I invite you to turn back again
to the passage I read to you earlier, 2 Corinthians 4. I want to talk to you a little
while about the ministry that we have received of the Lord,
one described here in our text in a very specific manner. He
calls it this ministry. And so that's titled the message
this morning of this ministry. Now it begins in verse 1 with
a therefore. A very wise man, Brother Henry
Mahan, used of God greatly all over the world during his time
in the ministry. He once said to us in his congregation,
he said, when you see a therefore, look and see what it's there
for. I never forgot that. And every time I see one, I want
to go back and see why he's saying therefore. It's there to define the ministry
of which he intends to talk about. Therefore, based on something
he had already said. It's not enough to simply call
a religious activity the ministry. Anything men do in the name of
religion, they attach that word ministry. We have a bus ministry. We have a food ministry, a nursing
ministry, and on and on and on it goes. A school ministry, a
marriage ministry. But here Paul narrows it down
to a simple subject. He said, therefore, meaning all
that he just said, therefore, seeing we have this ministry. What ministry? The ministry he
so carefully defines in chapters 1, 2, and 3. In chapter 1, he told them that
his gospel was not a yea and nay gospel. Maybe this and maybe that. Huh? Isn't that what religion
does? It leaves everything undecided. Don't. I don't know how many of you
were raised in that type of religion, but I was raised in Armenian
religion and I always left the church full of questions. And
because there was no certainties ever given. One preacher got up one time
down in Ball, Louisiana. I'll never forget it. He made
two comments. One was about a nail that was
sticking out of the wall. He said, I love empty nails.
He said, that means something once hung there that shouldn't
have. And somebody took it down, which is exactly what had happened.
And then the other thing was he said, I love certainties,
because with certainties there are no alternatives. And this
is what Paul is talking about here. He's going to cut off all
these alternatives. He's going to cut off all the
whatever it is. They're so multiple, I always
try to name a few things to kind of nail down what I'm talking
about. But when it comes to the ministry, it's so buried. I could
spend weeks and months talking about all these various things
that men call ministries. But they're just one ministry.
And Paul said, we have this ministry. And in chapter 1, he told them
his gospel was not a yea and nay gospel, a maybe this and
maybe that. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ,
who was preached among you by us, this is verse 19, chapter
1, Even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus
was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises
of God in him are yea and amen unto the glory of God. And all
the blessings, mercy and grace, all the love and kindness and
longsuffering of God are not depended upon men and situations
and circumstances. If yea and amen. God the Father
blessed us, Paul said, with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ according as he has chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world, before circumstance, before chance,
before all these things that men talk about. He blessed us. He didn't wait to see what we're
going to do and then bless you. He blessed you. Everybody he
intended to bless, he blessed. Well, how much blessings? All
blessings. Isn't that what it says? All
spiritual blessings and heavenly blessings in Christ. So the gospel
we preach is not yea and nay, it's yea in Christ. I have nothing
to say outside of Christ. Outside of Christ, you're damned. But if you're in Christ, you're
blessed. You may not know it yet, but you're blessed. You're
blessed. Before Adam walked in the garden,
God made full provision for all his elect and his sons. Oh, but you say, what about those
who don't believe? Well, they're manifested to be
what they were and what they are, unbelieving rebels. Isn't
that right? In John chapter 10, those Jews
were getting fed up with Christ. They couldn't track him, they
couldn't trick him, they were absolutely persuaded that he
was a fraud, and yet his wisdom tied them up in knots. And finally,
he's talking about the shepherd of the sheep. The good shepherd
giveth his life for the sheep. And so on. And he gives them
a parable about that. And then he tells them he's the
good shepherd. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives
his life for the sheep. They got so, oh, they ready to
pull their hair out. And they said, if thou be the
Christ, just tell us plainly. He said, I told you. Plainly. What's your problem? You believe
not. Now listen, because you're not
my sheep. Provision was never made for
you. That's what he taught. Provision. Oh, my soul. To be left to what
you are by nature. Left under that curse. You believe not. As I said unto
you, my sheep hear my voice. Is there a maybe in that? No,
they don't hear. They're going here. Well, what
if they don't? They're not His sheep. That's what He says. He said to the Pharisees and
scribes, you believe not, for you're not My sheep. Well, what
about men and places where there is no gospel? Isn't that a yea
and nay situation? No, sir. 2 Thessalonians 2.13
said, But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you,
brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. Whereunto, because of that, because
of God's provision for you in Christ, whereunto he called you
by our gospel. What's that mean? That means
God sent him. How shall he preach except he
be sent? Where'd he send him? He sent
him to his elect. Where's that? I don't know where
God sends you. I don't know where they are.
That's why I don't have a big tent and travel around America
trying to preach. I don't know where they are.
I wait on God. He said pray for me that God
would open an effectual door. I don't know which door to open.
Do you? I'm not going to go out and start
a church, my soul. God knows where his people are,
and he knows where he'll raise up a church. How does he know that? Because
provision was made for you before the world was. And it's not a
yea and nay gospel. Our gospel doesn't have any circumstantial,
all circumstances have been taken care of. Or what about this,
all the whatabouts being taken care of? What about all the ifs?
Somebody said take a silver chain and put all the whatabouts and
ifs on it and hang it right around the neck of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are no ifs. The gospel we preach is not maybe. It is. It is. Then in chapter
2, verse 14, he gives thanks unto God who always caused him
to triumph in Christ. Boy, he failed that day. No,
he didn't. No, he never failed. Nobody came down the aisle. Nobody believed. It wasn't a
failure. It was a sweet savor of Christ
that was purchased. always causeth us to triumph
in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by
us in every place. Now a general knowledge of God
is set forth in creation and conscience, and a general knowledge
of salvation is made known by men like the Pharisees and scribes.
Go into any church in this land, you're going to hear the word
salvation. You're going to hear the word Jesus. You're going
to hear the word repent. You're going to hear the word
faith. You're going to hear all of those things. You're going
to get a general knowledge of God. But to have no real comfort
to offer, no real positive end, no pure lasting hope. Salvation is altogether made
sure and sweet in the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 2, 17. For we are
not as many which corrupt the word of God, but as of sincerity,
and as of God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ. Our
gospel is about Christ. That's what it's about. It's
about Christ, and that includes the means He's ordained, that
means the blessings that was purposed in Him before the foundation
of the world, that means His condescension to become a man,
His life that He lived in this world, His death, His resurrection,
His ascension into glory, His priestly intercession in glory. It includes all those things.
We preach Christ. And then in chapter 3, he talks
about the success of his ministry and of his acceptance, the acceptance
of the gospel he preached by men. And here's what he writes
to them. Do we begin again to commend
ourselves? Or need we, as some others, letters
of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? A letter
of commendation before I go up to Danville to preach next month?
Ha! Unlike the ministries of the
world and worldly religion, godly religion is a work of God and
He does it in the heart. He works in the hearts of men.
God Himself opens the hearts and minds of men and women and
by way of this ministry of Christ they form a lasting bond. Between the minister and his
people, there's a lasting bond. Ye are, listen to this, manifestly
declared to be the letter of Christ, ministered by us, written
not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God. Not in tables of stone, but fleshly
tables of the heart. And because of our full dependence
upon Him, everything we have to say, we rely on Him to make
known. Now listen to this verse. Paul
hurries up after he said that and he said, now wait a minute.
Not that we're sufficient of ourselves to think anything of
ourselves. I'm just a man just like you. Full of errors, full of mistakes,
full of this and that and the other. Full of sin. Not that we're sufficient to
think anything of ourselves. Our sufficiency is of God who
has made us able ministers. Who makes a man an able minister?
Who enables a man to talk with your heart? Is there some school
I can go to, some system I can memorize, something I can know
and use and work some formula that I can come in and twist
your heart and turn your heart? No, sir. Only God can do that. Only He can convince a man of
truth, of righteousness, of judgment, of sin. Only God. All I can do
is give you the words. Only thing I can do is just tell
you the revelation. I can't reveal it to your heart.
And the sufficiency of the ministry is God. God can make a man an
able minister, or He can make him a fool. Brother Mahan said one time,
God spoke to people through an ass, and He still does. He still does. Oh, without any
explanation, the Apostle John simply said this. He said, we
are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth
us. He that knoweth not God, heareth
not us. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error. The spirit of truth. He opens
the word of God to men, opens it to their minds and hearts,
and they say, that's right. That's right. What that man said
is right. Who told you? Who convinced you? That man?
No, he just gave you the words. The spirit of the living God
convinces man. And that man that he convinces,
you couldn't argue him at it. I don't care who you are or how
wise you are. The ministry of God is an effectual
ministry, and those who have ears to hear receive what God
has graciously provided. How shall they preach except
they be sent? And then he goes on to talk about
the glory of the ministry. This gospel he preached, it was
glorious. He said, now when God gave the
law, they had to put a veil on Moses. He come down, his face
was shining. They couldn't look at his face.
The shekinah glory of God was shining all over him. That's
the glory at the giving of the law, but Paul said the administration
of the gospel is much, much, much greater than that. He calls it here in the scripture,
the glory that excelleth. It excelleth. It's a glorious thing to see
dead sinners brought to life. Once you know what it is to be
dead, and know that people are dead, it's a glorious thing to
see God work in their hearts, and give them life. And wonder
what they could never hear, suddenly they hear! What they could never
know! Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man the things that
God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed
among us. And all of a sudden, all of a
sudden, you look out there and the countenance has changed.
Now you're looking at a hungry sinner. He was just a sinner. Now he's a hungry sinner. It's a glorious thing. Your salvation
is nothing more than a decision, nothing more than a change of
mind than it is but a common work. But if dead sinners are
raised to life eternal, guilty sinners are reconciled to God,
unjust sinners are justified before God, rebels are turned
into obedient children, then what a glorious thing it is to
see. And once you've seen it, you
won't see it again. And again, and again. Make no
mistake about it. Paul's subject here in chapter
4 is the ministry of Christ. Now listen. The ministry of Christ,
in a larger sense, is not the ministry of a single man. It's
the ministry of His whole church. His whole church. The church
is the pillar and ground of the truth. And if truth is to be
heard, It's going to be heard there. If truth's to be found, it's
going to be found there. The revelation of Jesus Christ
as it was given to John was of Christ walking among the candlesticks. That's how he saw Him. The Spirit
led Him, caught up in the Spirit on the Lord's day. The Spirit
took Him up and He showed Him the Lord. He glorified Him. What was he doing? We're defining.
Walking among the candlesticks. Who's that? Well, he tells you
at the end of that chapter. It's the churches. Walking among
the churches. Had something in his hand. What
was that? Stars. Who are they? The pastors of the churches.
And his hands. Boy, we're quick to want to take
a pastor out anyway. Huh? First thing men want to
do, we get rid of him. I don't like him. I don't like
him. He's offensive. They're in his
hands. What are you going to do? Pluck
one out of his hand? No. No. You might make him move
from this location. That'd be the worst thing you
ever did in your life. He said you'd be better off tying
millstones about your neck and throw it in the uttermost parts
of the sea than to offend One of my little ones. You don't
want to do that. Be careful. They're in His hands. He'll take care of setting them
down and putting them up. He'll take care of it. These ministers, pastors, teachers,
evangelists. What was the basis of Paul's
ministry? It says God called him by his
grace to reveal his son in him that he might preach him among
the heathen. His gospel was a person. It was a person. What qualifies
a man to preach the gospel? The revelation of Christ in him.
He can go to the seminaries he wants to. He'll never be a preacher
unless God reveals his son in him. And that's where our text begins. Therefore, he said, seeing we
have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we could have
been out there with the thousands who don't know God, standing
behind a pulpit trying to declare things they don't know anything
about. Oh, he said, but we've received
mercy. God didn't leave us to ourselves. He arrested us. He revealed himself to us. He
taught us. He moved us by His hand where
He wanted us to be. As we received mercy, He said,
we thank not. We thank not. He'd been raised in Phariseeism.
He was well-educated in the law, well-established in the ways.
But now having Christ revealed in Him, all of that stuff had to go.
All had to go. And so he says, we have renounced
the hidden things of dishonesty. Religion totally depended on
your dishonesty. They'll keep pushing you for
a decision until you make one. And you know you're lying when
you make it. But you'll still make it because that's what you
think you're supposed to do. Everything bad is dishonest. We renounce the hidden things
of dishonesty. He didn't know it was dishonest.
He was fooled. He was deceived. And we don't
walk in craftiness, not handling the Word of God deceitfully. Dishonesty about our calling
and dishonest about being a servant of God and dishonest about our
qualifications and office, dishonest concerning motives and means.
The world of religion is a dishonest bunch. Wolves, he calls them, in sheep's
clothing. And then he talks about craftiness,
sneaky, sly. Paul called it cunning craftiness. Scheming to take advantage. And
this also, handling the word of God deceitfully, taking little
bits and pieces out of it. Henry used this as an example
one time. He said, you take pieces out
of the word of God and make it say anything you want to. Judas
went out and hanged himself. Go ye and do likewise. You make
it say anything you want to if you're going to get bits and
pieces. God's not willing for any to perish. That's not what
that scripture said. It says God's long-suffering
to us were not willing that any should perish. Why is He not
willing for us to perish? Because Christ died for us. Because
God loves us. And because nothing is ever going
to separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus
the Lord. He's long-suffering. He puts
up with us. Long-suffering to us were not
willing that any should perish. but that all should come to repentance.
He'll bring the believer to repentance. To deceive is to lead folks astray,
to mislead, to disguise the truth, to make something appear to be
something else. Peter said they rest the scriptures. What's that mean? That means
take a round peg and try to put it in a square hole. Bend it. Bend it. Try to make it fit. They misquote the scriptures.
Misapply the scriptures. Take things out of context. Quote
only partial verses. And they bend things to fit their
ways. And when God sent the forerunner of Christ into this world, He
said He's going to make straight the way. That's what He's going
to do. Religion has plans and methods
to fill their pews, and they're offering plates, and they're
successful, and these things are all proven to work. But their
ways and means are contrary to the Bible doctrine. And so they
bend the truth to justify the end by the means. That's what
they do. God's ministers neither desire
such things nor do they practice such things. And here's what
they do. Last part of verse 2, 2 Corinthians
4. But by manifestation of the truth,
commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight
of God. We preach what God gives us to preach and then we get
out of the way. Don said that word means dunamis.
They say delight the dynamite, throw it and get out of the way.
That's what you do. That's what preaching is. That's
why we preach what we know to be the truth, the gospel. And
then we get out of the way. I don't have altar calls. I'm
never going to call you down here. I'm not going to play 29
verses just as I am and try to get you to make a decision. Get
everybody in the house to close their eyes and say, if anybody
feels a need, you know, raise your hand. Oh, I see that hand.
When I was a little kid, I used to look around and there was
nobody raising their hand, but that preacher said there was.
I see that hand. Oh, deceitful. We just preach. By manifestation of the truth,
we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight
of God. Now let me see if I can break this down for you just
a little bit so we can get a good hold of it. By manifestation
of the truth. The word manifest is a seagoing
term. I was in the Navy. It's a seagoing
term. It means an account of the contents
of a vessel. A ship's manifest. Everything,
including the ship, is on the manifest. Everything. Nothing is going to move from
that port that's not on that manifest. It means an account of the context
and everything that goes into the ship was written in a manifest,
even the captain of the ship. The manifestation of the truth
is a declaration of everything given to Christ. Everything put
into His Son. And the port from which it was
provisioned and the destiny of the vessel. It's all in the ship's
manifest. He said, I've manifested thy
name, that's what Christ said, unto the men which thou gavest
me out of the world. You'll find that word all through
the New Testament. I've given unto them the words
which thou gavest me and they received them. God's love, he
said, is manifest in Christ. Where's God's love? It's in the
manifest. He manifested His name, His Word. And listen to this,
God was manifest in the flesh. God Himself was manifest in Christ. And a manifestation of truth
is a public declaration of everything concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the gospel of Christ.
This is the good news. The only thing I have to know
to preach good news to you is the Manifest. If He'll give me
the ability to read His Manifest, I'll never run out of stuff to
preach. And it's all in Christ. The Bible is God's Manifest concerning
all things given to Christ. Paul told Titus he was a servant
of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's
elect, and the acknowledging of the truth, which is after
godliness. He said, in hope of eternal life,
which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. Now watch
this. But hath in due times manifested
his word through preaching. Through preaching. That's the
reading of the Manifest. That's what it is. True preaching
is a public declaration of the manifest of Christ. And everything
concerning this glorious vessel is contained in the manifest.
So what's in the manifest? Paul told the church at Rome,
but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested. It's in the manifest. There's
a salvation in the manifest of God But it has nothing to do
with the law. The law is not involved. It's
in a person. It has nothing to do with your
obedience. It has everything to do with
His. It's manifest being witnessed
by the law and the prophets. A righteousness wrought out,
sealed forever in the Son of God, even the righteousness of
God which is by faith or the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And it's unto all and upon all
them that believe. Listen to this. Our Lord went
to a wedding. And they run out of wine. And
he took some water of their head. And he turned it into wine. And
it must have been wonderful wine. I like a good glass of wine.
I sure would want to drink that wine. He made that man who threw
the wedding, he said, somebody messed up. He said, we don't
serve the good wine at the end of the wedding. And now, he said,
you brought the best wine out at the end. But he, our Lord
turned water into wine at a wedding in Cana of Galilee, now listen,
and manifest his glory. The glory of God is in this manifest. In the manifest. John in his
first general epistle said concerning Jesus of Nazareth, the life was
manifested and we've seen it. Our hands have handled it. In 1 John 3.8 the apostle
tells us that for this purpose the Son of God was manifested
that he might destroy the works of the devil. It's in the manifest. The works of the devil are the
workings of false religion, antichrist religion. His coming, it says,
is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and
lying wonders. And everything is manifested
and declared in the book of God. These folks looked at this blind
man. And they said to the Lord, who
sinned that this man was born blind? Did he sin or his parents? They knew sin was involved in
blindness, but they didn't know who sinned. They said, who sinned
that this man was born blind? Did he sin or did his parents
sin? Neither, said our Lord. But that the works of God should
be manifested What's on the manifest? Everything
God has determined to give to chosen sinners. If it's on the
manifest, it's in the ship. If it's in the ship, it's safe.
It's safe. How do we know what's on the
manifest? It's publicly declared by men set apart to read it,
declare it, and explain it. We had a man elected by due process,
That man and a few others on board ship were the only ones
who read that manifest. They would declare that manifest.
If you had any questions, you went and seen them. Unto him, Paul said, that is
of the power to establish you according to my gospel and the
preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery
which was kept secret since the world began, but is now made
manifest. And by the scriptures of the
prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made
known to all nations for the obedience of faith. That's the
manifest. Huh? Ministers of God, by manifestation
of the truth, commend themselves to every man's conscience in
the sight of God. And no man sufficient in himself
for this work. This sufficiency is of God. So how do we know if a man is
qualified and called to God to do this work? Well, first of
all, he understands the truth. He understands what he's saying.
We used to have one of those quaint little sayings when I
was a kid, I don't understand all I know about it. He understands
what he knows about it. He understands the truth. And
if you didn't, you can't tell what you don't know. How are
you going to do that? Secondly, their preaching is
effectual. How do I know this man is called God? His preaching
is effectual. It touches your heart. You feed
from it. You grow from it. He calls men
out of darkness by it. He convinces them of things that
nobody could convince them of. I don't know this man called
to God. His preaching's effectual. They said of our Lord, he don't
talk like these other preachers. When he tells a man that he can
see, he can see. When he tells a man, a lame man,
he can walk, he can walk. He don't preach like... This
man don't preach like that. His preaching's effectual. Let me show you something over
here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. While you're turning over
there, let me quote something Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3.
He told them that they are manifestly declared to be the epistle of
Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit
of the living God. Manifestly declared. over here in 1 Thessalonians
2.13. For this cause also thank we
God without ceasing, because when you receive the word of
God which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of
men, but as it is in truth the word of God, which affectionately
worketh also in you that believe. How do I know this man has God's
message, because it's effectual. It's effectual. Preaching of
the gospel of Christ is the power of God, Paul said, unto salvation
to everyone that believe in it. It is the words empowered
by God that come in the Holy Ghost and with much assurance.
And it's a message that when made effectual lodges in the
heart and brings peace and joy to all that believe. They come
back. They come back. And only God
can make this work effectually. But when He does, when He does,
those words begin to tear down the strongholds of false religion
and cast down all these crazy imaginations and every high thing
that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. And it brings
them into subjection, every thought to the obedience of Christ. Oh, Paul said, but if our gospel
be hid, it's hid to the last. Our gospel's empowered by God. So, if this gospel's not effectual
to you, what's that mean? If this man's called of God,
he preaches the gospel of God, and his message goes out and
it's effectual, What about those who stomp out the door? What
about those who shake your head no? What about those who said
no, this ain't it? He said if our gospel be hid,
it's hid to the lost. In whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them that believe not. Now what is
a lost man or woman? A person ignorant of the way.
Christ said I'm the way. If you're ignorant of that, you're
going to look to everything on the sun as the way. Man's still holding on to lies,
still holding on to vain imagination, still walking in the vanity of
his mind. If a person truly believes in
a God who loves everyone, then a biased love seems kind of out
of place, don't it? What do you mean God don't love
everybody? Why would he say that? Because
he's always been told God loves everybody. That's why. If a person
really believes in a universal redemption, then particular redemption
kind of seems out of place. Lost men and women had no spiritual
discernment because they received not the things of the Spirit
of God. They're foolishness to them. And our Gospels hid to
the lost, hidden to those in whom the God of this world has
blinded their minds. How? By false religion. Oh, but
thank God, there are exceptions. And listen to this, here's what
he says next. Lest, lest the light of the glorious gospel
of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. Here's the exception. In order
for any man to be saved, he must be shut up to the means God has
ordained for the work And these gifts come down from the Father
of lights, with whom is no wearableness, neither shadow of turning. Of
his own will begat he us with the word of truth. Is God going
to change? No. What about circumstances? He
still ain't going to change. What about different times? He
ain't going to change. They're not even a shadow of
turning with him. So what are you saying, preacher?
I'm saying only God can make this work effectually. Now listen
to this. We preach not ourselves, but
Christ Jesus the Lord. Oh, I'm not the light, but I have
it. I have it. I have it in my possession.
I'm not the cure, but I have it. I have it. I'm not the way, but I know the
way. We don't preach ourselves, we preach Christ Jesus the Lord.
He's the ark, He's the vessel, He's the one in whom God has
vested all things. He's the light, He's the life,
He's the beginning and the end. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead body. We preach Christ Jesus the Lord.
And we preach Him as the eternal word, as God and man in one person. We preach all these things about
Christ. We preach Christ. We're just
the servant. We're just God's servants. He
sent us to serve you. We're your servants that He sent
us to do. That's what we do. We preach. Christ is all and in all and
He's Lord and all power given unto Him. Nothing that's not
under His authority. Lord over the dead and the living.
Now I want you to hear this and I'll close. For God who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness. When did he do that? Huh? Before he created this world.
You want to talk about something so vast, so powerful, so magnificent. I went caving one time, got way
back in these caves and my flashlight went out. You can hold your hand right
there in the cave and you can't see it. There was a darkness
in Egypt that could even be felt. And I can't imagine the darkness
before God created this world. But he said God commanded light
to shine out of darkness. Vast light. Huh? And that's what happens when
he saves us all. If the light that be in you be
darkness, then how great is that darkness? For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. So what's all that got to do
with me? He put this treasure in a clay pot. But the excellence of the power
might be of God and not of us. That's why he uses such poor
pitiful vessels. He wants to show you his power
and show you he will if you're one of his. May the Lord add
his blessing to the preaching of his word. Thank you.