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00:00 Hi, good afternoon. Uh, I would like to start just by um thanking the church um for your
00:07 continuous support uh in the ministry that I'm doing um through my parents and through other individuals. Uh I've been
00:14 getting questions about how I'm doing uh how the ministry is going and um even personally people have been calling me
00:20 and just wishing me and giving me support. So just want to thank you for your continuous uh support and encouragement uh that you're giving uh
00:27 to me in this work that we're doing uh together here in Koala Lumpur. So I actually want to thank you for your partnership in the gospel as we try to
00:34 um reach KL for Christ. I also would like to um apologize uh about changing
00:40 uh the sermon text uh sermon topic um or actually no the sermon title uh let's
00:46 put it correct. I've uh as you can see it's a different title than it is in the U bulletin and also um previously I was
00:52 only supposed to preach eight verses but I said hey let's preach 17 verses. Uh so
00:58 um it was it was very uh it's a very tough passage today and I thought it'd be just good to to go through the whole
01:04 uh chapter 2 and and look into what it means to stand firm in the midst of
01:10 anxiety. So we've before we start let me just start with a word of prayer.
01:18 Sovereign Lord, we ask for your grace. We ask that
01:24 your grace will enable us today to hear your word. And Holy Spirit, we ask that
01:29 you may do the work that only you can do to take that word and push it from our heads into our hearts
01:38 so that we may be full filled with the fullness of Christ and live out our lives in such a way. We
01:45 pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen. What I would like to do today is um take
01:52 this text and you notice if you we've just read this text and this text is a a difficult text. Um it has a lot of
01:59 language in there which we might not understand. It it talks a lot about uh um u the lawless one um about rebellions
02:07 and and and about future times that going to come and confusion which the Thessalonian church is having having at
02:14 the moment. So it's it's a difficult text and u it's difficult it's easy to
02:20 get lost among all the imagery uh which is put in here as well. So what we try to do which we we'll try to to go
02:26 through the text we try to see what is the what's the principles uh what is the the spirit of the text what is it trying
02:32 to tell us and we try to focus on key truths of the text along the way I will also try to explain um some of the
02:39 imagery uh which is here but um we do not have the full picture of everything
02:44 which is explained here because in this text in itself um Paul says remember all the things I've taught you before so
02:51 merely what he's doing in this letter he's trying to remind people of what he has actually previously taught them. We
02:58 don't have that teaching. Uh it's something that he did uh personally uh with them. So we don't have the full
03:04 picture. But of course the essence of this text and the essence of what he's trying to communicate, we are able to
03:10 see that as well. And I would like to um take us through three questions today to kind of guide us through this text. Um
03:17 the first question I would like to ask is what are your anxieties? The second question is what do you
03:23 believe? And the third thing is what are you holding on to? As we're looking through
03:30 this text, let us ask ourselves these questions. Let's look at the first one.
03:36 What are you anxious about? What are your anxieties? What are you anxious about? Now, there's many things for us
03:42 to be anxious about. Um petrol prices just increased. Uh some
03:48 of us are are anxious about that. Um many of us are anxious about what what tomorrow might bring. Um we are anxious
03:55 about our finances um financial security. Some of us are anxious about our
04:01 children. Will they have a good education? Will they have enough finances when we are not around anymore?
04:09 Some of us are anxious about being lonely. Maybe we are getting of age and and
04:15 maybe our spouses won't be with us anymore. We we are we're worried about that.
04:21 Um we are we're anxious about many things. The Thessalonians uh were anxious as well. It says here in
04:29 the text, "Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together with him, we ask you
04:35 brothers not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed." They were alarmed and they they were shaken in mind.
04:42 What were they worried about? Well, it says here that they were worried about that maybe to the effect
04:48 that the day of the Lord has come. What does that mean? They were worried that they in this period of time suddenly
04:55 where the Lord would have already come. So they're thinking they're already in this this last stage of the end times.
05:02 They were worried that Jesus has come and they have maybe missed the boat.
05:08 They this is a church that's going through great suffering and trial and tribulations. We know this from chapter
05:13 one. In chapter one, it says that Paul gives thanks to them for the fact that
05:18 they they were growing abundantly and that they um are being steadfast and
05:24 having faith in the persecutions and in the afflictions that they are enduring. So, this is a church that's going through persecution and they're being
05:31 steadfast through. So, it's a church that has trials and sufferings and a church that is confused about
05:37 which time they're in. Now because of their suffering and their persecution coming against them, they thought maybe
05:43 we are at this final last stage. Maybe we're at this time of tribulation. Uh tribulation is a period of time where
05:49 where everything will be intensified and and there's this this time where just people will go against Christians where
05:56 there'll be false teachings where it'll be very hard to be a believer and you might be persecuted very strongly. So
06:03 they were worried are they in these times? Is the Lord already come?
06:08 Ultimately, what they're really afraid about or anxious about is their salvation.
06:16 Did they miss the boat? Were they left behind? Previously in one Thessalonians chapter
06:22 5, the passage I preached here when I was here last, it says that Jesus might come like a thief in the night.
06:29 Maybe they were not prepared. Maybe he came. So, they were afraid about their
06:35 salvation. They were anxious about that.
06:40 Some of us here might be anxious about that. We might be anxious about it in a
06:46 different way. Maybe we don't think that we've missed the boat. We might not think we left behind, but we look at our lives and we
06:54 see the sin in our life. And we're anxious.
06:59 Am I am I am I really saved? Would a would a Christian really really
07:04 do these things? Maybe it's continuous perpetual sin
07:10 and we're anxious about our salvation. Maybe some of us here have not made that
07:16 decision for Christ yet. We we feel dirty. We feel we're not clean. We think
07:21 there's too much blood in our hands and Jesus can't wash us clean and we we're anxious.
07:28 We're worried that we have missed the boat. We have done too many bad things in our lives.
07:34 We're going to be condemned. And we're anxious.
07:39 So my question is what what are you anxious about? The Thessalonians, they were anxious about their salvation. They
07:45 were anxious about what tomorrow will bring. Because if this is a troubled times, then it's going to be very difficult the next couple of years and
07:52 days ahead are going to be very hard times. What are we anxious about?
07:60 It gets even worse. It says here in this text that there is been teachings
08:06 uh maybe a letter written by Paul or or a letter written which falsely was signed by Paul with the name Paul giving
08:14 giving confusion to them that that it adds in to the anxiety that maybe there's somebody saying that he has a
08:20 prophecy a word or a spirit telling them that that yeah the day of the Lord has
08:25 come and that's even worse if imagine you're already anxious about something and then
08:31 somebody adds false news on top of it that confirms it.
08:36 Imagine this. Imagine you're in your office and u you've been going through a season and and there's promotions coming
08:42 and over the last four weeks you've been you've been doing really good but the last week you had a rough week. You
08:49 you're just not doing well. The maybe the presentation you're supposed to give um went really bad.
08:56 You failed in some of the deliverables that you're supposed to submit. and you're already feeling anxious.
09:05 Now, your boss comes to you on Friday and says to you, "I would like to see
09:10 you Monday morning, first thing in the morning." Now, actually, he wants to give you the
09:16 promotion, but you have no idea, right? Because you're just looking at at at
09:21 what what what's happened over the last couple of weeks or over the last week. You're looking at your failure. You're already anxious. You know what's worse?
09:29 when your colleagues come and say, "Hey, I heard people are getting let let off.
09:36 I heard people are losing their jobs." So now it's this this false news coming
09:42 in that that people are being let go. You're looking about your past week,
09:48 which was terrible. How do you think your next two days are going to be like?
09:54 How's your Saturday going to be like? How's your Sunday going to be like?
09:59 It's going to be rough two days. So when we are in a situation in our
10:05 lives where we are very anxious and then there's false teaching coming in or false news coming in that amplifies it,
10:12 it gets worse in our lives. So the question I want to ask is what do
10:18 you believe? What are you believing in? The Thessalonians were believing that
10:24 that that false news that was coming in. So Paul had to teach. He had to correct
10:30 the news um that was going around. Maybe they were misunderstanding his
10:36 previous letter and then emphasized with this with this prophecy or this false word.
10:42 He had to retach. So he had to teach two things
10:48 that two things will happen before the day of the Lord will come. Now let me
10:53 just um um explain this a little bit. We we live in this time called the already and the not yet.
10:60 Right? There's this period of time um in between that Jesus has come and redemption has happened through Jesus
11:05 Christ on the cross, but he has not come back yet to consume the kingdom. He has
11:11 not come back yet to come back in full glory and reign in his full kingdom. So, we're somewhere in this in in the middle
11:18 of this. And there's there's many teachings in scriptures and and many different theologies and many different
11:24 people who have different opinions on how this future will happen. Now, we're
11:29 not going to go into to all these kind of uh theologies today, but this church
11:34 was particularly thinking that they had the very last days already in the and the doom and gloom period of it right
11:39 before Jesus um comes or they might have believed that Jesus has come and they've missed the boat. So what what Paul is
11:46 trying to teach here, he's trying to teach here, hey guys, relax, there's a couple of things that need to happen
11:51 first before the final days here.
11:56 The first thing that needs to happen is that uh a rebellion needs to come. It says here in the text it says um uh let
12:05 no one deceive you in any way for the day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the
12:12 man of lawlessness is revealed the son of destruction. The first thing is rebellion must come. What is that rebellion? Well, it's not specifically
12:19 identified here in this text, but from other teaching like for example in in Matthew 24, we read, "And then many will
12:25 fall away and betray one another and hate one another and many false prophets
12:30 will arise and lead many astray." So this rebellion is kind of like a time where where many people fall away. There
12:36 will be a lot of betrayal. Uh people will hate one another. Uh many false prophets will come around. It'd be very
12:42 intense period of time for Christians. That's the rebellion.
12:48 That's the first thing needs to happen. And the second thing needs to happen is
12:53 that the man of lawlessness will be revealed. Now, who is that man? He's not Satan.
12:59 He's somebody who works under the power of Satan. So, he's he is Satan's man on earth
13:07 fully revealed. So, it's come there's going to be come this time and we also know him as the antichrist.
13:13 The person is going to come who is going to bring great destruction and his name
13:18 is the son of destruction. And what he will do, he will oppose and exalt himself against every so-called god or
13:25 object of worship. So that he takes a seat in the temple of God proclaiming
13:30 himself to be God. So that's the second thing that needs to happen is there needs to be this person who will come
13:38 and he will oppose and exalt every himself against every god and ultimately the one and only god and he will do that
13:46 in great splendor and pompus. He will try to bring glory to his name and he
13:52 will take a seat here where it says in the temple. So many people think what he talks about here is is the temple uh of
13:58 Jerusalem, the the Jewish temple there and he will proclaim himself to be God.
14:05 He will say I am God and he will try to do things that only God can do.
14:12 So throughout history people have tried to identify who is this person that Paul
14:17 is talking about. Has this person come already? Has he revealed himself already?
14:23 And there are many characters in history who might fit such a description. A very famous character is Anttocuius
14:31 the IVth Epiphanies. He was a Greek king.
14:37 He is somebody who went greatly against the Jews. It was about 175 BC when he
14:44 was reigning. He's somebody who came and he made the Jewish priests fight in in in the
14:50 arenas. He forbid the teaching
14:57 and ultimately he put a statue or an idol of himself in the middle of the Jerusalem temple and sacrificed a pig on
15:03 the altar. Of course, this was completely not
15:09 kosher and against their religion, wanting to be worshiped. Somebody who
15:15 greatly opposed the Jews
15:22 and of out of this came the Meccabian revolt. um the Jewish people overcame and that's
15:28 overcoming him and and and the the the fighting that comes that came or the tribulation that came out of him the
15:34 overcoming of that is is celebrated today with Hanukkah u for the Jewish people of course Paul even though this
15:41 person really fits this description I mean he even went into the temple it cannot be him
15:48 for a couple of reasons because this happened before Paul was writing it um so this was 17 was before Christ So it
15:56 couldn't be um that Paul was referring to him. So maybe Paul's referring to somebody else. Maybe uh Paul's referring
16:03 to Caligula. He was a Roman emperor who lived about who was reigning 10 years
16:08 before this letter was written. He again said that he made himself a god. It was
16:14 um Roman um practice that sometimes after a uh Caesar, after a uh king, a
16:22 Roman emperor died that they would um um make him divine, make him a god and
16:27 worship him like a god. Caligula made himself a god while he was still alive.
16:33 He asked everybody to worship him like a god. He even made his horse a god and asked people to worship his horse.
16:39 He was a little mad but it cannot be him
16:44 because he also died and this was written I mean in Heu 10 years before this was written as well. So maybe what
16:52 Paul is talking about is the destruction of the Jewish temple which happened in AD70.
16:58 Well, many people think that it couldn't be that because Paul so often uses the
17:04 language of temple to mean the church. So maybe it must be somebody who sets
17:10 himself in the middle of the church. You know this language of Paul when he says, you know, we are all like living stones
17:16 built up together to be down the new temple of God in which the spirit now dwells. So we are the new temple. The
17:23 church is new temple. So it must be somebody who rises up in the midst of the church.
17:29 Maybe it's the medieval Roman Catholic Church. The reformers definitely thought it was.
17:37 They thought the pope is the antichrist because they saw him doing things that
17:43 only God could do to give forgiveness of sins to the payment of indulgences.
17:50 Maybe it was an earlier pope. Maybe Pope Innocent III.
18:00 Maybe it was out of Hitler. Somebody who tried to create a new humanity and said, "I will rule for a
18:07 thousand year. I have a thousand-y year Reich."
18:13 And so history goes on. And there are many people who fit that kind of category.
18:20 Maybe it's Kim Jong-un. Maybe it's Donald Trump,
18:29 right? We we have this this people who just kind of fit this this this this category and and we try to make sense
18:34 and we're trying to figure out who is this man of lawlessness and who will he be? But I think there is this part of
18:40 scripture that really helps us to understand the spirit of this text. And it says in 1 John 2:18 it says,
18:45 "Children, it is the last hour and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared.
18:53 From this we know that it is the last hour." So John here in this text is not
18:59 saying that there won't be a final antichrist. There will be a final antichrist and he will be coming. But in
19:04 the light of him coming, there are also many antichrist that have come already.
19:11 So the in our text it says that the mystery of lawlessness is already at
19:17 work. Yes, the lawless one is coming but the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. There are many antichrists
19:25 which are going to come. Actually, if you look at Revelation,
19:32 there is this text um that talks in Revelations 13, I think, that talks
19:37 about um the antichrist um the beast being slain and a beast having a fatal
19:44 wound and then the beast is alive again.
19:50 It's this imagery of receiving a fatal wound and when you receive a fatal wound, you usually die. That's a fatal
19:56 wound. But then it is healed again. So it's this imagery of the antichrist
20:04 dying but then coming again. Kind of what he is saying. There's the
20:10 antichrist coming but there are many anti- Christ. Yes the lawless one is
20:15 coming but lawlessness is already at
20:21 work. So instead of getting stuck with the details, let us look what the principle
20:29 of this text is saying and it's saying two things. First thing is yes
20:36 Jesus might come back any day. He might come like a thief in the night but there
20:42 might be also a period of time in which we have to wait. There are certain events that might have
20:47 to take place first. So that period of time might be tomorrow. It might be a
20:54 long time. Certain things need to happen first.
20:60 I think the best way to explain this is looking at the parable of the 10 virgins. The parable of the 10 virgins
21:07 is a parable we talk about. Um there's a bridegroom. Uh there there's wedding and people getting married and the
21:13 bridegroom is at one party and he's planning to go to the second party. Uh back then it was custom to have a first party with family members and more
21:19 closer friends and you have a second party where everybody else is invited. So as he's at the first party and and
21:24 it's going to take some time until he gets to the second party. There's these 10 virgins, there are five wise ones and there are five foolish ones and they are
21:31 invited to the party. So they have received an invitation to the party and they're prepared. All 10 of them got
21:36 lamps and all 10 of them go to the bridegroom's house and they're waiting
21:42 for the party to arrive. They're waiting for the bridegroom to come. What's the difference between the foolish and the wise?
21:49 The wise have extra oil with them. The foolish don't.
21:56 So what is the story telling us? Every one of them were ready.
22:03 They all had their lamps, but only the wise had extra oil. They
22:09 were ready to wait for a long time. They were prepared for the wait.
22:16 The foolish ones weren't. So yes, we have to be ready at any time,
22:23 but we also have to be ready to wait for some time. And in this middle in this time, the
22:30 question is what are we believing? Because in this time, the the
22:35 lawlessness is going to be already at work.
22:41 There's going to be many false teachers and more false prophets that are going to arise.
22:48 Many antichrists will come. Some of them will go directly against
22:53 Christians and some of them will come as false teachers. We have both pictures in scripture.
23:01 In this particular passage, we're talking about about false teaching and it has to do with end time theology.
23:09 In theological terms, what this what what this teaching is about is about an overrealized esquetology. What that
23:15 means it's talking about believing about things which are for the future.
23:20 Believing that they are already available now, already here today. So esquetology is future time over realized
23:27 it's believing what is supposed to be for the future realizing it today and realizing it now.
23:34 Taking what the scripture says is for tomorrow and believing it is for today. A very prominent overrealized
23:40 esquetological teaching, false teaching is the prosperity gospel
23:46 is believing what the Bible says is for heaven
23:52 is actually for us available here. When the Bible talks about complete full healing for eternity, when the Bible
23:59 talks about all the riches that we will share with Christ, all this language is for heaven
24:06 promises that we will have eventually guaranteed for us in the glory and with
24:11 sharing in the glory with Christ believing that it's available for us here today. It's a it's a similar kind
24:18 of false teaching that comes from the same kind of false theology.
24:23 I'm not saying that there are no blessings today. I'm not saying there's no healing today. I'm not saying that
24:29 God cannot provide for you today. But the guarantee that he will do so is in heaven,
24:39 not necessary for us here today. So there'll be many false teaching which
24:44 are coming and the question is what are we believing in right now?
24:55 The real hard part of this passage is what comes next in verses 9 to 12. It
25:01 says, "The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders and with all
25:07 wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so to be saved. Therefore,
25:14 God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false in order
25:19 that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in
25:24 unrighteousness. There seems to be this language here of saying God sends delusions
25:32 so that people may not believe. And you might be sitting here as a
25:38 skeptic saying, "How can I believe in a good God who who sends delusions to people?
25:44 Isn't God supposed to draw everybody to the truth?
25:50 But you must read what it says here particularly in a text earlier on. It
25:55 says all with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they
26:00 refuse to love the truth and so to be saved.
26:05 So first there are people who are hearing the truth but they refuse to
26:12 believe. So there's on our side a danger of
26:18 willing participation in the deception
26:23 that we are willing to participate in the deception and willing to believe the
26:29 truth. We're not willing to believe the truth, but we're wanting to believe lies
26:41 and therefore God sends delusion as a reaction. So in one sense, this text is
26:47 saying this that if we are confronted with the truth continuously, one thing that the truth will do,
26:54 it will condemn eventually. If you are here and you're hearing the truth over and over and over and you you
27:00 choose not to believe the truth, eventually God will say, "Fine. You want to believe lies. I let you go and
27:08 believe your lies. Believe your lies.
27:13 Live in your unrighteousness."
27:19 In John 8:45, Jesus says this, "But because I tell the truth, you do not
27:25 believe me. He doesn't say although I tell the truth
27:31 you do not believe me. He says because I tell the truth you do not believe me.
27:39 Something that truth does. It divides doesn't it? It divides those people who want to believe and those people who do
27:44 not want to believe. What other options do we have? Should we just tell lies? No. Of course we have to confront people
27:50 with the truth. And the truth does two things. It either hardens hearts or it
27:55 softens hearts. And this this text is telling us that eventually as we are coming and
28:01 believing and not believing the truth, eventually it's going to time be a time our heart is so hardened that God says
28:06 fine, believe your lies. So what are we believing in?
28:13 And there might be some of us here who have been continuously pursued by
28:18 God. Some of us here who have heard the truth over and over again, who have heard the
28:23 gospel over and over again, who have heard that God so loved you, that he sent his son to die for you,
28:31 that Jesus on the cross atoned for your sins.
28:38 That if you believe in him, you're forgiven of all your sins.
28:43 And that there's be no more condemnation for you if you just so believe in him.
28:49 But we choose not to believe.
28:54 The day of salvation is today. We should believe now.
29:02 One day we might not have the opportunity anymore. One day we will just continue believing
29:08 our lies. Are you one of those people?
29:19 What do you believe?
29:28 The question, the last question for the day is what are you holding on to?
29:36 Now, of course, in the church there was much anxiety. People were not sure whether they are saved or they're not saved.
29:43 There was false teaching coming in.
29:49 And in the midst of this, the question is, what are you holding on to? And I think this text primarily is talking to
29:54 Christians here, right? It says, "But we ought to always give thanks to God for
29:59 you brothers beloved by the Lord because God chose you as first fruits to be saved through sanctification by the
30:05 spirit and believe in truth." So he's talking about people who believe in the truth.
30:13 But when we are feeling anxious, when we are uncertain, when we feel deceived,
30:18 when we do not know what to believe, what are the things that we are holding on to?
30:24 It says here, hold on to this that if you are somebody who confesses his faith in Jesus, who has made him your Lord and
30:30 Savior, hold on to this that God has chosen you.
30:36 that God has chosen you to be his child, that he has adopted you into his family.
30:45 Hold on to that truth. God chose you and he did a work in your heart
30:51 to give you a new heart so that you can believe the truths.
30:58 It's God working in your life. And he has chosen you before the foundations of the earth.
31:04 So when you're anxious, hold on to that truth. God has chosen you. And God is keeping you. It says here
31:13 through the sanctification by the spirit. Sanctification is is us becoming more
31:18 holy, becoming more Christlike. That God is doing the work in us by who?
31:24 By the spirit. It's not by your works. No. The same
31:29 grace that chose you, the same grace that gave you a new heart. It's the same grace that sanctifies you. It's the same
31:36 grace that sees you through. So if you're here and you're you're anxious about your perpetual sin, you're anxious about that sin you committed last week
31:42 and you're not sure about your salvation, know that God, who began the good work in here, will bring it to completion and he'll do it by the power
31:48 of the Holy Spirit. Hold on to this truth.
31:58 It says here that you are called by God. To this he called you through our gospel
32:06 so that you maintain may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. How do you obtain the glory? How are you
32:12 delivered through the last times? How are delivered into glory? It's by the gospel. It's by our Lord Jesus Christ.
32:20 So if you're here and you're worried, am I going to be left behind? Am I going to be condemned?
32:26 Am I really going to make it? Am I going to persevere through?
32:32 Am I really saved? Or am I going to be forsaken? Know this. On the cross,
32:39 Jesus cried out. He says, "Oh God, oh God, why have you forsaken me?"
32:45 See, he was forsaken so that we might not be forsaken. All the forsaken that we deserve was was
32:53 poured onto Jesus. He called you through the gospel.
32:59 The work is finished. It is done. He will not forsake you. No. There's no
33:06 condemnation coming upon you now. No. No. Not if you're in Christ Jesus. Nothing can separate you from his love.
33:13 No heights, no depth, nothing. No angels, no demons, nothing will separate you from his love.
33:20 You won't be forsaken. No, Jesus was forsaken for you.
33:27 And this needs to be established in our hearts. This is the truth that we need to hang on to in the midst of our
33:33 anxieties, in the midst of our troubles.
33:42 And it's not just a truth that will work for the temporary. It's a truth that you need to hold on
33:47 to. Not just for this momentary sin or for this momentary anxiety. No, this is
33:52 a truth that will give you comfort through eternity.
33:58 It's an eternal comfort. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself
34:03 and God our father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope.
34:10 Good hope. Hope that we will share in Christ's glory. a certainty, a Christian hope is
34:17 a certainty of being with Christ at the end. And that is achieved to us
34:23 not by our works, not by our strength, not by what we do,
34:29 but what it says here in the text, through grace.
34:37 He gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace. The same grace
34:45 that called you, that chose you, that is making you look more like Christ
34:54 is the same grace that will give you internal comfort and deliver you in
34:60 to glory. This is what we
35:05 stand firm on, the good news of Jesus Christ.
35:13 that he will not forsake us but that he will be with us always
35:19 if we choose to believe in him. Let us pray.
35:31 Oh gracious God, we thank you for for Jesus.
35:37 We thank you that we can stand firm
35:43 in the traditions and the teachings of the apostles.
35:49 That we can rely on the word that you have given.
35:56 that we can trust that in the midst of our anxieties, in the midst of our uncertainties,
36:03 in the midst of our tribulations, in the midst of our sufferings, in the midst of our hardships,
36:10 that you will not forsake us,
36:16 that you will be with us always.
36:22 that the grace that chose us, the grace that sanctified us,
36:29 the grace that justified us, is the same grace that will see us through the end of times.
36:38 And we give you all glory for this,
36:43 for it's by your works, not ours. So, Father, we ask your spirit to work
36:49 in our hearts that we may be established in the fullness of Christ
36:56 to stand firm in the midst of our anxieties, in the midst of the false teaching,
37:03 in the midst of deception, in the midst of times that people come against us
37:11 and trust in Jesus.
37:17 and the finished work on the cross. Amen.
