Good morning, everyone. Light of the world, you step down into darkness. Open my eyes, let me see. Beauty that made this heart adore you Hope of a life spent with you Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that you're my God. You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me. King of all days, oh so highly exalted, glorious in heaven above. Humbly you came to the earth you created, all for love's sake became poor. And here I am to worship Here I am to bow down Here I am to say You're my God You're altogether lovely Altogether worthy Altogether wonderful to me I'll never know how much it cost To see my sin upon that cross I'll never know how much it costs I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross. I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross. Here I am to worship Here I am to bow down Here I am to say You're my God You're altogether lovely Altogether worthy Altogether wonderful to me And here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say, You're my God. You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me. Thank you, Vicki. That'll put us in the worship mode. Not mood, mode. Worship's not a mood, it's a mode. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for these who have come out this morning. expecting to hear from you. May that indeed be the case, as the Word of God goes beyond the words of a man into the eternal Word, Jesus Christ. Hologos, the Word of God, Jesus Christ. Father, for it is Him that you magnify. and have magnified even above all your name, the name above every other name. The name of Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. There's something about that name. Master, Savior, Jesus, like the fragrance after the rain. Thank you for him. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you're in our midst, where two or three are gathered together in your name. We honor you and welcome you today. set our minds upon you, things above where you're seated, and we're seated together with you in the heavenlies, awaiting your return. In the meantime, directing all of our questions to you, submitting all of our problems, do you? Because you are the solution to every problem, the answer to every question. We thank you for these things. Bless the Word of God as it goes forth. in our hearing, to our understanding, for it's in the matchless name of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, that we pray. Amen. Today we're going to talk about the one-step program. We have a one-step program. Everything so much is made about 12-step programs. Today we have the one-step program. There's only one step. And you step across a line by faith. And that line was drawn in the sand. It's where a wall used to stand, but it doesn't stand anymore because it was torn down by the carpenter's son. Now there's just a line in the sand of time that anyone can step across, whether you be a Muslim whether you be a Mormon, whether you be a wise man or a moron, you can step across the line. Nobody's been excluded. So it's Sunday, April 14th, 2019. I'm gonna read our passage, it's only 18 verses, so that you get a feel for the context. And it really should continue from 3.16. Through this chapter. It's really no chapter break here because Paul refers to what was just said in Second Corinthians 3 16 through 18 So he says in 2nd Corinthians 4 1 I'm reading from the New Living Translation because it's simple and so are we So we need to hear here. It's simply state. It's not perfectly accurate, but it serves its purpose beautifully 2 Corinthians 4.1, and so, since God in his mercy has given us this wonderful ministry, we never give up. We reject all shameful and underhanded methods. I wish that was true of all. We do not try to trick anyone. I wish that was true of all, because there's tricksters out there. And we do not distort the Word of God. We tell the truth. Before God in his presence and all who are honest know that if the good news We preach is veiled from anyone It is a sign that they are perishing Satan the god of this evil world Has blinded the minds of those who don't believe so they are unable to see the glorious light of the gospel news That is shining upon them They don't understand the message we preach about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. We don't go around preaching about ourselves. We preach Christ Jesus, the Lord. All we say about ourselves is that we are your servants because of what Jesus has done for us. For God who said, let there be light in the darkness, has made us understand that this light is the brightness of the glory of God that is seen in the face of Christ Jesus. But this precious treasure, that is, this light and power, that now shines within us, is held in perishable containers, that is, in our weak human bodies, so that everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is not our own. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going. Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus also may be seen in our bodies. Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, So that the life of Jesus will be obvious in our dying bodies. So we live in the face of death, but it has resulted in eternal life for you. But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith that the psalmist had when he said, I believed in God, therefore I have spoken. We know that the same God who raised us, who raised our Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself along with you. All of these things are for your benefit. And as God's grace brings more and more people to Christ, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. God's glorified by our receiving grace, not by what we do for him, but by receiving what he's done for us, grace and mercy. That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are quite small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever. So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now, rather we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever. I think it's a pretty good rendering of that passage of scripture, made easy to understand. 2nd Corinthians 4 1 therefore since we have this ministry what's that ministry receiving grace and beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord and being changed transfigured into that same image from the inside out from the deepest recesses of our innermost being outward, not the other way, not on the outside and working its way in, but on the very deep inside, the depths of our inner man, working itself out. So don't even try to evaluate it, just keep plugging, because the Lord loves a plugger. So, therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart. He's saying here, from the original Greek, he says, therefore, since we having this ministry, that's not just Paul, but all of us as well, having the same ministry, as mercy granted, it's merciful that he's given us this ministry, this one thing, to do. That is, to behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord. We are never discouraged. Your ministry and mine is receiving mercy. I'll take all the mercy I can get. How about you? And his mercy is abundant toward us in every way. Mercy for the alleviation of suffering. Remember the difference between grace and mercy? Grace is the bestowal of wonderful things that you could never earn or deserve. And mercy is the withholding of judgment or negative consequences of of the results of what you've done to yourself and for your sins. He can even turn your sins, as He works all things together for the good, to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Does He want you to sin? No. But He uses the result of sin. Because it's our sin that finds us out. And if we sow to the wind, we reap the whirlwind. And make no mistake about it, you reap what you sow. But it can be redeemed and is redeemed by the Lord. To teach us the lessons that we need to learn, that we must trust in Him. Because all that is not out from faith, the broadest definition in the Bible, is sin. So what is sin? All that's not of faith. You have a couple of them going on? Most of the time? All the time? I think so. Either in thought, word, or deed. Yes, indeed we do. So we need Him. We need Thee every hour. Every hour. Every minute of every hour. Every second of every minute. Every minute of every hour. every hour of every day, every day of every week, for the rest of our days on earth. Amen and amen. So, beholding him is our ministry. Soaking in the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. Are you grace sponge? Or are you a different kind of sponge? He's a sponge, that guy. Oh, thank you. I'm soaking in the grace of God. Get squeezed out and I need more, so I soak up more. And it's just a soaking and a squeezing. That's how God deals with us. We soak in the grace of God and he squeezes us out. And we soak in more. Soak in the word. Squeezed out. Soak it in again. We should be soaked or saturated with the Word of God, marinated in the Word of God at all times, like Jesus was in the days of his humanity. Not only is he called prophetically the Word of God, but he was indeed the Word. Everything he thought, everything he said, everything he chose, and everything he did was according to the Word of God. And he's left us an example that we should follow in his footsteps, in his footprints. Remember the footprints? There was two sets of footprints in the sand. I've never seen two sets, I've only seen one because he carried me from the cradle to the grave and will take me home safely to his heavenly kingdom. Soaking in the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, lest we faint lose heart, become discouraged, we look unto Jesus. Away from all others and everything else, unto Jesus. Beholding him in every situation that he faced, and he did so beautifully, demonstrating the clarity of thought and resolute decision. listening to and beholding the invisible Father, taking his cues, all of them, from the word that so richly indwelt his heart, knowing what to say and do, when to speak and when not to speak. We have to learn this again and again. Learning when to take action, And when to wait. Jesus did that often. He would wait upon the Lord. Remember when the woman was taken in adultery and he kneeled down and was drawing in the sand? He wasn't doodling, he was waiting for the right thing to say. Exactly right thing to say. And he had it, didn't he? Let those of you who are without sin cast the first stone at this woman. And many of them in the crowd probably had her. Because they all walked away in shame. They wouldn't have said, well, not me. Oh, no. All of them, from the oldest to the youngest, even the old people, had lustful thoughts. Jesus said, if you lust in your heart after a woman, you've committed adultery with her. And that's just the way it is. Because if you had half a chance, you would have. Thank God you didn't, because there's other things involved. It's the heart attitude that God looks upon. Not on the outward appearance, but God looks upon the heart. He chose David, who wasn't even present. When Samuel came and had the sons of Jesse pass before him, six of them, the seventh was out in the field. Go get him, he said. I'll make the anointing oil ready. He's the youngest, the least of them. It should go to the first, right? No, the first will be last, and the last will be first. He says, I have disqualified all of them. And God said, I have chosen David, a man after my own heart, my word. He loved the Word of God. He meditated on it day and night in Psalm 1. It was like a tree planted by rivers of water. Did he fail? Did he fall? Sure he did. And so have we, a couple of times at least. But that's what mercy's for. And that's what grace enables us to press to the end, press on to the end. Jesus never said anything or did anything unless the Father said, go! Then he went. He'll do the same for us. He did it perfectly. We don't. And as a result, we too often jump the gun, go ahead, or lag behind. But we're learning to walk around, as Jesus did in the days of his humanity, by beholding his glory. by beholding his modus operandi in how he lived before God. We do so by looking at him in the looking glass, which is the word of God. To this he always says, come, come to me, and I will give you rest. For I'm humble, gentle in spirit. You shall find rest in yourselves. Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden. You're weary, perhaps addicted. Perhaps. You know what? Drug addiction didn't stop at the stairs of the church. It marched right in and sat in a pew. Yes, it did. And there are many people in this drug-infested culture that we live in. that go to church regularly, and they're slaves to Satan. This is an age of pharmakia, a drug-infested culture in society. We'll say more about that. Oh, and the only way that you can get free from it is the one-step program. There is not 12 steps, there's only one. I'll show you that, too. Chuckle because I love the Word of God and it just tickles me deep within my inner man All the while as we look and continue to behold and receive mercy we're transfigured little by little each day growing in grace and growing in Christ-likeness. Remember on Tuesday night, I told you about the time-lapse photography? It happens in such small increments that you can't see it happening. You can't see growth occurring. But if it was to be in time-lapse photography, you would see it. The beginning from the end, you see how rapidly it all progressed and how you grew to be like Christ. And you didn't even see it or know it. I see him in you, but I don't often see him in myself, right? Yes, I see him in you. And he was a regular person just like you, only he was one that trusted God entirely, tirelessly, always, no matter what the consequences were, he'd go to the cross to obey the Father. So, we're learning to walk around as Jesus did, the days of his humanity getting transfigured a little bit at a time looking more like him on the inside all the time speaking more and more as he did his word even smelling like him I could smell Jesus when I'm around you because We are the sweet aroma of Christ to God and to man, even going so far as to bearing about his dying. in our complete inability. You know, when you die, you can't do anything. You can't wiggle your pinky toe or your pinky finger. There's nothing you can do when you're dead. Therefore, God can manifest his power in the weakness of our death, which means our disability. We're disabled. He made it that way so that his power would be evident. And nobody would think it came from us, as we just read. So, little by little each day we're transfigured, growing in grace, in Christ-likeness, reflecting his glory, looking more like him on the inside, speaking as he did, even smelling like him, having the sweet aroma of Christ, to God-man, even going so far as to bearing a bout in our bodies. the disability or inability of death, so that his life might be manifest inside of these bodies subject to death, that is on this side of eternity while we're here. No striving, no sweating, no anxiety, only basking in the light of his glory, letting the glory, his glory, shine upon us and permeate our innermost life, thawing what remains in us of a frozen wasteland, filled with the fossils of Satan's vain attempt to thwart God's purpose for creating us in his image and likeness. Yes, I'm talking about dinosaur bones. So bask this morning in the warmth that he brings, and you will leave here today a little bit more like him than when you came in. Verse two, but we have renounced, I know I have, the things hidden because of shame, or the shameful things, not walking in craftiness, trickiness, or despoiling the Word of God, adulterating it, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience not emotion but conscience you see that that that message gave me the chills that I failed to appeal to your conscience that is the conscience with its grace norms and doctrinal standards that takes you back to the Word of God as a standard for your thinking, for your speaking, for your choices, for your actions in life. That's the conscience. Knowing what you ought to do and doing it. Because God said, go. He said, get the word. And I said, yes, sir. Salute him. I used to say, I'll do it when I get a chance. He said, no, do it first. OK, yes, sir, I will. And boys, that made a difference in my life. And it'll make a big one in yours. Because there's a one-step program. And it starts each day. And you take that step of faith each day. And every day counts that way. It doesn't count if you don't. But I was on vacation. Take the word of God with you. Of course. He didn't say you can't take a vacation. Jesus used to go to Myrtle Beach, didn't he? No, that wasn't him. Of course not. Didn't need one. I don't either. I'm on vacation. Right now. Every single day I'm on vacation. My wife will agree with that. She'll say, yeah, you don't really do anything. That's true. She's right. I do this though. I make sure this one thing I do, this one thing I do. This one thing I do, I forget what lies behind and press on to what lies ahead. Sometimes it chases me, but I know how to put it in its place. Commit it to the Lord, and then he'll bring things to pass, the things that you need, the things that you want, the things he desires for you, the good things of God in Jesus Christ. So he says, not walking around in shame, or walking in satanic deceptiveness or craftiness, not pulling the wool over the eyes of the sheep. Sheep have wool, and there's many today that pull the wool, try to pull the wool over the sheep's eyes. And he says, never misrepresenting or distorting. We have delato, which means to misrepresent, to adulterate, or to falsify the Word of God. Some people do that, believe it or not. They're not afraid to do that, to change the meaning of the Word, to suit their objective or their message. Not falsifying the Word of God, but rather by the manifestation of the truth contained in the truth itself. which the Holy Spirit checks. He knows. He lets you know when it's true, what's being said is true. And you concur and affirm that truth. Commending ourselves, Paul says, toward conscience of all men in the very sight or presence of God we do that every single time the Word of God is presented like the Apostle who Christ shone upon and blinded by the brilliant light so that he might see what is otherwise invisible that lies behind the matrix of material and sight reality the radiant glory of Christ out of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth absorbing a little more of him each day, even as Paul did. He was transformed in a moment, but he had to grow, just like we do. Every day unto the day when we see him face to face, and are fully like him in face and form, in the fullness of grace and glory, so that all that you could ever desire can be yours, which he wants to give you. All things are yours, he says. Even now today, we renounce the hidden things, the methods, the messages, and the motives behind that which so many are preaching and saying, who seek to take advantage of the naive and the unlearned among us, to gain some advantage, to guilt them or to get them, to give them. what belongs to them, that is those they speak to, without honest appeal to a worthy cause or kingdom issue. That's not the issue. The issue is we're going to build a bigger barn or a bigger church. We're going to do this or we're going to do that. But a big portion of that, percentage of that goes into somebody's kitty. It does, always. Could it be Judas or Satan? One and the same. Satan entered Judas, and everything he did was satanic in motivation. Was Judas saved? No. So that answers that question. Some people say, yes, he was. He was one of the 12. Jesus said, have I not chosen the 12 of you, and one of you is the devil? I don't think he called us the devil. He said, you're children of the devil, but he didn't call you the devil himself. And he is a type or a picture, a forecast of the wicked one, the son of perdition. And he's actually called that from the scriptures. He was the familiar friend who raised up his heel against Jesus. Bruised his heel, but Jesus crushed his head. He was like Satan incarnate. That is, everything he thought and did was satanic. Satan used him, fully used him. So? But it didn't work, did it? No, of course not. God our Savior never operated dishonestly in any way. He always told the truth. It got him in big trouble, didn't it? Yeah, with people. Because there was no place in them for the truth. There wasn't a place. There was no place in them. They were filled with all their own thoughts and many things. that were oriented to the temporal and earthly, but nothing that was eternal or heavenly or spiritual in them. And so the Word didn't sit well with any of them, and they rejected the Word. They rejected the Lord, the Word of God, Jesus Christ, and the Word that he spoke and authored. In 66 books of the Bible, Old and New Testament, it is the mind or the thinking of Christ. So, He wants to, in each one of us, more intensively than ever, more fully than ever, fill us with Himself, with holy awe and wonder, to abide in the shadow of the Almighty, even as we are seated at His right hand. Christ in the heavenlies Ephesians 2 6 Colossians 3 3 waiting as it were for him to appear and to appear with him and doxa in glory in Colossians 3 4 and in Philippians 3 20 and 21 isn't this what you want it's what I want waiting for that day isn't this what you're longing for looking for will do so, continue to do so, each remaining day of your brief stay on Earth. This stay on Earth is so brief. Anybody who's past the age of 60 knows that it goes quick, right? You say, when you're a kid, it takes forever for my birthday to come each year. But when you're 66, it's like, Tomorrow's my birthday, and the next day's my birthday, and the next day's my birthday! And then you die and go to be face-to-face with the Lord. You'll have a happy birthday there. We won't celebrate your natural birthday, but your new birthday there. We'll have a cake and everything. I don't think so. We certainly will bow and worship spontaneously the Lord Jesus Christ on our face for all that he's done and given us. What a wonderful Savior he is. So, before I get too carried away, let's move on. This is what we should desire more than anything else, to understand these things, to live this way. These are the enlightened things that have no hidden agenda. that also have no associated shame, because they are true. And we tell the truth in every way appealing to the conscience of every person, not the emotion, but the conscience of every person to whom we speak the word of God and the presence of God, our Savior, Jesus Christ. He hears everything you say. Those who draw back from him can't imagine living that way. No frame of reference in truth or reality. These are the spiritual things declared by the Word of God, the manifest truth, the deep things of God. And you don't cast your pearls before swine or give holy things to dogs, just don't do it. But sometimes you have to speak the Word even if people don't like it. Verse three, and even if our gospel is veiled, Paul says, it's veiled to those who are perishing. These things lie behind the thin veil, it's only a thin veil, of personal unbelief, and are hidden in the darkness of man's desperate attempt to suppress the truth, allowing his flesh to call the shots. And your flesh can't choose. Your mind chooses. Your flesh can't, but it can signal the mind. And people give in to every desire of the flesh. That is, it calls, the flesh calls all the shots. Too many shots from small glasses and from syringes, you know, shots like injections. bring the brief pleasure of sin to an abrupt halt. Well, what do you mean? Well, when the health of the body and the mind falters and fails, because it will kill you, it's poison. Having used up, anyone in this condition uses up the endorphins that enable the enjoyment of simple pleasures, what remains is the ever-increasing need for chemical stimulation, and in between, only despair, even panic, of a body and soul addicted and enslaved by Satan. See you when we talk about the One Step program. The days we live in are days of pharmakeia. That's witchcraft in the Bible, called witchcraft. It is witchcraft. Pharmakeia, pharmacy, witchcraft, same thing, synonymous. A drug-infested culture and society wherein witches and warlocks mix in their cauldrons potions that alter the chemistry of the brain soul's capacity to choose and reason substituting euphoria for well-being with diminishing returns rendering useless millions of the walking dead thus the obsession with zombies everything's about zombies today all these zombies programs on becoming mere shells of what they once were as human beings, made in the image and likeness of God. And yet there's hope for one and all, not from any 12-step program or rehab clinic, but from the one-step program, which I'll show you. The 12 steps are as follows. We, that's the key word, we admit that we're powerless over alcohol or drugs and that our lives have become unmanageable. We do that. Then we come to believe that a power greater than ourselves. You might say, this sounds very good to me. It's not, and I'll show you why. We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. We made a decision to turn over our will and our lives to the care of God in as much as we understand him or whoever he might be to us. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Wow! I'll bet you missed a couple things. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. We were entirely ready to have God as we know him, as we think him to be, remove all these defects of character from us. Ain't gonna happen. We humbly ask him to remove our shortcomings. Number eight, we made a list of all the persons that we did wrong, that we harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. Sure. We made, yeah, you went to the police and told them about the crimes you committed. which are cold cases now because you didn't get caught. That's smart. Anyway, we made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or other, you mean, would injure you. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God. We had to go find him because he was lost. As we understand him, praying only for knowledge of his will for us and the power to carry that out. Number 12, we having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, this is the only one, we tried to carry this message, this isn't what you do, but it's a spiritual awakening is what you need. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all of our life affairs. So many years ago, I remember a man named Jim Leffer. You guys knew Jim. Did you know Jim? He was a terrible alcoholic. He came to Christ, and he looked at those 12-step programs, and he said, there's something really missing here. Yeah, 12 steps. There's only one. The one step is missing. And he created a program, set up a program, which he called Alcoholics Victorious. Not anonymous, but victorious. The only hope for recovery is a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. That was the foundation of that program. And by the light of his countenance shining into the frozen wasteland of an unregenerate soul brings heat, light, and teeming life back into a dead soul. Because our soul is dead because there's no spiritual life in it. you begin to learn of Christ and what he's done for you you will surrender your best efforts for his power and like a newborn babe cleave to him desiring the sincere milk of the word that's the step the one step that you may grow thereby once you have tasted that the Lord is kind and gracious and first Peter to to Paul knows wherever he speaks having been a violent offender and a hateful aggressor who was addicted to religion and full of self-righteous zeal, he was headed for destruction until the light shone upon him and changed him in an instant and forever. Job 12.22, that's what the Lord does. He reveals mysteries from the darkness and brings the deep darkness into the light to dispel it. In Job 19.25, Job said this in his darkest hour, and as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. And at last he will take his stand. There's the one-step program. Upon the earth, even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God, whom I myself shall behold, whom my eyes shall see, not the eyes of another. My heart faints within me, awaiting that to occur. And having this ministry, we do not faint. Hebrews 12 to looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising or thinking little of the shame and is set down at the right hand of the majesty on high consider him who endured the contradiction of sinners against him lest you become weary and faint in your souls so what do you do come to Jesus then what do you do come to Jesus then what do you do come to Jesus come to Jesus Verse 4, in whose case the God of this world, those who are blinded, has blinded the minds of the unbelieving. The mind is blinded as darkness shrouds the soul, even the light of the moral conscience goes out, leaving that one without sensibility, numb as it were, without the least glimmer of moral light, and ready to do whatever it takes to feel something, or for that matter, anything at all. And like the one called the Prince of Darkness, in those whom he blinds, that darkness becomes very great. And if it is not quelled by the light of Christ, it becomes absolute and impenetrable. And he says that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For this purpose, Christ was plunged beneath the billows in the sea of judgment, the deepest part of God's judgment for man, went to hell on the cross for us. was put into a black hole, a time warp, where there was no light, where the light cannot be seen. Just like Jonah, who spent three days and nights, and as suddenly as Jonah was released from the depths of darkness from the belly of the fish into the light of day, Jesus Christ was brought from death into life by a flash of light that shone more brightly than the sun and its fullness into and throughout all the remains of human history. The brightest light that has ever shone comes from the human face of Jesus Christ. Look at him and live. Then keep on looking and live life to its fullest. The changes that need to be made, he'll make them. The lapses and failures that you make along the way, He'll work them together to bring about His good purpose in due season. Just keep coming and trusting. And in many unexpected ways, He'll save you from the ravages of sin and teach you how to walk worthy of your high and holy calling, how to trust Him all the time for everything, though at first you only trust Him sometimes. for some things and not for others, and you will grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ and be to the praise of the glory of his grace for all eternity." Won't that be awesome? Verse 5, for we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord and ourselves as imperial bondservants for Jesus Christ. We're so close to him, and we're confidants. We're his confidants. The Lord and ourselves as servants, doulos, slaves, but it doesn't mean like a mistreated slave or someone that has no value to his master. No, we're servants of his. He uses us for his purpose. By our permission, he uses us for his purpose. Paul can't do it, he doesn't think he can do anything. Paul can't do it, and no way does he think he can. Neither can we. But one thing is sure, that Christ can, and will, do it all. If he and us, if we'll only let him, or allow him to do so. All we can do, the only thing that we must do, is to walk in the light and he will continue to light the way. And the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn that shines brighter and brighter until the full day. In Isaiah 26, 7, the way of the righteous is smooth. The way of the transgressor is hard. I think you've discovered that by now. O upright one, make the path of the righteous level. The upright one is Jesus Christ. Proverbs 418, but the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn that shines brighter and brighter until the full day. His word will be a light to your path and a lamp to your feet that shows you the way in order that you might get to where you're going without delay. And Psalm 119, 105, without it, you can't see where you're going and will surely get hurt, not once, but again and again. We preach Christ, whose word is the only light that shines in a pitch black world. And you do well, if you pay attention to it, as though it were the only light in an otherwise pitch black place until the day dawns and the day star arises in your heart, till you have a clear perception of Christ. In 2 Peter 119, till the one who shines upon you shines from within you, making you a light, showing others the way and inviting them to join. happy party for God who said light shine into darkness is the one who is shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God that shines from the face of Jesus Christ you know God is light and in him there is no darkness at all God has no dark side he's called the father the father is called the father of lights in whom there is no variation or shadow, no dark side, no shadow of turning. So, he goes on to say that he has shined into our darkness, and he has, the darkness of human history. Then he says this, but we have this treasure in earthen vessels, and the NLT got it right. That treasure is light. That's what it is, it's light. The treasure is light. You say, well, how could light be a treasure? If everything else is black, dark, then light is precious and valuable. The treasure is the light that's contained in vessels of clay. He said, we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Clay pitchers, just like Gideon in the battles against whoever he was fighting. I forget now. Anyway, they had 300 men. The other 32,000, except for 300, were sent home. And he had 300 men with torches inside of pitchers. And the pitchers had to be broken to let the light out. All of a sudden, there's a flash of light out of broken pitchers. That's what we are, pitchers, having this treasure of light in earthen vessels. That is, that dispel the darkness and put the enemy to flight, even as they did for Gideon. Mighty man of God Gideon you weasel He was at first. Oh Lord, I just need to know your will I'm gonna put this fleece out and you make it wet when this ground is dry and dry when the ground is wet and Do it again because I'm really not sure God did it anyway because he's such a weak man and he calls a mighty man of valor Because he did fulfill the will of God and so When all else is dark, indeed light is a great treasure of immeasurable value. The light is the revelation of Jesus Christ as God and Savior in you. through you Matthew 5 16 let that light shine before man in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven Philippians 2 15 that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation that means a generation of hunchbacks and perverts and drug-addicted people it's true you'll be the light, among whom he appears lights in the world. That's Philippians 2.15. Then he says in verse 8 of our passage, we are afflicted in every way, but never crushed. Afflicted, but delivered. And by it, capacitated to trust God in every extremity. That's what it's good for. That's why it's been appointed unto us not only to believe, but to suffer. And all who will live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. And Jesus said, in this world you will have trouble, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. And you will too, the same way I did. By the word and the spirit, by the light, us, by the light that shines from his face. Psalm 34, 19, many of the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them perplexed but not despairing often perplexed are you I am because you don't know what's coming next always wondering what will come next but never in despair knowing the one in whom you believed and committing your way to him as our faithful friend and creator. And 1 Timothy 1, 12 Paul says, I know the one in whom I believe and am persuaded that he's able to take that which I've committed, to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. 1 Peter 4, 19, therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right. And so he says, in every way being afflicted but not being crushed, That is in every way. Being perplexed, but never in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Dioko means harassed. Well, you got one that will harass you, one who will send intimidation and condemnation. But remember, the roaring lion that walks around seeking someone to drink down has no teeth. He can't bite, he can only Drink Gum, yeah Because the line of the tribe of Judah kicked out his teeth at the cross. He didn't have any teeth. He's just a roaring lion But like our Savior because of him were opposed and assailed But even if everyone else forsakes us the Lord stands with us and we shall not be moved But not egg catalypo, that is, forsaken, left behind. No, you'll survive, even thrive, under the worst kind of testing, trial, or difficulty. Never destroyed. Catabala struck down, but never Apollumi, never destroyed. Can't be. Then he says, always carry about in our body the dying of Jesus. That's the disability of Jesus when he was dead. That the life of Jesus also may be manifest in our body through his resurrection. When he came up, he was amazing. He could walk through the wall. He came through the tomb. He came through the stone. And he moved it so we could see in, not so he could get out. And indeed, we can look in, even today, and see that He's alive from the dead, and so are we. Because I live, you shall live also. It says, always bearing about in our bodies the dying of Jesus, the disability that He had when He died. Remember, He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God, and we're weak in Him, and we shall live by the power of God likewise. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake. Find yourself in situations that you can't change, and without the ability or power to do it. That the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. Then he says in verse 12, so death works in us, but life in you. The things we suffer, Paul says, taking the hit. They're the point men. In other words, they're first in line. They take the hit, allows others, weaker ones, in the ranks behind them to escape the fray. and also give Paul and those who are given responsibility for the churches in teaching them real spiritual life truth to impart by their rich experience in Christ. That's what it's all about. Then he says, but having the same spirit of faith according to what is written, I believe, therefore I spoke. We also believe, therefore also we speak. The same is true of us who believe and speak the things we believe according to the scripture. If we don't believe, we won't speak. But if we do, we will. That's a fact. Because you're passionate about it. You really believe it. Otherwise, we have nothing to say. No testimony of faith in the truth. And people, many people, don't want to hear what we have to say. And that's too bad. No, I mean that's okay. Sometimes you say it anyway. And let the chips fall where they may. You know, some people you're going to rescue with a rip and a tear. You know, curse the darkness. And other people, you can bring them along a little more slowly. If they're positively disposed to the Word of God, to the Gospel, then you can handle them more gently. And other people, you gotta just tell them, turn or burn! No, you don't do that. You don't have to do that. That's what Bob Leffert would do, not Jim. He says, if anybody knows who I'm talking about. And he's a wonderful man with a unique ministry. Verse 15, we're almost done. For all things are for your sake, that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. This is what it really says. It says, for all things are for your sake. Yes, they are. That is, we know that God causes all things to work together for the good, to those who love God, those who are called according to His purpose. He says, Thanksgiving, or resulting in Thanksgiving, might abound unto the glory of God. God is glorified by what we receive, not by what we do for Him, because you can't do anything for God, because God is self-sufficient. You can't give to him. You can't counsel him. You can't tell him anything, for he's always known everything. Simultaneously, before anything ever happened, he knew it all. That's how big he is. Far bigger than most people think he is. He's a great big God. Verse 16, therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, think that's true yet our inner man is being renewed day by day then he says for this momentary light affliction that's what he calls this life our momentary light affliction is producing for us and exceeding an eternal weight of glory far far beyond all comparison That is, it's heavy duty. Then he says in verse 18, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Life goes on. Life beyond this life, eternal life, beyond this temporal life. We trade in the temporal for the eternal. James 4.14, yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow, do you? Or you don't even have it tomorrow. You're just a vapor. That's what you are. Hi, vapor. That's me, too. that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Or Psalm 90, 10, this is for the elders among us. As for the days of our life, they contain 70 years, three score and 10, or if due or by reason of strength, four score, 80 years. And some of us might even be beyond that. Wow, God's good. Or he's still gotta teach us some things. He wants us to go with a full boat to meet him. Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for soon it is gone, even if you lived in your 80s, 90s, and we fly away, where eternal things matter and temporal things matter no more. That's what Isaiah said in 65, 17. For behold, I create, the Lord says, a new heavens, a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or once come into mind. that'll be good our frame of reference will not be earthly but it'll be eternal heavenly so you must acclimate to that now you must live with a view to eternity because it's common it'll be here before you know it some of us might go this afternoon who knows I hope not before the service is over we don't want to have to deal with that here but I'll send the deacons to carry you out on a slab like you did Ananias and Sapphira, because that'll probably be the reason you died, you lied to the Holy Spirit. So you were created to live forever, and you will. Everyone will. A new day is about to dawn, a new and endless day without any night. All day long, forever, we shall behold him and all of his majesty seated upon the emerald throne of grace, calling us into his presence to tell us things and teach us things that we've never known. and to show us things that we have never seen, and to give us things that we have never imagined having. All of these things await us if we leave this planet loving God, looking at the things that can't be seen, loving them more than the things of Earth that we see, that we hear, that we taste, that we smell, and that we hand or touch. Get ready to see Him. Get ready to meet Him. In the meantime, get to know Him. and store up treasure in heaven, light treasure, word treasure. Do whatever it takes to make your life count for eternity. Lay off, lop off, cut off, break off. all that is only earthly, that staves off your grasp of eternity, that mitigates the perspectives of eternity. How do you do that? Well, first you come to Jesus, then you come to Jesus, then you come to Jesus, and keep on coming to Jesus. In Ephesians 4.22, in reference to your former manner of life, Take off, put off, like a suit of old dirty clothes, the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new suit, the expensive uniform and garments of the new self, which in the likeness of God, Jesus Christ, has been created in righteousness and addiction to the truth. True addiction. Addiction to the truth. I'm addicted to the truth of the Word of God. The one-step program for addiction recovery. The only cure is Jesus, who will make all things right, real, and new. No one else can help you, heal you, cure you, or save you from the ravages of drug and alcohol addiction or any other thing. I believe, and therefore I proclaim boldly, that Christ is the answer. Now, what's your question? Q&A. Question, where do I start? Answer, Jesus. Question, what do I do? Answer, don't ask me, ask Jesus. He alone has all the answers, all the power, all the wisdom, and will do everything for you except make your life worse. Oh, maybe for a little while you'll think it is, but it's not. That you must do for yourself, and you've done. And you become really good at it. And now it's time to stop, drop, and roll before you're consumed by the fire that you've kindled. For every believer, eternal life is a long, long time, lasts a long, long time. Life on earth is momentary and light affliction. What then makes sense to you? What should be the focus of your life on earth for the rest of your days, the rest of the days you live on the sod of this earth, and each day until the end? Why, again, the answer is Jesus. Go to Jesus. Come to Jesus. Jesus is the answer. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for Jesus Christ, the answer to every question, the solution to every problem. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, there's something about. Master Savior Jesus like the fragrance after the rain Just say his name and it just and just the peace of God that passes understanding Comes up comes upon you comes over you and you enter into rest Knowing that he loves you by what he's done for you Not lately, but when he died for you Greater love has no man than this, and then he laid down his life for his friends. But God commends his love toward us, and why we could have cared less while we were still sinners, enemies of his, and ungodly as the devil himself. Christ died as a substitute for us. We should be so profoundly and eternally grateful to Him, express our gratitude and thanksgiving every single day of our life, no matter what's going on. If something bad happens, it's not bad, it's good. It's all meant to stretch you, to really trust God so that you can trust Him all the time for everything instead of once in a while. for some little insignificant thing. It's not even an issue, but you made a big, you made a mountain out of a molehill. So Father, we commit our lives to you, we commit our way to you so that you could bring it to pass and delight in you so that we might have indeed what's been promised, all things, the desire of our heart. You change our desires. to correspond to yours. Thank you for these things. Vicki, if you would get ready, if I could have my ushers please. Father, bless the offering in Jesus' holy and precious name. Amen. We're good, right exactly an hour. We could all stand. Oh, you scared me.