Let's turn back to 2 Corinthians
chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. We faint
not. Paul mentioned that twice, I
believe, in this chapter. We faint not. God has given to
His church throughout all ages, a glorious, glorious ministry. It is a ministry of glad tidings. When Moses came down off of the
mount and he read the law to them,
gave the law, brought the law to them, the scripture calls
that a ministration of death. Look over in chapter 3, in verse 7. I'm glad I don't
have that this morning. I have glad tidings. We have
a Savior. We know who He is. The Son of
God. Jesus Christ. But if the ministration
of death written and engraven in stones. That's what that ministry
was called, one of death. That's what they were seeking
life by, was the keeping of that which was written on stones.
Paul said it was nothing but a ministration of death. It was
engraven in stones. The gospel was written on the
heart. But this was engraven on stones, and he said it was
glorious. It was so glorious that the children of Israel,
they could not steadfastly look at the face of Moses. Remember
when he came down, how his face shined? He had to put a veil
on it. But you know what? It says down
there, which glory faded away. It faded away and he took the veil
off. That glory didn't last. It was temporary. I'll tell you
this, the glory of God His redemptive glory that is seen in the face
and the person of Jesus Christ will never fade away. That glory
will never fade away. And Paul says we have this ministry
of good tidings, this ministry of grace, this ministry of mercy
for the guilty, and this ministry that we have been given far exceeds
the ministry of Moses or the law, which they held so tightly
to. Not the Corinthians, but the
Jews did. They held tightly to that. Paul says, therefore, see,
we have this ministry, this glorious ministry entrusted. It's entrusted
to us. And this is not just something
we do on Sunday and Wednesday. We have a ministry of the glory
of God in the person of Christ entrusted to us, to be faithful
to it, to carry it out until we are gone. And hopefully, hopefully
God will raise up another generation out of these children and carry
on this glorious ministry. of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
redemptive glory. That's what he's speaking of.
He's speaking of the redemptive glory of Jesus Christ. Now, seeing we have this ministry
entrusted to us, this ministry of life, it's not one of death. It's not one of death. It's one of life. It gives life. When the gospel is preached,
God is pleased to give life. I thought of something while
sitting up here, let me show you something over here in Galatians.
Look over in Galatians chapter, well I'll tell you what chapter
when I get there. Galatians chapter 3. I'll never forget this when I
heard this message preached by Henry one time. In verse 2 of
chapter 3. This only would I learn of you.
Receive you the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of life by
the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. And I remember
this so well. What was going on when God saved
you? Were the Ten Commandments being
read or was the Gospel of God's grace being preached? What was
happening? You know not one person Not one
Israelite, not one person has ever been saved through the reading
of the law. Men and women are saved through
the preaching of Christ and Him crucified. That is where the
glory of God is seen, is in the person, the redemptive work of
Jesus Christ, His Son. And that has stuck with me for
years. What was going on when God saved
you? Was the law being read, or was the gospel being preached?
The gospel was being preached. The gospel of God's glory. Now
Paul says, seeing we have this ministry entrusted to us, as
we have received mercy, as we have received the sovereign,
saving mercy of God, we faint not. One who has received mercy
shows mercy. One who has tasted that the Lord
is gracious wants others. I mean, you want and you desire
others to taste that the Lord is gracious. You want others
to taste of Him. You want others to taste of the
mercy of God. I do, and you do too. You want
others to come in here and hear the Gospel. Not hear me. But
hear the Gospel of God's glory. And maybe, maybe, God will command
life. Maybe God will command life.
Maybe God will give forgiveness. Maybe they'll, for the first
time, they will hear God's voice in the message and believe. It
may happen. It may happen. Because God is
pleased to show mercy. He's pleased to show mercy. And
one who has received and tasted of the mercy of God, he wants
someone else to experience it also. He goes and tells others.
Can't keep it to himself. There are no secret disciples.
This is not a secret society, and we don't have a secret message.
We don't have a password. Come on, come on. We have something
to say. We have a ministry. We have a ministry. And seeing
that God has spared us from the pain that is strict justice, Man, think about that. Think
about being spared from the strict justice of God. Through the blood
and righteousness of Christ? We think not. Paul was beaten. He was left for dead. He was
in prison. He said, bonds and imprisonment.
He said, this has been revealed to me. Every place I go, bonds
and imprisonment wait me. You know, I've traveled around
over the years, different churches, different places preaching. And
bonds and imprisonments were not waiting for me. There was
always a good meal waiting for me. A good meal and a good place
to stay. Everywhere I went, I have been
treated very well. But Paul says, bonds and imprisonment
wait for me. But I think not, because I have
a message. I have a message of grace. I
have a message that I've tasted of. I have a message I've experienced,
and I want others to hear it. I want others to hear it. We
faint not. We are not about to quit because
of these troubles and trials. Just because it's hard doesn't
mean it's not a God. No, if it's worth anything, it'll
be hard. It'll be difficult. It'll be
difficult. There's nothing that will keep
us centered Going, and not quitting, but going like a sense of God's
mercy to him. A real sense, a real knowledge,
a real understanding, a real experience of the grace of God,
a real experience of the forgiveness of sins. Nothing will keep you
going like that. A real sense of the reality And having experienced God's
saving mercy in the inward man, also having experienced this,
having experienced the work of grace inwardly, we have renounced
the hidden things of dishonesty. We've renounced the hidden practices,
shameful practices. that these hooksters use on men
and women. Those things that are shameful
and cannot bear the light, we have renounced them. We don't
use those tactics. We don't put pressure on people
to make a profession. We're not just trying to get
a following. We're preaching for God's glory. That's the first
motive for standing here every week for me and when Frank stands
here and anyone else, the motive is God's glory first. No one
will be saved if Christ is not glorified. You can mark it down. God's not going to save anybody
if Jesus Christ is not glorified. But when He's glorified, sinners
are going to be saved and the church is going to be edified.
She's going to grow up in Him. She's going to grow in grace
and the knowledge of Him. When He's glorified and He's
lifted up, And Paul says we are not walking
in craftiness. We do not have an ulterior motive
in doing what we are doing. We don't have that. We're not
walking in craftiness as some claim that we are. Trying to
deceive people. Nor do we handle the Word of
God. And I tell you what, the grave responsibility comes in
handling the Word of God. I feel this more and more as
this goes along, handling the Word of God. This is God's Word. This is not just another book.
You know, I read and have read a lot of other books, and I read
them just as that, books. But this is God's Word. This
is God's letter to His church. And we don't read it like that,
and we don't handle it Deceitfully, carefully, carefully. Paul said we do not handle it
deceitfully using the philosophy of men and intellectualism. No,
we just read the Word of God and leave it as it is. I find
out the less comments I make, the better. Really. Todd said it right one time.
He said the only time we actually really truly tell the truth is
when we just read the Word of God. Paul says we do not handle the
Word of God deceitfully, trying to get out of you what we want.
Not at all. Our hearts are open before God
and before you. God knows our hearts, and you
know our conduct among you. You know it. He says you know
it. We are sincere in our preaching, and God knows it. But if our
gospel, this gospel of grace, this gospel of the redemptive
glory of God, if it's hid, if it's veiled, You see, the law,
when the law was read over here, it says there was a veil over
their face. They could never come. When the law was read,
those Israelites could never come to a true saving knowledge
of God. They couldn't do it. The only
time they could ever do that is when they turned to Christ
and that veil was taken away. Then, then they could be brought
to a true saving knowledge. How God can be a just God and
a Savior is not through the keeping of the Ten Commandments. It's
through the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who kept the law.
He's the one who kept the law perfectly. He's the one who obeyed
all the precepts. He's the one who did that. And
that's how we're saved. We're saved in Him. But if our
gospel is hid, they can't see it. It's hid to them that are lost. It's not hid to them that are
saved. Those who understand the gospel, you understand how God
can be a just God and save you. You understand how you can have
fellowship with God through the blood and the righteousness of
Jesus Christ. You understand how you are accepted
of God. God revealed that to you. God
commanded the light of the gospel, of His glory, to shine into your
heart. Just like back in creation when
it was nothing but darkness and God said, let there be light.
He commanded the light out of darkness and it shined. And that's
what happens when God saves a man, a woman. He commands that light
to shine. He illuminates. He gives knowledge
spiritual knowledge, spiritual understanding. He gives life
in that new creation, that new man, that new creation. He gives
faith and repentance and understanding. He doesn't give that to a dead
man. He doesn't give that to a dead heart. He gives it to
a new heart, one that He's created, one that's capable of receiving
God. Are you capable of receiving
God? Not as you are by nature. I tell you what, if He creates
that new one and a new heart, you can receive Him. You can
receive Him. But Paul says, if this gospel's
hid, it's hid to them that are lost. What an awful sounding
word. What a lonely word. Lost. Lost. God has given us a gospel
to preach. It's concerning His Son, Jesus
Christ. It's concerning His redemptive
work. It's concerning His substitution. It's all concerning Him. And
if a person cannot see Him, they cannot see God's glory. They
cannot reconcile their righteousness with His righteousness. You know,
that's one too many righteousnesses. There's only one. Well, it's
because, he says, they're lost. You say, but I can't see it.
Well, you're lost. That's what God says. I'm saying
this is God's Word. And perishing. Lost and perishing. And Paul says, if a man or a
person or a woman does not understand this, it's because they are dead.
They are spiritually dead. They have no spiritual life.
Lost. Lost. In whom the God of this world,
Satan's at work here. In whom the God of this world,
have blinded the minds of them which believe not." Satan has
blinded the minds of the unbeliever. You say, well, they're blind
anyway. Well, he works hard keeping it that way. Let me show you,
this is what kind of moved me over to this chapter. Over here
in Matthew 13, where we will pick up the next time, the Lord
gives the parable of the sword. And he says in verse 18, hear
ye therefore the parable of the sword. In verse 19, when anyone
heareth the word of the kingdom, he hears the gospel. And he understands it not. He
can't comprehend what's being said. He just can't bring it
together. He understands it not, then cometh
the wicked one, then cometh Satan and catches or taketh away that
which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed
by the wayside." That's what he's saying here. He blinded. When a man hears the gospel and
he comprehends it not, Satan comes along and blinds him. Starts
raising all these questions. How this sounds so foolish. It
just sounds to the Greek, it's foolish. To the intellectual,
it's foolishness. He blinds man's mind. To them,
the gospel is foolishness. And then their greatest concern,
if you go over, we'll look at the parable next week, Lord Willie,
becomes the cares of this life. Not the cares of the eternal
destiny of my soul or me. That's who I am. My soul is me.
They leave those cares in them. They leave, you see, they'll
leave and they'll go out and they can't understand. And they get
caught up with the cares of life. Home, raising the children, school,
education, the work, this and that, and then life's over. Satan works hard. He works hard
at it. He blinds their minds with lies.
He blinds their minds with false hopes, false professions, temporary
pleasures. He works hard at it. You can
have the gospel playing on the radio as long as it's not in
your heart. You can come in here and sit
and listen to the gospel as long as it's not in your heart. And that's what he works hard
at. Satan works hard at keeping it out of your heart. He blinds
the minds of them which believe not. And some of the old writers,
and this is probably so, said that those are the ones who perish. They never shall be saved. But
Paul says, but our message, our preaching, is not ourselves. We are not promoting ourselves.
We are not the subject of the message. Christ is. Christ is our message. Christ is the message. He's the
only good news we have to tell. He's the only hope God has given
to sinners. Paul writes to Timothy, Christ
our hope. He's our hope of of eternal salvation. He's our hope of forgiveness.
He's our hope of justification. He's our hope of sanctification.
He's our hope! Apart from Him, there is no hope. Outside the ark, there's no hope.
None at all. But Paul says we preach not ourselves.
We're not the subject of the message. When all is said and
done, when you leave here today or go somewhere else and you
hear a message preached, when you leave, Who's getting the
glory? Who do you leave thinking of?
Who do you leave thinking of? Christ or the messenger? No, Paul said, we preach not
ourselves. We're not in this for gain. We're in this for the
glory of God and the good of the church, the body of Christ. Here's our motto. Here's our
motto. He must increase. I must decrease. That's the hardest person in
the world to whip, is self. I must come down. He must be
lifted up. He is our ministry. We're just
voices. That's what John said. John said,
I'm just a voice. That's all I am. I'm a nobody. God just sent me here to tell
you the truth. To be a voice. That's all I am,
just a voice. Paul says this, he said, we're
nothing. We are nothing. We are your servants. We are your slaves. That's the
word, servant. We are your slaves for Jesus'
sake. For the Lord Jesus Christ. For
His glory. For His name. That's why we do
this. And God has shined in our hearts.
Here in verse 6. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts first. If
He doesn't shine in my heart, you're not going to hear anything.
Paul said He has shined in our hearts. He shined in the apostles'
hearts. He said what we are giving you is what God's given us. What we are preaching is the
message that we were given. The Gospel. Paul said he received
the Gospel not by men, but by Christ Himself. which was a requirement
to be an apostle. He said, He has shined in our
hearts to give the light and the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ. What I'm telling you, the message
I'm preaching, the person I'm preaching is of God. God revealed Him. And God has to reveal Him if
you ever see Him. You'll not be educated into it. We're not
educated into the kingdom of God. We're born into it. God has shined in our hearts.
And when God commands the light to shine into a sinner's heart, nothing can keep it out. Nothing. Nothing can stop it. You can
read the law all day. You can hang the Ten Commandments
up everywhere, in the schools. It doesn't matter. It's not going
to save anyone. But if God commands the light
of the gospel, If He illuminates you and me, if He does that,
my friends, nothing can keep that light out. In the beginning,
in creation, God commanded, God said, let there be light. And we read of no resistance. We read of nowhere in all of
creation where light was kept out. When God commanded it, it
happened. It happened. If God is pleased
to save anyone, Satan, spiritual death, deadness, cannot stop
it. Cannot stop it. How many times
have we already seen in the Gospel of Matthew the Lord saying, come
out of him? And they had to come out. The
gates of hell shall not prevail against the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ." Not when it's commanded, not when it's commanded. And Paul is saying here that
this gospel of Christ that we preach is of God, and He has
put this treasure, this rich treasure. I know that we don't
even begin, cannot even begin to understand the rich treasure
that's in us. by the grace of God. But he says,
this treasure, God has put this treasure in earthen vessels. Oh, he's putting it in earthen
vessels, in centers, clay pots, wheat clay pots. God's put the gospel in these
clay pots. He has put the gospel of his
glory in centers like us, and then sends us out in all of our
weakness and all of our frailty to preach such a glorious message,
a message by which he is pleased to raise a person from the dead.
And he's put this ministry in earthen vessels. It's humbling, isn't it? Grace
is humbling. Somebody who truly tastes of
the grace of God will truly be humbled. And when you realize
that God has put this rich treasure, how can a sinner be just with
God? Well, I can tell you. I can tell
you, through the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ Himself. God put that treasure in earthen
vessels. He's given that. He's put that in us. When you
sit at home and you read the Word of God and you meditate
upon what you have in Christ, you meditate upon the person
of Christ, the work of Christ, and you think upon Him. The reason
you do that is because He's put that in you. That treasure is
in you. Treasure is in you. Someday we'll know it fully and
we will worship God as we ought to. He's put it in earthen vessels
that the power may be of God, it may be seen and known to be
of God and not of us. You know, Paul, they said he
was weak and frail, his speech was contemptible, but my soul,
Look at the people that God saved under His ministry. No one, I'm
sure, no one was impressed when they saw the Apostle Paul. No one was impressed. If he walked
in here, you'd be disappointed. Physically, if he walked in here,
you'd be disappointed. You'd look at him and you just
wouldn't think. Then when he'd stand and preach, Hire God to
fall on the place. Put that treasure in earthen
vessels. God's going to preach to sinners by sinners. He's going
to use a sinner to preach to a sinner. Paul says that's for us. He says
as far as we are concerned, we're troubled on every side. This
is not an easy life. We don't have a cushy life. We
are troubled north, south, east, west. Whichever way we turn,
trouble. Nothing but trouble. Yet not
distressed. We're troubled, but we're not
stressed out. I hear that word so much anymore
than stressed out. I bet there's not a generation
on this earth that's been so stressed out as this one. Everybody's stressed out. Paul
says, you know why he's not stressed out? Because he knows that all
things are under control. If you really believe it, if
you really from the heart believe all things are of God, you won't
be so stressed out. You won't get so worked up, bent
out of shape, worried, anxious, if you really believe God's got
it under control. Trouble on every side? Well,
that trouble's appointed. Yet not distressed. Perplexed. Not know which way to go. You
ever been there? You ever really not know what to do? How long
did we wait for this place? Did we know it from the beginning?
Did we know three years ago that this place was sitting here waiting
on us? Distressed. Where are we going to go? Where
are we going to meet? What are we going to do? Distressed. I don't
know what to do. Which way to go? He said, what
do you think? You know, a leader's supposed
to say, well, I've got the answers. Oh, he said, but listen, but
not in despair. We were not in despair, were
we? I can say we've never been in despair over it. Oh, King of Nineveh, the King
of Nineveh, he had a hookah tale. The apostles had a but not. They
had a but not. But not in despair. Altogether
without help or means. That's what it says over the
margin. Persecuted in light of the persecution that Paul and
the apostles went under. I've never been persecuted. Not
in light of their persecutions. But not forsaken. Paul was left
for dead, but God didn't leave him for dead. The men left him
for dead, the stone men, but God did not leave him for dead.
You've never been left alone. Others may have left you, but
you've never been left alone. Paul said, all men have forsook
me, but the Lord stood with me. Cast down. I mean just cast down,
embarrassed, kicked out. but not destroyed. Scripture says, Rejoice not over
me, O my enemies, for though I fall, yet shall I rise again. Cast down, but not destroyed.
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus.
Always bearing about those things that He had to bear in this life. The suffering that He suffered
in this life. that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest
in our body. Even though we bear about in
our bodies the dying, the sufferings of our Lord, always in trouble,
listen, yet the resurrected life of our Lord is always manifested. It's always manifested in us.
Paul said this strength you see that we have, all this strength,
And this carrying on, this not quitting, that's Christ in me. That's the strength Christ has
given me. He said, My grace is sufficient for you. It is by Him that we carry on.
We're not carrying on in our own strength. And Paul wants
them to understand this. We are not carrying on by the
strength of the flesh, but by the strength of the Spirit of
God that's in us. That's how we carry on. He's the one who helps us through
all our afflictions. Who helps you through yours?
Since you've believed the Gospel, have you ever wondered how people
get naked? You say, how in the world do they
just get naked? They just can't deal with reality. They must
not be dealing with reality. They must not. Paul says, our
death, our suffering is for your sake. It's for your good. What I'm bearing right now, what
I'm going through right now It's for your good. And I tell you
this, what every one of us is bearing right now is good for
the body of Christ right here. It's good. What I go through,
what you go through, it's good for the body of Christ. Whatever we suffer, He says,
it's for your sakes. Paul said in one place, I endure
all things for the elect's sake. He says here, whatever we suffer
is for your sakes that you might receive the gospel. The gospel,
the gospel came to them through Paul and Paul brought it through
much trouble. It didn't just, he didn't just
whisk into town in a Lincoln and jump out and go preach. No,
he didn't do that. He came in trouble. spent time
in trouble, preached to them in trouble, all the afflictions
he had, he said, but it's for your sake. All that I'm enduring
is for your sake. And the message that we have
to preach, the message of grace, the message of Christ is the
same as the Old Testament, the Old Testament believers, same
message. It's not two different messages, not two different books,
it's only one book. It's the Bible. We call it the
Old and New Testament, but it's one book. That's all it is. Paul says we have the same spirit
of faith there in verse 13. We have in the same spirit of
faith. He has the same spirit of faith as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
David. He's going to quote David here.
We have in the same spirit of faith as the Old Testament saints.
They believed God concerning Christ. They believed God concerning
redemption. And they preached it. They didn't
stop. Isaiah didn't stop. Jeremiah
didn't stop. They preached it. And we have
that same spirit of faith. And we're going to preach it,
too, no matter how much trouble it brings. That's why I said
we are going to preach it, because we have the same spirit of faith,
the same spirit that worked in them, the same spirit that spoke
through them is the same spirit we have now. There's only one
faith, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. There's only one Spirit. They believed God and spoke and
we believed God and we're going to speak. No matter what trouble
it brings, we are not going to take the edge off from it. We're
going to tell the truth on God. And here's our confidence as
we do this and we face these troubles and we face death. They
face death all the time over this. Here's our confidence,
knowing, in verse 14, that He which raised up the Lord Jesus
is going to raise us up also by Jesus, and is going to present
us with you. Here's our confidence, is that
the same One who raised up Christ is going to raise us up together,
and we are all going to meet at the resurrection, when it's
over. We have a good end. We have a
good end. And all these things that's going
on right now here and throughout this whole world, throughout
the universe, everything that's going on is for your sakes. It's
bringing you and conforming you into the person of Christ. You
are being conformed by everything that happens to you as believers.
I love my believers. Everything that happens to you
is conforming you to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
for your sakes. From the eternal purpose of God,
the incarnation of Christ, His suffering, His death, His resurrection,
your suffering and your death and all. It's all for your sakes
and it's going to bring you to final glory. It's just the path
God's put you on. You're here and others live in
some other places, but it's all for your sakes. Whatever's going
on is for your sakes. It's for your good. Therefore,
we faint not." Knowing this, knowing that God has purposed
this, knowing that God has under control all things, knowing this,
Paul says, we faint not. But though our outward man is
decaying, perishing, this outward man, this outward flesh is getting
older, isn't it? Getting older. More aches and
pains. More heartaches. That man, listen,
that man is perishing. Yet the inward man, that inward man created by the
grace of God is renewed day by day. He's not getting older.
I'm getting older on the outside, but not on the inside. You're not growing old in spirit. You may be growing old in flesh,
but not in spirit. Therefore, Paul says, we faint,
we faint not. So our light affliction. And
he's talking about his affliction that he's going through there
at Corinth and all that he's had to endure. And we can say
the same thing. Our light affliction, which is
but for a moment. Life itself is what? But a vapor. It's just a vapor. You and I
will be gone like that. My grandparents are all gone
now. A lot of that generation now is gone, and soon we will
be. Soon we will be. It's just for
a moment. There's an end to every trial.
It's just for a moment. But, now listen, but this moment
that we're going through, it works for us a far more exceeding
and eternal way to glory. Wait till you see it. Wait till
you see it. You won't even think about this.
You won't even think about it. While we look not at the things
which are seen, we are not spending our lives, we do not do what
we do by the things which are seen. We do not walk by the things
which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. What's not
seen? God. Have you ever seen God? I've
not seen Him. Have you ever seen Jesus Christ? No, I've not seen Him. I tell you this, He's real. He's real. He's as real as I
am standing here. We don't look at these, we look
to Him. We look to Him. For those things which are seen
are temporal. Everything you look at will burn
up. It will be gone. But the things which are not
seen are eternal. Those promises, the salvation
we have in Christ, all those things that God has given us
in Christ are eternal. Paul said to the Colossians,
set your affection on things above, where Christ sits at God's
right hand, where Christ is. I wrote this last night. Where
Christ is, where home is, And you won't be disappointed when
it's time to go. You know, if you count all things
as loss now, then when you lose it, it won't hurt. When it's
time to go, it won't hurt. If you count it as loss now,
you've already lost it. So when you have to lose it,
it's all right. It's all right. It won't take
you down. Okay, Mike.