2 Corinthians 7. It's where Rusty took us to. Beginning of verse two, we'll see how far we go through this tonight. We'll do a little bit of review, but we'll go into this chapter seven. I'm gonna read verse two, probably, let's go down to about verse nine. I don't think we'll get past there tonight. 2 Corinthians 7, verse two. Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together. I'm acting with great boldness toward you. I have great pride in you. I'm filled with comfort in all our affliction. I'm overflowing with joy. For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn, fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus. And not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me. so that I rejoice still more. For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it. For I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. for you felt a godly grief so that you suffered no loss through us. So, the anxiety that Paul had waiting to hear from Titus having written this letter made me think about, just we went over this months ago, Paul's relationship to the church at Corinth. They were as dear to him as anybody. He stayed there a year and a half. He wrote him four letters, and I thought we would just walk through kind of his relationship with the church, the Corinthian church, to get a picture. He grieved over them. It was the church, as you know, if you know 1 Corinthians, the church that was in the mass. a church that, as Paul writes 2 Corinthians, we see that there were issues and he'd been strained in his relationship with them for some time. But, of course, we go to Acts 18 and we see that Paul entered Corinth with fear and trembling. Corinth was a famous city for its immorality and for its worshiping of the gods up on the big mountain right outside of the main city. And so he evangelized them, stayed there for a year and a half. Then he wrote a lost letter, a letter that we don't have. It was not preserved. As he was writing 1 Corinthians 5, He says in verse 9, I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. Not at all meaning the sexually immoral of the world. They had misunderstood or they had taken only part of what Paul had written to them, but he wrote this letter in which he commanded disassociation from professing Christians who live immorally. And they misunderstood him to say not to bother with the lost who were immoral. This letter, again, has not been preserved. That's kind of backwards from what some conservative Christians would do. They'll run from the world and then tolerate sin amongst believers. Paul says, as long as they're professing to be Christians, don't fellowship with them. Don't even eat with them and call them to repentance. Then he eventually wrote 1 Corinthians while he was in Ephesus during his third journey to deal with a variety of problems. Paul had heard from some of the Corinthians or about some of the issues going on in Corinth. So those first six chapters of 1 Corinthians are dealing with those that he heard about. Then the Corinthians had written him a letter and said, help us know this, this, this, this, and this. And so from chapter seven on, he's answering questions for the church at Corinth. So he writes 1 Corinthians from Ephesus. News comes to him of more unrest, so he makes a quick visit to Corinth, a painful visit. and from Ephesus to Corinth the back to straighten out the problem. If you want, chapter two of second Corinthians. have to put these together, and it's not all for sure, the process of these steps, but for I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you, for if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? So Paul went and he wanted to, he went to try to help straighten out the problems, but he failed to accomplish his purpose, but he determined not to go back to them. Then, as best we can tell, he wrote a third strong letter, the severe letter. We just read about it here in 2 Corinthians 7. where he says, even if I made you grieve, I don't regret it, though I did regret it. Paul was very, very anxious and nervous about this strong letter he wrote. He sent Titus to deliver it, once again rebuking them and encouraging them to repent, and we don't have this letter. What is that, seven, eight. Later on, yeah, that's, okay, that's where we are. 2 Corinthians 2, 3. And I wrote as I did so that when I might come, when I came, I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you that my joy would be the joy of you all. So, that letter is not there. So, Paul in chapter seven here in Corinthians, he talks about the time where he's waiting for Titus to come back. And he gets, apparently so concerned about hearing about these Corinthians, and Titus doesn't apparently show up in Ephesus as he thought he would, so he takes off. And he ends up in Troas, and we saw earlier that when Paul got to Troas, a door of opportunity opened, but he couldn't help himself. Titus wasn't in Troas, so he goes on into Macedonia. He finally arrives with good news that the church had repented. had disciplined the immoral man. Some of you remember in 1 Corinthians chapter five, a man living with his stepmother, and the church was proud that they were open-minded about that, and they were allowing him in to live amongst them. But they had disciplined the immoral man, and most of the people had rejected Paul's opponents and submitted to Paul's authority. when he heard from Timothy, I mean from Titus, the good news, he writes 2 Corinthians. And so now it's kind of autobiographical. And here in chapter seven, he is in a section where he's just talking to them about how he was. The opponents had come in, he'd been hurt deeply by the Corinthians. We see that in some of his words here. They were dear to him. He'd led them to Christ. He'd been the father of the church, helped plant the church with the workers who were with him, and they became wary of him. They became suspicious of him and his teaching, mostly because they naively allowed these false teachers into the church. they preached a different gospel. Realized, they realized their influence would not be, their influence would be minimized as long as the Corinthians held on to Paul and his teaching because they had a different agenda and they had a different teaching. And so they, what they did is they tried to character assassination, they tried to, helped try to get the Corinthians to believe that Paul didn't have their best interest in mind. And as time went on, they made some inroads into the church. Some gullible Christians gave credit to their disparaging of Paul, to their accusations. Chapter 11, turn over to chapter 11 for a second. And Their commitment to Paul was gradually being undermined. And that's why Paul was willing to make this painful visit and write a harsh letter to them, and why he was so concerned about how they took his letter. Chapter 11, verse 1, I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. He gets sarcastic somewhat. Do bear with me, for I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, and to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his coming, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super apostles. So you see a little bit of sarcasm. Put up with me, I know I'm being a fool, but I'm afraid for you. And then he says, you know, I'm at least not, I am not in the least inferior to these who are calling themselves super apostles, calling Paul's apostleship into question, his credentials. So they'd made some inroads. Titus comes with the good report, but Paul still knows they're new Christians. They're new Christians. They don't have a whole library to study the word of God with, and these false teachers are still apparently around. Made me think of Hebrews chapter 13. It says, obey your leaders. Those who spoke the word to you consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. So the Hebrew author is encouraging a congregation to pay attention to those who brought the word of God to them. Paul is doing the same thing to them and warning them that these folks who have come in are not teaching the same doctrines that I taught you, the doctrine of Christ. the gospel of the Lord Jesus. And so they didn't, they were not guarding themselves. And so the strained relationship between Paul and the church was exacerbated somewhat when he found out about the immorality that was being allowed to go on. Again, a church member in a sexual relationship with a stepmother, tolerant, boasting about, or some about their open-mindedness, that that was a sign of we're not condemnatory, we are loving, we're spiritually mature enough to overlook this. And Paul couldn't believe it. He almost couldn't let it go, so he writes this sorrowful letter to them to confront and deal with the situation. This man cannot believe or cannot be allowed to believe that he's a member of the church, Paul is telling them. He must be delivered to Satan, but for the sake of his soul. not for utter destruction, that's not the goal of Paul's words to them. But leaving him in no doubt, he wants them to leave this man in no doubt that he doesn't belong, he belongs more to the world than he does to the church. And so Paul dispatches Titus with that severe letter to try to bring them back to the word of God because he's apprehensive. and then he's apprehensive about Titus' return. And so that's what he's dealing with here in 2 Corinthians chapter seven. And what he does, he works through this, the Corinthians response to the severe letter, and then the second half of what we'll get to next week is what is true repentance? What is real repentance? What is genuine repentance? And how do we respond when someone says to us, I repent? Usually seeking evidences, right? So we'll talk about that next week, more than this week, but notice how Paul responds to their affront, to their disparagement of him as a leader. He began, make room in your hearts for us. He's saying to them, essentially, that he appeals to them, open your heart to us, my heart's been wide open to you all along. Chapter six, verse 11, we have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, our heart is wide open to you. And now he's asking for them to open their hearts to him. And he appeals to him on three bases, three reasons, three denials that they ought to open their hearts to him. We've wronged no one. We've corrupted no one. There's no accusation of him badly acting against the Corinthians that'll stick. No one has been corrupted following him. No one's the worst off morally, financially. There seems to be, as we go into eight and nine, a question of Paul's financial incentives and how it was that he was taking advantage of them. We have not taken advantage of anyone. Paul says bad morals corrupt good ones, right? But we haven't corrupted anyone. No one's been corrupted by our ministry. Verse three, I not say this to condemn you, You know, he's responding to particular charges, apparently, that the detractors were bringing. He bullied them, he poisoned them, he fleeced them and everyone else. He made them poor financially, materially, spiritually. And so Paul's responding. While they changed, Paul says, I've not changed towards you. They halfway begun to believe the accusations and his attitude remained as it had been since he'd known them. Anything strike you, any comments, any question? Sorry, I'm on the tail end of a cold. Yes, Chris. The fourth letter. Yeah, 1 Corinthians was the second letter because he'd already written one. And now, not everybody, but it seems pretty clear to me that there's that severe letter in the middle. Some will hold the severe letter he's talking about here was 1 Corinthians. Yeah, I think it's a different letter because he talked about not He made a painful visit for sure because he said, I determined not to make a second painful visit. They rejected him. He left town very sad. And it seems to me that he wrote a severe letter. But, you know, that's, we have no, we have no letter to see and we have no assurance explicitly in the words. So, but they were dear to Paul. I do not say this to condemn you, verse three, for I said before that you were in our hearts to die together and to live together. He's not looking to condemn them, though the blame is on them. I mean, it's their lack of discernment that got them into this situation and then their failure to pursue holiness as he had taught them. But Paul still loved them dearly. He wanted to remind them how firmly he was on their side. Paul wanted them to know for sure that he was looking out for their best. Their emotional and their spiritual ties together were deep, at least as far as Paul was concerned. And even in death, he says, I wouldn't stop thinking about you. in life or in death, he says there in verse three. Verse four, I'm acting with great boldness towards you. I have great pride in you. I am filled with comfort in all our affliction. I'm overflowing with joy, his unceasing joy even for these troubled Corinthians in this church. I mean, he spoke boldly, he spoke frankly with them, but he doesn't call them, doesn't tell them he doesn't think they're Christians. He deals with them as Christian brothers and sisters there in the church so far. Even the man, even the man who he commanded them from a distance to excommunicate. We know that when we're called to exercise church discipline, and it has to go to that point, we still don't say they're not Christians. As Jesus says in Matthew 18, the last step, you treat them as if they're not Christians because they refuse to repent, and they're living as not being Christian, the unchristian lifestyle. Christians repent. Our life is full of repentance. We have to repent continually. Now, when you come to me and you say to Tommy, I saw you, I saw you the other day, that was obviously sin. I may not take it well at the beginning, but you see, I can't go home and be away from God. The Holy Spirit is convicting me, us, of our sin, and Christians will repent. Yes. I always get confused because we're told to live in a renewed mind. Which says we can live in not a renewed mind. Yes. We can go somewhere surrounded by unbelievers and get a hard heart and still be saved if we cannot lose our salvation. Yeah. Can we not? And so we can, how long do we stay in that period? Until God finally gets us to hit rock bottom That's the danger. We don't know. We don't know each other's hearts, right? We cannot know each other. I say I'm saved, and you can take that however you want to take that. And there are evidences of salvation. Our life should be on a proper trajectory. But if you can live in sin and not be bothered, The Holy Spirit's not doing his job. Or he's not in you. Yeah, it took a while. But when Nathan said, you're the man, he repented. Right. And sometimes we have to do that. Sometimes we have to do that. But it's very, very dangerous. No one should live it, be in sin, and be assured of their salvation. Okay, which psalm is it where David is writing about his bones rotting and sin within him? 38. 38. 38, so that was before Nathan accused him. Yes, physical consequences of sin there by talent. He did what he had done. Yeah, yeah, but he didn't repent until Nathan confronted him. And that's why we confront one another. We love one another enough. Paul loves these Corinthians so much. He even goes, he's in Ephesus, he even takes a trip across the Aegean Sea to visit them to deal with it, though he's working in Ephesus. They hadn't had the right yet to run him out of town. So we love one another enough. Like Paul, we don't condemn, but we confront, hoping for the Lord to restore and reconcile. And that's what Paul is doing. And he's, like I said, we read in chapter 11, he's still, you know, there on tenuous ground. But he's overjoyed here, verse four, I have great pride in you, I'm filled with comfort in all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy. So in spite of everything, he was ready to identify with them, himself with them, acknowledge them before the world. His commitment to them, was a promise he would not give up on them. In chapter four, verse one, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. He's in a covenantal promise with God for a ministry. And then he promised himself to these Corinthians that he would love them. That's a good model. Paul's a good model for all of us. And the ministry, so many people quit the ministry so easily. And with these Corinthians, many would have shaken the dust off their sandals and said, well, you guys, I'm done with you. Many would have. that Paul went through with them. Makes me remember Charles Simeon back when we were in chapter four. Here's what he said. Charles Simeon was in the same church for 54 years. The first 12 years there was so much opposition that his congregation from his congregation that those, you know, you rented pews in those days. You kind of, you know, when somebody gives money, you get a gold plate on the back of the chairs or something like that. That's what we do. Well, they had these boxes and they rented these pews, kind of like box seats at a baseball game. And these pew holders didn't want Simeon. They had somebody they wanted to be their pastor. Well, Simeon became their pastor the first 12 years. They locked the pews. Congregation couldn't get in, so they stood up. And he preached to them. Set up chairs, but they threw the chairs out in the churchyard. And so he preached to the standing congregation for 12 years. Didn't preach in the evening service for those 12 years. They picked somebody else to do it. Anyway, he stayed 54 years with this contrary folk. All kinds of hassles. Here's what he says. Friend asked him how he outlasted persecution and prejudice for so many years of ministry. Here's what he said. My dear brother, we must not find a little suffering. We must not mind a little suffering for Christ's sake. When I am getting through a hedge, if my head and shoulders are safely through, I can bear the pricking of my legs. Let us rejoice in the remembrance that our holy head has surmounted all his suffering and triumph over death. Let us follow him patiently. We shall soon be partakers of his victory. He won their respect, Simeon did, preached for 18 years, and then after he'd been there 30 years, it started all over again. The students, it was a college church, a university church there in England, and they rose up against him, and then he lost his voice for 13 years, barely a whisper, but he continued on. It's a new understanding of Account of Old Joy. when you meet trials of various kinds. So, here's the test. How do you respond when your ideas are rejected? Good efforts are not appreciated, or your best intention is misconstrued. How do you respond? I have this note, we are an emotionally fragile society of quitters. Hopefully we're not. Because the Lord didn't. The Lord has won the victory. And so we'll enjoy that victory one day. Just like Paul, he doesn't lose heart. There at the end of chapter four, the last three verses of chapter four, verse 16, so we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day, for this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen, for the things that are seen are transient. that the things that are unseen are eternal. So let's hang in there, hang in there. Paul's momentary light affliction of multiple shipwrecks, multiple imprisonments, multiple beatings, Jews and Gentiles, he didn't lose heart. Okay? We good? Four, verse five. Now we come. Even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn, fighting without and fear within. He's restless. He's left and gone to Macedonia, trying to meet Titus on the way. Couldn't relax until Titus returned with news and Titus wasn't coming fast enough for him. So he has gone to meet him, wondering, have they accepted the letter? How has it been received? Did they get mad? He had been distracted already As he's writing to the Corinthians in 2.13, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there at Troas, which is where he was. I did not find my brother Titus there, so I took leave of them and went to Macedonia. The two churches he planted there, Thessalonica and Philippi, the Philippian church and the Thessalonian church, maybe one of those places he went from Troas. He had no rest in his spirit in chapter two. Here, our bodies had no rest. Not only was there a spiritual angst, an emotional sense of his concern for them. Now he's physically feeling it. And so our bodies had no rest, but we are afflicted every turn, fears fighting without, conflict without, and fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus. And so there is the fantastic phrase in verse six, but God, were it not for God, and you fill in the blank yourself, were it not for God, but God. And notice, this is the closest word we get to depressed. In fact, I think in New American, translates it depression. Warner, what does, We are in verse six. The humbled, okay. New American says depressed. Here we have downcast. Paul is sad. He's sad in his heart, in his soul over what is going on, but God comforts the downcast. And he comforted us by the coming of Titus. He was so glad to see Titus. Whatever the news, at least he would know for sure. He would have some facts to go on. He wouldn't have to, you know, does your mind ever race when you're not sure about what's happening? Don't you usually go to the very worst of worsts? You know, most of what we worry about doesn't ever happen. But Paul says, and not only this, not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you. Even in the turmoil in the church at Corinth, the Corinthians comforted Titus. With the comfort with which they'd been comforted, remember chapter one. And now Titus, having been comforted by them, brings comfort to Paul. And yes, Paul says it's God using Titus as the means to bring comfort to my soul. So he's restless, no rest in his body, no rest in his spirit. But everything changed when Titus returned. No more speculation, no more wondering, no more what-ifs. Paul now learns how things are, and the news was reassuring. God had been at work. Beginning in verse 6, God comforts the downcast, comforts us by the coming of Christ, and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted for you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced all the more." So Paul's comforted out of this depression, this downcast spirit, this humbled, he's humbled, by the conflict, in the Corinthians comfort, of Titus comforts Paul, 19 times in 11 verses, 11 different verses, we have this idea of comfort and comfort with God's comfort and comfort with the comfort with which you've been comforted. As we said when we were there in chapter one, when you go through something and God brings you through it, and you're comforted by the word of God, by the promises of God, by the people of God, you'd be ready because God is preparing you to comfort others with the comfort with which you've been comforted with. I mean, you know, nothing goes to waste in your life as a Christian. The Lord is preparing you for glory. And on the way, he's preparing you to be used by him for others. And so their longing and their mourning and their zeal for Paul caused him to rejoice even greater. And the effect of Paul's letter, verse eight, even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it. Verse eight follows verses one through seven. There was a point to where there was a sense of, maybe I spoke a little harsh. It wasn't too long ago, I was in a conference with a few people and I don't, I was very harsh. but I thought it needed to be said. And I got back in my car and was driving off and I said, did that really need to be said? I don't know. Eventually talked to the person and it needed to be said, but did it need to be said like that? And Paul says, you know, Let me just read these two together and notice the word grieve. It's sorrow, I think, in the New American, but he says, even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it, for I see that the letter grieved you, though only for a while, so you have grieving sorrow twice here. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting, into repentance. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us, for godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. So his letter caused them to grieve, but that wasn't the point. That wasn't what Paul was hoping for. His point was not to make them grieve. He wanted them to grieve over their sin, but that their grief would cause a change in their life, would cause them to repent. And so what Paul is talking about in the rest of this chapter, don't get confused about godly repentance and worldly repentance. And he's gonna work through that. For some, repentance is just deep sorrow felt inwardly, you know, as long as it's a sincere kind of a sorrow, but Paul would ask the Corinthians, if he was with them, he would say, why do you feel bad? Why is there sorrow in your heart over what you did? Is it really in your heart? Is it self-pity or is it self-evaluation and, I don't know, disgust? Is it, Are you upset with yourself or are you just upset? Are you troubled because you got caught or because you offended holy God? So very often, when people confess because they get caught, There's no change. Not always. Sometimes it takes the sin being exposed. But very often the sadness is because of the consequences of sin, not because of the God who was sinned against. And Paul is making sure that these Corinthians are going to understand they are accepting his rebuke Now, examine yourself, as you'll say in chapter 13, to see if you're in the faith. Make sure this repentance is real. And how do we know? He's going to give some evidences. Yes, ma'am. Jesus' story reveals that he was repentant. I mean, some will say he was a Christian, went to the pig pens, and then he got back, restored into a right relationship with God. Others, he came to his senses. Others would say he's a lost man, and he comes to his senses, not on his own, but by God's awakening of him, and he comes back. The true prodigal, again, if you remember, is the son who was with the father all the time. and was jealous because the father received the son back after wasting half of the inheritance. He still had his, but. Was it sin that she left? Huh? She went with her husband, sure. But they went to, I mean, you know, yeah, it wasn't a sin that she went to Moab necessarily. Worldly, yeah, Judas is. Godly sorrow versus worldly sorrow. Let's talk, sorrow of the world produces no life change. Who you got? Judas. Was Judas sad? Was there, I mean, there were some deep remorse apparently in Judas, right? He tried to give the money back. But, It was unproductive in his life. He didn't go to Christ and ask him to forgive him. He went and hung himself. Esau, was he angry? Was he sad? Did he regret that he'd been duped by his deceiving brother? Yeah. But Hebrews says, He sought his, well, we need to look at that. Hebrews 13, is it 12, right? 12, Hebrews 12. Corey just preached us through this a while back. Not Hebrews, Genesis, Esau. Let's look at, let's see. Verse 15, Hebrews 12, 15. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled. Okay, so see, make sure, see to it, so that, or that, no one, let's go back, springs up and causes trouble, that no root of bitterness springs up, causes trouble, by it many become defiled, that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. Does that mean you can repent to a point to where you're hopeless? I don't think that's what that verse says. Read it again and tell me why there was no repentance in Esau. Anyone? How do you know that? He was sad he lost the blessing. He wasn't sad he offended God. Right. that his plan was to murder Jacob. Not really a sign that we've been experiencing more local girls too. It wasn't unproductive, it was badly productive or produced bad fruit in his life, yes. Now, you know, when they meet, When they meet, he kind of acts more gallantly almost than Jacob. Jacob is fearful, of course, but he sought it with tears, but he just was sad for the consequences of his sin. Whereas, what happened to Peter when he denied the Lord three times? He went out and wept bitter sadness. I believe Esau had some bitter tears that he shed over losing the birthright. Judas was at least very sad whether he cried. Peter went out and wept bitterly. And then what? Lord restored him. we knew that Esau and Jacob, we knew Jacob was gonna be the guy. He was gonna be the guy. And so, God does things that just doesn't make sense to us. Jacob and Esau both made their choices, led by a deceitful mother, Yeah, so, God accomplished his purposes in spite of us, using us for his glory. Peter went on to preach the gospel for his whole life. At the risk of it, and apparently to the end of it. Yes. I've always wondered about, you know, the racial, Yeah, I'll let you untie that. But it was said that, it was prophesied that the Lord would serve the young. He should do that. But sin is never justified, ever. God can do whatever God wants to do. We don't need to help him. That's what Abraham and Sarah did. You know, I mean, and we probably do it all the time. There's just not a book written about us. There's also when Peter preached in Acts 4 or 3, and the Jews are pierced to the heart, and they repent. And then in Acts 7, when Stephen preaches, they're also pierced to the heart, and they kill him. Yeah. Good. That's good. Good comparison. Yes. The Lord will have his way. We might as well yield. Okay, next week we'll go through repentance and homework. First four verses, I think, of Luke chapter 17. Let's pray. Father, we thank you. We thank you for an example of a man zealous in sin who you met on the Damascus road and turned him around. And we have these letters that by your Spirit, He wrote. You preserved for us that we might see and know how to live as you bring us to Christ. We thank you for this letter, a letter full of Joy, and yet Paul testifies of his heartaches and his struggles, and yet he doesn't lose heart. Lord, I pray you would help us to look to Christ, be filled with your spirit as we look to the future, forgetting what lies behind. Run with endurance, the race that's set before us. Thank you for all those promises, all those truths. Help us to be people of your book, to know your word. In Jesus' name, amen.