 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 and we'll look at verse 6 into the conclusion of the chapter. We're going to finish our study here in 2 Thessalonians by starting at verse 6 and going into the conclusion at verse 18. As this is my normal way of approaching our studies I'm going to give you a lot of background a lot of information a lot of foundational things and move into the subject of dealing with the disorderly because that's what's being spoken of at least in the first few verses of that we'll be looking at from verse 6 following. So let's begin reading together at verse 6 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. We'll read to verse 12 and we'll get into our study 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 beginning at verse 6 reading to verse 12 Paul writes but we command you brethren in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us for you yourselves know how you ought to follow us for we were not disorderly among you nor did we eat anyone's bread free of charge but worked with labor and toil night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you not because we do not have authority but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us for even when we were with you we commanded you this if anyone will not work neither shall he eat for we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner not working at all but are busy bodies now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread and so at this point Paul begins to close his letter and he's doing so with what we would call an exhortation it's an exhortation to the believers and allow me to develop a context so that we can view this passage within that context he had just written I am confident that you will do the things that we command you he had said that in verse 4 so his next words are specifically giving orders that he expects them to obey now the command he's giving is not something that is his own idea he's commanding them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ notice that in verse 6 we command you brethren in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ this isn't something that he's commanding them this is something that he is commanding them in the name of Jesus Christ in other words he's exercising his apostolic authority and the church is not to think that they can rebel against this command because if they were to rebel if they were to reject the command he's giving them they would not be rebelling against human authority alone but against Jesus Christ himself so that helps to emphasize the seriousness of his command to them and so in verse 6 it is so concerning that that Paul is commanding them to do something that is very serious notice what he's commanding them to do he's commanding them to withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly the word withdraw is a word that speaks of cautiously drawing away from someone it's a word that was used to describe a military commander who was silently avoiding a confrontation so Paul is directly commanding them to withdraw socially from other believers and that's a very serious command because when you read your Bible from Genesis to Revelation we have been created for fellowship we have been intended by God's creation to fellowship with him and to have fellowship with one another you see that from the beginning you see that God created man in his own image to have relationship with man God created woman and woman came alongside of man for fellowship with her and him and with God it's all through the Bible so when you have someone commanding you to withdraw that's a very serious thing and so we'll be looking at that because we've been commanded and created for fellowship but he says withdraw withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition when he uses the word tradition it's a systematic teaching of the gospel message when he speaks of the tradition it speaks of a whole council the whole council of God the council of God that they received and we're continuing to receive and what what is so concerning about this is that he's concerned that the fellowship that they're having with somebody walking disorderly is going to influence and affect them some he says in verse six and in another place is some are walking in he says a disorderly manner now when he uses the word disorderly the word disorderly can mean out of rank it's used really to speak concerning of soldiers it speaks of deviating you know when I was in the military we we we go into basic training and they line us up in columns and then you have your drill sergeant and your drill sergeant begins to call cadence and he'll say to the left to the left to the left right left as you're beginning to march and so you'll be in columns of three four or more and then they'll go stretching back to 60 people or more and so you're to be walking in an orderly fashion and so because of that you'll have the drill sergeant who's walking off to the side and he'll say it to the left to the left to the left right left the reason he does that because there's always guys who're going to the right to the right to the right left right we'll be marching and there'll be somebody out of step and it just shows the whole column off and so we learned through cadence how to walk in an orderly fashion and so when he's speaking concerning those who are walking in a disorderly fashion he's saying that the whole column can't go forward because somebody is interrupting the flow and so this is something very important to understand he's speaking of someone deviating from the prescribed order of rule it can speak also of somebody who's being unruly so he's addressing the fact that some in the fellowship are still refusing to work and this apparently is a continuing problem in the church now he had just written concerning their habit of obeying spiritual direction and verse four was a statement that he was blessed by their previous and continued obedience and now he issues a command that would be difficult to keep but it's necessary to obey now for some the fact that Paul would issue this kind of command is disturbing that's because they do not yet understand the place of spiritual leadership with so much spiritual abuse they are rightly concerned about being taken advantage of and there are people today who have seen spiritual abuse and so when someone says you need to do this or don't do that well naturally they're saying to themselves why would i listen to you why would i follow your directives and so they resist following the order because of experiences perhaps that they've had in the past but one of the things i'd like to say is i'd like to say that in the early church god established leadership and the leadership was intended to feed and care for the body of christ and jesus was speaking to the apostle peter and john chapter 21 and and as jesus was speaking to the apostle peter he told him that he said if you love me then tend and feed the lambs and and the sheep now that's what it's called pastoral leadership it's to be done with gentleness and love and as the lord jesus christ is ministering to him peter learned the lesson of gentle leadership and and he passed it on to future pastors in first peter five two and three he wrote be be shepherds of god's flock that is under your care serving as overseers not because you must but because you are willing as god wants you to be not greedy for money but eager to serve not lording it over those entrusted to you but being examples to the flock so notice how peter said serve willingly do not be greedy be eager to serve do not lord it over those entrusted to you be examples to the flock so pastors are to serve as examples of the christian life we are not to excuse ourselves from god's commands and his directives but none of us is perfect the only perfect example we have is jesus christ but we are called to live as examples an example that others can follow in the book of Hebrews 13 verse 7 it reads remember those who rule over you who have spoken the word of god to you whose faith follow considering the outcome of their conduct in Philippians 4 verse 9 paul said the things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me these do and the god of peace will be with you so for pastors the greatest concern is for the sheep to follow closely after the lord and when spiritual commands are given they're intended to help the sheep in order to mature in 1st Corinthians 7 35 paul said this I say for your own profit not that I may put a leash on you but for what is proper and what and that you may serve the lord without distraction so spiritual authority is to be exercised for building up the people of christ 2nd Corinthians 10 verse 8 reads even if I should boast somewhat more about our authority which the lord gave us for edification and not for your destruction I shall not be ashamed we have authority not to destroy we've been given authority to edify while some may want to exercise spiritual authority but it's not something that is taken lightly in the end we give an account to the lord concerning how we wield it it's something that the writer of Hebrews said in chapter 13 verse 17 he said obey those who rule over you be submissive for they watch out for your souls as those who must give account let them do so with joy not with grief that would be unprofitable for you ultimately I as the shepherd of this particular congregation will give an account of how I ministered and those who are under our leadership will do the same so he says to them in verse six withdraw yourselves from every brother who walks disorderly so we see paul giving them an order and the order that he's giving them is to enact what is called church discipline church discipline is done in two basic ways you have what is called preventive and you have what is called corrective preventive is the teaching of the word of god whenever the word of god is rightly divided and presented and people are hearing and adhering to god's word that's a way of preventing them from moving into the second which is corrective because when the word of god is rightly divided presented accurately the holy spirit is present moving in the hearts of those receiving they ultimately are gaining at that point an accountability to god they've heard and therefore they must obey but when they fail to obey the second installment of it may come into play which is to correct and corrective is always done with love and gentleness it's always done with the word of god and the spirit of of love and and that's what takes place but we have something that is called church discipline we need to remember that the church is a living organization but it's under spiritual authority jesus is the head of the church he appoints leaders to care for it and in the church there are those who violate the clear teachings of scripture so normally correcting erring members can be as simple as simply speaking to them talking to them after church or seeing them somewhere and asking how they're doing what's going on how can i be of help and and bringing correction that way but sometimes they refuse to hear and they continue living improperly and when they do their unchecked sin has a way of impacting other people paul spoke of this in the case of the carinthians who had to deal with sin in the church when you read first carinthians and i'll and into second carinthians you'll see that there was a man in the church who had committed a sin that paul said even the greeks look at as being disgusting that a man should be having sexual relationships with his father's wife he said rather than repenting with grief and sorrow you you're rejoicing over it he said this thing is not good and so paul had to order them to deal with this sin and he spoke concerning what this sin will do in the church he said in first carinthians five verse six do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump don't you understand that if you have a small piece of of leaven if you if you place that into a lump of dough that that yeast that leaven is going to saturate the entire lump of dough it may be small at the beginning but it has a way of permeating and sin does that he says you need to understand that you have to deal with this or else the entire church is going to be infected with that man's sin at least the toleration of something that god doesn't tolerate so church discipline is intended to prevent sin from spreading to preserve holiness and to bring correction to the one who is in sin it it's intended to restore sinning believers as well as to warn the rest of the church if an elder had done something that was that was wrong well first timothy five verse 20 speaks of disciplining him openly so that the rest of the church may fear so how do you go about that how do you handle these kinds of things well church discipline is carried through by elders in the church if somebody is in sin and wonder if his brother's approaches and approaches him and says you need to deal with this and he doesn't deal with it then that that man who spoke to him will bring or that person who spoke to him will bring a witness who can verify so you have a second witness and Jesus taught us this in Matthew 18 verses 13 through 17 and he said if you see somebody in error and you bring correction and they listen to you you've won your brother but if he refuses bring somebody with you once again and validate it if he refuses to hear then take it to the church what that means is bring it to the leadership and the leadership there begins to deal with it and if that person still refuses then at that point he's asked not to be back in that fellowship until he corrects his behavior a church elder will normally sit with the person and explain the situation scripture will be applied there'll be an encouragement to see the problem and to repent and that's all to be done with the spirit of humility and grace paul made it clear that it's to be exercised with kindness and humility by the spiritually mature in Galatians 6 verse 1 he said brethren if a man is overtaken in any trespass you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness considering yourself lest you also be tempted well paul had addressed this situation in his first letter he had told the church to live honorably before the lord before the community before one another in 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 11 he said make it your ambition to lead a quiet life to mind your own business and to work with your hands just as we told you he went on in chapter 5 verse 14 of 1st Thessalonians and he said we urge you brothers warn those who are idle encourage the timid help the weak be patient with everyone so he had already encouraged and commanded them to deal with this but they hadn't corrected the problem and now he's saying you need to deal with it verse 6 again withdraw yourself withhold intimate fellowship allow a gap to form showing the brother that he is separating himself from his brothers and sisters in the church do not continue to associate with them do not continue being used by them being taken advantage in the name of Jesus so this is necessary because this kind of selfishness destroys the unity of the church when somebody selfishly takes advantage of other people it causes the church to grumble and sometimes when someone feels taken advantage of they get hurt and then they leave when they leave they often take others with them it undermines the work of the church the unity of the church and throughout scripture God desires the church to dwell in unity because when a church dwells in unity God can be glorified it's when it's so important this unity that Jesus himself in John 17 verses 20 and 21 prayed for it he said my prayer is not for them alone I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message that all of them may be one father just as you are in me and I am in you may they also be one in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me so unity is something that needs to be prized and closely guarded which is why in Ephesians 4 verse 3 Paul said make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace now notice in verse 6 how Paul labels those who refuse to work disorderly rejecters of traditions now how had they become disorderly what led them to stop working well it would seem that they thought if Jesus is coming soon why should we keep on working what's the point of it I got saved in a time when the rapture was once again being not so much rediscovered but being popularized in teachings and I was raised in a discipline that that never mentioned the word rapture I didn't have any clue that Jesus Christ was going to take the church off of planet earth I'd never been taught that it isn't that I was some you know frequent attendee of church I had gone as a young person but I had never heard that that one day that the Lord was going to remove the church from the face of the earth I didn't know that and so when I got saved that was part of what I was being taught and and I have to tell you man I mean hearing that that Jesus Christ is coming soon thrilled my heart now again I was raised in the in the 50s to the late 60s into 1970 and in that time you know hippies were making a lot of noise in our society lots of songs were being written concerning what we needed was love and we needed to realize we're one big family we're all children of God and and wood stock and all of those things had taken place and there was a great longing within a lot of the youth at that time to be part of community to be part of a family and we began to look at it as all we're all God's children we're all brothers and sisters and there was all of that kind of talk going on at that time but as a person who had had gone through the 60s into 1970 and and I didn't see any of the things we we sang about I didn't see the peace I didn't see the love I didn't see the unity I didn't see any of that all I saw was taking advantage of one another doing a lot of drugs getting drunk all the time things like that I didn't see any of the of those songs coming to pass and and and so I was still wanting community and I was still wanting to know what love was and I was still wanting those things the peace and the joy and all of that and that's why when the gospel was preached to me that's why my heart was open and when I heard you know what's keeping you from these things is your sin that's why I repented and that's why I realized listen the alcohol wasn't doing me any good the drugs weren't doing me any good the lifestyle I chose wasn't doing me any good the relationships that I found myself in were not fruitful they they ended quickly they they ended with pain and and I know there's something wrong in it and I still remember the day when I finally said to myself the problem isn't them the problem is you and when I heard the gospel which agreed with that the problem is you that's how I gave my heart to Christ now I'm going to church and as I go to church I'm hearing of something called the rapture well at the same time all of my hippie friends are hearing the same message and I had guys I knew this is real big in the early days of the movement where they were saying listen if Jesus is coming soon let's just charge our credit cards to the limit and leave the bill to the antichrist and so we thought yeah that's it we'll stick them with our bill well that was a long time ago and there's still pain on those credit cards but see what he's talking about isn't new what he's talking about took place when they had heard crisis coming soon they began to live irresponsibly and because they weren't working they began to use their brothers and their sisters they were the ones in church who would walk up and look around to make sure nobody saw them and they'd say listen man I'm I'm short a few dollars and I gotta put some gas in my car and and can you can you spare me spare me some money I'll give you it back next week you know we used to have a Popeye cartoon and there was a character called Wimpy and Wimpy would say I I gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today and that was kind of the attitude of a lot of people you know just give me something you know and I'll pay you back which they didn't do and so that isn't new that is something that was taking place in the early church Paul had already corrected that he had already said you shouldn't be doing this make sure that they that they they work and and take care of their own bills it wasn't something Jesus taught us to do Jesus didn't tell us while I'm returning therefore do nothing in Luke 19 verses 12 and 13 he said this is speaking of Jesus a certain noble man went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return so he called 10 of his servants delivered to them 10 minas said to them occupy do business till I come he said be busy until I come occupy till I come the point that Jesus was teaching his Christians are to be busy serving him until he returns so the return of Christ is not to motivate us a laziness it's it's intended to motivate us to action and Paul in Romans 13 said that in verses 11 and 12 he said do this knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed the night is far spent the day is at hand therefore let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light and so he's saying be busy to encourage them he uses himself as an example he says in verse seven for you yourselves know how you ought to follow us for we were not disorderly among you though Paul believed the rapture to be imminent he continued to work and so he reinforces his moral authority because he's saying my life has been consistent with my teachings moral authority is established and kept through a consistent moral lifestyle a living what you're giving in Philippians 3 17 he said join in following my example and note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern now what is it that he's pointing to in regards to his pattern of life well notice in verse 7 he says for we were not disorderly among you we did not get out of rank we kept our place we discharged all our duties he's saying I was not lazy I worked to supply my needs I worked and I was an example so Paul made that claim to them he used himself as an example in 1st Thessalonians 2 9 and 10 he said you remember brethren our labor and toil for laboring night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you we preach to you the gospel of God you our witnesses God also how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe so he says we were not disorderly among you 2nd in verse 8 nor did we eat anyone's bread free of charge we didn't live at someone else's expense we didn't use other people so that we were comfortable he goes on in verse 9 not because we don't have authority but to make ourselves an example the fact is I could have made demands I'm an apostle of Christ you see he could have rightly received compensation for the spiritual work that he was doing to the Corinthians in 1st Corinthians chapter 9 he said to them if we have sown spiritual things for you is it a great thing if we reap your material things in 1st Corinthians 9 verse 14 he said the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel so he should be cared for but he refused to use his authority in an ungodly way his desire was to be an example to them 1st Corinthians 9 12 he said if others are partakers of this right over you are we not even more nevertheless we have not used this right but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ so he worked day and night in order to relieve them from the burden of caring for him he didn't want to impose himself upon them notice how he says in verse 10 for even when we were with you we commanded you this if anyone will not work neither shall he eat this is a command if any will not work neither shall he eat a Christian must do everything in his power to earn a living we are to do our best to find work to support ourselves and also be generous to others Titus 3 14 says let our people also learn to maintain good works to meet urgent needs that they may not be unfruitful he says for verse 11 we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner this is the fruit of laziness because he says not working at all but this is a word we don't use very much if at all anymore but our busy bodies that's not really a word that we use very often anymore busy bodies we'll look at that for a minute the word busy body speaks to someone who meddles in somebody else's life it speaks of bustling about uselessly to busy yourself about trifling needless useless matters it's use of a person overly inquisitive about other people's affairs it's speaking of somebody who's always on facebook no it's a there's some who are appointed to read your posts and correct you have you noticed that that's their call in life is correcting people they've got time on their hands so they use it to meddle in other people's affairs he says when you're not working you have time on your hands when you have time on your hands you fill that time up with doing things but because you're not working and producing a living and all of that you can end up just meddling in other people's affairs always giving them counsel always wanting to know what's going on give me the details he said and this is what's taking place they're not working at all they're busy bodies he said in verse 12 now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread and so the bottom line is what they need to do is just do the work that God has called them to do and to not be disorderly at all not to be a busy body to work in quietness eat their own bread and verse 13 but as for you brethren do not grow weary in doing good do not cease doing good because a few have taken advantage of you this can cause you to grow callous to genuine needs in Galatians 6 verse 10 as we have therefore opportunity let us do good into all man especially unto those who are of the household of faith doing good for others is something that churches to be taught to do he was 1316 to do good to share the gospel to do good rather and and to share forget not for with such sacrifices God is well pleased Titus 3 14 that are people learn to maintain good works to meet urgent needs that they may not be unfruitful here's something for you do not grow weary in doing good there are those who can grow weary doing what is good they get tired of it that they can be busy doing something serving in some way and it seems that nobody notices what they're doing and nobody approaches them and says thank you they get up early they arrive to the work to church will say they're going to serve whether it's going to we'll say like an usher or worship team children's minister whatever they show up they're out there in the parking lot trying to help people to find places to to park at all and nobody seems to to say thank you nobody relieves them nobody helps them and they get weary they get tired because they're busy with no appreciation and so Paul is saying don't grow weary in doing good you know it's an interesting story that Jesus gives to us it's recorded for us how that Jesus was at the home of Martha and when you read the Bible you'll note that Martha is the older sister of a man named Lazarus and a younger sister named Mary and Jesus is there and as Jesus is there at her home at Martha's home Martha's busy making a meal and as Martha's in the kitchen we'll say the kitchen making a meal she begins to notice that her sister isn't doing anything she's just lazily in her mind seated there at the feet of Christ listening to him and so she begins to make some noise with those pots and pans if you will he starts kind of clattering in there let's make it a 21st century thing it's Thanksgiving and you've got family over and you're there in your kitchen trying to put together a meal for your family and as you're putting together some things you've got the turkey inside the oven you're waiting to put the rolls in there you you have on the on the stove you're you're making a special dish that the family likes in my case my wife will make some green beans and she'll she'll put some Tabasco in it and then she puts some bacon in it and oh man it's my favorite and so she's in there I'm hungry you know let's close service right now I but as she does that she's putting all this and there's her daughters kind of sitting around talking to me there's her daughters-in-law and they're visiting with me and Marie's in the kitchen the kitchen is only where she's at it's only 20 feet from us but the girls are busy listening to me and Marie's looking in she's saying to herself you know this is a lot of work there's a lot of kids here there's a lot of things to do I'm unable to get this all done at one time it would be a good thing if those girls may get up it and help me because after all I'm feeding them those ungrateful little brats and she's in there getting upset and then finally my wife said I can't take this anymore so she goes in the front room and she looks at the girls excuse me are you going to be eating today and she looks at me she says honey what are you talking about what are you talking to them about and I'm there sharing with them about the Lord and they're listening to that because that's what they do and I'm saying you know this is something that God has shown me and they're listening and I'm speaking but Marie's busy clanging pots and pans and she's in the other room and she's not happy and man they're all going to eat and they're probably going to leave all these dishes for me to clean up anyway and then they're going to want to take a plate home I'm going to burn this turkey and you know she's thinking and so she comes in and says it Martha Martha Jesus says you're concerned about many things you are overworked with anxiety your mind is on the wrong things Martha listen if you're going to serve me you got to learn from your sister Mary you see because the best way to serve me is to first know what I want and you need to listen the way she is you see the meal is not as important as a spiritual food and Mary has understood this and chosen that part because she will go in and not make a mess with those pans and not not make noise with those pans because she'll go in with the right heart to serve listen if you serve the Lord without sitting at his feet you will grow weary in doing good you will you will get tired of being taken advantage of you'll get tired of thinking nobody notices you will get tired of the long hours because service to the Lord is not eight to five service to the Lord is all the time we had some from our church three of the men in our church who went just on Thursday they drove to Mexicali that's over five hours of driving they arrived there they got the little trailer that they're going to stay in and they started ministry shortly after arriving ministered all day into the night next morning awoke after fighting the mosquitoes they awoke and all day they served until the early afternoon doing ministry they went to a particular colonia that that is is such a ferocious place to go to that when they ordered some pizza from outside can you bring it to this particular place they had said at first because the kids wanted to eat pizza there and they said would you guys want to eat oh we'd love some pizza so they call up the local pizzeria and they say we'd like to order these two pizzas yes where are you we're at this particular place they said no we don't deliver there because a place is so dangerous that they won't even deliver to it and that's where they're at so they stay there they feed those kids minister that they drive home you know how long it takes to get through the border and they go through the border crossing they drive the five hours to get home and then that's on friday on saturday one of the guys who went goes with me because i go to temecula i get up early in the morning we leave to temecula minister there and he's gone until early afternoon then he's here today and the rest of them are here today ministry isn't an eight to five and ministry is tiring ministry is putting your life on the line and you can grow weary doing what is good and if you have somebody in the midst of all of that this is paul's context who's saying man i i need some money can you help me but that person is someone who's able to work there's work available but he's choosing not to work it can make you discouraged and so that's one of the reasons paul is saying as for you brethren do not grow weary in doing good hold on and continue serving he goes on in verse 14 if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle note that person do not keep company with him that he may be ashamed yet do not count him as an enemy admonish him as a brother so he says and he's speaking of the disorderly members those who won't work he says you need to note that person verse 14 take notice of him and you need to avoid him because ignoring his sin will not help him by continuing treating him as a believer you're encouraging him to remain there are times that you actually withdraw yourself to give him space to understand what is taking place there are times that you need to withdraw so that they can say what's going on what's wrong and then they'll be in the place to to receive the correction so you can say this is what's wrong we spoke to you shared with you you resisted that and a person who's being brought into that discipline can realize how much they're giving up to hold on to their sin so he's your brother make sure that you don't treat him like an enemy he says in verse 15 admonish him affirm your love for him withdraw from fellowship and it gives him a place of repentance that he might even feel ashamed concerning that and then he finally says this verse 16 may the lord of peace himself give you peace always in every way the lord be with you all the salutation of paul with my own hand which is assigned in every epistle so i write the grace of our lord jesus christ be with you all amen and so he says may the lord of peace himself give you peace without god's help all of your efforts are worthless may god give you strength to obey and may god give you peace you see only the lord of peace can produce harmony amongst you and so Psalm 858 it says i will hear what the lord god will speak for he will speak peace to his people and to his saints let them not turn back to folly and then verse 17 is a sign of the genuineness of this letter remember there was a rumor going out that he had written a letter and it had caused people to stumble so now he's saying the salutation of paul with my own hand which is a sign in every epistle so i write you know this is a genuine thing and then he says the grace of our lord jesus christ be with you all which is interesting if you read your bible you know that that sol who became paul was from a place called tarsus this gives us evidence that is from southern tarsus why because he said the grace of our lord jesus christ be with you all there's a little bible tidbit for you i used to believe that i lived in south america and the reason is simple i live in america i live in southern california therefore i live in south america but anyway the grace of our lord jesus christ be with you all if you depend on the grace of god you will be able to do his will to the glory of god and he closes his epistle with grace with grace may god himself give you peace and may god himself give you grace and the only way that you'll ever have peace is when you have his grace that's how it works in the kingdom of god peace always comes through grace