WEBVTT 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:15.699 All right, good job, choir. Or choir. Good job, 00:00:15.939 --> 00:00:18.280 Jennings and Macy. It's been a long couple days, 00:00:18.440 --> 00:00:21.260 I'm going to be honest with y 'all. After church 00:00:21.260 --> 00:00:23.739 Sunday, I got sick. I was some kind of sick Monday, 00:00:23.899 --> 00:00:25.699 but I'm well now. Thank y 'all for the ones of 00:00:25.699 --> 00:00:28.000 you that prayed for me, but I'm about back to 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:30.059 normal. It's good to be here tonight. It's good 00:00:30.059 --> 00:00:33.259 to see everybody. We're going to be in 2 Corinthians, 00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:37.679 chapter 6. I almost said 1 Corinthians. I'm going 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:39.259 to get it straight. Maybe we can make it through 00:00:39.259 --> 00:00:48.229 a sermon tonight. 2 Corinthians chapter 6, we've 00:00:48.229 --> 00:00:50.950 been going through 2 Corinthians for the last 00:00:50.950 --> 00:00:54.170 couple of months and we looked at the first two 00:00:54.170 --> 00:00:57.810 verses of chapter 6 last week and we're just 00:00:57.810 --> 00:01:01.049 continuing on. Kind of the same thought that 00:01:01.049 --> 00:01:05.310 kind of propels us into this argument I think 00:01:05.310 --> 00:01:08.379 really started... Back in the end of chapter 00:01:08.379 --> 00:01:11.939 5, I say argument or defense. We see this in 00:01:11.939 --> 00:01:14.959 2 Corinthians that Paul has been really defending 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:17.340 himself a lot. There are some false teachers 00:01:17.340 --> 00:01:20.540 that had come into Corinth, and Paul had invested 00:01:20.540 --> 00:01:23.159 into the people, and they seemed to be doing 00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:26.579 pretty good on some level, but we know not doing 00:01:26.579 --> 00:01:28.739 great from 1 Corinthians because he had wrote 00:01:28.739 --> 00:01:31.239 some pretty stern things to them about things 00:01:31.239 --> 00:01:34.840 that they needed to deal with. It doesn't appear 00:01:34.840 --> 00:01:36.579 as though that they really want to listen to 00:01:36.579 --> 00:01:40.299 Paul, or maybe their ear has been caught by someone 00:01:40.299 --> 00:01:42.819 else who's preaching something maybe that sounds 00:01:42.819 --> 00:01:45.620 a little better to them. And so Paul has spent 00:01:45.620 --> 00:01:48.019 some of his time, a lot of his time up to this 00:01:48.019 --> 00:01:50.760 point, off and on, really defending himself. 00:01:50.939 --> 00:01:54.439 Now Paul is not, it's not like Paul here is... 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:57.500 is mad because there are other preachers that 00:01:57.500 --> 00:02:00.299 are preaching, and he's not getting all the limelight. 00:02:00.359 --> 00:02:03.480 That's not Paul's concern here. He's happy to 00:02:03.480 --> 00:02:06.099 work alongside other brothers in Christ that 00:02:06.099 --> 00:02:08.219 are preaching and teaching the gospel. He just 00:02:08.219 --> 00:02:10.360 doesn't want the people to be led astray, and 00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:12.960 he doesn't want them to go down the wrong path. 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:16.379 He wants to make sure that they are where they 00:02:16.379 --> 00:02:19.400 need to be. And so he continues to say, and he'll 00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:21.680 say it even in the Scriptures tonight, that he's 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:25.039 commending himself. Now, he's not commending 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:27.860 himself in the sense of, look at how good I am. 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:31.180 He's commending himself by saying, look, I want 00:02:31.180 --> 00:02:34.400 you to see who I am so that it will point you 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:36.699 to Jesus Christ, not so that you can see who 00:02:36.699 --> 00:02:39.620 I am and celebrate me. Paul's not concerned about 00:02:39.620 --> 00:02:42.180 being celebrated in himself. He's not concerned 00:02:42.180 --> 00:02:44.939 about, oh, I want to have the most likes of all 00:02:44.939 --> 00:02:47.560 the other preachers in the area. What Paul wants 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:50.240 is for the gospel of Jesus Christ to be spread. 00:02:50.659 --> 00:02:53.150 And that's what's important. and he's concerned 00:02:53.150 --> 00:02:55.469 that the people are going to be led astray by 00:02:55.469 --> 00:02:57.770 these false teachers. So Paul says, look, let 00:02:57.770 --> 00:03:00.169 me make a defense for myself again, and that's 00:03:00.169 --> 00:03:02.490 what we're going to see in this passage tonight. 00:03:02.629 --> 00:03:05.349 So let's pray, and then we'll get started. God, 00:03:05.490 --> 00:03:07.750 we come to you. We thank you for your good words. 00:03:08.189 --> 00:03:10.750 I pray that you would just help us to seek you 00:03:10.750 --> 00:03:13.830 tonight, that your Holy Spirit would free us 00:03:13.830 --> 00:03:17.550 from the worries and the distractions and the 00:03:17.550 --> 00:03:21.370 pains of this world, dear Lord. Whatever it may 00:03:21.370 --> 00:03:24.949 be, I pray that in these few minutes, God, that 00:03:24.949 --> 00:03:27.949 your word would restore our soul, God. That's 00:03:27.949 --> 00:03:30.030 what we come here for. We come to grow in you. 00:03:30.409 --> 00:03:32.689 And so help your word to correct us where we 00:03:32.689 --> 00:03:35.370 need correcting and empower us where we need 00:03:35.370 --> 00:03:38.009 empowering and encourage us where we need encouragement, 00:03:38.129 --> 00:03:40.590 dear Lord, to guide us where we need guidance. 00:03:40.669 --> 00:03:43.150 Whatever it is, God, you know where we are in 00:03:43.150 --> 00:03:46.370 our life. And God, we need you wherever that 00:03:46.370 --> 00:03:49.090 is. So I pray that your Holy Spirit would speak. 00:03:49.580 --> 00:03:53.020 Through me tonight, all for your glory. In Jesus' 00:03:53.139 --> 00:03:58.379 name I pray it. Amen. Alright, 2 Corinthians 00:03:58.379 --> 00:04:04.500 chapter 6, verse 3. We give no opportunity for 00:04:04.500 --> 00:04:08.419 stumbling to anyone, so that the ministry will 00:04:08.419 --> 00:04:12.500 not be blamed. Okay, so Paul is very concerned 00:04:12.500 --> 00:04:15.039 about his work that he's doing here. He says, 00:04:15.060 --> 00:04:17.379 look, I don't want to be a stumbling block. Me 00:04:17.379 --> 00:04:21.199 and those who are serving alongside me, we don't 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:24.300 want to be a stumbling block to you. We have 00:04:24.300 --> 00:04:26.800 watched our lives and we have tried to live in 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:29.620 such a way that we have lived for the Lord, that 00:04:29.620 --> 00:04:32.319 we have been a good example for you, and that 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:34.819 we have not done anything that's going to cause 00:04:34.819 --> 00:04:37.420 you trouble. We don't want the ministry to be 00:04:37.420 --> 00:04:40.959 blamed. We don't want you to be turned off from 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:43.339 the gospel of Jesus Christ because of what we 00:04:43.339 --> 00:04:46.800 have done. Now, we need to listen to that. Because 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:49.779 if we leave this place tonight, and we go into 00:04:49.779 --> 00:04:53.120 the world, and we tell people that we are a Christian, 00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:57.279 but our actions show otherwise, then it is going 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:01.019 to scare people away from Jesus Christ. Praise 00:05:01.019 --> 00:05:04.180 the Lord, Jesus is better than we are. But we 00:05:04.180 --> 00:05:07.579 are representatives of Jesus Christ. And so we 00:05:07.579 --> 00:05:10.180 have to live our life in a way that's different 00:05:10.180 --> 00:05:12.370 than what the rest of the world looks like. Now 00:05:12.370 --> 00:05:15.029 our world is full of evil. It's all kind of crazy 00:05:15.029 --> 00:05:17.949 stuff out there. The world and the fleshly desires, 00:05:17.949 --> 00:05:21.069 people are bombarded with them every day. And 00:05:21.069 --> 00:05:23.850 it's dark and it's depressing and it's hopeless. 00:05:25.290 --> 00:05:28.709 But what our world needs to see is the light 00:05:28.709 --> 00:05:32.310 of Jesus Christ. Now if we go into the world 00:05:32.310 --> 00:05:36.930 and we say we are followers of Jesus Christ, 00:05:37.170 --> 00:05:46.339 but we do not bring the light, But we do not 00:05:46.339 --> 00:05:48.120 bring that light with us, then the world's going 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:50.879 to say, there's nothing that's any different 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:52.860 about them than about the rest of the world. 00:05:53.019 --> 00:05:55.959 What's so appealing to Jesus Christ? But what 00:05:55.959 --> 00:06:00.040 the world needs to see from us is grace and love 00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:06.019 and mercy and patience and kindness and gentleness 00:06:06.019 --> 00:06:10.040 and a loving spirit. And when the world sees 00:06:10.040 --> 00:06:12.980 that in us, and the world says, wait a minute, 00:06:13.100 --> 00:06:16.339 he's a Christian, she's a Christian, then guess 00:06:16.339 --> 00:06:18.620 what's going to happen? They're going to listen 00:06:18.620 --> 00:06:20.980 to what we have to say. Now, we don't care if 00:06:20.980 --> 00:06:23.560 they pay attention to us. What we want is them 00:06:23.560 --> 00:06:26.060 to pay attention to Jesus. We want to be like 00:06:26.060 --> 00:06:28.740 a mirror that's going to reflect Jesus so that 00:06:28.740 --> 00:06:31.500 people can see Jesus in us because that's what's 00:06:31.500 --> 00:06:33.740 going to change their life, and that's what's 00:06:33.740 --> 00:06:37.379 going to change our world. And so what about 00:06:37.379 --> 00:06:41.100 our actions? Are they a stumbling block to people, 00:06:41.240 --> 00:06:44.660 or are they a building block? Are we somebody 00:06:44.660 --> 00:06:47.120 that says, hey, here's the building block, here's 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:49.579 Jesus Christ, you need to build your life on 00:06:49.579 --> 00:06:52.899 Him? Or are we going out there saying, oh, I'm 00:06:52.899 --> 00:06:54.939 a Christian, but we're living like the world, 00:06:55.100 --> 00:06:56.639 and people would say, well, why do I want to 00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:59.199 be a Christian? They're not living any different 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:02.000 than me. We're a stumbling block to people, and 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:04.759 we hinder people from coming to the kingdom of 00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:07.439 God when we live like that. But what does Paul 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:10.100 say? He says, look, we haven't done that. We 00:07:10.100 --> 00:07:12.639 haven't given any opportunity. We haven't become 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:15.699 a stumbling block. We've been good to love you 00:07:15.699 --> 00:07:18.180 and to lead you and to point you to Jesus Christ. 00:07:18.459 --> 00:07:23.300 In verse 4, he says, but as God ministers, we 00:07:23.300 --> 00:07:25.779 commend ourselves in everything. Now, we just 00:07:25.779 --> 00:07:28.180 talked about that. Paul's not... He's not waving 00:07:28.180 --> 00:07:30.379 his flag here. That is not Paul's heart. It's 00:07:30.379 --> 00:07:33.139 pretty clear in Paul's writing. That is not his 00:07:33.139 --> 00:07:36.399 heart. He's making a defense so that people will 00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:41.000 listen to him and acknowledge him and focus on 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:43.699 the Lord. Now listen to some of the things he's 00:07:43.699 --> 00:07:47.279 about to say here. This is the way that they 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:49.279 have lived their life in the middle of verse 00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:55.350 4. By great endurance. We're going to try to 00:07:55.350 --> 00:07:56.709 get through these pretty quick. I won't make 00:07:56.709 --> 00:08:01.589 any promises. By great endurance. Now, our life 00:08:01.589 --> 00:08:05.430 is a life of endurance. Now, are we going to 00:08:05.430 --> 00:08:08.089 endure or are we going to give up? That's a choice 00:08:08.089 --> 00:08:10.629 that we have to make many times in our life, 00:08:10.689 --> 00:08:14.629 in many situations, because life is hard. Life 00:08:14.629 --> 00:08:18.569 is hard. Work is hard. Family is hard. Church 00:08:18.569 --> 00:08:23.540 is hard. Everything in life is hard. And it's 00:08:23.540 --> 00:08:26.980 not going to get any easier. But are we going 00:08:26.980 --> 00:08:29.399 to endure or are we going to give up? That's 00:08:29.399 --> 00:08:31.199 a choice that we're going to have to make. When 00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:34.259 we serve the Lord, it is not always going to 00:08:34.259 --> 00:08:37.100 be easy. Sometimes it will be. A lot of times 00:08:37.100 --> 00:08:39.399 it will not be. It will always be a blessing. 00:08:39.539 --> 00:08:42.059 I can guarantee you that. You will never spend 00:08:42.059 --> 00:08:43.980 a day in your life where you've been obedient 00:08:43.980 --> 00:08:46.580 to the Lord and served Him that you will go to 00:08:46.580 --> 00:08:48.440 bed at night and say, boy, that wasn't a blessing. 00:08:48.500 --> 00:08:50.820 I wish I hadn't done that. It don't matter where 00:08:50.820 --> 00:08:53.139 you are. If you are in your bed or in a prison 00:08:53.139 --> 00:08:55.700 cell, if you have lived your life in obedience 00:08:55.700 --> 00:08:58.519 to God, you will go to bed blessed at night. 00:08:59.159 --> 00:09:03.559 But we have to endure. We cannot give up. There 00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:05.799 are plenty of days in my life that I want to 00:09:05.799 --> 00:09:09.139 give up. I shouldn't even say this as a preacher. 00:09:09.379 --> 00:09:11.679 There have been so many times in the last... 00:09:11.879 --> 00:09:15.720 12, 15 years of my ministry that I said, I just 00:09:15.720 --> 00:09:18.179 cannot do it. I just want to give up more times 00:09:18.179 --> 00:09:20.679 than I care to admit. And God will not let me, 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:23.679 praise the Lord. And if it wasn't for him, I'd 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:25.399 have been done giving up a long time ago. And 00:09:25.399 --> 00:09:28.320 I pray that he will continue to help me to have 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:30.700 endurance. That's the only way we make it through 00:09:30.700 --> 00:09:33.379 this life is by endurance that comes from the 00:09:33.379 --> 00:09:35.940 strength of the Lord. Paul knew what it meant 00:09:35.940 --> 00:09:38.799 to endure. He served the Lord, and it's hard 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:41.340 to serve the Lord. But what did he do? He kept 00:09:41.340 --> 00:09:44.019 serving the Lord because he knew that he needed 00:09:44.019 --> 00:09:46.440 to endure for the Lord. So he says, look, we 00:09:46.440 --> 00:09:49.220 have served with great endurance by afflictions, 00:09:49.220 --> 00:09:52.460 by hardships, by difficulties, by beatings, by 00:09:52.460 --> 00:09:56.080 imprisonments, by riots, by labors, by sleepless 00:09:56.080 --> 00:10:00.720 nights, by times of hunger. Now look at that 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:03.940 list for just a second. Now you think about the 00:10:03.940 --> 00:10:05.779 times that you have tried to serve the Lord, 00:10:05.879 --> 00:10:10.490 and then you decided it was too hard. Were any 00:10:10.490 --> 00:10:12.909 of those things part of the reason why you quit 00:10:12.909 --> 00:10:15.730 serving the Lord? Did you try to do the Lord's 00:10:15.730 --> 00:10:18.309 work and somebody beat you and imprisoned you 00:10:18.309 --> 00:10:21.850 and a riot was formed around you and you were 00:10:21.850 --> 00:10:24.269 hungry and you couldn't sleep at night and you 00:10:24.269 --> 00:10:28.490 said, I just can't do this anymore? No. I'm going 00:10:28.490 --> 00:10:29.929 to go on a limb and say that ain't been none 00:10:29.929 --> 00:10:32.720 of our experience. What probably happens to us 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:35.679 is we go see somebody and we say, hey, how you 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:38.100 doing? I go to the church. I'd love for you to 00:10:38.100 --> 00:10:40.940 come one Sunday. Can I pray for you? And they 00:10:40.940 --> 00:10:42.480 say, I don't want nothing to do with your God. 00:10:42.580 --> 00:10:44.500 Leave me alone. They slam the door. And then 00:10:44.500 --> 00:10:46.340 we say, oh, I just can't do this. This is too 00:10:46.340 --> 00:10:50.740 hard. Paul knows what it's like to have affliction. 00:10:50.820 --> 00:10:52.799 We don't know what it's like to have a lot of 00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:55.539 affliction in our life. But Paul knows what it's 00:10:55.539 --> 00:10:57.980 like to have affliction. When he says we've had 00:10:57.980 --> 00:11:00.980 affliction, he knows what affliction is. We're 00:11:00.980 --> 00:11:02.899 blessed as Americans, praise the Lord, that we 00:11:02.899 --> 00:11:04.899 don't have that kind of affliction. Maybe one 00:11:04.899 --> 00:11:08.000 day we will, and I say this often, I'll continue 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:10.080 to say it, there are brothers and sisters in 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:12.840 Christ in our world that are in prison tonight 00:11:12.840 --> 00:11:15.840 for preaching the gospel. We have the freedom 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:18.500 in our country, praise God, as bad as it is, 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:21.100 we have the freedom that we can stand here tonight 00:11:21.100 --> 00:11:25.720 and read God's word. And we need to endure in 00:11:25.720 --> 00:11:28.899 it. And we need to be bold in the faith. If Paul 00:11:28.899 --> 00:11:32.320 can be bold in all of these things, then surely 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:35.139 we can be bold in the little difficulties we 00:11:35.139 --> 00:11:41.399 may have in serving the Lord. Verse 6. By purity, 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:44.700 by knowledge, by patience. by kindness, by the 00:11:44.700 --> 00:11:47.759 Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the message 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:50.620 of truth, by the power of God, through weapons 00:11:50.620 --> 00:11:53.720 of righteousness on the right hand and on the 00:11:53.720 --> 00:11:57.639 left. He says, look, look at our life. We are 00:11:57.639 --> 00:12:00.460 pure. We have knowledge of God. We have rightly 00:12:00.460 --> 00:12:03.440 divided the Word of God. We are rightly teaching 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:05.879 the Word of God. Look at the patience that we 00:12:05.879 --> 00:12:08.320 have shown to you. Look at the kindness that 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:09.840 we have shown to you. Isn't that a beautiful 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:12.230 thing? When you look at Scripture, I love it. 00:12:12.250 --> 00:12:14.929 When you see Jesus and He comes before the crowds 00:12:14.929 --> 00:12:18.309 and He sees them, and what does it say? That 00:12:18.309 --> 00:12:21.730 He has compassion on them. That's a beautiful 00:12:21.730 --> 00:12:24.029 thing. That's how you know if somebody really 00:12:24.029 --> 00:12:26.929 loves somebody. If you come on somebody that 00:12:26.929 --> 00:12:30.509 has a need and you can turn away from them and 00:12:30.509 --> 00:12:34.070 not think twice about it, then you've got to 00:12:34.070 --> 00:12:37.509 take a step back. Because when Jesus saw people, 00:12:38.139 --> 00:12:39.980 Even if he'd been preaching all day, even if 00:12:39.980 --> 00:12:41.600 people had been coming around him, even if he 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:43.500 wanted a break, even if he was trying to escape 00:12:43.500 --> 00:12:45.679 somewhere else, he'd get off the boat, he'd go 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:47.500 to another place, and the people were always 00:12:47.500 --> 00:12:50.480 there, and he would look at them like sheep without 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:52.960 a shepherd, and he would have compassion on them. 00:12:53.100 --> 00:12:55.360 And when they were hungry, he would feed them, 00:12:55.480 --> 00:12:57.539 and when they were sick, he would heal them. 00:12:58.779 --> 00:13:01.659 Now that's a good example for us to follow. You 00:13:01.659 --> 00:13:03.240 want to know how to have compassion, you just 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:06.250 read about Jesus a little bit. And I think that's 00:13:06.250 --> 00:13:07.870 kind of the same thing that we see here with 00:13:07.870 --> 00:13:10.210 Paul, that he has this kind of patience and this 00:13:10.210 --> 00:13:13.110 kind of compassion, this kindness by the Holy 00:13:13.110 --> 00:13:16.090 Spirit, by the power of the Spirit that is leading 00:13:16.090 --> 00:13:18.809 him, that is guiding him, the same Holy Spirit 00:13:18.809 --> 00:13:21.169 that indwells in us if we have put our faith 00:13:21.169 --> 00:13:24.169 and trust in Jesus Christ. It is the Spirit who 00:13:24.169 --> 00:13:26.629 dwells in us. It's the Spirit who leads us. It's 00:13:26.629 --> 00:13:30.269 the Spirit who strengthens us. Paul says it's 00:13:30.269 --> 00:13:35.950 by the Holy Spirit, by sincere faith. Love. Isn't 00:13:35.950 --> 00:13:39.250 that a beautiful thing? By sincere love. Not 00:13:39.250 --> 00:13:41.970 just a word. Love is not just a word. Oh, I love 00:13:41.970 --> 00:13:44.470 you. Every teenage kid in the world will say 00:13:44.470 --> 00:13:45.870 that. They're sitting there texting each other. 00:13:45.909 --> 00:13:47.710 There'll be a million of them before I get through 00:13:47.710 --> 00:13:49.370 with this sermon. Oh, I love you. They ain't 00:13:49.370 --> 00:13:53.149 been dating but for a week. But they love each 00:13:53.149 --> 00:13:54.850 other, right? And we've done that. We've all 00:13:54.850 --> 00:13:57.429 done that. Well, y 'all wasn't texting when y 00:13:57.429 --> 00:13:58.809 'all was kids. Y 'all was passing notes back 00:13:58.809 --> 00:14:00.690 and forth across the classroom, sliding them 00:14:00.690 --> 00:14:04.940 across. But people don't change. That's not love. 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:07.360 I mean, on some level it's a little bit of love, 00:14:07.419 --> 00:14:09.299 but love is so much more than that. Yeah, love 00:14:09.299 --> 00:14:11.460 comes with feelings, praise the Lord, but love 00:14:11.460 --> 00:14:14.519 is more than feelings. Love says, today ain't 00:14:14.519 --> 00:14:17.080 a good day. Love says, I don't like what you've 00:14:17.080 --> 00:14:19.259 done today, but I'm going to stick with you because 00:14:19.259 --> 00:14:22.580 I love you. That's sincere love. Love doesn't 00:14:22.580 --> 00:14:24.539 just care for somebody when everything's going 00:14:24.539 --> 00:14:27.139 good. Love says, I'm going to stick by you when 00:14:27.139 --> 00:14:30.679 everything's going bad because I love you. That's 00:14:30.679 --> 00:14:34.179 what love is. You have a kid, you know what that 00:14:34.179 --> 00:14:39.179 is. That's what love is. Somebody that you'd 00:14:39.179 --> 00:14:41.740 do anything for. It's not dependent on what they've 00:14:41.740 --> 00:14:43.840 done. You say, I love you, and therefore I'm 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:46.700 going to be there for you. Paul says, look, you've 00:14:46.700 --> 00:14:49.279 seen that in us. You've seen that we have sincere 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:56.320 love for you. Verse 7. by the message of truth, 00:14:56.500 --> 00:14:58.919 by the power of God. What are they preaching? 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:01.059 They're preaching the message of truth. Now, 00:15:01.059 --> 00:15:02.659 there's a lot of false teachers that's coming 00:15:02.659 --> 00:15:05.120 on the scene, and what are they preaching? Well, 00:15:05.139 --> 00:15:06.679 I don't know what they were preaching, but I 00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:09.600 can guess maybe, just based on what you see a 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:11.740 lot of preachers preaching today is, send me 00:15:11.740 --> 00:15:13.600 some money and God will give you everything you 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:15.700 want, or send me some money and you'll get healed. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:18.820 Just send me some money and whatever, fill in 00:15:18.820 --> 00:15:20.779 the blank, just send me the money. That's what 00:15:20.779 --> 00:15:23.299 they're saying, a lot of them are saying. But 00:15:23.299 --> 00:15:25.460 Paul says, look, we're not here preaching for 00:15:25.460 --> 00:15:27.720 ourselves. We're not here trying to get a medal. 00:15:27.879 --> 00:15:30.240 I'm not here trying to get missionary of the 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:33.679 year from you guys. I don't care what you think 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:36.779 about me if you just know that I'm preaching 00:15:36.779 --> 00:15:39.379 the message of the truth of the gospel to you. 00:15:39.539 --> 00:15:41.820 So don't be led astray by this fake teaching. 00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:44.240 Paul says, we have preached a good word to you. 00:15:44.360 --> 00:15:46.600 We have preached to you the message of truth. 00:15:46.980 --> 00:15:51.570 Don't be led astray by a lie. What do they preach 00:15:51.570 --> 00:15:55.690 by? The power of God. The power of God. Now that's 00:15:55.690 --> 00:15:57.909 good preaching when it's from the power of God. 00:15:58.710 --> 00:16:00.669 That's a lot of preachers that don't preach from 00:16:00.669 --> 00:16:03.929 the power of God. But preaching that comes from 00:16:03.929 --> 00:16:06.409 the power of God, from the Word of God, is preaching 00:16:06.409 --> 00:16:10.350 that we can grow by, that we can be filled with 00:16:10.350 --> 00:16:13.659 if it comes from the Word of God. By the power 00:16:13.659 --> 00:16:15.659 of God. And that's what Paul says. You've seen 00:16:15.659 --> 00:16:18.240 God's power through the way that he's worked 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:20.279 through us and the messages we've preached and 00:16:20.279 --> 00:16:22.980 the truth that we've preached. Paul is saying 00:16:22.980 --> 00:16:26.419 in all of this, we are trustworthy. Look at our 00:16:26.419 --> 00:16:29.639 life. Look at our example and pay attention to 00:16:29.639 --> 00:16:35.379 our words. Verse 8. Through glory and dishonor, 00:16:35.419 --> 00:16:39.700 through slander and good rapport, as deceivers 00:16:39.700 --> 00:16:44.659 yet true. Now, He's covering both ends of the 00:16:44.659 --> 00:16:48.080 spectrum here. Because when you do the Lord's 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:50.500 work, you are not going to please everybody. 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:54.559 That's a fact. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, 00:16:54.840 --> 00:16:58.379 did not please everybody. That's a very reassuring 00:16:58.379 --> 00:17:00.519 thing for me as a preacher. Because you think, 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:02.980 man, what did I do wrong? What didn't I get right 00:17:02.980 --> 00:17:05.440 about this sermon? What didn't I do right trying 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:07.680 to help this person? What didn't I do right? 00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:10.579 Where did I mess up? How come I wasn't able to 00:17:10.579 --> 00:17:12.319 reach him? How come I wasn't able to help him? 00:17:12.759 --> 00:17:15.779 And then I had to remember, well, maybe I did 00:17:15.779 --> 00:17:18.599 something wrong or maybe I didn't because Jesus 00:17:18.599 --> 00:17:22.359 didn't do a thing wrong. And so Paul, he did 00:17:22.359 --> 00:17:24.220 what was right, and some people were going to 00:17:24.220 --> 00:17:26.259 follow him and acknowledge him, and some were 00:17:26.259 --> 00:17:29.059 not. And that's the way it still is today. All 00:17:29.059 --> 00:17:31.920 that can be done is that the gospel can be presented. 00:17:32.619 --> 00:17:34.920 People have their own free will and their own 00:17:34.920 --> 00:17:37.460 choice to decide if they are going to accept 00:17:37.460 --> 00:17:41.660 Jesus Christ or not. And so for some, it was 00:17:41.660 --> 00:17:44.480 a glorious thing for Paul to preach. For others, 00:17:44.660 --> 00:17:47.059 it was a horrible thing. They didn't want to 00:17:47.059 --> 00:17:49.440 hear him preach. Through slander, through good 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:52.039 rapport. Some thought he was a good man. Some 00:17:52.039 --> 00:17:55.279 talked bad about him. Some didn't think very 00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:59.150 highly of Paul at all. Some considered him a 00:17:59.150 --> 00:18:01.309 deceiver, yet even though they were considered 00:18:01.309 --> 00:18:03.829 a deceiver, he was considered a deceiver, or 00:18:03.829 --> 00:18:05.849 those with him were deceivers, what they were 00:18:05.849 --> 00:18:09.109 speaking was true. Now, you can call something 00:18:09.109 --> 00:18:11.630 a lie all you want to, but truth is truth, whether 00:18:11.630 --> 00:18:14.910 you accept it or not. Jesus Christ is the truth. 00:18:15.170 --> 00:18:18.309 The Word of God is the truth. Now, our world 00:18:18.309 --> 00:18:21.430 may not want to accept it, but it is the truth. 00:18:21.769 --> 00:18:24.609 And so even if the world calls us a bunch of 00:18:24.609 --> 00:18:27.079 crazy folks, We're going to preach the truth 00:18:27.079 --> 00:18:30.599 just the same. We are not going to stop. That's 00:18:30.599 --> 00:18:35.059 what Paul's saying here. As unknown, yet recognized. 00:18:35.500 --> 00:18:37.480 To some, Paul was unknown. Others recognized 00:18:37.480 --> 00:18:42.759 Paul. As dying, and look, we live. So Paul is 00:18:42.759 --> 00:18:44.880 on the verge of death. Some think that he's dying. 00:18:45.160 --> 00:18:47.900 Some are trying to kill him. And in the midst 00:18:47.900 --> 00:18:50.880 of all of it, he's still alive. He's still doing 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:54.440 the work of the gospel. As being disciplined. 00:18:54.970 --> 00:18:57.869 yet not killed. It hadn't been easy. He'd been 00:18:57.869 --> 00:19:00.009 disciplined in a lot of ways. We looked at some 00:19:00.009 --> 00:19:02.150 of those ways, the imprisonments and the beatings 00:19:02.150 --> 00:19:04.210 and all these things, yet through all of this, 00:19:04.250 --> 00:19:07.190 God was with him. It wasn't easy. It was not 00:19:07.190 --> 00:19:09.609 an easy life for Paul, but through every bit 00:19:09.609 --> 00:19:15.390 of this, God was with him. As grieving, yet always 00:19:15.390 --> 00:19:17.589 rejoicing. Isn't that a beautiful thought right 00:19:17.589 --> 00:19:23.039 there? As grieving, yet always rejoicing. There 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:26.619 are days in our life that are full of grief. 00:19:27.099 --> 00:19:29.720 There are days in our life that are full of grief. 00:19:30.119 --> 00:19:33.099 You have got them. I have got them. Every one 00:19:33.099 --> 00:19:36.480 of us have got them. There are days that we grieve. 00:19:38.119 --> 00:19:42.299 But even in our grief, we can always rejoice. 00:19:43.019 --> 00:19:45.740 Even in our grief, we can rejoice and say, God, 00:19:45.779 --> 00:19:48.940 you are good. God, I am hurting today. God, I 00:19:48.940 --> 00:19:52.359 am broken today. God, I am sick today. God, I 00:19:52.359 --> 00:19:55.000 am struggling with work today. God, whatever 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.059 it is today, God, I just have grief over my family, 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:01.839 over my friends, over my church, over my country. 00:20:01.940 --> 00:20:05.400 God, I am full of grief. But even still, God, 00:20:05.460 --> 00:20:10.579 I rejoice because you are good. It takes a strong 00:20:10.579 --> 00:20:12.960 faith to be able to say that because our lives 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:16.549 are trying. And we can say we have faith in God, 00:20:16.670 --> 00:20:18.670 but the only way that that's proved is when we 00:20:18.670 --> 00:20:21.349 really go through the trials. That's where the 00:20:21.349 --> 00:20:24.710 rubber meets the road. And sometimes when we 00:20:24.710 --> 00:20:26.789 think our faith is strong, we realize that maybe 00:20:26.789 --> 00:20:29.009 our faith is not as strong as we thought it was. 00:20:31.029 --> 00:20:33.990 Sometimes it's hard as far as to praise God most 00:20:33.990 --> 00:20:37.650 when we're in the midst of the pain and in the 00:20:37.650 --> 00:20:41.170 midst of the grief, but that's probably what 00:20:41.170 --> 00:20:44.180 we need to do most. is to praise God and rejoice 00:20:44.180 --> 00:20:48.359 in Him. And say, God, I can't hardly lift my 00:20:48.359 --> 00:20:51.500 voice to You right now, but I'm going to call 00:20:51.500 --> 00:20:55.539 to You. Because God, where else does my help 00:20:55.539 --> 00:21:00.779 come from? It only comes from the Lord. So Paul 00:21:00.779 --> 00:21:03.960 says, even in my grief, I still rejoice in the 00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:08.519 Lord. As poor, yet enriching many. Paul says, 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:10.880 we didn't have much, but man, what we were given 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:13.170 then was better than money. They wasn't giving 00:21:13.170 --> 00:21:14.670 them much, but they were giving them the Word 00:21:14.670 --> 00:21:16.809 of God. They were giving them Jesus Christ. They 00:21:16.809 --> 00:21:19.309 were giving them eternal life. We don't have 00:21:19.309 --> 00:21:21.849 much, but what we were doing was enriching to 00:21:21.849 --> 00:21:27.069 them as having nothing yet possessing everything. 00:21:27.829 --> 00:21:30.109 Whether hungry or well -fed, I have learned to 00:21:30.109 --> 00:21:33.329 be content. In all situations, I can do all things 00:21:33.329 --> 00:21:36.230 through Jesus Christ who strengthens me. What 00:21:36.230 --> 00:21:39.730 a beautiful verse. I think that's another way 00:21:39.730 --> 00:21:43.059 of saying what Paul is saying here. I ain't got 00:21:43.059 --> 00:21:47.579 nothing by the world standards, but I got everything 00:21:47.579 --> 00:21:53.299 in Jesus Christ. What a beautiful, beautiful 00:21:53.299 --> 00:22:00.420 verse. Verse 11. We have spoken openly to you, 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:03.259 Corinthians. Our heart has been opened wide. 00:22:03.740 --> 00:22:07.920 You are not limited by us, but you are limited 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:12.769 by your own affections. I speak. As to my children, 00:22:12.990 --> 00:22:17.750 as a proper response, you should also be open 00:22:17.750 --> 00:22:22.529 to us. So he finishes up his commendation of 00:22:22.529 --> 00:22:25.569 himself here, his defense of himself here, but 00:22:25.569 --> 00:22:29.029 it's all for a purpose. He says, look, I've told 00:22:29.029 --> 00:22:32.369 you all these things. You know who I am. You've 00:22:32.369 --> 00:22:35.990 seen how I live my life. Now would you listen 00:22:35.990 --> 00:22:39.380 to us? Would you listen to the message that we 00:22:39.380 --> 00:22:42.539 are trying to tell you? If you're turning a deaf 00:22:42.539 --> 00:22:45.640 ear to us, if it's not getting through, it's 00:22:45.640 --> 00:22:48.559 not because we're not leading you right. It's 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:51.140 because you're not willing to listen to us anymore. 00:22:51.539 --> 00:22:55.059 But what Paul wants is for them to listen to 00:22:55.059 --> 00:22:58.700 him. And why? If you flip back to the last verse 00:22:58.700 --> 00:23:01.819 of the last chapter, what is this key point that's 00:23:01.819 --> 00:23:04.500 so important for Paul and for us and for everybody? 00:23:05.900 --> 00:23:10.119 In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, He made the one 00:23:10.119 --> 00:23:13.279 who did not know sin to be sin for us so that 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:16.960 we might become the righteousness of God through 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:20.299 Him. This is the message of the gospel of Jesus 00:23:20.299 --> 00:23:22.640 Christ. This is the hope of the Corinthians. 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:26.299 It's the hope of you and I. This is the message 00:23:26.299 --> 00:23:28.900 that Paul wants his audience to know, to not 00:23:28.900 --> 00:23:31.779 stray away from. Don't listen to the false teachers, 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:34.740 but listen to us and listen to this message. 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:37.980 What did he say in verse 2 last week? Today is 00:23:37.980 --> 00:23:41.900 the day of salvation. Look, Jesus has come. We 00:23:41.900 --> 00:23:44.859 don't deserve God's love, but through Jesus Christ, 00:23:45.059 --> 00:23:48.059 we can receive it. Jesus has took our punishment 00:23:48.059 --> 00:23:51.140 so that we can receive his righteousness. Today, 00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:54.180 salvation has come. Will you hear the message 00:23:54.180 --> 00:23:56.779 of the gospel today and accept that message? 00:23:57.599 --> 00:23:59.720 And then he proceeds to tell them what he just 00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:02.420 told them, what we looked at tonight. So listen 00:24:02.420 --> 00:24:05.710 to what I say. Look at who I am. Look at how 00:24:05.710 --> 00:24:08.630 I've lived and know that I'm trustworthy and 00:24:08.630 --> 00:24:11.930 know that I want you to find Jesus Christ and 00:24:11.930 --> 00:24:15.430 to love Jesus Christ and to hold fast to Jesus 00:24:15.430 --> 00:24:19.210 Christ and to not give up on Jesus Christ and 00:24:19.210 --> 00:24:23.990 to not be led away by false teachings. And that's 00:24:23.990 --> 00:24:26.970 a good word for us today. There are lots of false 00:24:26.970 --> 00:24:30.009 teachings in this world. There are lots of things 00:24:30.009 --> 00:24:33.099 in this world. that can lead us away from Jesus 00:24:33.099 --> 00:24:35.640 Christ, that can pull us in other directions, 00:24:35.960 --> 00:24:40.480 that can get us sidetracked. But we need to make 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:43.660 sure our focus is in the right place and on the 00:24:43.660 --> 00:24:47.160 right person, and that is the person of Jesus 00:24:47.160 --> 00:24:50.480 Christ. There's a lot of false teachers in our 00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:53.700 world, a lot of false teachings. We have to be 00:24:53.700 --> 00:24:56.640 in the Word of God, and we have to know the Word 00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:59.059 of God so that we will not fall into the same 00:24:59.059 --> 00:25:02.019 trap as the Corinthians. so that we will not 00:25:02.019 --> 00:25:05.200 be led astray, and we will not replace the truth 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:08.380 with a lie, but we will stand firm on the truth 00:25:08.380 --> 00:25:12.480 of Jesus Christ. Let's pray. God, we thank you 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:14.240 for these good words, and I pray that we look 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:19.119 at our own life. Maybe we can't be so bold as 00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:24.480 Paul tonight and say that we've done right by 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:26.640 you in all these areas, dear Lord. Maybe if we're 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:30.230 honest, we have been a stumbling block. And maybe 00:25:30.230 --> 00:25:32.289 there are some stumbling blocks in our life that 00:25:32.289 --> 00:25:35.470 we just need you to help just crush them for 00:25:35.470 --> 00:25:37.529 us tonight, dear Lord, to help us to grow in 00:25:37.529 --> 00:25:40.670 you so that we can help others to grow in you, 00:25:40.750 --> 00:25:43.769 dear Lord. Help us to be good examples to you. 00:25:44.410 --> 00:25:46.950 Help us to have that love and compassion and 00:25:46.950 --> 00:25:52.690 to be unto others as Jesus was unto us, dear 00:25:52.690 --> 00:25:55.710 Lord. I pray that you would help us to be able 00:25:55.710 --> 00:25:59.509 to endure, dear Lord. This life is so hard. And 00:25:59.509 --> 00:26:02.190 maybe there are others like me that just want 00:26:02.190 --> 00:26:06.009 to give up with their jobs or with their families 00:26:06.009 --> 00:26:08.829 or with their school or with their whatever it 00:26:08.829 --> 00:26:10.930 is, dear Lord. I mean, it's just so many things 00:26:10.930 --> 00:26:13.630 in life. And I pray that you give us endurance, 00:26:14.009 --> 00:26:16.829 that you would restore us, dear Lord, that you 00:26:16.829 --> 00:26:19.869 would build us up, that you would help us to 00:26:19.869 --> 00:26:22.529 continue to serve you and to do your work in 00:26:22.529 --> 00:26:25.369 the same way that Paul has done. I pray that 00:26:25.369 --> 00:26:27.569 we would... grow in the knowledge of your word. 00:26:27.650 --> 00:26:30.230 I pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ 00:26:30.230 --> 00:26:34.470 that are in prison and beaten and that are under 00:26:34.470 --> 00:26:38.230 threats of persecution just for doing what we're 00:26:38.230 --> 00:26:39.970 doing. I pray that you would strengthen them. 00:26:40.369 --> 00:26:42.430 I pray that they would feel your peace and love. 00:26:42.549 --> 00:26:46.089 I pray, God, that should we ever get in situations 00:26:46.089 --> 00:26:48.450 that extreme, that you'd give us the faith and 00:26:48.450 --> 00:26:51.799 the strength to stand up for you. God, I pray 00:26:51.799 --> 00:26:54.180 that you would help us not to lose our focus, 00:26:54.279 --> 00:26:56.839 that we wouldn't be led astray by the things 00:26:56.839 --> 00:26:59.039 of the world and by false teachings, but that 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:02.180 we would look to the example of Paul and, most 00:27:02.180 --> 00:27:04.359 importantly, to the example of Jesus Christ, 00:27:04.460 --> 00:27:08.160 that we would stand firm in him tonight. And 00:27:08.160 --> 00:27:13.299 I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. All 00:27:13.299 --> 00:27:15.640 right, we'll go over our prayer list right quick. 00:27:24.919 --> 00:27:29.019 Today was a bad day for this country. We had 00:27:29.019 --> 00:27:31.180 Charlie Kirk. I don't know if you know him or 00:27:31.180 --> 00:27:34.019 not. Regardless of your political standings, 00:27:34.019 --> 00:27:38.799 it's tragedy when you see somebody that is killed 00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:42.160 just for speaking the truth. One of the last 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:44.259 things he was speaking before he was killed was 00:27:44.259 --> 00:27:47.880 he was talking about Jesus Christ. And it's a 00:27:47.880 --> 00:27:51.339 sad... sad state of affairs that our country 00:27:51.339 --> 00:27:55.180 is in. There's a lot of evil in this world but 00:27:55.180 --> 00:27:58.140 God is still good and God can change the hearts 00:27:58.140 --> 00:28:01.200 of people and that is the only thing that is 00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:04.779 going to change our world. And so we need to 00:28:04.779 --> 00:28:07.759 continually be in prayer for our country and 00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:09.740 for our leaders that they would make good decisions 00:28:09.740 --> 00:28:12.980 for people that they would wake up to realize 00:28:12.980 --> 00:28:17.009 that they're There are serious problems in our 00:28:17.009 --> 00:28:20.150 country that we've got to address. And by address 00:28:20.150 --> 00:28:22.109 them, I mean turn to Jesus. That's what I mean. 00:28:22.150 --> 00:28:24.369 I don't mean elect a different party to serve. 00:28:24.529 --> 00:28:27.690 I mean we've got to call on Jesus to fix our 00:28:27.690 --> 00:28:31.390 problems. And so we need to be in prayer for 00:28:31.390 --> 00:28:35.430 that. It's a sad day for us. We need to continue 00:28:35.430 --> 00:28:39.269 to pray for Michael Riddle. He had a heart ablation 00:28:39.269 --> 00:28:41.670 today to get his heart back in rhythm. It was 00:28:41.670 --> 00:28:43.910 an AFib, and everything went good. He's probably 00:28:43.910 --> 00:28:45.849 home by now. They were on the way a while ago, 00:28:46.029 --> 00:28:48.049 and so I want to pray for him. He's going to 00:28:48.049 --> 00:28:49.950 be down for a couple days. He's got to rest up, 00:28:50.029 --> 00:28:52.430 so pray that he'll do what the doctor says and 00:28:52.430 --> 00:28:55.150 not overdo it. But if you all get a chance, you 00:28:55.150 --> 00:28:56.930 can call him or text him and check on him. He'd 00:28:56.930 --> 00:28:59.769 probably appreciate to know that you're praying 00:28:59.769 --> 00:29:02.130 for him. But everything went good there today, 00:29:02.269 --> 00:29:05.940 so that's a good praise report. Miss Pat's son 00:29:05.940 --> 00:29:07.700 -in -law, Michael, he had his other knee done 00:29:07.700 --> 00:29:14.799 today. Oh, okay. I was thinking it was knee for 00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:28.640 some reason. Huh. Yeah. Well, hopefully he'll 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:30.339 heal up now that he's got both of them done. 00:29:32.419 --> 00:29:35.019 Miss Debbie Reed, sister, she's still not doing 00:29:35.019 --> 00:29:37.220 good. Ginger Ard, we mentioned her. I think Fran 00:29:37.220 --> 00:29:39.900 mentioned her Sunday. Debbie texted me a couple 00:29:39.900 --> 00:29:42.220 days ago, said she was in a coma, and so I hadn't 00:29:42.220 --> 00:29:45.160 heard anything since then. So we need to continue 00:29:45.160 --> 00:29:48.839 to pray for her. And then got word the other 00:29:48.839 --> 00:29:52.160 day that Richard Tia's grandson had a little 00:29:52.160 --> 00:29:53.779 problem. They had to take him to the hospital, 00:29:53.859 --> 00:29:56.079 but didn't find anything, sent him back home. 00:29:56.519 --> 00:29:59.380 So hopefully it wasn't nothing serious, but just 00:29:59.380 --> 00:30:03.759 want to pray that he's going. Be okay. Well, 00:30:03.839 --> 00:30:08.859 good. Good. Does anybody else have any prayer 00:30:08.859 --> 00:30:16.420 requests or praise reports tonight? Yeah, I've 00:30:16.420 --> 00:30:18.799 had a lot of deaths in the community in the last 00:30:18.799 --> 00:31:33.680 week. Oh, no. All right, anybody else? All right. 00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:37.420 If there are no others, if you'd like to pray, 00:31:37.480 --> 00:31:39.799 you can pray out loud. We'll take a few moments, 00:31:39.819 --> 00:31:42.240 and when everybody's finished up, I'll close 00:31:42.240 --> 00:31:42.680 us up.