Well, good evening, everyone. Good to see you. I don't usually dress this formally for Gibbs, but I've just come from a funeral that I had the opportunity to conduct of someone that I had never met before. And in doing so, what a wonderful opportunity to give up the Gospel. For our Pondering the Page time tonight, I invite you to open your Bibles to 2 Corinthians, Chapter 4. 2 Corinthians, Chapter 4. For once again, I was reminded in this funeral I had today that people are living, people are dying, people are going to heaven, people are going to hell. Life is short, death is certain, eternity is long. And therefore, it is imperative that we are saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. If you heard what I said yesterday regarding statistics regarding death, What happened just now? Three people died. Three, six, nine, 12, 15. Pretty incredible, isn't it? In one minute, 180 will be dead. In one hour, almost 10,000. In one day, 250,000 people. Now we have multiple billions, you know, of people, plus kids are being procreated every day, that fill those ranks. But just think how many people slipping out into eternity. And we know, according to Matthew 7, 13 and 14, that the majority on the broad road that leads to hell, Now God loves them all. He wants them to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. He has sent his son to die for them. But how can they believe in him in whom they have not heard? And that is why in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, it behooves us to remember what Paul wrote. when he said, verse 3, but even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. And what happens when we preach Christ Jesus the Lord? For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness in creation, Genesis 1, who is shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. You see, as the Gospel is preached, it is likened to light that penetrates the darkness and opens people's eyes to the truth of Christ and Him crucified. the message of the grace of God, and how through faith alone, and Christ alone, and His finished work alone, we're saved forever. And we're reminded in verse 7, we have this treasure in earthen vessels, clay pots, like you and me. Why? That the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. You know, as I gave the Gospel today to some, oh, 30 to 50 people that were there, it was a small group, but every one of them was a precious soul for whom Christ died. Every one of them was a precious soul whom God wanted to save, that God loved. And again, I can't make them eat. Again, you can bring a horse to water, you can't make them drink. And each person has to decide in their own heart whether they'll respond to the gospel or not. But as I walked out of that funeral home today, and there was a group of people outside smoking and kind of chatting and whatever, I sat down, as I was making my way to the car, I said to the Lord, Lord, by your grace, I did what you wanted me to do today. You wanted me to preach the gospel, and that's just what I did. And now I'm trusting you to use your word in their hearts. How many were open? I don't know. One man did approach me, and he clearly had a Jehovah Witness or Seventh-day Adventist background, and he said he had no... He says, where do you find heaven and hell in the Bible? And I said, well, all over. There's all kinds of references. In fact, if I remember, there's at least 700 references to heaven in the Bible. He says, I can't find it anywhere. I said, well, what about Revelation 20 and 21? I just preached on heaven yesterday, I said. And he said, well, I believe in the Millennium. And I said, well, so do I. I believe in the millennium and I believe in the new heavens and new earth and new Jerusalem, the eternal state. And he said he did too. He just had no hope of going to heaven. And he said, well, remember, he says in John 3, he didn't say John 3, 13, but he said, Jesus said, no man has ascended into heaven. Only the son of man who came from heaven. And I said, well, yes, that was true when Jesus said that. But since then, he's ascended into heaven. And on his way, before he left, he said, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am there, you may be also. And he says, well, I don't believe in heaven. He says, I believe what you said earlier about those who have fallen asleep. I just think you sleep when you die. And I said, well, the Bible doesn't teach soul sleep. It teaches the body sleeps. And that's why the Bible says absent from the body is present with the Lord. But you could see he wasn't interested in really hearing. He did say that was a very interesting message I gave today. because I'm sure he had never really heard a message on grace like that before, because in his mind, salvation was an earned reward, not a free gift. And you know, I can't open people's eyes and I can't save them, but by God's grace, you and I can allow the Lord to use us, though he doesn't need us, to preach the gospel, trusting that the Spirit of God will shine the truth into people's hearts. And you know, the irony of it all is that the more religious a person is, like this man, the less chance he has of going to heaven. Because he's blinded by his religion, which Satan has used to cause him to think that through his works of righteousness, somehow he could be saved. Now in the midst of preaching the gospel, in the midst of being willing to let the Lord use you, you can expect the Lord to work in your life, because you see, part of the preparation for preaching is the preparation of the messenger, and not merely the preparation of the message. And by virtue of the fact that we live in the devil's world and we're in a spiritual battle, we face adversity and persecution and trials, let alone pack a sin nature and an unredeemed body that's under the curse. And that is why we read in verse 8, Paul writes, we are hard-pressed on every side. And he wasn't even in Gibbs. We're hard-pressed on every side. What does he mean? He means when I look this way, I see problems. I look that way, I see problems. I look that way, I see problems. I look that way, there's problems everywhere. You ever have someone say, accept Christ and all your problems will be over? That's a lie. Your greatest problem is over, but not your problems. But in every problem, you can turn to the Lord. His grace is sufficient. He goes through it with you. He wants to guide you through it. That's why Paul could say we're hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed. Why aren't you crushed? Because the Lord is there with you. We are perplexed, but not in despair. And I find comfort in that verse. Because if Paul was perplexed at times and unsure what to do, I feel pretty good at times when I'm perplexed and not sure what to do. And there are times when I don't know what to do. I know I'm going to pray for wisdom, but I'm not sure exactly what I should do. But that's okay. Being perplexed is okay. It doesn't mean you're carnal. It means you need to depend upon the Lord. and let him direct your path. Notice, but not in despair. Why aren't you in despair? Because he'll never leave me nor forsake me. If I trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding, but in all my ways acknowledge him, he will direct my path, so I'm not in despair. Next verse, persecuted, hunted down like an animal, but not forsaken. You know why? Because the Lord says, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Therefore, we can confidently say, the Lord is my helper. I shall not fear what man shall do unto me. I'm struck down, but not destroyed. I like knocked down, but not out. I'm struck down. Sometimes life strikes you down. Sometimes life kicks you in the gut. And you're doubling over, trying to catch your breath, as it were. You know, what you're getting through this description is that the ministry isn't something glamorous. You know, something that's celebrity status. Look at me! Look what I'm doing for the Lord! No! You sense trials and afflictions and difficulties and resistance and pressure. struck down but not destroyed, always caring about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifest in our body. The resurrected life of Jesus Christ. The victory over sin life of Jesus Christ. The power of the Holy Spirit life of Jesus Christ. The life in which I learn to live by faith, when I cast my cares on the Lord, when I faith-thrust in His power, and I admit I can't, He can, and the cross, as it were, keeps us in a place of death, so the Spirit of God can produce life through us to others, as it were. Paul says, I'm in a situation where I have no place to turn but to the Lord, and that is a good place. That is a good place. Verse 11, for we who live are always delivered to death, reckoning ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, so that His life could be manifested through us. For Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifest in our mortal flesh, so that death is working in us, but life in you. You're the beneficiary of what God's doing in my life. And I like verse 13, and since we have the same spirit of faith according to what is written, I believed and therefore I spoke, we also believe and therefore speak. You know, the best times you speak is when you are convinced of what you're saying is true. You know, there are times before I get up to preach, I ask myself, do I really believe this? Do I really believe what I'm going to say? I mean, why get up and go through it and sound really good, and at the end of the day, you don't really believe it yourself. You know, I believed, therefore I spoke. And when you believe it yourself and you've taken it to heart, and you know and you're convinced what the Scriptures teach, you can say it with confidence, you can teach it with authority, you can teach it with conviction. It's not, you know, what I'm about to say, take it with a grain of salt. Now, it's okay to say, what I'm going to teach, check it out with the scriptures. The brains were commended to do that. But to do it eagerly, to do it not in a hypercritical way, but in a discerning way. Because the bottom line is not, did Dennis Roxer say it? The bottom line is, does the Word of God say it? You know, Paul, I think we could turn those lights on right there. They might be right there. Might help everyone here. There we go. Okay. And even as you're studying Romans and distinctions and you're hearing these various things and you're going to get a lot of information thrown at you tonight. that you're going to have to review and go through. Hopefully, you're knowing it. Hopefully, you're believing it. Hopefully, you're convinced of it. And in some ways, a belief doesn't become a conviction until it's challenged and tested. And you will be tested at times. Do you really believe this? Do you really believe His grace is sufficient? Do you really believe the Word of God is worth learning? Do you really believe it's worth the investment of time that you're placing into it? And if you believe the Lord led you to this and His grace is sufficient for you, then apply yourself as you walk by faith and you study to show yourself approved unto God. I can assure you it will be really worth it. For there are precious souls that need to hear the Gospel. There are believers who are untaught who need sound doctrine. There are believers who are taught but are struggling that need encouragement. There are believers who need clarification. There is a spiritual battle going on. But you can get weary in the battle in a lot of ways. And that's why he says in verse 16, or verse 15, For all things are for your sakes. Wow. That grace, having spread through the many, may cause Thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. And isn't it a thrilling day when God in His grace uses you to give out the gospel and someone else gets saved? And they're now praising God for their salvation. And you know, though you didn't save them, that the Lord used you as an instrument, not that you use it as a badge to prove to anybody anything. But is there any greater purpose on earth but to bring glory to the Lord and seeing the lost one to Christ and Christ building his church? And so I would challenge you and I would encourage you as gift students. to take these things to heart, to realize the spiritual battle, to realize the importance of a clear gospel, to recognize you're going to be tested, there's going to be difficulties, there's going to be trials, and all of them are designed to show you, you can't do it, but He can. Rely on Him. To preach with conviction and to trust that God will use His Word to His own glory in people getting saved and believers growing. In fact, wasn't it kind of interesting to see last Wednesday night, if you were here, and we looked at the financial statement, I just happened to find that 1985 financial statement. You know, we had $29,000 taken in that year, $27,000 spent. With carryover of the bank balance, we had $6,000 in our bank account. Not that money's the bottom line, but just to see what God could do with $6,000 and some willing people. And you think about where we're at today and how the Word of God is going out in so many ways. All you can say is He can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or even think. What a privilege it is. And so tonight we're going to study two lessons in Romans and two lessons in biblical distinctions. You're going to hear again a lot of stuff. You're going to hear things that you know. You're going to hear some things you don't know. And again, your objective as a student is to walk with the Lord, to keep growing in the Lord, and to master this material, not only for your own understanding first, but then to be able to communicate it effectively to others as the Lord leads and gives you opportunity to do just that. Let's pray. Father, thank you again for those who heard the gospel at the funeral. We pray that you could be using in their hearts even now. Thank you for every one of these Gibbs students. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we're going to spend eternity together. Father, those who need to get taught and trained and equipped for the work of ministry, you have for them in whatever that is. So pray, Father, that you could direct us this evening in all that needs to be covered and that you would give us an understanding heart.