When your Bible is again denied
to 2 Corinthians 4, last Wednesday night, I preached
from the first half of this chapter, and I told you that tonight I
would be continuing from verse 10 through verse 18. But reaching back just for a
moment. I will point something out to
you. What he says in verse 7 through
9, what Paul says in verse 7 through 9, he says to all believers,
every believer, applies to us, our preachers today and people,
but most especially to the apostles, most especially. And I found
out in studying the second half of this chapter, that if you
don't get hold of that key, it's very difficult to understand.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 1, Therefore seeing we
have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not.
Verse 7, But we have this treasure. We have this treasure in earthen
vessels that the excellency of the power might be of God and
not of us. The making of an apostle or a
prophet or a minister of the gospel was certainly not of themselves,
but of God. The apostles and the ministers
of the gospel, their gifts Their message is of God, given. Paul said, God put me in the
ministry. I was taught the gospel, not
by men, but by God himself. The conversion of sinners through
their preaching, the up-building of believers through their teaching,
is by the power of God and not of them. That's what he's saying.
We have this treasure, this ministry, this gospel. in an earthen vessel,
that all of the power from beginning to end might be of God and not
of us. And he says in verse 8, we're
troubled on every side. Now, we're troubled, too, but
not to the extent these men were. Not to the extent that they were
troubled. As Christ was troubled, they
were troubled. As Christ was troubled, so were
the Old Testament saints troubled. As Christ was troubled, so were
these apostles troubled. But he says, though we're troubled
on every side, we're not distressed. Thanks be unto God who gives
us the victory. And he says that we're perplexed. We don't know why God does what
he does. We don't sometimes know which
way to turn or which place to go. Like Paul aspired to go to
a certain place and God said, Don't go there. Yet he says we're
not in despair because we know God is working out all these
things for our good, for his glory. And he says that we're
persecuted. We are too, but not like these
apostles. And they not like Christ. But we're persecuted. This world
is not a friend of grace, not a friend of God. But we're
not forsaken. We cast all our care upon him
because he cares for us. David looked around and said,
No man cares for my soul. God does. We're not in despair. We're persecuted,
but we're not forsaken. He said, I'll never forsake you.
I'll never leave you alone. And Paul says we're cast down
as an earthen vessel grows old and worn and weary. Look at verse
16. We'll talk about this in a moment.
For which cause? We faint not, we don't quit.
He said that in verse 1. Seeing we have this ministry,
God gave it, we don't faint, we don't quit. For which cause
we faint not? Though our outward man perish,
he is perishing. is growing weary and old and
worn like an earthen vessel, a clay pot which finally gets
past its usefulness. Yet, the inward man is renewed
every day. Day by day he is renewed. Now
then, verse 10, here is where we left off last week. I could
say Paul is talking especially about the apostles. Also about
all ministers and people of God. Always bearing about in our bodies
the dying of the Lord Jesus. That the life also of Jesus might
be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always
delivered unto death for Christ's sake. that the life also of Jesus
might be made manifest in our moral flesh. So then death works
in us, apostles, but life in you. Death works in us, but life
in you. I sat for a long time, looked
at a lot of things. And like I say, these verses
have got to refer especially to the apostles. Because these
disciples, he said in verse 10, bearing about in our bodies the
dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. These apostles were identified
with Christ in his sufferings. In his sufferings, in his death,
in his resurrection, in a way we can never be. They witnessed
him. They watched him arrest him.
Peter sat there by the fire as they took him to trial, his hands
bound, crown of thorns on his head, and denied him and looked
up there and saw the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ looked at him.
He went out wet bitterly. They saw him die. They were eyewitnesses
and themselves partakers of his suffering, bearing about in our
bodies the dying of the Lord Jesus, the suffering and humiliation
and persecution of the Lord himself. Let me show you that in some
verses, as we can never know it like they did. Mark, let's
look at these verses now. If you want to understand this,
you'll have to go with me. Mark 10. Our Lord is speaking here to
his disciples. Mark 10, verse 35, James and
John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said, Master, we would
that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. Boy,
that sounds familiar, doesn't it? Oh, boy. You hear these preachers
today, these two of you agree on one thing, ask and you can
have it. We agree, we want it. He said to them, What would you
that I should do for you? This sounds familiar, too. Grant
unto us that we may sit one on your right hand and the other
on your left hand when you come in your glory. These are two
disciples. And our Lord said, You know not what you ask. Can
you drink of the cup that I drink of? Father, if it be thy will,
let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thy will. Can you be baptized with the
baptism I'm baptized with? Plunged into death. The river
of wrath. God's wrath. Oh, they said, we
can. He said, well, you shall indeed. Drink of the cup that I drink
of. Every one of them was slaughtered. Five or six of them were crucified.
Every one of them except John, they put him out on an island
out of Patmos. But they did, they drank of the
cup. And he said, you'll be baptized with the baptism that we're with.
I'm baptized, you shall be baptized. And they did. John, turn to John
21. John 21. The Lord is speaking
to Peter here in John 21, verse 18. Truly, truly, I say unto you,
Peter, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked whether
you would, but when you get old, when you shall be old, they'll
stretch forth your hands on a cross, and another shall gird thee and
carry thee whether thou wouldest not. And this spake he, signifying
by what death he should glorify God, crucifixion. And when he
had spoken that, he said to him, Follow me. That's what I'm saying. Paul said, turn to John 15, listen
to Christ here. We bear in our body the dying
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the sufferings and persecution and
the hatred. Listen to this John 15, 19. Our
Lord says to these disciples, if you were of the world and
how the world would love you, the world loves its own. But because you're not of the
world, I've chosen you out of the world. Have not I chosen
you twelve?' He said. Therefore the world hates you.
Now, you remember the word I said to you, the servant is not greater
than his Lord. If they persecuted me, they'll
persecute you. If they kept my servants, they'll keep yours.
And these things will they do unto you for my name's sake,
because they know not him that sent me." This is what Paul is
rehearsing before the ears of this Corinthian church. We have
this ministry. We have this treasure, an earthen
vessel. We always bear down in our bodies
the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's a likeness between his
suffering and ours. He was hated, so were they. He
was persecuted, so were they. He was put to death, so were
they. It's an unchanging gospel, the same gospel Christ preached,
they preached, same results. He died, they died. Same result,
unchanging gospel. And to a certain extent, it's
true today. Not to the extent they suffered,
not to the extent, I'll tell you why in a few moments, they
had to die the way they did. He says in that next line that
we always bother about in our bodies the dying of the Lord
Jesus, the suffering of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of
Jesus the resurrected life of Christ might be made manifest
in our bodies, that you may see and know that he came and died. Not that we might live better
here. He came and died, not that we might feel better here, because
when he died and left here, our troubles first then began, really
began. We bear the suffering and persecution
and hatred he bore. So he didn't die that we might
feel better here, and care better here, and live better here, and
prosper better here, but that we might live where he lives.
Christ lives in the presence of the Father, eternally glorified. And this is our hope, and this
is our inheritance. So we bear in our bodies, by
experience, by demonstration, by example, the dying of our
Lord, that we also might reveal to you and preach to you the
life of our Lord. Look at Philippians 3. That was
Paul's desire. Listen to him. I connected this
with this. When I saw it, I said, here's
what he's saying. Oh, verse 9, that I might be
found in him, not having mine own righteousness, Philippians
3, 9, which is of the law. I had that one time, oh boy.
But that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God, by faith, that I might know him and the power
of his resurrection, the power of his resurrection life. not
this old natural life, but the power of his glorified life. Fellowship of his suffering,
being made conformable unto his death, burial, resurrection,
and ascension. Now then, it's not health and
wealth here, it's righteousness and glory there. That was their
message. Think about this now. You say,
why did they have to suffer like that? That is the suffering of
Christ, very much akin to what he bore. Died like he died. What
sort of message would the apostles send to us if after Christ died,
was despised and rejected and hated of all, died? If the apostles of Christ, unlike
their Lord, had been honored. What if the Apostles had been
bowed to as the Vicar of Christ over in Rome bowed to? What if the Apostles had really
been elevated to such an office as the Pope, to such prominence,
such power, such riches, such earthly glory? What kind of gospel
would we have? What was he telling people? Not
seek Christ and his glorified life and inheritance, but seek
all you can get right here. All the wealth and honor and
riches and praise. Oh, what sort of message would
they have had? No message. But they sealed their
testimony with their blood. or the deceitfulness of riches. You see that? We are always bearing
about in our bodies the suffering, persecution, dying of our Lord
Jesus, God like he died, that the life also, the resurrection
life of Christ, might be manifested. For we which live are always
delivered unto death. We which live, still in these
bodies, Paul said. Paul was still living. When he
wrote this letter, we don't really live. We die. We which are always delivered
unto death, for Christ's sake, we're dying Christians. Life
is happiness, peace, joy, eternal glory. That's not what we have
here. This body is getting weaker and
weaker and weaker and dying creatures. Actually, when one of our loved
ones dies, they don't die. They depart to be with Christ.
They're not dead. They live. We're dead. We're
dead and dying. Death hath no more power over
them. They live. Lazarus is not dead,
he's not dead, we are. And so we which live, or say
we do, or claim to, we are always delivered unto death, for Christ's
sake, that the life, the resurrected life, the glorified life also
of Jesus Christ might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. We're not, listen to this. We're
not delivered over to death because we've done evil. God doesn't kill us because we've
done bad. We're not delivered over to death
in order that we might acquire special rewards. But we're delivered
over unto death, Paul said, by the wise purpose of God, that
he might manifest to those to whom we preach that our Lord
died, but he didn't stay dead. He's risen from the dead, he's
alive evermore, and the promise of his gospel is because he lives,
we live. That's our gospel. So our suffering
and death is not an evidence against the truth of the gospel,
but it's an evidence and proof of the power of the gospel. We
declare that he whom we preached, having died for our sins, was
buried, as we shall be, but he is risen, and he is exalted at
the right hand of God, from which he gives to us, on the merits
of his obedience and his death, that same life and glory. Father,
I worry that those whom thou hast given me be with me where
I am." an apostle, a preacher, whomever
God's servant may be, preaches eternal life in Christ, and then
he dies. You know that woman, Katherine
Kuhlman, the one with the long fingernails, you remember her
on television, she, I believe in miracles. She went around
healing everybody. But, and then she talked about
the, if you really loved God, you'd never be sick, never be
poor, Never be anything. That was her gospel. But she
got cancer. And she started withering away.
And she wouldn't allow anybody to see her after they shut her
off in a room. Wouldn't allow anybody to see
her. Nobody ever saw her after she got this disease. And then
she died. And they didn't have a funeral.
They secretly slipped her out during the... when nobody's looking
and put her away. And she just disappeared. I guess
she left the impression she ascended. But my friends, when we die,
that's not evidence against our gospel, that's proof of our gospel. He died. He was bad. He rose
again. A coil of wheat, except it fall
into the ground and die, might as well. When the pastor dies,
don't say, well, what he said wasn't so. Yes, it is. That's
evidence of the truth of it. So then he said in verse 12,
"...death worketh in us, but life in you." Oh, this is beautiful
here. Now listen. Turn to 2 Timothy
chapter 2. "...death worketh in us." Death
and persecution and conflict and trial. In 2 Timothy 2 verse
8, remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised
from the dead according to my gospel. Wherein I suffer trouble, you be wary of a preacher who
doesn't suffer trouble, and trial, and conflict. Because
whom the Lord loveth, he chastens. If you be without chastisement,
you're a bastard, you're not a son. So Paul says, I suffer
trouble as an evildoer. Folks curse me, hate me, put
me in jail, try to stop me from preaching, even under bonds,
even chains. But the Word of God is not bound.
And then they kill him. Therefore I endure all these
things. Why? For the elect's sake. that they may obtain the salvation
that is in Jesus Christ our Lord. What our Lord did to these apostles,
to them, what he did in them, what he did through them, was
for your sake. That's right. So then death works
in me, but life in you. For your sake, for my sake. Turn to 1 Corinthians 3. Let's
look at this for a moment. 1 Corinthians 3. So then, what's
this? Paul is saying, everything that
God has said in my life was for the good of his sheep. Everything
that God did to Peter, Paul, James and John, these apostles,
to them, in them, through them, was for the sake of his sheep.
for our conversion, for our salvation. 1 Corinthians 3. He says in verse
19, the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. It's
written, he taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again,
the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise at their bane. Therefore
let no man glory in men. Don't envy natural men of any
reputation or standing. Don't glory in men. For all things
are yours, all things are yours, not theirs, they're yours. Paul, whether Paul, the Apostle,
he's ours. God did what he did to him, through
him, in him, for him, for yourself. Paul, or Apostle, or Peter, or
the world, or life, or death, or things now, present, or things
to come, they're all yours! And you're Christ, and he's God's. And when you read a while ago,
all things work together for good to them that love God, who
are called according to his purpose, is not just a promise to a little
fellow like me down here who can't understand why something
happened. It goes a whole lot wider than
that. It means that that covenant of mercy back yonder, when God
the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit made a covenant
to redeem a people, that's for me. When God created this world,
the world, he said. The world! When God created the
world, he created the world as a stage on which to bring to
pass redemptive glory through the death of his Son. That's
for me. The Old Testament, preachers
and prophets and Passover, the bondage of Egypt, 400 years that
outfit stayed down there and then God laid them out. That
was for us. When his son came out on that
cross, Apostle Paul was God, laid him on that road to Damascus. I'm going to use you to take
the gospel of that picture over there in Ashley. You've got to
fit into this whole thing. It's like all things work together
for the salvation of, for the good of, for the eternal glory
of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Everything. So you don't need
any glory in me, in that outfit, there's nothing to them. They
rise up like a flower and bloom like an idiot and die. But these
things God has ordained are for your sake. That's right! All
things are yours! Paul, Peter, James, John, Moses,
Abraham, Joshua, Isaac, the world, life, death, things present,
things past, things to come, are yours! Working together for your And
that's what he says here, death worketh in us, that life might
work in you. And I'd like to say to every
preacher that I could get to listen to me, he's not going
to be used of God as these men were used of God until he learns
that he's part of God's purpose and plan, of himself and promoting
himself and pushing himself and glorifying himself is missing
the mark. Somebody said he's part of a
field that God Almighty filled in a great gulf for Christ to
walk over on and carry his sheep on. Just so much sand, he packs
it all down under there somewhere, and Christ is going to walk over
it. But we're willing to be a grain of sand. We're willing to be
nothing. We're willing to be unknown.
John said, who are you, a voice? I don't have a name. I don't
need a name, because I'm not going to be remembered. He's
going to be remembered. I'll be glorified in him. That's
what he said, death worketh in us, but life in you. So, verse
13, what's this? We, having the same spirit of
faith, And according as it is written, I believe, therefore
have I spoken, we also believe, therefore we speak." You know,
he's quoting David here. Let me just turn to it quickly
and read to you. Psalm 116, verses 7 through 10. Listen to this. Verse 7. "'Return unto thy rest, O my
soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee, for thou
hast delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from
falling.' I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living,
I believe, therefore have I spoken." I believe. And Paul said, that's
what David said, that's what I say. This is not a doctrine
of faith, this is the grace of faith. A preacher wrote me one time
and said, I've never studied the theology of giving. Giving
is not a theology, it's a grace. You study it until you're green
in the faith and you won't learn anything about it until you find
out it's a grace. See that you're bound in disgrace also. Faith
is not a doctrine, it's a grace. It's a gift to God. And it's
the spirit of faith. We having the same spirit of
faith. It's the same in all believers.
Old and New Testament. It's a confidence and a trust
and an assurance. of the person and work of our
Lord Jesus Christ. And where there is true faith
and the true spirit of faith, there will be the truth speaking
of the truth. I believe, therefore have I spoken. That's the only way you can speak.
You've got to believe first. With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, with the mouth confession. You got to see him before you
can talk about him. Isaiah saw his glory. He spake of him. Is a man a true preacher who
doesn't preach the truth? No, sir. He's never seen him. If he ever saw him, he'd speak
of him. I believe, therefore I spoke. And then he says, knowing
that he, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt, being confident,
that he which raised up the Lord Jesus, who raised him up? God
raised him up. Peter said at Pentecost, this
same Jesus whom you crucified, that God raised up and made Lord
in Christ. The same person who raised up
the Lord Jesus shall raise us also by Christ, oh listen to
this, and present us with you. Isn't that backwards? And present
you with us? No, he said it like he meant
it. He said it like he meant it.
He who raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up by the Lord
Jesus and present us, present us with you. The first shall
be last and the last shall be first. You see what he's saying? You see the humility there? He
said, I get to go with you. You don't get to go with me,
I get to go with you. That's what Paul is saying. And you don't introduce a person
to a king, you present them. Your majesty may I present this
person. We're too low to be introduced
to the king, we're presented Christ. unto him that is able
to keep you from falling, and to present you." Here they are,
Father. I present them. But he is going
to present us with you. Not you with us, us with you. Isn't that something? Verse 54. All these things I read about.
Now listen, all that Christ has done, suffering, his death, resurrection,
all that his prophets and apostles have suffered and preached and
written, are for your sake. This book was written for your
sake. In order that the abundant grace,
the abounding grace of God through the thanksgiving of many might
redound They increase, excel to the glory of God. All things are for your sakes,
that the glory of God, the grace of God revealed to multitudes
might bring more honor, praise and glory to our Lord. Now here,
for which cause? I think not. The cause for which a man is
willing to suffer or sacrifice, or make any sacrifice, the cause
is what's most important. Why do it? For what cause? David came down and said, isn't
there another cause? The armies of Israel were running
from Goliath. He said, wait a minute, suppose you do get killed, isn't
there a cause? Suppose you do suffer, isn't there a cause?
And this is the cause, Paul said, for which I think not, that you
might know Christ, that Christ may be glorified. I read about a certain young
man whose brother needed a bone marrow transplant. And he willingly
lay down, conscious. So it was one of the most painful
things he'd ever experienced. But it was worth it all. to give
his brother life. So that's what Paul is saying,
the cause is what's important, the glory of God and the salvation
of his people. For which cause, I think not.
Though my outward man perish, though my outward man suffer,
my inward man is renewed every day. The cause is what makes
it worthwhile. We expect the outward man to
perish gradually. But if we're properly taught
and exercised in the grace of God, when our outward man begins
to wilt and wither and die, we'll pay more attention to the spiritual
means and that inward man will start blossoming. Maybe the reason
that inward man has not blossomed like it should is because we've
been paying too much attention to the shell and neglecting the
spirit. So when we finally make up our
minds, that we're not going to be the prettiest people always,
and the biggest, and the strongest, and the wealthiest, and the smartest,
and all those things, that we've got to go the way of all flesh,
maybe we'll pay more attention to the inward man. This is the cause. Is there not a cause? I've got
to quit. I like affliction, which is,
but for a moment, Worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory." You know, a preacher, my affliction is not light. Yes,
it is. I gave four or five things, but
it's light compared to what we deserve. Our affliction is light
compared to what many people have suffered. Our affliction
is light compared to what our Lord suffered for us, and our
affliction is light compared to what's waiting on us. It's not worthy to be compared
to what's waiting on us. So therefore we look not at things
which are seen. What does the word look mean?
It means to gaze upon. It means more than a glance.
It means to desire these things, to set our affection on these
things, to make the enjoyment of these things the chief goal
and end of our lives. We don't look at things of the
world like that. But we look, we gaze upon, we
desire, we set our affection on, we make the enjoyment of
them our chief goal. We look at things which are not
seen. God is not seen, salvation is not seen, justification, heaven
is not seen, our inheritance is not seen, the Spirit of God
is not seen. For the things which are seen
are temporal. Therefore we don't set our affection
on them and gaze and look with covetousness and desire above
all things, the attainment of these things we see. It's the
things that are not seen. For the things which are seen
are temporal, things that are not seen are eternal. That's
the reason Christ said, look unto me and be ye saved. All
the ends of the earth, I'm God and there's none else. I hope
that's a blessing. It was to me.