All right, let's turn in our
Bibles to that wonderful chapter that Brother Dale read for us
a moment ago. This portion of God's Word has
a special word of comfort and assurance for the people of I want to begin with verse 5,
because I plan to get down to the end of the chapter, and we'll begin with verse 5. And Paul says we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus, the Lord. It's not us that you need to
know, it's Him. It is not that you should believe
or follow us. but him. And it's not that you
should praise us, but praise him. Colossians 2 says this,
it pleased God that in him should all fullness dwell. And you're
complete in him, only in him. So we preach not ourselves. We
preach Christ Jesus the Lord. But ourselves, you're servants
for Jesus' How is it that Paul, who said over in 1 Corinthians
7, verse 23, ye are bought with a price, be ye not the servants
of men? Be ye not the servants of men.
And yet here he says, ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. Well, the key is for Jesus' sake. We're your servants for Jesus'
sake. you being his sons and daughters
and living in his house, then we're his servants and that makes
us your servants. I was down in Mexico on a trip to San Rafael down in Chiapas,
and we went out to a place where Brother Milton Howard held services
for years, very prosperous ranch. The man and his wife were most
prosperous for that area. And they had a coffee plantation,
raised oranges and chili peppers and things like that. But she
had several servants. And while I was a guest in that
home for three days and two nights, those servants waited on me hand
and foot, and all of us. coffee out on the patio, waited
on us. If they weren't my servants,
they were her servants, but I was in her home. And that made them
my servants. They couldn't do enough for us.
And that's what Paul is saying here. We don't preach ourselves.
We don't want men to praise us or follow us, but Christ, we're
your servants for His sake. For God, verse 6, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, now this refers to the creation
of the world, the first creation. In the creation of the world,
God made everything out of nothing. And he made it by the word, the
power of his word. But the first thing in creation,
God said, let there be light. That was the first thing, let
there be light. And then all these things were
made by his word. So in the new creature and in
the new creation, God makes all things out of nothing. He doesn't
take anything that we have and improve on it. We're new creatures
in Christ Jesus. And the very first thing in the
new creation is let there be light. God, who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness in the original creation, hath
shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. Turn with me
to Ephesians chapter 1. You remember Ephesians chapter
1, but a couple of weeks ago when I was preaching from John
chapter 1, verse 7 and 8, I talked about It says, in Christ was
life, life, L-I-F-E. That's life in the widest sense. Animal life, plant life, human
life, all life. There's life in a seed. The heart
beats because there's life. The heart of an animal beats
because there's life. But that life comes from Christ. But then
he said this, in him was life, and the life was the light of
men. Man has life different from the
animals and the plants, in that man has a knowledge of God. There's
a light that lighteth every man that comes into the world, and
that's Christ. And every man's without excuse,
because he knows somehow, someway, somewhere, there's a God. God
has not left himself without a witness. Every human being
knows there's a God. But that light, because of our
fall, is so severely warped and twisted that it's become darkness. And we worship a God but not
the God. We believe error but not truth.
We're twisted and are perverted in our thinking. So when God
saves a man, the first thing he does is let there be light,
true light, true knowledge. knowledge of himself, what he
is, knowledge of God, who he is, knowledge of Christ, who
he is, knowledge of Christ's work, what he did, he gives him
light, the light of the Word. Let there be light. Now listen
to Ephesians 1, verse 17. Ephesians 1, verse 17. The God,
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may
know what is the hope of his calling, what is the riches of
the glory of his inheritance in the saints, what is the exceeding
greatness of his power to us who believe, according to the
working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ, when he
raised him from the dead. and set him at his own right
hand in the heavenly places. That's what we have to have.
Light. Knowledge of God. True knowledge
of God. God commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give us the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God. The Son of God had come
and given us an understanding. that we may know him that is
true, and his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God. This is
the true light. This is the true knowledge, and
this is eternal life. Let there be light. All right,
verse 7. But we have this treasure. My,
what a treasure it is. The treasure is life, life eternal. The treasure is light, the knowledge
of the glory of God. The treasure is the Spirit of
God, a divine nature, understanding. The treasure is faith, hope,
and love. The treasure is the gospel of
God. We have this treasure. But we have it in a... And this
treasure is in us. That's right. We have this treasure. before I get to earthen vessels,
in earthen vessels, in us. It's not just something on paper
here. It's not something we run to the library and look up in
a reference book. This gospel, this life, this knowledge of
God, this experience of grace, this fellowship with God is in
us. Did you ever notice Paul's testimony over in Galatians 1
where he said, God who separated me, from my mother's womb. And we know that. He called me
by his grace. We know that. He was pleased
to reveal his Son. And too many people use the word
to me. But Paul didn't say he revealed
his Son to me. Though he did. He revealed his
Son in me. Christ in you. That's the hope
of glory. It's not just to know there was
a person named Jesus Christ. Everybody knows that. If he died
on the cross, I believe he died on the cross, the devil does
too. The devil does too. People that nailed him know he
died on the cross. They know he rose from the dead. The soldiers
and the officers who saw that empty tomb, the officers paid
those soldiers to keep quiet. Don't tell them he rose from
the dead. Christ in you, that's the hope of glory. So we have
this treasure in us. We have this treasure in our
minds to understand it, not perfectly, but we do understand it. We have
this treasure in our hearts to believe it, not perfectly. Lord,
I believe, help thou mine unbelief. We have this treasure in our
hearts to love it, whom having not seen we love, not like we're
going to, but we do love him. We have this treasure in our
mouths to praise him. wish we could praise him better,
but we do praise him. We have this treasure in our
mouths to tell others, oh, how I wish we had an effective witness.
We have this treasure in our hands to send to other countries,
which we try to do. But we have this treasure in
an earthen vessel. What do you think of when you
think of an earthen vessel? You think of a clay pot made
out of dust. That's an earthen vessel. A fellow gets some clay, a certain
kind of dirt, but it's still dirt. You know, the Bible says,
he knows our frame, he remembers that we're dust. He said, out
of dust you remain, out of dust you'll return. But we're dust.
Dirt. And we have this treasure in
an earthen vessel. And not a gold vessel. It's not
purified yet. It's not a vessel of fine wood
to be admired by everybody. It's not a vessel of steel and
iron, unmoving and hard. It's a clay vessel. It's an earthen
vessel. Why? That the excellency of the
power may be of God and not of us. Nothing we do, nothing we
say, nothing we can contribute but what God did in us and through
us. To God be the glory, whether
you eat or drink, look to the glory of God. What a treasure,
what a treasure that is wrapped in a container of little value,
that one day will go back to the dust, go back to the dust, that the
excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. Well, verse
8, do you think that such a vessel is free from trouble? You don't
have many clay pots around your house that aren't fragile. They're
all fragile. They're all subject to trouble.
Do you think that such a clay pot is indestructible? Not at
all. And Paul tells us about it. Listen
to what he says. Listen to the groanings of the
chief apostle. He says in verse 8, we're troubled.
These earthen vessels of trouble on every side, on every side,
never free from one trial or another. You wonder what a day
is going to bring forth. When the phone rings, you wonder
what it's going to say. Things occur for which we have
no answer. We have grown to expect tribulation. and expect troubles which are
common to this flesh. So we're troubled on every side,
but we're not distressed. We're not distressed. We're not
defeated. I'm going to tell you why in a few moments, but let's
play with the text. We're troubled on every side.
In this world you'll have tribulation, troubled trials. Yes, you will. If you haven't yet, you will.
And it will continue as long as you live. And he says we are
perplexed. What does that word mean? Puzzled,
confused by the providence of God. Do you understand the providence
of God? I don't. Things occur for which we have
no answer and can find no reason. So we are perplexed. And I know
sometimes, regardless of how strong you believe the gospel
and the sovereignty of God, you still say, why? David, dear Lord, why? Well, we're perplexed, but
we're not in despair. No, sir. And then Paul says,
we're persecuted. Every true believer comes under
some type of persecution. The scripture says, All who will
live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution in some form. If we bear good testimony, a
believing testimony of the true gospel of God, you're going to
get hit. And that's just so. That's just
going to get hit somewhere, some way by somebody. Because this
world hates grace. It hates God. And if you're a
real strong believer in the grace of God, You're going to suffer
persecution. That's just so. The God and the
gospel we believe and love is despised by friends and folk. And as a result, because they
are enemies of the gospel, they're your enemy too. That's hard to
say, it's bad to say, and it's hate to say it, but I say it.
Our Lord said that. If the world hates me, it hates
you. It hates you because I've chosen
you out of the world. You're not of the world. If you
were of the world, the world would love you. But because you're
not of the world, the world hates you. That's right. They do. Paul
said, Am I to become your enemy because I tell you the truth?
Well, yes. That's what it boils down to,
yes. I don't like you because I don't
like what you're saying. That's the way it is. Well, we're
persecuted, but we're not forsaken. We're not alone. Lord, I'm with
you always, even to the end. We cast down. What does that
mean? We're weak. We're weary. We're sad. And oftentimes, conditions of
family and friends and country and circumstances and things
about us make us weary. We're cashed down,
but we're not destroyed. We're not destroyed. The poet
says, though dark be my way, the Lord is my guide. It's mine to believe, it's his
to provide. Though my heart be broken and
creatures all fail, the word that God has spoken shall always
prevail. In the following verses, Paul
gives the reasons that though we be troubled, we are not distressed. He gives five reasons. Though
we be puzzled and confused, we are not in despair. Though we
be persecuted sometimes by beloved friends and family, We're not
forsaken. And though we be cast down, just
down in the dumps, we're not destroyed. And here's the reasons. Number one, and I'll begin with
a F.O.R. F.O.R. Verse 11, For we which
live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake. that the
life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
So then death worketh in us, trouble, sorrow, imprisonment,
persecution, even martyrdom, but life in you. We having the
same spirit of faith as David had and Moses and Abraham and
all the Old Testament believers, Because they wrote, I believe
and therefore I have spoken, we believe and therefore we speak.
Now what Paul is talking about here, he speaks of a fellowship
of suffering. He is talking about mainly prophets,
apostles, preachers and missionaries. Now all believers are liable
to and should suspect should expect. All believers are liable
to and should expect persecution and rejection. But God's prophets
and God's preachers and God's apostles are especially earmarked
for attack by Satan and Satan's cohorts. And Cecil, that's what
he's saying here. We apostles, every one of them
were martyred except John. They killed every one of them.
Crucified Peter, beat one of them to death with a whole bread.
Every one of them, that's what he's saying here in verse 11,
we which live, we apostles, we prophets and preachers, are always
delivered unto death. Brother Walter, even down in
Mexico in 1970 and 1980, was driven out of certain villages.
They robbed him, threw stones at him. And a lot of missionaries
have died in recent years for preaching the gospel. We're earmarked
for this kind of thing. He says, that's the reason we're
depressed. I mean, we're troubled, but we're
not distressed. We're puzzled. I went to preach
the gospel to them. They ran me out of town. Wouldn't
that puzzle you? God sent me down there. He told
Isaiah, I'm going to send you these people, but they're not
going to hear you. They're not going to hear you. I'm going
to send you down to preach, but they don't have ears and they
won't hear. They're going to run you out of town, put you in prison. But Paul says, I endure all these
things for the sake of God's elect. Let's read that over here
in 2 Timothy. He was in prison when he wrote
this, sitting down there in jail, sitting down there in jail. And
it says here in 2 Timothy, verse 2, verse 9, wherein I suffer
trouble. as an evildoer, even unto barns,
chains, prisons. But the Word of God is not bound.
Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they
may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord. Let me show you another scripture,
Philippians, chapter 1, verse 12. It has to do with this very
thing. I'll say the reason we're troubled
but not distressed, and the reason we're perplexed but not in despair,
cast down but not destroyed, is that we preach the gospel that Christ
preached and they nailed him to a cross. We expect it. We
expect it. Look at Philippians 1, verse
12. But I would have you understand,
brethren, that the things which have happened unto me, have fallen
out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel, so that my bonds
in Christ, my imprisonment in Christ, are manifest in all the
palace and in other places. And many of the brethren in the
Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to
preach the word of God without fear. That's reason number one. These
trials and troubles and the enmity of the world is to be expected
especially by those who are apostles and prophets and preachers and
elders and those who carry missionaries and carry the word of God to
people who hate the gospel of God's grace. All right, second
reason, verse 15. For all these things, all things
are for your sakes. That the abundant grace might,
through the thanksgiving of many, redound or increase or overflow
to the glory of God. That the abounding grace of God
and the thanksgiving of many, a number which no man can number,
might overflow to the grace of God. All these things are for
your sake. Clear back to Abraham and Abel, Moses, right on down, all the
apostles. that suffered for our sake, the
gospel. All these things are for our
sake, everything. I show you that in 1 Corinthians
chapter 3. It's for the freedom of the gospel,
for our sakes. All these things are for your
sakes. That the grace of God through the thanksgiving of multitudes
out of every tribe, kindred, nation, tongue unto heaven might
increase to the glory of God. Listen to 1 Corinthians 3 verse
Therefore let no man glory in men," all things are yours, all
things are for your sakes. Whether it's Paul, or Apostle,
or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or
things present, or things to come, they are all yours. And your Christ and Christ is
God. This is all ordained of God. to accomplish the salvation
of his people. Romans 8, 28 says that. He says,
We know that all things work together, are working together
for good to them who love God, who are called according to his
purpose. For whom he foreknew them, he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his Son, and whom he predestinated,
he called. And whom he called, he justified, and he justified,
he glorified. What shall we say of these things? We say, God's
for us. So is Paul and Moses and Abraham
and everything God does is for us. And who can be against it?
That's the reason we're not in despair. We're troubled, we're
puzzled, we're persecuted, we get weary and tired, but we're
not in despair because everything is ordained for our good, God's
glory. Three things an old preacher said, everything that comes to
pass, is ordained of God to fulfill his covenant. Everything that
comes to pass is ordained of God for his glory. Everything
that comes to pass is ordained of God for the good of his elect. God moves in a mysterious way. His wonders to perform. Plants
his footsteps on the sea and rides on a star. Judge not the
Lord by feeble sense. Trust him for his power. The bread may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the bloom of the flower. Ye fearful saints,
fresh curds take. The clouds ye so much dread,
and we dread them. But they're big with mercy, and
when they break, they'll break with blessings on your head. All right, back to my text. We're troubled, we're not distressed,
we're perplexed, we're not in despair, we're cast down, we're
not destroyed. Because thirdly, verse 16, for
which cause we faint not, that is, we don't quit, we don't surrender
to doubt and fear. Because though our outward man
perish, what is that, our outward man? It's this old body. It's
a fact. Our outward man, this flesh,
is decaying. It's perishing. It's growing
old and weak and tired and weary. It's not going to get any stronger.
It's going to get weaker. Not to get any healthier, it's
going to get sicker. It's not going to improve and get more
beautiful. It's going to get more ugly. It's headed for the
grave. Our old man, our old outward
man, is perishing. Yet, our inward man, that new
man in Christ Jesus, that new man created in Christ Jesus will
never grow old. That new man will never die.
It is fed by the Word of God. It is renewed by the power of
God. It grows in grace and the knowledge of God. It's renewed
day by day. What are the means? God uses to make this body, this new man,
this new creature renewed day by day. Well, number one, his
Holy Spirit dwells within us. Number two, his Word is called
the living Word, called the bread of life. His fellowship, he said,
I and my Father will come and dwell with you. The family of
believers. And that family knows no age,
knows no class, knows no rank, knows no station, knows no heritage,
knows no traditions. They're one in Christ. And they
encourage you. And then our shepherd. The Lord's
my shepherd. And I shall not want. I shall
not want for rest. He makes me lie down in green
pastures. the new man. I shall not want for peace, he
leads me by still waters. I shall not want for forgiveness,
he restoreth my soul. I shall not want for holiness,
he leads me in powers of righteousness for his namesake. I shall not
want for fellowship, thou art with me. I shall not want for
comfort, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. I shall not
walk for provisions. He prepares a table before me
in the presence of my enemies. My cup runs over. The new man
is renewed every day, day by day. The new man never dies.
He that liveth and believeth in me will never die. He never
grows old. So that our youth is renewed
like the eagles. And because the Lord is my shepherd,
I'll never want for anything in this earth or in the world
to come, because surely his goodness and mercy will follow me all
the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever. Why are we troubled but not depressed,
not distressed? Why are we perplexed but not
in despair? Verse 17, for our light affliction, which is but
for a moment. Now there's a couple of expressions
which promise to cause a lot of problems for some people,
not here, but in some places. For those who have not faith
in Christ and do not know Christ, to call afflictions light I tell you, afflictions and sorrows
and troubles can prove to be very heavy. Very, very heavy. Heavy on the heart, heavy on
the mind. And they can last a long time. Somebody asked me one time, how
long does it take you to get over the death of a child? You
never do. Don't get over that. Stays with you as long as you
live. Hurts just as much. You know that. But the apostle
Paul says here these are light afflictions and they are but
for a moment. And that's true when you know
God and when you know his words. For these afflictions and sorrows
are light and brief compared. Compared what? To the glory which
awaits us. Our light affliction which is
but for a moment. worketh for us a far more exceeding
eternal weight of glory. Paul said that over here in Romans
8. Listen, Romans 8 verse 18. I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time, afflictions, life afflictions, but for the
moment The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to
be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. These earthly sorrows and afflictions
are considered light and they're considered brief for a moment
compared with the eternal glory and happiness and the life and
the love and the glory which we'll have with our Lord. Actually,
the Word of God says that our whole life span on this earth
is a vapor, puff of smoke. Our whole life
is a fleeting shadow. It's only the span of the life
of a rose or a flower, just for a moment. So when you think about
where we're going, with whom we'll be, And where the likeness
will wear our light afflictions, that's right, are but for a moment,
compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. It's just a moment, just a moment. All right, the last reason, 2
Corinthians 4.18. We're not in distress, we're
troubled. We're not in despair, we're puzzled.
We're not destroyed, we're cast down. Why? Because, verse 18, we look not
at the things which are seen, but we look at the things which
are not seen. For the things which are seen
are temporal, but the things which these eyes cannot and do
not see are eternal. We look not at things which are
seen. What are seen by these eyes? Well, number one, I see
myself, the chief of sinners. But what you don't see and I
don't see with these eyes, I'm in Christ, holy, unblameable,
unreprovable. And I see my ignorance. I mean
ignorance, ignorance of the scripture. Oh, I long to know the Word,
long to know the Word. I see my foolishness in the flesh.
I see all that. But in Christ, I'm wise. You
wouldn't believe that, would you? You don't see it. In Christ,
I have the wisdom of God. I have the wisdom angels desire
to look into. You do too. That's right. He
is my wisdom. He's my righteousness. I have
a holiness that no man on earth can have outside of Christ. a
holiness. With his spotless garments on,
I'm as holy as God's Son. Did you know that? You are too.
You don't see that, do you? You will someday. Not now. These are things that are not
seen. I see it's appointed unto me
that he wants to die. I think about it a lot. I'm in
my fifth overtime. I paid seventy and played five
overtimes. Maybe I'll be in a few more.
Cecil, you've got more overtime than I have. But we know it soon,
isn't it? My days are numbered. They're
short. Our days on earth are short. They're down to minutes
now. And I see, I see death. And after
that, judgment. It's a part of me that wants
to die, and after that, the judgment. But what these eyes don't see
is there's no judgment for us. There's therefore now no judgment
to them who are in Christ. We're not condemned. We're perfect
and unblameable in his sight. You don't see that with these
eyes. I see disease, sickness and death. And I see evil, evil
all around me, evil men and evil works, exercising dominion everywhere. But his word declares that Satan
is defeated. Satan is defeated and evil is
defeated and cast out and there is going to be a new heaven and
a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. That is the reason we are not
in despair. We look not on things that are seen. But you keep looking
on things that are seen, you'll get in despair. But we look on
things that are not seen. I don't believe in sickness and
disease. I believe in him who bore our
sickness and diseases in his body on the tree. I don't believe
in death. I believe in him who said, I'm
the resurrection and the life, and he that liveth and believeth
on me will never die. I don't believe in corruption.
I believe in him who said he is able to present us faultless. before the presence of God with
exceeding joy. I don't believe in visions and
dreams and feelings and signs. That's what people are looking
for on this earth. God has given us his word. Heaven
and earth shall pass away, but my word will never pass away
until it is all fulfilled. That's right. I don't need feelings
and signs and visions, I have his word confirmed by the coming
of his Son into this world, the living Word of God, who fulfills
all that is written. Every promise in the book is
yours. Martin Luther said, Feelings
come, feelings go. Feelings are deceiving. Our warrant
is the word of God, and nothing else is worth believing. Though
all my heart should feel condemned for lack of some sweet token,
I know one greater than my heart, and his word can never be broken. So I'll trust God's unchanging
word till soul and body sever, for the words of men all pass
away. God's Word abides forever. That's our foundation. So we're
not going to despair. I had a young man say to me one
time, out here beside the church, lives in another city, comes
down here and visits once in a while, every five, six months. He said, I don't have any assurance.
I believe what you preach. but don't have any assurance."
I said, I know why, too. You don't have a place to go
and hear the Word preached Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday
night. You don't have a fellowship of believers that encourage you,
identify with you, and help you along the way. You don't have
those things, and we need those things. This old man perishes,
but the new man is renewed every day by the means of grace. The
Word of God, the Spirit of God, the people of God, preaching
of the gospel. If you don't go to the table, you're going to
be unhealthy, and you're going to wither and die in a short
time. You've got to eat, and you've got to have the Word of
God, haven't you?