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In the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

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The scripture
reading that we had

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just a minute ago
makes for a challenging

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text, a hard text.
And there are two

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reasons for that.
One is historical.

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It's the situation
that Paul is

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in. It's the context that he's

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addressing. It's a tense one.

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It's a challenging one all
by itself. And you can tell

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by the way it ends.
He makes the appeal,

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working together
with Him, that is

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Jesus Christ. Working
together with Him,

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we appeal to you
that you not receive

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the grace

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of God in vain. And
then he goes on.

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Now look, we have not put
an obstacle in anybody's way.

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You can find no fault

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in our ministry. Actually
there's a lot that commends us

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to you. Endurance,
afflictions,

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beatings, going hungry,

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calamities. Look,

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how have we
come to you? Purity,

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knowledge, patience, kindness,

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the Holy Spirit, genuine love.
Our speech has been truthful.

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We've depended
on the power of God.

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Righteousness has
been our weapon

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in both our right hand
and in our left hand.

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And look,

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how the people talked
about us. They're imposters.

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No, we are true. Look at them.

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They're not known by anybody.

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Oh come on, everybody
knows who we are. They're

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dying. No, we're alive.
They're being punished.

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They haven't killed
us yet. They're poor.

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Well then how come we make

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everybody rich?
They got nothing.

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Well then how can we
possess everything?

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No, Paul has had to

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commend himself
and the ministry that he

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and Timothy and Silvanus
have been offering,

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have been doing for them
on behalf of Christ. And as he

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concludes, it's like this.
Look, we have come to you

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with our hearts
wide open. And why

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does he do that?
Because here's

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how the Corinthians are.

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We've done everything for you.

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Suspicion, pain.

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Well, that's a
tough situation.

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That's challenging.
Now that's not the

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one we face here, so
that's a historical matter.

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And we can learn
something from Paul in

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what he did, but
let's turn to the other

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challenging matter and
that's Paul's message.

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Working together with
him, that is Christ Jesus,

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we appeal that you
not receive the grace

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of God in vain.
And that means it's a

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real possibility of not
receiving the grace of God.

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Now how might
that happen? There

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are of course
all sorts of ways.

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Perhaps the most
common, at least in our time,

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is to regard the grace
of God as something

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too small or too narrow.

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The thinking goes like this.
You assume, you believe,

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that if you were perfect,
completely holy, entirely

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righteous, you would be worthy
and God would receive you.

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But of course
there is sin. And not

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only the sins you
commit, but the

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sin that is your condition.

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But the grace of
God is to make

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things better, to
make things right.

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And in Christ Jesus,

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God provides for
the life you could not

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leave, for the
obedience you will not

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render, and in His
death pay for the

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debt. More than
pay for those sins.

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But the grace of God there
is too small. It's too narrow.

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The grace of God
does not just make

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things better.
It does not just

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make things that
went wrong right.

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The grace of God
does everything.

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I believe in God the Father

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almighty, maker of
heaven and earth.

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And how do our
catechisms explain that?

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I believe that God
has made me together

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with all creatures. That He's
given me this and that and so

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much more. That He
defends me and guards and

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protects me. And
why? All this He does

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by grace, purely
out of fatherly divine

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goodness and mercy,
without any merit or

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worthiness in me. It's not
about how good you are. It's

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about His grace.

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And what happens in creation
happens also in redemption.

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Paul before in this
this passage speaks

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about that. If
anyone is in Christ,

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he is a new creation.
The old has gone.

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The new has come.
All of this is from God

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who reconciled us to Himself
and gave us the ministry of

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reconciliation. In other
words, God was in Christ

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reconciling the
entire world to himself,

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not counting anybody's
trespasses against

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them. And He gave us,
entrusted us the message

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of reconciliation, Paul says.
We are, we have been made

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ambassadors for Christ. God is
making his appeal through us.

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And so he had been.
Be reconciled to God.

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And the grace of God made
all things. The grace of God

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makes all things new.

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It's not about your
worth. It's not about

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your righteousness.
It's not about your

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holiness. It is about
what God decides.

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So taken just by that self, of
course, that's not good news.

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No, the good news is
this. God actually has

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extended his
grace to you. That is

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what he was doing
in your baptism.

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God, who was
under no compulsion,

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made you His
children, made you

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His heirs. Your sins, they
are forgiven. If you die,

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He will raise you. All
the evil in the world,

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He will deliver you.

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What's the Lord's Supper
but by Jesus coming down

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to have a meal with
His disciples. The

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grace is shown
in by being invited.

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Here, take a place. Here,
take eat. Here, take drink.

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What about your
sins? They are forgiven.

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What about my
unrighteousness? You are mine.

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Come on, take
eat. That is the

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grace of God.
That is the grace

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that makes all things
new. That grace is yours.

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So working together
with Christ Jesus,

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I, by virtue of my
office as a call and

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ordained servant of the word,
urge you, do not let the grace

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of God elude you. Do
not let it pass you by.

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God would have
you to be His. God

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through Christ
has been and will

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continue to make
all things new and

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His gracious promise
is He will make

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you new.

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Grace to you and peace
from God our Father

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and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Amen. We continue
with the hymn.