good answers here, but I have the thoughts I've shared.

It seems like God looks at the Jews and says they've filled up the measure of their sins and my wrath has come upon them. But he's not executing that wrath until a point. It would seem like that's not fully executed until the great white throne. I don't know.

Other thoughts about that? This is, you know, anyway, so that's, uh, uh, that's about all I had actually for today. I have one more, one more chart, but any last thoughts on, this is not easy. I'm, this is probably, so, you know, think about that. If I have some other thoughts, I'll try to share them when we have, you know, our next class here, but. I forgot who's, I think maybe it might be Andrew or Bob who's teaching next.

So I just, I wanted to, the last thought I had was just kind of back to the wonderful verse 13 and just thinking about God's word and just thinking about its completeness in the believer's life. And the verse is, all scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. so that the man of God may be adequately equipped for every good work. So God's word, his scriptures are, I know, they cover the full gamut of our lives. Teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. I used to try to have another quote by somebody. I couldn't think of something much better than that. I was looking up the verse in Matthew.

The context is they were attributing his works to the devil, like Jezebel. And he said, I'm not casting this out by the power of the devil, or he'd be divided against himself. And there's a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. You know, that's basically the context here. It's an unpardonable sin. that they were entering into. In that context, if you're going to use it here, of Paul being cast out and being rejected, but also then being resisted. But look what got it with Paul. I mean, he was putting men and women to death. I know. You know, he presented himself to Paul and And Paul responded in faith. I mean, what do you want me to do, Lord?

Here I am. Right. Wow. Yeah, well, that's it. Yes. Think of where Paul came from. Just what we're talking about here. He was one of those Jews that did exactly all this. Yeah. But salvation was still available to him. I mean, it's so we have to be careful about, you know, what, you know, what we say here about these, you know, he makes some strong statements here about their the Jews filling up the measure of their sins and about that wrath has come upon them to the uttermost, but it doesn't, his saving grace is still available. And Paul's a, you know, credible example of that. So that's, you're right. Only God can make that kind of a judgment. Exactly. Right.

But I thought it was just, you know, the contrast between verse 13 and it's just so beautifully tells us about what God's Word, how God's Word affects man and how it energizes man. And then right following that, then we see the result of man's sinfulness and not wanting, and so being enraged by the things of God, what they do is just incredible. You know, we get a little bit of, a little peek of that in our world today. We see a little bit of that, not a whole lot, but we see, we see that, that, you know, Believers many times are hated, and we see it in the public forum a lot.

And fortunately, right now, I'm thankful we can carry on and get God's word out and live peaceable lives. There's verses that talk about live quiet and peaceable lives. I'm thankful we can still do that. But that certainly wasn't the case when Paul was going into these places. And it was quite, you know, quite adversarial. And I'm thankful that we can, you know, quietly get God's word out peacefully. And that we can, men and women can come to know the Savior. I'll close in prayer. Thanks for everybody joining.