All right. Good evening, everyone. Tonight, we will pick up in Acts chapter 17, Acts chapter 17, and we'll cover, let's see, verses one through 1 through 9. I'll read over those verses and that's where our focus will be. It says, now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days, he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, this Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ. And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of his brothers before the city authority, shouting, these men who have turned the world upside down have come here also. And Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar. Saying that there is another King Jesus And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things and when they had taken Taken money as security from Jason and the rest then they let them go Amen Now in chapter 7, or in this chapter, chapter 17, it focuses on three parts of Paul's, three locations I should say, that are a part of Paul's second missionary journey. having been released from jail in Philippi at the end of chapter 16. In this chapter we see his interactions in Thessalonica, which we'll be looking at tonight, and then in Berea, and then later in Athens. So the first thing that we want to focus on, especially as he goes here into Thessalonica, is that his target audience in this encounter is obviously the religious Jewish community. We see that in verse 1, or in verse 2. where it says, and Paul went in as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned from the scriptures. So even though we know that in chapter 13 he's resolved to focus more on ministering to the Gentiles, Here, he follows his ordinary pattern of first going to the religious Jews, seeking out a synagogue. Now, as a further note there, it is worth pointing out that Luke says he spent three Sabbaths there. And as a point of clarification, We know that Paul obviously spent, or not obviously, but from other portions of Scripture, for instance, in Philippians 4.16, we know that Paul spends an extended period of time there because the Philippian church or the church of Thessalonica were sending him support. So he obviously, so when it says that he remained in the synagogue as was his custom, three Sabbaths, that means three Sabbaths in the synagogues. and not in the region. So he was in the region of Thessalonica for an extended period of time so again the three Sabbaths refers to the time in which he spent in the synagogues and because even here it mentions how there were unbelieving Or believing Gentiles who were persuaded by his message So it seems that in the formation of the church It's after Paul has initially spent time among believing Jews in the synagogues teaching in the synagogue So that's that's the first thing to note. But the second thing is in verses 2 & 3 in particular where Luke once again summarizes Paul's evangelistic method, especially among religious Jews. So he summarizes three critical parts of Paul's evangelistic method as he encounters believing or not believing, but religious Jews. What I mean by religious Jews are those who were committed to the Old Testament Scriptures and had a messianic expectation. So they understood the Scriptures to be of God, and they understood God had promised a Messiah. But as we've made the point throughout our journey through the book of Acts, they rejected Jesus as the Messiah. So even though Paul has basically vowed that his focus from now on, from chapter 13, will be on Gentiles, He still engages religious Jews as a means of bringing them to a saving faith. So here we see the three basic elements of his evangelistic approach to these religious Jews. The first thing is that he reasons with them from the Scriptures. So his approach is to begin, and part of this methodology will follow itself as he addresses the pagans later at the Areopagus, but here he draws from a common source. So he reasons with them, and we see Jesus doing the same thing as, again, I know a lot of this is repetitious, but we've pointed out how Jesus in the beginning of his earthly ministry, or his public ministry I should say, does the same thing. Goes into the synagogues, takes the Old Testament scripture, was a common source, for the Christian church and even the religious Jews. They understood the scriptures, the Old Testament scriptures, to be the Word of God. And so Paul goes into the synagogues, and I like the wording here, not only does he draw from a common source Which is the scriptures the Old Testament scriptures, but it also says in verse 2 that he reasoned from them And that's an important phrase and especially as we see their response to it that later It says some were persuaded So that's a reasoning process. In other words, Paul took a common source and sort of explained the Old Testament scriptures. And so he draws from that common source. But secondly, in reasoning from the scriptures, Luke also emphasizes that he shows them from the scriptures the necessity of the Messiah's suffering. Okay, how the Messiah must suffer death and even the resurrection. Now, the important thing here is that he's explaining it from the Scriptures. In the same way that in the course of his earthly ministry, Jesus uses the Old Testament Scriptures to foreshadow or to explain his coming death. and his resurrection. He even says, you know, just as the son of man, or as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days, so shall the son of man be in the belly of the earth for three days. So he spoke, not only in terms of his coming crucifixions, telling his disciples of the things that he would have to suffer at the hands of the religious leaders when he entered into Jerusalem, But Jesus also explains not just his death from the Scriptures, but even his resurrection from the Scriptures. So that's what Paul does. He shows them from the Scriptures the necessity. Now, and by the way, you notice that it says there, the necessity of the Christ's suffering. And we're going to come, we'll see how that develops in a moment, but the Christ refers to the messianic office. It is the Greek equivalent to the Messiah. So it's not speaking necessarily first and foremost of a specific person, but a title, an office, one who would occupy the office. And part of what's problematic for these religious Jews, when it came to understanding the message of the church, is that in their understanding, they, or I should put it this way, they did not understand the necessity of a Messiah suffering. That's why Paul says to the Corinthians that this message of the gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing, because they don't see this. Now granted, Religious Jews who believed in the Old Testament Scriptures had plenty in the Old Testament prophets to portray the Messiah both as the suffering servant set forth in Isaiah 53, but also as the conquering warrior. So it's not either-or, but it's both-and. And as we've talked about on a number of occasions, because of their immediate circumstances, the tendency was to look for a conquering king, not understanding that he who would come to conquer also comes to suffer. So they separated the idea of suffering from the Messiah. Now what Paul does here in reasoning from the Scriptures that the coming Messiah must suffer parallels Luke's own words in Luke 24. when he has the resurrected Jesus encountering the disciples on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection, after his crucifixion, and they are despondent because Jesus has been crucified, and then he goes on, we've gone over it on a number of occasions, he shows them from the Scriptures how it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things in order to enter into his glory. So what Paul is doing is really following the same pattern of Jesus with his disciples, and then the same pattern of the disciples in opening up the Scriptures. What makes this interesting is the way Luke lays it out. He first reasons from the Scriptures. Secondly, he shows them from the scriptures the necessity of the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Messiah. And then thirdly, he shows them from the scriptures that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. So you notice how that follows in verses 3 and 4, Paul went in, as was his custom, on the Sabbath days, on three Sabbath days, and reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and let me pause there for a moment. So you don't even have to put the name of Jesus in that equation. what Paul has done, because in their mind, in their thinking, it's inconceivable of anyone being the Messiah who has died. So what Paul is doing is showing, as Jesus does, showing them from the Scriptures that what you are looking for in a Messiah necessitates His death. And he is, and so even, and notice again, explains and proves, makes the claim that the Messiah must, and then he proves it from the Scriptures. So he starts with the Scriptures, explaining the necessity of the nature of the Messiah's work, and then the third thing that he does, now that we've got all of that clear, that the Messiah is grounded in the promises of the Scripture, that it was necessary for him to die and to be raised to accomplish what he has been sent or commissioned to do. And by the way, Jesus, and you could insert Jesus of Nazareth, is that Messiah. In which case you see the same pattern of Peter on the day of Pentecost beginning with Jesus, beginning with the prophetic promises and then making the point that this Jesus of Nazareth who suffered at the hands of these religious leaders, God has appointed So he is the one so the Messiah is Christ and that's exactly what Paul does here his pattern throughout the the book of Acts and pattern we see that of the apostles or the disciples in the the book of Acts and really the pattern of Jesus in his earthly ministry, especially and notice we emphasize his ministry among Believing or not believing excuse me again religious Jews Jews who believed in Yahweh, in the word of Yahweh, and in the messianic promise of Yahweh. That's his methodology. Begin with the scriptures, explain the work of the Messiah through the scriptures, and now make the case that Jesus of Nazareth is that Messiah. Which brings us to another thing, which is another pattern that we have seen throughout the Book of Acts. As we noted last week, also, and we kind of focused on that a little bit, and that is the jealousy of unbelieving Jews. And what comes out of that jealousy is instigation. Instigation at two levels. instigation of the populace, the people, and then politically with the authorities. That's what the unbelieving Jews or the less religious Jews have done. It's difficult to say because what Paul does, granted, Some that he ministers the gospel to among the religious Jews are those who are persuaded. But among those who are not persuaded, the flip side of it is they become jealous. And their jealousy fuels over to the less religious Jews of the populace. Now there's an interesting transition of words here because what that does is that's what unleashes the antagonism against the disciples. So in this case, we begin with what the ESV, the translation of these people that are used by these unbelieving religious Jews who have heard the word of Paul and Titus concerning Jesus as being the Messiah, they've rejected the message, and they are jealous of the impact that Paul, or not just of the impact, but I would say even of the message itself. They are jealous of that, and so you notice what it says, and then in verse 4, and some of them were persuaded. But some of them were persuaded and some of the devout Greeks, leading women, but in verse 5, but the Jews were jealous and taking some wicked men of the rabble. That's the way it's translated in the ESV. Wicked men of the rabble. But the King James renders it fellows of the baser sort. I love that English, that British kind of flair to it. Fellows of the baser sort. And the word, the Greek word that's translated here is really a derogatory term for what they would have called ordinary people. Ordinary people who were deemed to be socially inferior. deemed to be most sometimes considered uneducated and uncouth. So notice the chain of events. The message has gone out from the Apostle Paul and Titus. They've shared this message from the scriptures about the Messiah, and then they make the case that Jesus is the Messiah, the result is some of the religious Jews in the synagogue are persuaded. And not just the Jews, but some of the God-fearing Gentiles. That would be the Greeks. It says the devout Greeks. The devout Greeks is another form of expressing those who are Gentiles who were God-worshippers. There were different God worshiper Gentiles who were not fully accepted within the fellowship of the Jewish community, but they did confess faith in Yahweh, or Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, and they were at least allowed somewhat in the outer circles, and sometimes in the synagogues, they could study with them, and they were allowed in certain outer courts within the temple. So what happened as a result of this preaching and teaching on the part of the Apostle Paul, many of the, or some of the religious Jews were persuaded, and a great number of the God-fearing Gentiles were also persuaded, and then Luke for good measure throws in there, and not a few of the leading women citizens were also persuaded, which provokes jealousy on the part of the religious Jews who were not persuaded, causing them to go and find what they would consider the dirty work, somebody to do their dirty work. which would be the men of the rabble. Very interesting phrase, the men of the rabble. Those that they deemed to be unacceptable, socially inferior, uneducated, uncouth individuals who'd be willing to do anything. And so last week we talked about our, how easy we are to be manipulated just in our fallen state, and it's interesting how Satan does use our fallen mindset and our proclivities in his continuing battle against God Himself and against His church. So in this instance, the religious Jews in sight Those who may or may not have been religious themselves by presenting these disciples in the worst possible light. So what it says is that they go in and notice what it says, he stirs them up and notice what follows. They go to the rabble, the men of the rabble, and they form a mob. Look at the progression of that. The jealous Jews find some people that they don't have much respect for and they know what tickles their fancy. They know what will get them riled up. Hit all of the hot button issues about Paul and Silas. Rouses them up and then it's the rabble rousers or the men of the rabble that forms a mob. Again, the religious leaders at that point can say, well we didn't do anything. We didn't do this. So the men of the rabble form a mob. And look at what follows. They form a mob and they set the city in an uproar. Now remember we said that what follows here is the agitation, and this is the pattern again throughout the book of Acts, the agitation against the church is leveled at two, is seen at two levels. The level of the populace. that then reaches the politicians. Isn't it similar with Jesus? Remember when Jesus was performing miracles, in fact, in the immediate aftermath of the raising of Lazarus from the dead, and the religious leaders were concerned that hearing that Jesus had the power to raise the dead, that it would get them in trouble with the Roman rulers. So therefore, they started a smear campaign against Jesus, and they reasoned this way, it's better for one man to die than for the whole of us to be persecuted by the Roman rulers. So what they did is they agitated the people to put the pressure on the politicians. Okay? And that's the same thing that we see here. The religious leaders who have rejected the message of Paul, Find rabble-rousers, or men of the rabble. Not necessarily paid, but it doesn't take much to set them off. Give them some false information and they will do the rest. And what they do is form a mob who then seeks to lay hand or to, they put the city in an uproar. And because the city is in an uproar, it says, and then they attack the house of Jacob seeking to bring them out to the crowd. Now, the assumption, of course, is that Paul and Silas had taken residence in the household of Jason, and for whatever reason, either they were not there or they couldn't find them. But in any event, we are told when they could not find them in verse 6, and when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of his brothers before the city authorities. Now, hold in mind, not to say that Jason and his brothers weren't present when Paul and Silas were in the synagogues and teaching. But there is no reference to them teaching. So therefore, what is about to follow is a group threat or excuse me, a group attack against the church and they throw everybody in. They include Jason because if they can make the stick against Jason, then it allows it to be, since Jason took them into his home, then that means it must be true of them as well. So look at what it says. It says that here's the charge against them that the mob, and you know what city officials want to do. when there looks like there's a mob uprising. Don't, because you're always outnumbered, no matter, and of course now you have different weaponries or whatever, but you're outnumbered. You have, the people are outnumbering, outnumber the officials, so you at least need to take heed. So what they would do is, they would, if you want to get the authority's attention, then rabble up the crowd, or rouse up the crowd, and that's exactly what takes place. They get the people stirred up. He has, they have a mob. The mob dragged these men out of Jason's house and bring them before the authorities. And here's the charge that they bring against them to the authorities. It says, first off, these men who have turned the world upside down have come here also. First off, that is a good compliment to the church. If it's, there is some truth to that, even though it's, we don't know, Jason was probably a part of the entourage of Paul when he was in Thessalonica, but the point is, wow, what a, there is more theological truth to that than they realize, in the same way that the religious leaders in John's Gospel says it's better for one man to die than all of the people, because that is really a summary of substitutionary sacrifice. One dies so that many can live. Not for the reasons and not in the ways that they mean it, but certainly there's truth to that. So in a sense, because, and we'll see that even more fully when we get into the next chapter when Paul goes into Ephesus. But we've seen evidence of it before. Remember we talked about the slave girl that they cast the demon out. And because they cast the demon out of this slave girl, She was no longer profitable to her owners. That changes the economic order of things. Later, they will take their magic books and burn them. So in a sense, when it says, these are the men, they have turned the world upside down, there is more theological truth to that than they realize what they are even saying, but not in the ways they mean it. Because we see even the religious world of the Jews, you have priests that are leaving the priesthood to become a part of the church. You know, you see so many things that they are changing the order of things. So there is truth to this, but not in the way that the accusers mean it. It says they have turned the world upside down, and they have come here also. And by the way, also, can't you hear in that the words of the Great Commission? Go into all the world, preach and teach, and make disciples of all nations, and teach them to observe all things that I have taught you, and when that happens, when the gospel is declared, whether it's in Samaria or whether it's in Judea or whether it's in Galatia, when the gospel is declared and God has appointed those for eternal life through the gospel, They will be transferred from the power or the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. And they will be subject to a greater king. And therefore they become the citizens of the heavenly kingdom. And that changes the order of things. We see those who serve this earthly king becoming converted into the king of the resurrected Messiah. So there is a truth to this that they do They have turned the world upside down in a sense, but then it goes on to say these people have not only turned the world upside down, he says, but they are doing the same here. Also, they are acting against the decrees of Caesar. Okay, now remember last week we talked about the distinction between the political and the religious persecution that was experienced by the people of God. And whereas last week we saw persecution against the people of God for the first time not initiated specifically by religious Jews. Well in this instance, it is religious Jews once again who initiate the attack and then they bring the charge against the political, to the political leaders. And among other things, it's religious in nature to the people of God. because we know that Jesus is Lord. That's one of the early battle cries of the church, that Jesus is Lord. Maranatha, you know, that Jesus is Lord. He's the Sovereign One. And so here's the charge that they bring against the people of God, not the religious authorities, but the political authorities. They are in defiance, or they are acting against the decrees of Caesar. Here's why. They are saying that there is another king, and that king, obviously, is Jesus. Now, this of course reminds us of the ministry of Jesus and towards when he was facing Pilate and Pilate asked him, are you a king? And Jesus says, my kingdom is not of this earth, but he doesn't deny the fact that he's a king. My kingdom is of a different order. It plays itself out in these earthly kingdoms by calling people out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, but it makes us profitable for both the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness that is passing away because of the persuasion of those who have had the gospel preached to them by those who are already citizens of the kingdom of God. But what the charge that is against them, and remember we mentioned last week that especially in the Roman Empire, and this is true for different reasons in the Greek order of things, but in the Roman Empire, they were tolerant of other religions. But they did have certain things, at various points, about kingship. They were concerned, especially with the kingdom spread as narrow as they were, they were concerned about insurrection. So if there is one king and the one problem that would have been persistent, especially in the area of Palestine or Judea, that was under Roman rule. In other words, the region that was occupied largely by Jewish people, there was the concern, there were political concerns because the Jewish people, A, they thought they had been returned to their fatherland. They were still this is the land that they had been given by Abraham and according to their scriptures They would have a messiah who would be a king after the order or from the house of david So therefore there were some kingly expectations Remember, we pointed out that when Jesus was born, this is what precipitated Herod to kill all of the baby boys that were born among the Jews of a certain age, because they knew that the coming of the King, or the coming of the Messiah, was the coming of the King from the house of David. And the more radical Jewish believers, they thought that to mean an overthrow of all other kings and God would establish His eternal kingdom in a geopolitical sense in that region. And so that was why the Jewish leaders were saying, oh, no, no, if we do this, then Rome is going to think that we are exerting authority over them. That was Herod's concern. That was the Jewish leaders' concerns. And so therefore these Jewish, these smart religious Jews who rejected the message of the Gospel knew what they needed to put in the ears of the men of rabble because that would stir them up and they could get other rallies and groups to push against anything that looked like it was insurrection against Rome. They were rejecting the God of the believing Jews and rejecting the concept of the Messiah presented by them, but then they brought those religious charges or put them in political form by saying that these people defied the decree of Caesar, by saying that there is another king, and the king that the one that they are claiming to be king is Jesus. Well, we see then that the people, it says, and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. Because again, if this is true, then we need to squelch this. Because this puts us on the outs with Rome. And to prove our loyalty to Caesar, it is our Roman-given responsibility to put, to bring charges against anyone who would threaten the throne of Caesar. So now, in Thessalonica, Paul and Silas at this point cannot be found, but we see the continued attack against the church that is precipitated by religious Jews who have rejected the church's message from the common source of the Old Testament Scriptures, that the coming Messiah must suffer and would be raised again by the power of God, and that that coming promised Messiah is Jesus, who has been crucified by the religious leaders and who has been raised from the dead, witnessed by many who were still present, even though this is a different region, so they would not have been eyewitnesses to the resurrection, but that was the testimony of the church. Well, that message turned the hearts of many people. And as the message goes forth, this is another example of what Jesus says, I send you forth as the sheep to the slaughter. No death comes from this immediately, but certainly Jason and his brothers were severely treated or treated in ways that are not well. We see the case of Paul and Silas. He's already been beaten because of the message that they have proclaimed. But even in that suffering, the kingdom of Christ advances. Jason and some of his brothers are dragged out. and the testimony against them is that these men have turned the world upside down, and they're here also. And I pray that what is theologically true of these disciples, now hold in mind this testimony. These are men who have turned the world upside down, and what have we seen? Yes, we have seen two parallel streams. throughout the book of Acts. What we've seen is a steady flow of God's people sharing the word of the gospel. From the scattering after the persecution in Jerusalem that caused them to end up in Samaria, to them going to other regions. So we see a continuing spreading of the gospel that has the power to bring people out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light as God's people go. But they don't just go because they have mission conferences. What is it that causes them to go into all of the world? It's persecution in Jerusalem. is persecution over there. That's one of the things that gets the church scattered, and therefore scattering with the gospel, as Dennis Johnson says, gossiping the gospel into the uttermost parts of the world, is the persecution. So on the one hand, Jesus again is sending His sheep out, but He's sending them out into hostility. And yet, in the hostility that they face, they're turning the world upside down. And so that's the part, you know, what is it that makes them look successful? Because on the one hand we see Peter and John thrown in jail. We see James eventually beheaded or Stephen stoned. James sacrificed and Peter thrown in jail. Paul thrown in jail, beaten, left outside of the city after his first missionary trip. He had to be left over the city wall in a basket to escape being persecuted. But yet, that's the progress of the church. That's the progression of Christ sending His disciples into all of the world, because notice this, and this is the unique kingship of Christ. He says, all authority, heaven and earth, has been given to me. Now go." So you have the king's authority which allows us to be subject to the kings of this world as long as they don't cause us to disobey the king of kings. So we can submit, but we know where to draw the line. And so the people of God recognize that Jesus is King, and submission to His kingship is what causes them to continue to carry out the requirements of the Great Commission. Because in that is the power of the king and the kingdom in ways that baffle us But it is the power of the king and the kingdom and in doing so The world is being turned upside down Are there any questions or comments on anything that we've covered here? Okay, hang on a second What was the significance of those religious Jews when they pulled Jason out and others? What was the significance of robbing them? When you say robbing them? Taking their money. Well, that's probably a fine. You know, a civic, yeah, they're having to pay a fine, or what we would call pay a bond, bail, yeah, pay bail money. So it was structured civically or politically, but yeah, that's what that's about. They mentioned something about security, and so I said, what? Right, probably like a bond. Okay, all right. Yeah. Yes, I know on the surface it would read like a bribe, but more than likely it's a bond. So they're charging them for taking Paul in. Yes, to bring them to the authorities. Yeah, the point is to bring them in front of the higher up authorities. Now what Luke does in his narrative is he shifts us from Thessalonica in the 10th verse to Paul in Berea. So we don't get more details on what happens in the immediate aftermath. Okay, anyone else? All right, if not, then as we prepare to pray, let us remember we mentioned Sister Annie Davis on Sunday. While she was attending a cousin's funeral on Saturday, she had a seizure and had to be taken to the hospital. And some other things were discovered, so she's in the process of further testing. She's been transferred from Jackson South UM Hospital downtown, so please keep her in prayer. Also remember Sister Andrea McIver, who is still waiting for some procedures to be done and further testing, so keep her in prayer. Sister Tammy Lewis, who's recovering and doing much better at home. So all of those and others, I know there are many others that are on our prayer list, on our regular prayer list, so as we go before the Lord in your personal prayer time, please remember Remember the needs of the body. Let's stand. Lord our God we come to you in the blessed name of our Savior thanking you again for another time of study for the body of Christ. We pray that we've been clear and careful in the handling of your word and in doing so that it is our desire not to just be filled with head knowledge, but to know you more through what you have revealed about your grace in the person and work of Christ. and that it would propel us to consciously live under the Lordship of He that You have made Lord and Savior. We thank You for what You've given us in Christ. You've given us every spiritual blessing in Him. And so we pray that as we are built up in Him, we would better represent You and reflect Him, even as we share this message of saving grace. to others who may not know you. We thank you for the continued spread of your church and as you have kept us in days of old, you will keep us into this very present moment until our Lord returns. But we are not unaware of the schemes of the wicked one and those efforts to thwart the work that you have appointed your church to do. Continue to ground us in the knowledge of Christ and grow us in your grace that we will share your saving mercies even among in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation We lift all of the names that are on our sick and prayer lists those who are recovering those who are still hospitalized those who are waiting for further procedures and testing we pray that you would be with them and the doctors that would minister to their bodies and be with their families and in their time of decision and the things that need to take place in going forward. Continue to heal them according to Your will and strengthen them for Your glory and for their good, if it would be Your holy will. We pray, Father, for those who are bereaved and those who are dealing with various trials that some of which have not even been uttered. but we are yours and you know us and you have sealed us with your Holy Spirit. So we pray that we as individual members would be so connected and committed to our brothers and sisters that we would find ways in which we can contribute to their growth even as we receive from them your gifts that you have given and words that you have given for our edification. We pray for the church universal. We thank you that things are as well as they are, and pray that those who are clear and consistent in preaching Christ, you would continue to build them up as well. We do thank you, Father, for all that you've given us in Christ, and as we depart and go into our homes, let the knowledge of your love be our strength and our assurance, even as we go into our homes, our jobs, and our communities. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for your indwelling spirit. And we ask all of these things in Christ's name, amen. All right, goodbye folks. All right, so welcome. All right. Thank you.