Let's turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
4 again. And I'm going to blame this one
on Walter, because it's something he said after what I said last
week. And it's not about fraternization. Although maybe, a little bit.
You can't avoid that. I just want to read verses 3
through 7, 2 Corinthians chapter 4. But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost. In whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus our Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus'
sake. 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. But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and
not of us. Last week I did speak on earthen
vessels. This week I want to speak on the illumination the
gospel the illumination of the gospel now Paul starts here with
the word but which means it's coinciding it's
going a little bit as a different direction of what he said before talking about the hidden things
of dishonesty which we have renounced Not walking in craftiness, nor
handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth,
commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight
of God. But if our gospel is hid, it is hid to them that are
lost. Now, he calls this gospel here
ours. This is our gospel. And he includes
himself in that. And he is including everyone
he is writing to. That every believer the gospel
is ours We didn't create it. We didn't make it, but we do
believe it and we do preach it It's ours This is us. This is a personal Salvation
this is a personal gospel now it's called in various places
the gospel of God the gospel of his son and Gospel of Christ
the gospel of peace and actually in this passage the glorious
gospel of Christ Paul also calls it my gospel But most of all
and most often of all it is called the gospel The gospel in every
single instance that it's mentioned in the scriptures is always singular
It's never plural, because there is only one gospel. That's all there is. Even when
he says Paul has the ministry of the uncircumcision, Peter
has the ministry of the circumcision. Guess what? It's still the same
gospel. All he was talking of there was
who was he talking to. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles,
and Peter was an apostle to the Jews. But it's still one gospel. Now, Paul does not go into, in this
passage, the actual gospel itself. He doesn't give a description
of it. But there's a reason. He's writing to those who believe
the gospel. He is writing to those who know
the gospel. He is writing to those to whom
he had preached the gospel. That's who this letter's for.
This letter is not to the world. It does concern the world. It
does talk about it. That's where we're going to here.
But he doesn't say or preach the gospel at this point. But he's going to tell these
people what the gospel is about, what it's done for them, and
what it has not done for others. Gospel does concern his son the
word of God Christ and him crucified who shed his blood and in purpose
and in love and Accomplished the purpose of the father Then
he says these words here if our gospel be hid it is hid to them
that are lost Now it's our gospel Ours and Paul's Ours and God's. He's given it to us. But if this
gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. The first thing
I want to point out here, this word hid is not meaning hidden
away. It's not buried in the dirt like
you'd hide a treasure. There's treasure involved, but
it's not that kind of hiding. The word means cover or veil. If our gospel be veiled, it is
veiled to them that are lost. If our gospel be covered, it
is covered to them that are lost. We are not hiding the gospel. We are here preaching the gospel
as best we know how, as best we can. The gospel is to be preached
publicly from this place and from your house. And if the opportunity
arises, at your workplace. I always like what Earl says
when you talk to somebody, and I've used that. Do you have an
interest in this? If someone has an interest, I
can talk to you all day. Now if there's no interest, I
probably have other things to do. I can probably still talk
to you all day, but I'd rather talk to somebody that has an
interest in this than doesn't, because If our gospel is hid,
it's hid to them that are lost. And there is that warning that
Christ gave, actually an injunction not to cast your pearls before
swine. It's there. It's there. And it's just as true as if our
gospel is hid, it's hid to them that are lost. We are not hiding
the gospel. The gospel is hid or veiled to
them that are lost. Notice very carefully here, Paul
does not say the gospel is hid to the reprobate. Now, the gospel is hid to the
reprobate. But that's not the point. The
point is that the gospel is hid to those that are lost. Now,
those who believe now, when Paul was writing this, and right here,
right now, those who believe now, who have been born from
above, who have been given faith by grace, all of them, all of
us, at one time, were lost. Now what does that mean? Well, the logic is clear. At
one time, the gospel was hid to you, and to you, and to me. That's the way it is. That's what Paul's telling. The
gospel, if it's hid, if it's veiled, it's veiled to those
that are lost. This is not a question of election
or reprobate. Now, I was going to go ahead
and mention this. I heard a preacher state one
time that the opposite of the elect is lost. Ain't right. He was trying to be nice. Now,
I'm going to make excuses for him. And if I run into him again,
I might mention it to him. Because the opposite of the elect
is not lost. The opposite of the elect is
reprobate. That's just the way it is. There were those chosen
before the foundation. There were those who were not.
And I had nothing to do with any of it. But that's what the
book teaches. If there are those that are chosen,
there are those who weren't chosen. I don't know who they are. I
don't know any of that. But it's there. Actually, linguistically,
the opposite of the word lost is not even saved. It's found. It's found. The opposite of lost
is found. What you said, David. Who finds people? Who finds people? The lost sheep was found. The lost coin was found. The opposite of lost is found.
And who did the finding? Well, the owner of the sheep
and the owner of the coin. found their property in those
parables, in that parable, single parable. The lost son came to
himself, but that don't change the finding. That's just showing
the result of being found. I still like that parable. The lost person is found by the
one who chose him from before the foundation of the world.
And this puts the credit where the credit is due. There is no
boasting by the found item. This puts the credit where the
credit is due in the good shepherd who goes out and finds every
single one of his lost sheep. Other sheep I have that are not
of this fold, them I must bring. And in order to bring him, he's
going to have to find him. But he can. He's the good shepherd.
He's not the mediocre shepherd. He's not the lazy shepherd sitting
at the edge of the pasture whistling for his sheep. He goes out and
finds him, puts him on his shoulders, and he brings him back in. Paul reminds us to remember the
gospel, which, since ye have believed, is now our gospel. was hid to you at one time. It
was veiled from us at one time. He is writing to believers, this
is now our gospel, and it is no longer covered to us. But it is covered to those that
are lost. Because then he goes on to explain
how the gospel is veiled from the lost, whoever they are, Paul used to be the exact same
way. Which also explains how it was
veiled to us at one time. How it is veiled to some right
now is the same way it was veiled to us at one time. In whom the
God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe
not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine unto them. This explains what Paul
just said in the previous verse. Again, the gospel's not hiding.
We're not hiding it. It is the lost who are covered,
who are veiled. There's nothing wrong with the
gospel. There's no shortage in the gospel. There's no lack in
the gospel. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation to everyone. What? You can't leave that out,
that believe it. But if you're veiled, it's of
no value. You don't believe. If you're
covered, that's the problem. There's not a problem with the
gospel. Guess what? There's a problem with us. It has always been a
problem with man. The word blinded actually means,
I looked this up, it means blinded. That's the deeper meaning. If you want it figuratively,
it means, and I do like this, obscured. Figuratively, the word
means obscured, and I like that because it's not that they don't
hear the words you speak. The meaning is obscured. They're
obscured and they cannot see clearly. In that sense, I think the natural
man is blind to the things of the Spirit of God. Neither can he know them, for
they are spiritually discerned. And this was our state just as
well as the lost is now. It's not that they cannot see
anything, but their mind, that's what it says, blinded the minds
of them. What? Which believe not. It's not that they cannot see
anything, but their mind is obscured to the gospel. Specifically,
they can be the greatest intellect this world has ever seen. They
can be the smartest person you ever met. They can be the dumbest
person you ever met. That part doesn't matter. But
the God of this age has blinded the minds, obscured the minds
of those which believe not to the gospel, the glorious gospel
of Christ. The problem is with us. That's
where it was with us before we believe. That's where it is with
those that are lost right now. Paul tells us who's blinded and
who's obscured. Well, the word says there, it
says, them which believe not. I looked at this, and this is
one of them cute little Greek words. You know, pistis is the
word for faith. Well, any Greek word, this word
is Apistos you put a in front of it guess what it means the
opposite Instead of faith it means faithless them which believe
not are faith less Hebrews 4 I think I quoted it last week The gospel
was preached unto them as well as unto us But it did not profit
them Why? not being mixed with faith in
them that heard it. Why? It was obscured to them. They had not received the gift
of faith. They had not received the gift of faith. That's what
it means to be lost. They are blinded to the good
news of Jesus Christ. to the glorious good news of
Jesus Christ. Now this word here in verse four,
light, means illumination. It's illumination. The illumination
of the gospel is not seen by the lost because they are veiled
by the God of this age. The gospel's not hiding. The
glorious gospel of Christ is not a secret. Anyway, there is
no secret gospel Okay That's an oxymoron and a lie at the
same time There is no secret gospel. It's good news It's to
be proclaimed it has been written down. We herald it Christ our Passover has been
sacrificed for us and That's the good news. The gospel's
not hiding, but the gospel is not perceived nor understood
by the lost. The glorious gospel shines, it
radiates, but it's not seen by the lost. It's there. It's here in this book. You've
spoken it to people you know, relatives, friends, acquaintances,
strangers. But they'll look at you like
you're crazy. Why? Because they're obscured. They're veiled. The gospel is hid to them that
are lost. I've gotten that blank stare
before when you talk to people. I have. And it's a thing of just
utter, total, unrecognition of what you're saying. And I don't
know if I can do it, but I'll try. We'll do it on the video.
And you don't have to have the mouth open, but you get that
blank look in your eye. And I don't like standing like
this. And I felt that way sometimes
when somebody was trying to explain calculus to me or something.
But when you talk to them about price, that's the look you get
sometimes. It's hid to them that are lost. There's nothing wrong with the
gospel. You get this feeling sometimes.
Walter, I've said the wrong thing. Maybe I didn't say enough. Or
maybe I said too much. No, no. You said what you were
supposed to say. But it's just phew. Or in the vernacular, right over
their heads. Because it's obscured. It can't
penetrate. Without the work of God, the
gospel will not profit them. It's hid to them that are lost,
it's veiled. The veil must be removed. How is that removed? Well, John chapter three put
it this way. Ye must be born from above. What does that mean? Well, those
who believe are no longer veiled, are no longer blind, and the
gospel is no longer covered to them as it pertains to the glorious
gospel of Christ. We preach not ourselves but Christ
Jesus the Lord and ourselves for your servants for Jesus'
sake. We preach, we speak, we talk,
we herald, we proclaim. We are not silent, we are not
secret, we are not hiding. But people don't want to see
it. The world will not have it. The world does not want it. It's hid to them that are lost.
And I'm going to tell you something. It's him, it's hid to them that
are in church. Right now, all around us. I pray, I hope that there are
those who know the gospel in Armenian churches. I was in one once, and I know
others here were too. And I believed Christ while I
was in there. He got me out, and I'm thankful for that. And
I like being in this place. I was listening to Earl coming
up the road this morning. That man was a blessing to my
soul. He was a blessing to my mind. But to hear the gospel preached,
Walter, is a joyful thing to those that believe. to hear Christ
proclaim the glorious gospel of Christ. Walter's gonna talk
about the glory. But that's what it is. It's a
rejoicing in the heart if you believe. But that same gospel
is the saver of death unto death to those who don't believe. That
same, very, very same gospel. We preach not ourselves, but
Christ Jesus. I determined to know nothing
among you except Christ Jesus and him crucified. But if our
gospels hid its head to them, they're lost. We never preach ourselves, hopefully. Those who have faith and who
believe kind of know themselves a little bit for preaching themselves.
Know better, hopefully. Because we know we have absolutely
nothing that we have not received Paul said a difference here Because
there were those in Corinth at that time who were preaching
themselves and who were not preaching the gospel We preach Christ Jesus the Lord
Who was God is God, was with God, and became down God manifest
in the flesh, who lived a perfect life, who was crucified, forsaken
by God, whose blood was shed, and the redemption, the atonement,
the justification, sanctification, everything was purchased by his
shed blood. Verse 6 says, 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. There is no glory outside of
Christ that we'll ever know anything about. And if you know Jesus
Christ, you know the glory. Now this word, the first word
light in this verse, this is kind of tricky. That's why I
wrote it all down. For God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness. That word light actually just
means light, a source of light. He commanded the light to shine
out of darkness. That's a source of light. Now
where it says shine, that is the word radiate. Lampo is the
word. I like that. I wonder where they
got the word from lamp for, where they got it from. Lampo is the
word. The source is the bulb. But it
radiates out. It just doesn't sit there and
shine. It radiates out. The second word,
shine, is the exact same word, lampo. But the second word, light,
has shined in our hearts, has radiated in our hearts to give
the light. That second word, light, is the
word illumination. Illumination. This is a work
from the outside of the lost. This is a work on the inside
and it's of the spirit. The veil is removed and the light
illuminates within every single believer. God who is light, Christ
who is the light, radiates and those who have been found, which
means they are no longer lost, those who have been given faith
by grace, are illuminated. The sun shines out from the earth,
out in space, but it illuminates the earth. And if you're on the
earth, you can see. What is illuminated? Paul tells
us, the knowledge. Which, that word means knowledge,
or knowing. That knowledge was always there. It's just now it's illuminated
to you. Once the Spirit works, it's illuminated
to you. This knowledge. Now this, is
the exact same word in verse 4, this illumination of the glorious
gospel, the knowledge of the glorious gospel. In verse 4,
less the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, that's less
the illumination of the glorious gospel. It's the same word in
verse 4 as it is in verse 6. The same gospel has a different
effect on the found than the lost. The same message has a different
effect on the found as opposed to the lost. To the one it is
received and you are illuminated. That knowledge is illuminated.
The knowledge of Christ is illuminated. to you if you believe. And that same knowledge, that
same message, that same speaking is hid to them that are lost. This happens vocally, by voice. It is the gospel that is illuminated
to us and in us. That's what you said last week,
Walter, that made me do this. I couldn't get it out of my head.
One sinner to another sinner. From faith to faith. From faith to faith. That same message, the saver
of death unto death for some is the saver of life unto life
for others. the gospel, and it's through
the preaching of the gospel that God has chosen to save them which
believe. It's still hid to the lost, but
to save them which believe. When Christ opens the understanding
of the scriptures to his disciples, what did they say? Those two
fellows on the road to Emmaus? Didn't our hearts burn within
us? And he revealed unto us what? The scriptures. But he was speaking to them.
He was talking to them. And they had this illumination
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. It is through the proclaiming
of the scriptures the gospel is preached. We have no other
basis for the gospel. than these scriptures. That's
why we have them. They were a gift to us also. He opens our understanding of
the scriptures. And that also does mean when
you read, yes, but it also when they are preached to you. And
that's why we say, if you think we said something wrong, look
it up. This is the only foundation we have for our faith in Christ. Other than the Spirit, which
gives us the understanding, it's in these scriptures. This is
where the truth of Christ is revealed. It is preached and
believers receive it. Because they are not faithless. They receive the gospel and the
illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God, and it's
only in the face of Jesus Christ. The glorious gospel, the good
news, the scriptures to which Christ
has opened our understanding. Our inward man is renewed day
by day. what Paul goes on to say here
in verse 16. Our outward man perishes. The
flesh profits nothing. But our inward man is renewed
day by day through his word, through his gospel. And we have
this treasure in earthen vessels. We were no different. If our gospel was hid, it was
hid to the lost. It was hid to us at one time. It was hid to
the guy who wrote this at one time. I was driving up here listening
to that message. Earl, he mentioned that. He said
Paul was right there. Saul of Tarsus at the time at
the stoning of Stephen. He said himself later, I was
consenting unto the death of Stephen. I consented. I thought
it was a good thing. Why? Because at that time, The
gospel was hid to Saul of Tarsus. There came a day when the gospel
was not hid to Saul of Tarsus. And now he's writing to Gentiles
and Jews alike, telling them of the glorious gospel of Christ. We have this treasure in earthen
vessels. It is God's work, Father, Son,
and Spirit. But we have it. We have it, just
like we have our gospel. It's ours. Thank God for it. Our Heavenly
Father, thank you again for all you've done for us. Thank you
most of all for your son. whom came willingly, lovingly,
and purposefully, and performed and fulfilled all of your will,
your way. Be with Walter as he comes to
stand before us and preach the gospel. Thank you, Lord, for
all that you've given us. In Christ's name, amen.