“Enduring in the Ministry of Reconciliation” | 2 Corinthians 6 | Pastor Israel | Sunday Evening

Would you open your Bible, please, to the New Testament

book of Second Corinthians? And in chapter 6, we find

ourselves tonight we're going to look at verses one through to

13. And the title of the message as

you're turning there is enduring in the Ministry of

Reconciliation. I don't know if you ever have

considered what it takes to endure.

For the marathon runner, it's pushing through the pain,

through the fatigue, kilometre after kilometre.

For the university student, it's late nights, it's endless hours

of study. It's the pressure of

examinations until finally holding that piece of paper that

says mission accomplished. For the mother, it's months of

carrying and then the labour pains to come that ultimately

lead to the joy of new life. For the soldier, it's surviving

hostility, harsh environments and the uncertainty of battle

and conflict. But what about the Christian?

You and I were gathered here tonight and.

And that is who we are. Endurance is at the very heart

of the Christian experience in life and is to be particularly

in the area of ministry. And Paul writes to the

Corinthians, our audience tonight, and to you and I about

the need to endure if we're to live faithfully as Christ's

ambassadors. He declared that at the end of

chapter 5 that we are ambassadors of Christ's

representatives. Just as athletes endure for a

medal, just as soldiers might endure for the victory that

comes after the battle, so you and I as Christians, we endure

not for worldly applause, but for an eternal reward and for

the privilege of working with God in his mission of

reconciliation. So that's again what Paul calls

you and I too in Second Corinthians here in chapter 6 in

our verses. Focus flowing again out of

chapter 5, where he had described himself and you and I

as ambassadors of Christ, Paul. Now he urges the Corinthians to

join him in enduring faithfully just as he has been in that

ministry of reconciliation. So we're going to explore this

passage under 3 headings. We'll see in verses 1 to 2 the

urgency of grace. And then a big portion of our

focus from verses 3 through to 10, the endurance of the servant

to Paul was that's who you and I are as ministers of Jesus Christ

of the gospel. And then lastly in verses 11

through to 13, we'll consider the endurance of affection.

Let's look at and consider the first in verses 1 to 2, the

urgency of grace and follow along.

I'm reading out of the New King James Version tonight, 2nd

Corinthians 6 verse one. We then as workers together with

him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in

vain, for he says he quotes the Old Testament.

In an acceptable time I've heard you, And in the day of salvation

I have helped you. Behold, now is the accepted

time. Behold, now is the day of

salvation. And so Paul begins.

We look at this chapter here as God's coworkers, he says, we

urge you not to receive God's grace in vain.

You know, as Christians, we have this marvellous, this, this

wonderful good news. That is the gospel, the message

of truth, that there is a God who is merciful and kind and who

reaches out to us to fall in sinful humanity and who offers

to forgive our guilt and to wipe away our shame and to pay that

penalty in full to help us to live a life that is a spiritual

flourishing. But we must respond to his

activity, to his work, to his grace and the conviction that

the Holy Spirit brings to you and I.

And we must confess our need for a Saviour for him, Jesus Christ,

and the wrongs that we have done without him.

And so Christians around the world have have taken this

message from the time of what we're reading here and have

shared this throughout time, throughout Christian history,

this message with family, this message with friends, this

message with their neighbours out of love that has been given

to them and a love that extends on out to these people because

of the love of God at work in their hearts and lives.

And so Christians have sold their homes, Christians have

quit their jobs and have have travelled to parts of the globe

seeking to, to share and, and to spread the good news of Jesus

Christ as what we would call missionaries.

And they've moved to, to cities, to plant churches and to be busy

about the business of God. And and they've struck up

conversations with with strangers and with roommates

alike and all sharing in an effort the transformative power

of the gospel. And that's why he says in verse

one here that he wants them to be working together with him.

Now, in some translations and out of the new King James

Version, we have some italicised words and maybe yours has that.

Mine certainly does here in the new King James.

And and what that is, is an addition by the English

translators to help in the grammatical flow and sense when

translating from Greek into English.

And so the Greek, the original has we then as workers together

also plead. And so the idea there is that

Paul is calling his audience alongside in ministry together

with him, this ministry of reconciliation that he's been

declaring in chapter 5. And we are also, and this is a

privilege that is so staggering and so wonderful.

We are God's Co workers in this. We get to be involved in God's

gospel work. The good news and ministry is

not something then that we do for God, but it is God working

through us in spite of us, despite you and I and and

there's great dignity then and responsibility that is given to

you and I as a consequence of being ministers of Jesus Christ.

And he says the phrase in verse one that you not take the grace

that you not receive the grace of God in vain.

And he warns of a danger here and that and that the good news

that the gospel message, the grace of God that has been

extended, which is an unmerited gift, undeserved.

It's something that that God initiated, that God desired,

that sprang out of his love and the kindness of his heart and

his mercy towards us that we don't receive that in vain, that

we empty then therefore the significance of it.

And that might happen by out and out rejection of the gospel

message. And that's certainly the case

for many people. It might happen by

procrastination. I believe it.

I, I sense that there's some truth to it, but not right now

because I, I, I want to hang on to and continue to live the life

that I'm living. Or it might be by, by people

receiving Christ and then living in self reliance and dependence

upon our own abilities and capacities rather than daily

dependence upon the Holy Spirit. I know if you recall in the book

of Acts in chapter 24, that Paul had an audience with a governor,

a guy called Felix, who was hearing and having and giving an

audience regularly to Paul. And Paul would take that

opportunity to preach the good news of Jesus Christ, to declare

the grace of God unto him. He'll preach about righteousness

and judgement. And at one point in time, the

governor, Felix responded with these words.

He said, that's enough for now, Paul.

When I find it convenient, I will send for you and hear this

again. But you know, as far as we know,

the the the biblical record doesn't record that there ever

was a convenient day that returned for Felix to hear that

and to respond to that, the Elogen Ellen Redpath wrote and

said God's grace is always coming to my heart and life in

very wonderful and blessed experience of now.

Yesterday's grace is totally inadequate for the burden of

today, and if I do not learn to lay hold of heavenly resources

every day of my life for the little things as well as the big

things, I will soon become stale, barren, and fruitless in

the service of the Lord. And so Paul issues to them and,

and to you and I tonight the warning of not taking the

precious grace of God in vain, but to appreciate it for its

fullness, for the wonderful power that is the gospel and the

good news. And so he urges salvation.

And he quotes from Isaiah 49 verse 8.

Isaiah 49:8

He says, in the time of my favour I heard you, and in the

day of salvation I helped you. This is actually what's called a

Messianic prophecy. It is in fact the Father

speaking to the Son and it's an interesting text for him to

quote. And really what Paul is doing

here is he is applying to his ministry this now as being the

day of salvation promised by God to the Son through Christ that

is now at work and has arrived in the world.

And that's why he declares now is the time of God's favour.

Now is the time of God's grace. Now is the day of salvation.

And to not waste it. He's actually declaring here,

it's actually happening now. It's actually a possibility for

you to experience and to receive and to enjoy.

And so grace then is not to be delayed to to not be dismissed

to to not be postponed. For it is dangerous.

And he says today is the day of salvation.

It's akin to ignoring a a life giving medicine and and having

it just sit on the shelf unaffected.

So for the unbeliever tonight, don't put off responding to

Jesus Christ. If God is calling and and

there's probably a reason that you're here in church on a

blistery winter's evening. And if you are yet to know the

saving power of Jesus Christ as as Lord and Saviour in your

life, today is the day of salvation.

Don't delay, don't postpone. I'll do it when I'm older and I

know there's truth. I know that the Bible's real.

I'll do it when I've graduated uni or I'll do it when I'm

married or or when I'm retired. Then I'll then I'll have

opportunity. You know there is there is

something that is not guaranteed to us and that is tomorrow.

We can plan and we can have the best intentions, but if we

procrastinate, if we delay, then we make void.

We, we, we turn the gift of grace into vanity.

We empty it parents, your children need to see grace at

work in your lives daily. You and I as as workers, we we

need to have God's grace at work in our hearts for integrity in

our workplaces. It's so important and so it is

that that Paul urges this and the the grace at work as Co

workers. He says we urge you not to

receive God's grace in vain and we move on and see this larger

chunk. Our second point, the endurance

of the servant versus three to 10 and Paul shows that ministry

then and what he has been defending all along through the

book of Second Corinthians. Here is, is challenges and

accusations against his character, against him being an

apostle of Jesus Christ. And that ministry is commanded

not by comfort is his point, but by endurance.

And so he says in verse 3, we put no stumbling block in

anyone's path so that our ministry will not be

discredited. And rather as servants of God,

we commend ourselves in every way in great endurance.

And so we're looking now at the endurance of the servant.

And again, there were these false teachers that had crept

into the church at Corinth who were seeking to sow seeds of

discord and disunity in the church there as they would

gather. And particularly they would

fault and and cast all sorts of false allegations against Paul

to try and discredit his ministry.

And then therefore, the message that Paul had been bringing,

seeking to illegitimize him as an apostle.

And especially the point was given the suffering that Paul

had encountered again and again and again.

And yet Paul's argument as we read the rest of these verses in

a moment, is essentially, why would I put up with any of this

suffering that I've been experiencing if it were not

real? And his point is that these

false teachers are all about comfort, are all about opulence,

are all about popularity, prestige, and prominence.

They won't put up with it. And yet I, as a true apostle of

Jesus Christ, I'm suffering, but I endure.

So too should you. And so, so too should you and I.

Tonight is what Paul declares here.

So we have the endurance of the servant and particularly then he

highlights as a part of endurance the trials he faced.

Now endurance, understand, is not just a a passive patience

that we're to display as Christians, you know, kicking

back on the front porch of our, our, our houses and, and just

sipping lemonade as we await Jesus return.

The imagery of endurance is one of a, a slow, gradual

progression and determination, particularly in the face of

opposition. Now with the weather that we've

experienced, perhaps an apartment illustration is if

you've ever taken a walk and there's been strong wind blowing

against you and you find yourself determined to head in

the direction that you must go. But the contrary winds cause you

to almost lean into that wind as you're making progress against

it. This is the picture, the imagery

behind what Paul declares for the heart of the minister of

Jesus Christ to be 1 of endurance, that we're depressed,

to lean in to the suffering, to the trials, and to endure, to be

determined towards the end goal. But know that there'll be trials

faced. And that's what he writes for us

in verses four and five when he says.

But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God in

much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in

stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in

sleeplessness, in fastings. Paul here in these verses

describes a a veritable Blizzard of troubles, doesn't he?

He speaks initially of just the general pressures of living life

in this fallen world that we find ourselves existing in.

That's where he declares of tribulations of necessities, of

distresses and and the word for distresses.

Maybe it sums up how often you you might feel in just the

everyday existence of humanity. It literally means narrow space

and the idea is of being hemmed in with no room to turn.

It's like I'm trapped no matter which way I turn.

There's there's this trouble, there's there's this trial,

there's this pressure, there's this tribulation, there's this

experience that just feels so daunting, so overwhelming.

That is what Paul declares that he is enduring and and pressing

on towards and against. But then the next lot really

opposition experience from others.

He speaks of beatings or or stripings, depending on what

version you're reading from imprisonments of riots.

Think of in again the book of Acts chapter 16, when Paul and

Acts 16 · chapter mention

his ministering partner, at that time a fellow called Silas, were

beaten for preaching about Jesus Christ and thrown into prison.

And so belted were their backs that they were bleeding raw.

And yet at that night time they found themselves singing hymns

of praise unto God. When when the earthquake that

God allowed shook that Philippian gaol cell, and they

sang into the night, and the gaoler was converted.

It seemed that everywhere Paul went one of two things took

place. There were either revivals or

riots. Paul was either given an

audience about a preach and and great movement of of God and the

Holy Spirit through him took place, or Paul was imprisoned as

the crowd erupted in opposition to the message that was given.

And then he speaks of the the third lot of trials faced from

himself or, or really what this is, is just generally the impact

of hard dedicated work in whatever sphere that you find

yourself labouring in. And so he speaks of labours of

sleepless nights and of fastings.

And particularly for Paul, this was gospel work that was costly

and discipline for him. And think of the intensity of

all that Paul would be about where just in travelling and

preaching and in teaching and and how tired and fatigued that

would be. And of at times when not having

the support of others, when he would have to labour with his

own hands at the tent making business.

And how hard a labour and work that was of times where he would

not know where his next meal was coming from.

That's where it speaks of where he says of fastings and all the

way through this, Paul is an example to you and I of of what

HA Ironside said, that God often breaks his servants before he

uses them. And this isn't something that we

like to hear. This isn't something that we put

on a T shirt and turn into something that I'll wear that

every day as a promise that I'll claim from God.

But but Jesus said that in this world you will have tribulations

and trials, did he not? But he also said that I have

overcome the world. I think of the likes of Jacob in

the Old Testament who wrestled with God and so wrestled to the

point that his hip was put out of place before his name was

changed to Israel. Yes, literally one who wrestles

with God, but but more so the greater definition, Prince of

God. That transformation took place.

Think of the likes of Joseph, who had all sorts of accusations

held against him and found himself imprisoned there in

Egypt, and yet God was able to use him mightily.

Think of Moses enduring 40 years in the desert before leading

Israel. Think of some modern examples of

of the missionary Aden Iron Judson.

Maybe you're familiar with his name.

He buried his wife, his children in Burma as a missionary unto

the Lord and to the people there, ultimately in the 1800s,

but pressed on translating scripture from English into

Burmese language and various dialects, ultimately devoting 37

years of his life in working there in Burma.

And then of course, recently this week we've seen the

assassination of Charlie Kirk and we've mentioned it this

morning, A modern day example of a man unashamed of the gospel,

enduring public hatred, hostility, and faithful he was

to Christ. Call upon his life, even unto

death as it cost him. And his life reminds you and I

tonight that following Christ is costly, but it is worth it.

And endurance. It will cost.

It costs Paul, and it will cost you an eye.

Following Christ is not about comfort, but it is about

commitment. And so for students tonight, you

might be standing for Christ at school, but know that it might

cost you popularity for adults in our workplaces, wherever we

find ourselves integrity. It might cost in the workplace.

It might cost you a promotion for families when you make

gospel priorities in your lives in the direction that you as a

family take. That might mean sacrifice in

certain things. But Paul saw none of these as a

cost far too great for that which he had received from the

Lord Jesus Christ. And so he endured.

But then as he declares, well, these are the things that were

encountered on the trials face. But let me declare unto you the

tools that are at your disposal, just as the tools that were at

Paul's disposal as he writes here in verses 6 and seven.

These, these are how I was able to endure in such circumstances

and situations. Paul endured by verse 6, purity,

by knowledge, by patience, by kindness.

And here is the source of all these by the Holy Spirit, by

sincere love, by truthful speech, and by the power of God

with weapons or the armour of righteousness in the right hand

and in the left. And this isn't about grit.

This isn't about, you know, I pulled myself up by my

bootstraps and I just pressed on and I survived and having a a

stiff upper lip. And that's not what Paul is

endorsing here in his writing, but it is about grace.

You see, these qualities that he declares are in fact spirit

given. They're not self produced.

It's not something that we can contrive in and of ourselves.

And he, he leaves in verse 7, this idea, this picture, this

imagery of the, of righteousness or, or maybe a translation

you're looking at has the weapons of righteousness.

And he says that they're on the right hand and on the left.

Typically in the right hand of, of the Roman soldier would be

the sword and in the left hand would be the shield.

And so for Paul, righteousness was both then defensive like a

shield protecting against accusations, an offensive in

declaring truth boldly. And the two hand in hand were

the weapons in the armour of righteousness.

And so just as a a surgeon doesn't endure long surgeries by

brute force, you know, just just sheer determination of will, but

rather through training, through focus and the right instruments,

Paul here reveals the instruments that enable us to

endure, that are in fact spirit shaped virtues for you and I

purity, patience, love and truth.

And so you and I as believers tonight, as servants, as

ministers of God are going to need to endure.

We face trials, tribulations, distresses.

At times we feel hemmed in those hardships, those difficulties

come. And the question then is what

tools are you relying on? Is it your own cleverness, your

own wit, your own charm, or the Spirit's power as evident in

verse 6? And you and I, maybe you're a

parent tonight. You, you, you need to endure

with patience and kindness. Often for all of us as servants,

as, as workers in the church here, we rely not on programmes

on, on schemes of, of man and, and maybe what works in the

business world, but on the Spirit's truth and love for any

of us who are leaders. We, we wield the weapons of

righteousness with integrity. So these were the tools that

Paul accessed that he employed. And in leaving through this last

component of this point here, verses 8 through to 10, there's

there's tension in that. And he goes on and, and certain

to leave his audience not ignorant of what that reality

might be. He then highlights, let me

describe the paradox of Christian ministry by honour and

dishonour, by evil report and good report.

Verse 8 as deceivers and yet true, as unknown and yet well

known as dying. And behold, we live as

chastened, and yet not killed, as sorrowful, verse 10 yet

always rejoicing, as poor, yet making many rich, as having

nothing, and yet possessing all things.

What's Paul talking about? I'm confused.

He says one thing and then he says another.

And is this just poetic that he's writing here?

Dishonour and honour, bad report, good report called

deceivers, yet true. What he is talking about is, is

how the world might see things. And then looking from a heavenly

perspective, how important the, the everlasting impact of the

gospel, the grace that we've been given is.

And where there's a perceived dishonour given perhaps to a

reputation or something, there's honour that comes from the Lord.

Where there's a bad report that the world might might place

certain labels on on us, you and I, as ministers, as we serve the

Lord, there's in fact a good report called deceive as yet

true. I mean, I think of an example.

Christopher Hitchens, the atheist once called Billy Graham

wicked, a self conscious fraud, he said, and a disgustingly evil

man. You see, the world often

misjudges faithful servants of God.

And aren't we seeing that in in many people's posts and words

said after Charlie Kirk's passing, sorrowful yet always

rejoicing. Like there's times where there's

just the the weight and the heaviness.

But oh, it brings the joy of the Lord somehow through the work

that I'm a part of Paul says Paul yes, maybe materially,

physically, yet making many rich and in the grace and and the

riches that are in Christ Jesus and having nothing yet

possessing everything thinking of the eternal reward.

No wonder this is the life of the Christian.

This this paradoxical existence when the cross itself is the

greatest paradox of all the Paul said in first Corinthians

chapter one verse 18 that it the cross is foolishness to the

world, but it is the power of God.

And so if you're at all about the the business of Jesus Christ

about the the cross of Jesus Christ, then this will be your

experience. Paul doesn't want to leave any

in his audience in in any sort of foolish notion that the

Christian ministry will be a life of of just a a wonderful

kind of bed of roses and beautiful sunshine and and

unicorns and polka dots and all sorts of that.

He says I don't want you to to be due.

This is the reality of what that experience will be.

But he says don't be discouraged when the world misunderstands

you because mockery, rejection, even violence are part of

following Jesus Christ. Think of those mentioned in in

that that famous chapter in Hebrews Chapter 11, what we call

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

the the Great Hall of faith who it says in summation of those

that of whom the world was not worthy.

You may be mocked at work for your faith.

Yes, might be called naive for trusting in Scripture, but

remember these tensions. This this paradox of existence

is not a sign of failure. It is in fact a mark of

authentic discipleship. I love how Amy Carmichael worded

it in her poem. Amy Carmichael, for those of you

unfamiliar with her, was a missionary in India for some 50

plus years. In the early 1900s she penned a

poem, Has Thou No Scar? And it was the idea that the

Christian life is is not one that is void or empty of

suffering, but that rather it is part and parcel of that of our

existence. And so she says, Has thou no

scar, No hidden wound, no scar. Yet as the master shall the

servant be And pierced are the feet that follow me.

You see we're kidding ourselves if we think that as Christians

and and we've had it so good so easy.

I think in Australia for so long and in the western world that

that to be a follower of Christ has really cost us very little

in the sense of any animosity or persecution from others.

But don't you, don't you see and sense that in these the last

days that that's shifting that to be a follower of Jesus Christ

is, is, is to come at a great cost very soon.

And, and, and the question will be, are we going to endure in

and through that the servant of Christ will endure.

And lastly, there's the endurance of affection in verse

11 through to 13. And he's shown in verses 3 to 10

the endurance in trials. And, and now he shows that

endurance must extend on through interrelationships as well.

You see, ministry endurance isn't just about surviving

external hardship, but about persevering in love even when

others close their hearts to that love.

And Paul effectively says in these verses as we read them in

a moment, he says, and it's very vulnerable in his writing here.

I'm I'm laying it all out for you here.

And I've been open and I've been honest and you've been giving me

the cold shoulder in return. And so Paul's words here are

really, it's it's not me, it's you type of thing here from

Paul. And, and what sits at the heart

of it is that the Corinthian believers were were turning

their heart towards other things, towards other teachings,

towards their old ways of life and living.

And they're being drawn away from the gospel and from where

they should be in being a Co worker and minister together

with Paul. And so he pleads with them in

these words. And he says in verses 11 through

to 13 now, Oh Corinthians, we have spoken openly to you

honestly raw. Our heart is wide open.

Verse 12 you are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by

your own affections. Now in return for the same I

speak as to children. So his father's heart coming

through here you also be open so we have this openness of him as

a minister unto them. Paul says I've spoken freely

honestly to you. My heart has been exposed unto

you his his ministry to them was never just a a cold

professionalism. You know I'm just going to give

you the facts but but a real vulnerable affection coming

through here and so true endurance in this way isn't to

harden us but to enlarge us. Have you ever felt that when

people close off to the ministry and your work as you're trying

to serve them and love them through Jesus Christ, that when

they close off to that, that your heart becomes burdened and

heavy towards them as a consequence?

And, and so it then just causes you to press in all the more to

pray for them and to love them. And this was Paul towards them.

He modelled vulnerability here, speaks very plainly and deeply

and and reveals that I'm enduring in my ministry unto you

in in this openness. And there's not like a a guarded

detachment here, but I'm I'm wanting you to now respond to

that in warmth and graciousness too.

But they were obstinate. They'd shut themselves off to

it. The Corinthians were, he said,

restricted in their affections, and they've been swayed by the

false teachers creeping in. And so the endurance of Paul

here, it meant continuing to love them even when the love

that he had been extending unto them was not being reciprocated.

And in this way, the Corinthians were closing their hearts,

restricting their affections. And the illustration that he

almost gives us is like a parent who keeps showing care to a

wayward teenager. It says, I'm loving you like as

a father unto children and I'm refusing to give up.

And then he extends the opportunity for enlargement of

their hearts as a fair exchange. Paul pleads, open wide your

hearts also. And so then enduring ministry

for you. And I like Paul models here.

It invites others into gospel partnership even when it risks

hurt or pain. Paul, this wasn't just about

sentiment here, but about gospel partnership to endure together.

If if we're going to do this, what do you open with in verse

one? If if we're going to be Co

workers together in the ministry of the gospel of of the grace of

God, of of Jesus Christ, then your hearts must be open.

He says. Isn't this the story of the

prodigal son in many respects? Think of his existence.

He'd experienced and enjoyed so much love so much, so much

privilege, so much prominence, so much in in the home of his

father. And yet he resisted it.

He closed himself off to off to it.

He said, Dad, I, I wish you were as good as dead.

I want my inheritance now. And he embraced other things

instead. And that's the story of some of

of you and I of of some of us as well, isn't it?

Where our heart, our mind, maybe our time, our attention keeps

getting pulled away by other things like the Corinthians may

be drawn away by false teachings in some respects.

As we jump onto YouTube, as we jump online, as we read things

aside from the Bible and we get confused and and well, is this

really the gospel? Is this really where it's at?

Have I got it all wrong about God and the Bible and so on?

Or we start to pursue other things instead of God that maybe

promise us some kind of a joy or, or maybe feel like they'll

satisfy or fulfil us and solve our problems and maybe increase

our social standing or or make our lives better.

And it's not that we're necessarily giving up on God,

it's just that we want to have these things too.

And we might feel a sense of conviction and we're not sure

about it or whether I should do it or, or maybe flat out we know

that we shouldn't do it, but we still go ahead anyway.

And really what Paul is declaring and and what he says

to you and I tonight as a point of application is you cannot do

and have both. You cannot be pursuing the

things of the world or or buying into what these false teachers

are declaring and be a Co worker of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Imagine with me for a moment, perhaps as an illustration, a

woman marries a a good man and they've got a great

relationship, couple of good looking and and rowdy toddlers

and and she's got pictures of their family all over the house.

You know, from when they were on holidays and that that vacation

that they enjoyed. Pictures from their honeymoon

from from last Christmas when the children got all dressed up.

But also on the wall, she's got some pictures of her old

boyfriend hanging up too. You know, just a few 8 by 10s in

really nice frames mixed in around the house.

He was such a great guy after all.

And they had some really good times together and she just

can't bring herself to take them down just yet.

What would you do or say if you were that husband?

How much do you think her holding on to the past is

affecting their relationship today?

And so maybe as an illustration that helps communicate what Paul

has been writing in these verses.

Paul, he's enduring here and in his love.

He's asking them to no longer close off to him and more

importantly to the gospel message.

And so like a father to his children, he says open up.

You cannot pursue these things and and live after these these

ways and and be coerced by these false teachers if you're going

to Co labour in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And so for you, you and I tonight, keep our hearts wide

open to the gospel, to God, to his word.

Don't close off to the truth. Endure knowing that it may cost

that it will be difficult, but that there are tools that the

Holy Spirit gives for you and I to be able to endure and to

persevere. Well, I took you back this

morning if you were here to 1980 with a song that we sung.

Let me take you back to 1983 now Cliff Young, a 61 year old

potato farmer entered the Sydney to Mount Melbourne Ultra

Marathon. Dressed in overalls and gumboots

he shuffled along as the elite runners speed on ahead.

But you see, whilst they stopped each night to sleep, Cliff kept

on shuffling. And after five days, he not only

finished, he won. It was his slow shuffle that

beat all of them. Why?

Because he endured in some small way that that, that reflects

that the, the Christian life is the same.

You know, the race is, is not about how swift or how glorious

or how wonderful you start, You know, like a, a, a firework or a

flash in the pan. Oh, look at them.

They're serving the Lord, they're loving God.

But no, it's about endurance to the end.

It's about endurance in the face of trials, in in, in the midst

of persecution, in the midst of of suffering, in, in distresses

of being hard pressed. So the Christian life is where

there's that urgency of grace. Don't delay tonight.

Don't receive it in vain. Rather live it daily and

experience the power of the gospel at work in your life.

And that will flow on out to the endurance of the servant that

yes, trials will come, but God know he equips you and I as he

servants through the Holy Spirit in US.

And then lastly the the endurance of affection.

Keep your heart open persevering in love as you do so well, you

might be young physically tonight.

May I encourage you purpose in your heart like a Daniel, follow

Jesus Christ again. If you're an unbeliever, today

is the day of salvation for parents.

Model endurance as a a minister, as a servant of Jesus Christ

daily in the home. What does that look like to your

children? For the weary here tonight, lean

daily into the tools of the Holy Spirit.

Don't rely on your own strength. For you and I as a church, may

we open our hearts to the gospel, to the truth of the

Lord, and have His love show forth in our interactions, one

to another and to a world that so desperately needs Him.

Again, endurance is not simply about surviving.

It's about serving God. And by God's grace, keep

enduring and so display the reality of the gospel to a

watching world.