2 Corinthians 4

shall we turn now in our bibles to second corinthians chapter four chapter four ii corinthians four therefore seeing we have this ministry the word therefore is always a word that takes you back to statements that have been made as dr mcgee said whenever you find it therefore you must ask wherefore and wherefore the therefore paul has been talking about the ministry that god has given to him and in the previous chapter in verse 6 he said who has made us able ministers of this new covenant not of the law but this covenant of grace so if the covenant of the law was glorious however this new ministry of the spirit is even of greater glory verse eight and then if the uh ministry of the law which brought condemnation uh was glory how much more does this ministry of righteousness exceed in glory so paul has been called to bring the glorious truth of god's grace to the world in contrast to the law of moses in which god established the basis for which man could relate to god god has now established a new relationship as jesus said when he took the elements of the passover supper and when he took the cup he said this cup is a new covenant in my blood which is shed for the remission of sins in the old covenant they had to bring a blood of an animal and the priest would say it would offer the blood of the animal and would uh make sacrifice for the people for their sins without the shedding of blood there was no remission of sins and so now the new covenant in the blood of jesus christ whereby we now relate to god not through our works but through the finished work of jesus christ when man sought to relate to god by his own works his relationship with god was always tenuous it could vary from day to day even as you know you have good days you have bad days there are days when things seem to go well and you're you know sort of floating on top and then there are days when everything seems to go wrong and man you're out of sorts and and if your relationship uh with god was based upon you know your the way you feel or or whatever it would be a very tenuous relationship but we have a very solid relationship because it's not based on my work it's based on the work of jesus christ and that doesn't vary that doesn't change and thus i have this beautiful relationship with god that is steady that is constant because it isn't dependent upon me my goodness my faithfulness my righteousness but it's dependent upon the work that jesus christ has done for me and god's glorious grace so this is the ministry that god gave to paul so seeing that we have this ministry as we have received mercy paul said we faint not now the ministry was not easy for paul it was not a popular ministry with the jews in fact they looked at paul as an enemy and they sought more than once to destroy paul because they looked upon him as a traitor and as an enemy of judaism and so it was not easy because paul was constantly facing persecution facing death death threats constantly made on the life of paul so he said as we've received mercy we faint not and then talking of the ministry he said we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty not walking and crafting us nor handling the word of god deceitfully but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves into every man's conscience in the sight of god what paul is saying is i haven't been guilty of twisting the scriptures twisting the meaning of the scriptures to try to make them say what i want them to say now there are those who are they call it isa jesus instead of exegesis exegesis is getting the truth out of the text i said jesus is trying to put the truth into the text in other words you you give the text and then uh you uh try to twist it to make it adhere to a position that you have adapted and there are many who do that it isn't a true exposition of the scripture it's a twisting of the scriptures for instance those that are teaching what is called the prosperity doctrine god wants them to be prosperous god wants them to drive fancy cars god wants you to support them so they can drive those fancy cars and they try to justify their lavish lifestyle by saying that it was god's purpose and desire so they come to the scripture that talks about the robe of jesus that was woven from top to bottom throughout it didn't have seams and so they said that that was a designer robe jesus wore designer clothes and thus he wants us to wear designer clothes that scripture tells us how that judas was sort of the treasure of the group he held the purse and it tells us that he was thieving out of the purse so they say that they had so much money judas was able to take out and they didn't even miss it because they had so much money and so god wants us to be prosperous and wealthy well that's twisting the scriptures to make them sort of mean what the person wants them to say in order to support a position at a particular doctrinal position that isn't necessarily true surely not biblical biblically true so paul said we don't do that we don't uh we're not dishonest with the scriptures we're not using craftiness or we're not handling the word of god deceitfully and oh how important it is that we are careful as we teach the word of god that we do not handle the word of god deceitfully james warns against that in his letter he said don't be many teachers knowing that you will receive the greater condemnation the bible tells us unto whom much is given much is required there's a tremendous responsibility incumbent upon the person who stands in front of other people to expound the scriptures the tremendous responsibility to be honest to what the scriptures say and not to get into these crafty little games of of twisting the scriptures in order to draw out a meaning that isn't there one of the best rules of biblical interpretation is just to believe it as it says it the plain obvious truth is the truth god wasn't trying to use subtle subtleties and craftiness and hide the truth behind you know couched meanings and there are always people who are looking for some kind of secret interpretation but peter says no scripture is a private interpretation oh the lord gave me an insight on this you know nobody else has it you know no no it's the plain obvious meaning is is the meaning there are always people that are sort of looking for some hidden motive some hidden thing there was a lady in a church that i pastored years ago and you'd say well good morning how are you today and she called me up in the afternoons and when you said good morning what did you really mean by that i meant good morning and i mean uh but she was always looking like you know like you're trying to get some kind of a coded secret message or uh you know i'm not that smart i just uh i just say what i mean i mean what i say and that's what god did he said what he meant and he meant what he said and the plain obvious meaning is usually the correct interpretation so uh we haven't handled the word of god deceitfully haven't twisted the scriptures but by manifestation of the truth commanding ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of god i realize that i am standing before god i am responsible to god and and one day i will answer to god for the ministry that he has given to me and for how i have handled his word and that is why we seek to be very careful to not go beyond now in this radio program that we have to every man and answer many many questions call for speculation where the bible doesn't give any clear distinct scripture that is relevant to that subject and so when a person asks a question of which we do not have a clear biblical answer we try to just say well we don't have a scripture that deals with that and be honest there there is no scripture that deals directly with that but then we often will give a um a fee an interp you know but this is what we feel or it would seem to us that but always couch it with this is our opinion this isn't the word of god there's no scripture but this is how i see it or whatever as we but always make it known that hey it's only speculation and that's all it is and speculation is just speculation and one man's as good as another so if our gospel is hid we haven't tried to you know use craftiness and and subtleties in our speech and so if the gospel is hid it's hid to those that are lost whose eyes have been blinded by satan that they cannot see the truth paul is very open very clear as he presents the gospel and if people don't understand the reason why they don't understand is that the god of this world satan has blinded their eyes now it is interesting that paul calls satan the god of this age or the god of this world you see originally when god created the earth and created man and placed him on the earth god gave the earth to man as sort of a wonderful gift god said to adam have dominion over the earth over the fish of the sea or the fowls of the air over every moving and creeping thing for i have given it unto thee take care of it and so god gave to man this beautiful earth to enjoy to take care of when adam sinned he forfeited the earth over to satan and satan became the god of this world the world system no longer was it god's he had given it to man no longer was it man's he had given it to satan to whomsoever you yield yourself servants to obey his servants you become adam yielded himself to satan to obey the suggestion to eat of the tree that god had forbidden he became a servant of satan and satan became the possessor of the earth jesus twice called satan the prince of this world now the purpose of the coming of jesus christ into the world was to redeem the world back to god originally belonged to god god gave it to man man forfeited it to satan so jesus came to redeem the world back to god satan knew that and so satan took jesus into a high mountain at the beginning of his ministry he showed him all of the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them and he said all of them all of these i will give to you and the glory of them if you'll just bow down and worship me now jesus didn't this satan said for they are mine and i can give them to whomever i will jesus didn't dispute that he didn't say oh they're not yours what are you talking about but he acknowledged yes the earth had been forfeited by man over to satan his purpose of coming was to redeem it back to god the price of redemption his death the righteous for the unrighteous and so satan is saying look you don't have to go to the cross. you remember i copied your sneeze back there you picked it up you remember when jesus first revealed himself to the disciples or they first acknowledged that he was the messiah jesus began to say to them that he was going to be turned over to the gentiles and crucified and slain and peter cried out lord spare yourself literally and jesus said get me behind me satan you offend me because you don't understand the things that are of god and things are with man satan's suggestion is don't go to the cross spare yourself and so jesus paid the price he redeemed the world back to god through his death and so we read of the redemption through his blood now he has not yet taken possession we are waiting for him and we are praying for that day he told us to he said pray thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven not yet has it come his will is not being done today in earth man is being governed by satan satan's will is being done he's the god of this world the god that the world worships but we pray thy kingdom come thy will be done and one day his kingdom shall come and he will rule as king of kings and lord of lords over the earth now in heaven that transaction the full redemption will take place and john gives us an insight into that day in the fifth chapter of the book of revelation as john is in heaven and he beholds the father as he sits upon the throne a scroll in his right hand with writing within and without sealed with seven seals he hears the angel as he proclaims or as he says who is worthy to take the scroll and to loose the seals and john said no man was found worthy to take the scroll to look upon it now john said i began to sob because no man was worthy until the elder said don't wait john behold the lion of the tribe of judah hath prevailed and he's going to take the scroll and loose the seals and john turned and he saw him as a lamb that had been slain and he came forth and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sits upon the throne and all of the praises and rejoicing in heaven as a result of this is the day when the title deed of the earth will be remanded back to god and the kingdom of god shall come in the opening of the seals it brings god's judgment god's purifying god's cleansing of the earth from the unrighteous that are dwelling upon it from the uh pollution of sin and jesus that will then return with his church to establish god's kingdom upon the earth so the gospel that we preach is not hid only to those who are lost because the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not it's important for us to ex to realize that a person does not receive jesus christ because his mind has been blinded by satan as god said in isaiah chapter 1 come now let us reason together saith the lord let's be reasonable but there are those who don't have the capacity to reason because their minds have been blinded by satan they cannot take an honest look at the scriptures because satan has so distorted the truth in their minds and it is quite obvious as you witness to some people that they are really controlled by the power of satan holding them as a captive because there are people that can talk to you rationally on every subject in the world except jesus christ and you bring up the subject of jesus christ and it's like lighting a fuse to a stick of dynamite there's just an explosion because they cannot rationally talk about jesus christ they can talk about the dodgers and this terrible losing streak that they're having right now they can talk about the chances that the angels have but they just blew the series with the mariners then you know they could talk about many different things and and they can be very cordial but you bring up the subject of jesus christ and you've just lit a fire they cannot rationally and the reason for that is that their minds are being distorted the facts the truth is distorted and they're under satan's control and satan's power and he is holding them lying to them and their minds are blinded so that it is necessary when we are dealing with people that are in that condition that we bind the power of satan and this is what jesus was talking about when he said whatsoever you bind in earth will be bound in heaven now these people cannot make a rational decision concerning jesus christ because of this work of satan in their mind that's distorting truth and thus we have to free them from satan's distortions and that we do through prayer as we bind the work of satan and the perverting of the truth in their minds as a result of what satan has done you see if a person can once look honestly at the bible what it teaches concerning god concerning creation concerning sin concerning god's provision for sin if they look at the prophecies and the scriptures from a reasonable rational base it makes sense to commit your life fully to jesus christ it doesn't make sense to live in sin that's folly sin is destructive but you see a person cannot rationalize that as isaiah said when he said come now let's reason together he said they do not consider they're not able to rationalize look what sin is doing to you look how it's destroying you they can't and we get frustrated we say can't you see and the truth is they can't because their minds are blinded so we have to take the offensive and we have to bind satan's work through prayer and when satan's work is bound and they have a clear mind to rationally consider the scriptures and the claims of jesus christ then they will receive i mean they'd have to be a fool not to receive so the god of this world is blinded the minds of those that believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel of christ who is the image of god should shine unto them minds blinded they can't see until we through prayer free them we talk about free moral agency and i have often wondered is there such a thing as free moral agency because it is wrong to say that a person who is living in sin is a free moral agent he is not free he is bound by his sin he is blinded in his mind to the truth he is not free at all he is a captive he's held by the power of sin he's not a free moral agent how many people there are that are wanting to quit those things that they are doing that they know are hurting and destroying longing desiring trying pleading for help but they're bound they're not a free moral agent they're bound by the power of darkness you say but we are free moral agents we've been set free by jesus christ free to what free to surrender our lives to his control so really i'm not a free moral agent i'm controlled by the lord i've willingly surrendered so at one point in my life i was a free moral agent when i was freed from that power that satan had and which he bound me and that day that i made my decision to commit my life to fully follow jesus as lord and and i exercised my free moral agency on that one occasion and since then i've been a bond slave of jesus christ to do his will but that's my choice so the thing is and the truth is you are either bound by satan serving satan he is your lord you're doing his will or you are bound by jesus christ his servant doing his will one of the two if you're not one you're the other if jesus isn't your lord then you are as those that paul said uh you are by nature a child of wrath even as others as satan is controlling you as you're living according to the cour the to the uh lust of your flesh and the lust of your mind and are by nature the children of wrath even as others you're bound by satan's power you're following the course of the world that's being directed by the prince of the power of the air or you've submitted your life and you're now following jesus christ and he is lord of your life so the glorious gospel of christ is not hid except to those whose minds have been blinded by satan those that believe not lest the light they're living in darkness you can't see in darkness absolute darkness and they can't see the truth lest the light of the glorious gospel of christ who is the image of god should shine unto them this glorious light of jesus christ oh how blessed we are that the light of the gospel has shined upon us that we've been set free from the powers of darkness set free from the god of this world and we're living in the glorious light and understanding of jesus christ having been redeemed by his blood the image of god in hebrews chapter 1 it opens with some tremendous words concerning jesus christ god who at different times and in diverse manners spoke to our fathers in the past by the prophets has in these last days spoken unto us by his son who he has appointed heir of all things by whom he made the worlds who being and this is the the beautiful heart of it who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person that's why jesus could say to philip philip if you have seen me you have seen the father when philip said lord just show us the father and it sufficeth us you said lord philip if you've seen me you've seen the father he is the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power when he had by himself purged our sins sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high and so the express image of his person now we were made in the image of god man was but man fell through sin but as we yield our lives to jesus christ it is the purpose of god to restore us into the image of god once again and that is the process that is taking place in the life of every believer the holy spirit works within us to conform us into the image of jesus christ when we do things that are uncharacteristic of jesus out of character the holy spirit checks us he prompts us and as we yield to the holy spirit then more and more day by day he is conforming us into the image of jesus christ as we read in the last verse of the third chapter but we all with open face beholding the glory of the lord are being changed from glory to glory into the same image that is the image of jesus who is in the image of god so god is restoring us into his image beloved now are we the sons of god it doesn't yet appear what we're going to be but we know that when jesus appears we're going to be like him for we will see him as he is so the god of this world blinded the minds of those that believe not they're in darkness lest the light of the glorious gospel of christ who is the image of god should shine unto them for we preached not ourselves but jesus christ the lord and ourselves we're just servants your servants for jesus sake that's all we are we are your servants we are here to serve you for christ's sake to serve you in your spiritual needs we're not here to rule over you jesus said to his disciples the gentiles love to exercise lordship it shall not be so among you whoever would be your minister let him be the servant of all and so we are here to as as paul said we don't preach ourselves but we preached jesus christ and ourselves all we are our servants your servants for his sake for god who commanded the light to shine out of darkness the when god created the earth the earth was without form and void and darkness covered the face of the deep and god said let there be light he commanded the light to shine out of the darkness let there be light and there was light he hath shined in our hearts oh the god who spoke light into existence called for light out of the darkness he has shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of jesus christ oh what a glorious thing this glorious truth of god the light of the knowledge of the glory of god shining in our hearts god has opened your hearts to allow you to see to allow you to understand how blessed you are how blessed we are that we're not still as the world around us in darkness we need to rejoice daily that god in his love saw fit to open our hearts to the light of the gospel the truth of jesus christ when the world is wrapped in darkness hopelessly lost here we are redeemed cleansed children of god because the light of the glorious gospel the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of jesus christ but we have this treasury said in earthen vessels what a treasure what an absolute treasure this treasure of eternal life the riches of the gospel we have this treasure paul said in earthen vessels or in clay pots isn't it interesting god takes something so absolutely valuable i mean it is priceless what should a man give in exchange for his soul your soul is worth more than all of the wealth of the world what would it profit a man if he gained the whole world but lost his own soul this glorious treasure priceless treasure the knowledge of god and the glory of god salvation god has put this treasure in an earthen vessel now you'd say well if you put it in a gold chest you know it'd be no he put it in an earthen vessel in you in your heart and in my heart and in this wonderful treasure that i have in the knowledge of jesus christ and the knowledge of the glory of god and this hope it's in this earthen vessel our bodies were made out of the earth in these clay pots for the purpose that the excellency of the power may be of god and not of us so that we wouldn't glory in the vessel now there is therein is a great danger the vessel seeking glory paul's talking about the ministry still not handling the word of god craftily deceitfully but honestly not twisting it to say something that it doesn't say we preach not ourselves we don't exalt ourselves we don't seek to draw people to ourselves we seek to draw them to jesus christ we're just nothing but servants your servants for his sake this glorious treasure that we have to give to people god's put it in these clay pots so that the glory doesn't you see just a clay pot you don't glory in that clay pot but if it's filled with you know expensive perfume then you glory in the fragrance but not in the pot you don't say wasn't that wonderful pot can you smell the glorious aroma coming from it no no no and yet there are those that try to exalt themselves and and try to you know receive adulation and you know they they whenever they tell a story they're always the hero you know this person was very sick and they went to oral roberts and he prayed for them and they went to benny hen and he prayed for them and they were just getting worse but then they came to me and you know god healed him you know praise god well no you see you're exalting yourself and you're trying to say well i have more power than oral and benny or whatever you know and uh you make yourself the hero that's that's preaching yourself not preaching christ you're trying to bring glory to a clay pot and when you do that you're a [Applause] crackpot now in those days they use these pots uh for uh different purposes and and the bible talks about how the potter working with the clay has the power over the clay to make whatever kind of vessel he wants a vessel of honor a vessel of dishonor and so forth and so some of these clay pots were used for garbage some of them were used to bring water into the home the women would take their earthen jars down to the well and they would bring the water home and they're in the house for cooking purposes for washing purposes and so forth and drinking purposes have you ever had a plastic container in which you kept water in your house kept it in the refrigerator but then when you went to drink the water you got the taste of plastic you ever had that yuck i don't like plastic flavored water i like good water tasteless water you know just i don't want it to taste of the vessel so it is important as we contain this glorious treasure that as we share the treasure as we pour out that people don't get the taste of the pot that we don't color the taste but the people receive the pure treasure of god from our lives as it pours forth god's truth pours forth from us it doesn't take on the color or it doesn't take on the taste of the vessel because the excellency must be to god and not to us and that's why god does such a ludicrous thing he puts this valuable priceless treasure in clay pots in order that the excellency might be to god not to us so paul then goes on concerning the ministry not an easy profession he said we are troubled on every side in the 11th chapter he'll begin to enumerate for them some of the troubles that he experienced the five times that he was beaten by the jews with 40 stripes save one 39 stripes the three times he was caned by the jews the one time he was stoned the three times he was shipwrecked he'll begin to share some of the troubles that he encountered in bringing the gospel to the gentile world troubled on every side perils he said of my countrymen perils of the city perils of the countryside perils of the sea troubled on every side but not distressed sure there's a lot of trouble but i'm not distressed the lord's on the throne we used to have a dear sweet lady in huntington beach who had a tremendous gift of exhortation mother berg saint of god and she was in her 90s and just was a godly saintly woman and sort of her theme was god is on the throne and i go over many times to talk to her and we were troubled on different issues and she'd always say but charles god is on the throne he hasn't vacated the throne and and you go away from there just oh praise the lord he's on god's in control you know you just needed to be reminded of that you sort of forget it for a while because it looks like chaos you know but god's in control troubled on every side but not distressed we are perplexed we don't know which way to turn life sometimes can become very perplexing confusing and sometimes in our perplexity we despair there is no way out i you know i'm through no he says we're not in despair we're perplexed sure but god has a way out we're not in despair we are persecuted and know how paul was persecuted read the book of acts and the persecution that paul experienced as he shared the gospel but he said we're not forsaken he was forsaken by man he wrote to timothy and said when our we had our first hearing before nero everyone forsook me but he said the lord stood by me so we are forsaken we're not forsaken by the lord we're persecuted but he never forsakes us we are cast down [Music] we get discouraged but we're not destroyed because we're always bearing about in the body the dying of the lord jesus paul said i bear the marks of jesus christ in my body paul had scars from the stonings paul had scars from the stripes that he received from the canings paul had scars all over his body but he said these are the marks of our lord jesus christ these are the marks i received in preaching the gospel so always bearing about in the body the dying of the lord jesus that the life also of jesus might be made manifest by our body so we're facing death continually and paul did he he was always seemed to rile people to the point that they wanted to kill him and and over and over they they attempted to kill him on many occasions from the time he was first converted he had to escape from damascus where uh he went right after his conversion he went to damascus but he had to escape from damascus by being let down in a basket over the wall because men were waiting at the gate for him to leave they were going to kill him so that's that's a great way to get started in your christian walk and towards the end when he was in jerusalem and he was arrested by the romans there were 40 men who took a vow among themselves that they weren't going to eat or drink anything until they had killed paul i mean he's 40 radicals and so facing death and he says that bearing about in the body the dying of the lord jesus that the life also of jesus might be made manifest in our body for we which live are always delivered unto death for jesus sake always facing death for jesus sake that the life also of jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh again death and life we face death but the purpose is that the life of jesus might be made manifest paul wrote and said that his desire was that christ be magnified in his body either by life or by death i don't care i just want the lord to be magnified if he can be magnified in my death great if he can be magnified by my living great just the lord be magnified in my body whether by life or by death and so we're always facing death for jesus sake that the life of jesus might be made manifest because i'm going around sharing the life of christ with people and it it there are those who receive and are excited and then there are those who are angry because maybe their friends have received we've had death threats around here women who have come and accepted christ and they were in a live-in situation and they moved out after receiving christ and the guys are so mad they're going to kill us because their girlfriends have moved out on them you know and so manifesting the life of christ oftentimes brings threats of death so then death works in us but life in you we're facing the death but it's bringing you the glorious truth of eternal life through jesus christ so we having the same spirit of faith according as it is written i believed and therefore have i spoken we also believe and therefore we speak now this is a quotation of paul from the 16th psalm and it seems like in this whole last few verses he has this 16th psalm in mind and you might turn to psalm 16 and you'll see how paul is sort of reflecting now paul had a great working knowledge of the scripture and so much of what paul writes is based upon his understanding of the scriptures from the old testament and thus as he was facing death the threats of death no doubt this 16th psalm was often a comfort to him even as you have found that the psalms have been a comfort to you in different types of situations and the glorious things about the psalms is that they cover just about any issue that you might face and and discouragement or whatever there's a psalm that that will speak courage to your heart and and comfort and so paul like we do i'm sure turn to the psalms often to find solace and comfort the psalmist was praying preserve me it's david's praying actually it is actually a prayer of david preserve me o god for in thee do i put my trust now david you remember he was facing death too saul was out to kill him and always while saul was alive fleeing later on absalom his own son sought to kill him so preserve me o god for in thee do i put my trust o my soul thou has said unto the lord thou art my lord my goodness is not as great as yours but to the saints that are in the earth and to the excellent in whom is all my delight their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god and the drink offerings of blood will i not offer nor take up their names to my lips that is the names of the other gods the lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup thou maintainest my lot the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places yes i have a goodly heritage i will bless the lord who has given me counsel my reigns also instruct me in the night seasons i have set the lord always before me because he is at my right hand i shall not be moved therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth my flesh also shall rest in hope for thou will not leave my soul in hell neither will you allow the holy one to see corruption you will show to me the path of life and in thy presence is fullness of joy and at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore and then that coupled with psalm 116 no doubt in the mind of paul and in this in psalm 116 where paul said uh that i mean where david said uh i have believed and therefore have i spoken uh the sorrows of death compassed me verse three the pains of hell got hold upon me i found trouble and sorrow paul said trouble on every hand and all then i called upon the name of the lord i beseech thee deliver my soul gracious is the lord and righteous yeah our god is merciful the lord preserveth the simple i was brought low he helped me return to thy rest of my soul for the lord hath dealt bountifully with me for you have delivered my soul from death paul is talking about these very things mine eyes from tears my feet from falling i will walk before the lord in the land of the living i believed and here's paul quoting now this passage i believed therefore have i spoken i was greatly afflicted i said in my haste all men are liars so this talking about death and all paul related to that i going through i know what david's talking about and as it is written i believed and therefore have i spoken paul said therefore i also believe and therefore i speak knowing that he which raised up the lord jesus shall raise up us raise up us also by jesus and shall present us with you paul said to the romans chapter 8 if the same spirit that dwelt in christ or raised christ from the dead if the spirit that raised christ from the dead dwells in you he will also make alive your mortal body or quicken or make you alive by his spirit that's dwelling in it in you we believe in the resurrection of the dead through jesus christ that same spirit that raised jesus from the dead dwells in us and he will make alive our mortal bodies by his spirit dwelling in us knowing that he which raised up the lord jesus shall raise us up also by jesus and shall present us with you we will be together with the lord by the power of god's spirit raising us from the dead for all things he said are for your sakes all of these things i've gone through all of the tribulation all of the persecutions all of these things are for your sakes i'm doing it for your sake paul is saying that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many read down to the glory of god now the through the thanksgiving of many is one of those parenthetical phrases and thus to get the the meaning just leave that out for the moment that the abundant grace redound to the glory of god that's that's the thought i want this abundant grace to just read down to the glory of god and through the thanksgiving of many is is uh your sakes and for your sakes that you might give thanks for this abundant grace that it read down to the glory of god for which cause though we've been through and do go through all of these things the persecutions the distress and all for which cause we faint not we don't give up we don't give in we keep going but though the outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day my body's going to pieces falling apart the outward man is perishing paul said the marks of death facing death but my inward man i'm stronger than i've ever been walking in the presence of the lord and with the power of the spirit the imminent is being renewed every day for our light affliction and paul looking at these things so this is a light affliction why because he compared it with the weight of glory paul said for the present sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed jesus said blessed are ye when men persecute you and say all manner of evil against you for my sake rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven light affliction compared with the glory that's going to be revealed the light affliction is but for a moment it's not lasting it will pass but the glory is eternal the eternal weight of glory so the temporal compared with the eternal and that's always the comparison that we must make the temporal pleasure weighed against the eternal consequences the temporal suffering weighed against the eternal glory we need to live our life in the consciousness of the eternal if we get involved in the temporal material world it's easy to get down it's easy to get discouraged it's easy to give up but if we keep that eternal perspective we keep going in spite of the obstacles that we might face and all we keep going because we have the eternal goal in view with the eternal goal you're able to endure the afflictions you're able to endure the persecutions because you've got eternity in view moses had eternity in view he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of god than to be known as the son of pharaoh's daughter esteeming the reproach of christ greater riches than the treasures of egypt because he had respect unto the recompense of the reward he was looking at the eternal yes i can be the pharaoh of egypt for 25 30 years enjoy all of the fame the wealth and all and spend eternity in hell or i can be with the people of god suffer the affliction of the desert wanderings and so forth with god's people but spend eternity in the kingdom of god and so because he had recompense of the reward he esteemed the reproach of christ or the people of god greater treasure or greater riches than the treasures of egypt and therefore he endured because he could see the invisible and that's the secret of endurance while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen the things that are seen are the things of the material realm the three-dimensional world in which we live we don't look at that we look at the things which aren't seen the spiritual realm the spiritual world the man who can see the spiritual world is the man who will come through the man that will endure the man who will make it the man who will come out on top because he sees the spiritual realm the spirit world he realizes that's the real world this world that you see is not the real world it's a phony world filled with a lot of phony people the real world is a sp is the spiritual world and that is where we live our citizenship paul said is in heaven from whence we look for our lord and savior jesus christ the bible tells us about abraham and the others who actually said we're just strangers and pilgrims here we are looking for a city which half foundation whose maker and builder is god and they recognize we're just passing through this world we're only here for a short time we're passing through this world is not my home we used to sing i'm just a passing through my mansion is laid up somewhere beyond the blue and i mean it's uh we need to keep that in mind this is not our permanent place we're here temporarily but god is preparing a place for us that we might be with him in his kingdom and in the glory of his kingdom forever so we look at those things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal oh god direct our vision towards the eternal things god help us to see the spiritual value in the things that we do and we measure our lives not by the temporal rewards or benefits that we might accrue to ourselves but by the eternal rewards that we might receive jesus said don't lay up for yourself treasures on earth moth and rust can corrupt them thieves can steal but lay up for yourself treasures in heaven there they can't be corrupted by moth or rust there they can't be stolen and the whole idea is where your treasure is there will your heart be also we look at the things which are not seen because they're eternal and there's where i place my value in things that will last forever father we thank you for the eternal perspective and help us lord to grasp it as we go through life and all of these things are laid out in front of us to distract and to draw our attention and minds on the material world in which we live and lord when we become engrossed in it we can become discouraged worried fearful anxious the lord we need to get our eyes on you and on the things that are eternal and help us lord to keep our eyes fixed upon the eternal values the things of eternity your kingdom your love your grace and that eternal life that we have through jesus christ and though the outward man perishes and the things of the world fade away and one day we're going to leave them all behind lord help us that we will lay up the treasures in heaven that when we enter in we might have a glorious abundant entry into your kingdom in jesus name we pray amen shall we stand heaven is a wonderful place filled with glory and grace i wanna see my savior's face for heaven is a wonderful place i wanna go there heaven is a wonderful place filled with glory and grace i wanna see my savior's face for heaven is a wonderful place i wanna go there heaven is a wonderful place filled with glory and grace i wanna see my savior's face for heaven is a wonderful place i want to go now there's no end to that song because there's no end to heaven god bless you you

Channel: Chuck Smith TWFT

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Id: sB6NnNvpGuA

Length: 69min 7sec (4147 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 01 2021