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.
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
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
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.