Okay, we are ready to begin another evening of the Grace Institute of Biblical Studies. We're going to begin with a pondering the page message that was actually a message that I preached during my Essentials of True Christianity series. And I'm doing so because it's right in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 is where we really are picking up anyhow and are pondering the page. Before we get started, let's have a word of prayer together. Father, thank you again for the Word of God. It is the source of comfort. It is the source of hope. It is the source of encouragement. It is the source of divine viewpoint and perspective of reality of life and death. And we just thank you for the word of God tonight. And I pray that your word would truly speak to all of our hearts and give us a perspective as we consider the things before us. Thank you for your incredible faithfulness now. In Jesus' name, amen. You know, I've been hit with the reality of death recently. One of the believers from the Virginia Bible Study, a guy who got saved in the last three years, his dad died here a couple weeks ago. And then there was a situation again. Some of you know the Denver family from Grand Rapids. Robbie Denver is married to Max Schrader, who is a police officer down in Little Rock, Arkansas area. And there was an accidental death. of their five-year-old child the other day and horrific, very, very hard. And then today I went to a funeral up at Heritage Trail Bible Church of Lois Pelto. Some of you might remember Lois, she was a cook for many years at Bible camps and so forth. And in all of those situations, I'm just reminded once again of reality. Reality is people are living and people are dying, people are going to heaven, people are going to hell. and only one life will soon be passed, only what's done for Christ, and in many ways by Christ, through Christ, will really last. I can't help but think again that you are given on the eternal timeline, which is a little oxymoron, the eternal timeline, your life is but an intersection. That's it. It's a vapor. It's like a tail that is told. And that's why it's so imperative to redeem the time. It's so imperative to walk with the Lord. It's so imperative to capture the moment. It's so imperative that we invest in light of eternity. And frankly, you've invested several years now in the Grace Institute of studying, of preparing, of learning, and so forth. And certainly, it would be a shame if that would all be in vain. It would certainly be a shame if it wasn't utilized and directed by the Lord in all of this. And so, what we want to do tonight is go to 2 Corinthians chapter 4, and in doing so, we want to get a divine perspective on life, the right perspective of your life. And I want to address some things relative to you, not only regarding your life, but this summer, as well as even future preparation, ministry, and so forth. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. I believe a friend of mine, a retired pastor and a conference speaker, sent me an email a while back that consisted of a bunch of Christian one-liners. Some are thought-provoking, some are funny, some are convicting, some are cute. One is, don't let worries get the best of you. Remember, Moses started out as a basket case. Or some people are kind, polite, and sweet-spirited until you try to sit in their pews. Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisors. The good Lord didn't create anything without a purpose, but mosquitoes come close. When you get to your wit's end, you'll find God lives there. People are funny. They want the front of the bus, middle of the road, and back of the church. Quit griping about your church. If it was perfect, you couldn't belong. If a church wants a better pastor, it only needs to pray for the one it has. Some minds are like concrete, thoroughly mixed up and permanently set. Now that is a good quote. I don't know why some people change churches. What difference does it make which one you stay home from? That's cute too. Be fishers of men. You'll catch them. You'll clean them. Stop, drop, and roll won't work in hell. Don't put a question mark where God has put a period. Here's a few more. Don't wait for six strong men to take you to church. Forbidden fruits create many jams. God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called. God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage. If God is your co-pilot, swap seats. The task ahead of us is never as great as the power behind us. The will of God never takes you to where the grace of God will not protect you. Here's a few more. We don't change the message, the message changes us. The best mathematical equation I ever read, one cross plus three nails equals forgiven. Now that's an equation to remember. But these Christian one-liners pale in comparison to specific memorable verses in the inspired and inerrant Word of God. In fact, you know, as I think of those verses, I can't help but think of Philippians, chapter 1, where Paul says, for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. And notice that this verse begins with the word for, which means it's giving us a reason or an explanation connected with the verse right before it. And so what does Paul in chapter 1 verse 20 say? What he really says in verse 20 is that his desire is that Christ would be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. And he's writing that from a jail cell. And this is our ultimate purpose as believers, to glorify God, to honor the Lord Jesus Christ, to please Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. It's the bottom line purpose of God's plan of the ages in creation, of redemption, and it's the bottom line purpose of your life as well. And you need to grasp that. You need to grasp that the goal of your life isn't to finish Gibbs. The goal of your life is to glorify God. And that Christ would be magnified whether by life or by death. And what helped motivate Paul to that end was his driving passion for, to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. You see, Paul had a heart for Jesus Christ, to live for Christ. He was motivated by Christ, to live empowered by Christ, to live because of Jesus Christ. And this passion was lived out with the reality that death is gay. For it means to then be with Christ, which is far better. And that is to be the driving passion of our lives. And what is the alternative to that? Well, one chapter later, he says in Philippians 2, 21, for all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. So which one is it, believer? Is it for me to live as Christ and to die as Gain, or is it all seek their own? Not the things that are of Christ Jesus. You see, everybody wants to go to heaven. The problem is they want to go to heaven on their terms. And some believers want to live the Christian life, but they want to live it under their terms. And some believers don't want to live the Christian life. They just seek their own. They seek the things of the world. They seek a comfortable, convenient Christianity. And the fact of the matter is, there is no middle ground. You either serve God and man, and you either walk in the Spirit, or you fulfill the lusts of the flesh. You either love the world, or you love the Lord. You either live for Christ, or you live for yourself. There's no middle ground. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. Are you like Abraham who walked by faith and pleased God, or like Lot, Abraham's nephew, who lived for the world only to end up in Sodom, losing most of his family to the world, losing his testimony for the Lord, losing his moral compass as he vexed his righteous soul from day to day with exposure to Sodom's unlawful and sinful deeds? When you live for yourself as a believer, this is what can be engraved on your tombstone, life wasted, reward loss. You live like a fool. Waste the opportunities the Lord gave you to redeem the time in serving him. But to stay the course and not hang up the spikes in your Christian walk, you will need to embrace also a biblical perspective for your Christian life. And to see some principles related to that, I invite you to look with me at 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 1. Therefore, since we have this ministry as we receive mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. 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. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed. We are perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed, always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. But we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you. But 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. Knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus and will present us with you, for all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day, for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. But we do not look at the things which are seen, the things which are not seen. The things which are seen, they're temporary. The things which are not seen, no, those are eternal. You see, the Christian life is not a hundred yard dash, it's a 26.2 mile marathon. And God is the one who sovereignly determines the length of your life. But you actually have a lot to do with the quality of your life, whether you are a spiritual believer or a carnal believer, whether your life counts for Jesus Christ or not, whether it glorifies your Savior or yourself, whether you persevere in the faith amidst the battle and trials you face, or whether you fail to finish the race because you quit and you hung up the spikes somewhere along the way. And obviously, God wants you to finish your race with joy and to fulfill His will for you, while Satan does not." So how do you keep on keeping on? You know, I was reflecting again last week on completing my 30th year of pastoral ministry here at Duluth Bible Church. And frankly, 30 years of pastoral ministry is almost unheard of today. In fact, you saw the stats if you read the Grace for the Race e-letter that You know, there's many people leaving the ministry every month not to return. Furthermore, it's even more rare for one pastor to stay in the same church for this many years. Very, very uncommon. And you know, I can truly attribute it to the grace of God and the faithfulness of God and even the support, again, of my wife and children and the prayers of the saints and the encouragement of the elders and so forth and so forth. But like I told Tom Stegall last week, you know, if I had to do it all again, I'd do it again. I mean, I love Duluth Bible Church, and I love what God has called me to do. But it's not been without peaks and valleys and heartaches and hurts and trials and difficulties and temptations. And there's things, obviously, we would do differently if we had to do it again. But you know what God has honored through the years is He's honored a clear presentation of the Gospel. He's honored the verse-by-verse teaching of sound doctrine. He's honored a spirit of pointing people to the Lord. He's honored a vision for the lost. He's honored those who honor him. And he's been very good and very gracious and only eternity will show what's really been done. by the Lord, but you know, there's literally been thousands upon thousands of people impacted through this ministry over the years, not only in Duluth, but I'm thinking even internationally, the planting of other churches and so forth and so forth. But frankly, there have been times when I have wanted to quit. There are times when you have wanted to quit Gibbs. There are times when maybe you have wanted to quit living the Christian life. There are times when you may have wondered, is it worth it? And Paul comes along and says, in essence, hey, I've been there. God knows that. God knows what it's like. And He wants to encourage you, chapter 4, verse 1. Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. Question, what ministry? Chapter 3, verses 5 and 6. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves. Our sufficiency is of God, who also made us sufficient as ministers. of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. He will also, in chapter 5, talk about this ministry, verse 18, Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, along with that, verse 19, the word or the message of reconciliation. And so we need to remember God is giving you a ministry and the sufficient mercy to fulfill it. And again, those are the two M&Ms in this verse. You've got ministry and you have mercy. ministry and mercy. And I've said before when people sometimes buy me M&M's to encourage me, it's peanut. Get the peanuts. It's the kind I like. I eat the other kind, though, but it gives me more reflux. Okay, yes, Philip. Sanders, can we have the mic on down here? Okay, whenever I've read that verse, I've always had a question about the mercy, because our definition that we usually use here is that grace is God's unearned favor and mercy is Him not giving us what we do deserve. So how does that definition fit there? Well, I think mercy encompasses more than God not just giving us what we don't deserve. Mercy, in fact, mercy is oftentimes in the plural. And mercies, again, speak of His compassions, His blessings in compassion, as it were. And mercies was brought up earlier in chapter one, that he's the father of mercies and the God of all comfort. And so mercy, especially even in the Old Testament, sometimes the word hasad, which is what Kurt pointed out in his message yesterday in Psalm 130, it speaks of loyal love, God's loyal love. But mercy and grace are very closely connected. Sometimes we say simplistically that grace is God's undeserved favor, He gives us what we don't deserve, and mercy is He doesn't give us what we do deserve. We say that, but you know what? It's more than that. It's clearly a lot more than that. And so we have received mercy, and we do not lose heart. You know, you think of the power of God's grace, it empowers our salvation, it empowers Christ-like living, it empowers us to abound and be generous in giving, it empowers us to serve God, it empowers our Christian ministry and labor, it empowers those who are weak, it empowers our relationship with God, it empowers us in times of need. And though we are the human instruments who need to yield to the Lord and walk by faith, it's all by God's grace for us and to us and in us and through us that His will is done in our life. In fact, can you say this? Thank you, God, for giving me the strength to keep going when all I really wanted to do is to give up. And we've been there. Do you ever want to give up because of the overwhelming trials you're facing? His grace is sufficient. Do you ever want to give up because of the personal failures you've experienced? His grace is sufficient. Because of the spiritual battle you are at. In fact, you know, I thought to myself of some Gibbs students here, and I thought, you know, as you want to serve the Lord and you want to teach the Word, don't expect the battle to go down. Expect it to ratchet up. It's gonna ratchet up. Do you think Satan really wants you teaching the Word of God? No way! So expect it to ratchet up. Furthermore, God allows certain things in our life. On his side, it's a trial. On Satan's side, it's a temptation. And he's going to allow trials because, frankly, you're going to preach out of the context of who you are before the Lord, your own walk, your own thinking, your own maturity, your own insights. And that's why even as I read your expository preaching papers, you know what? Many of them are good or accurate, but some of them are shallow. You know why they're shallow? Because you're shallow. You know why you're shallow? Because you haven't grown enough yet. And so you can see certain things, but ho ho, there's a lot of things, a lot more that could be said, but you can only preach from where you're at. And you know, I don't blame you. That's where I was. I just preached from where I was at. And you know what God does? He keeps making you deeper. How do you think he does that? He does it through his word. What else does he use? Trials, trial. You know, you don't grow through, you know, I had to chuckle, one of the papers were saying, now, you know, some people think trials are like, you know, I just went through six green lights in a row. You know, that's how some trials are for people. That's not a trial, is it? Do you really grow much in the comforts of life? No, it's in the trials of life. When you're tried and you're stretched and you're refined, you have to go to the Lord. You have to say, out of the depths I cried unto God. That's when you grow in ways you've never grown before. and venturing out by faith at times in ministries that you've never done, or public preaching you've never done, and say, man, and you know what? You're gonna start out, you're not gonna be your home run hitter. You're gonna have a wiffle bat at home plate trying to hit a 340 yard home run, and you won't even get out of the infield, but you know what? You gotta start somewhere, and just let God keep bringing you along. I mean, where I'm at now in my Christian life and in my teaching, I wasn't there 30 years ago. I was a lot shallower. I was preaching right doctrine, but now I understand things. I remember once Pastor Radke making this comment to me. He went and heard a Bible teacher teaching. This was a good Bible teacher. I mean, he was an accurate Bible teacher. I said, so what did you think? He goes, well, it was good, but... I could have gone miles with what he said. And I know exactly what he meant. He saw, take that principle and apply it right here and here and there and there and there and there and there. And the preacher didn't, but he would have, Leonard would have done that because he was a pastor in the trenches. And so God, if he's going to expand you and he's going to give you greater insights in your teaching, he has to give you greater insights in your life. How does he do that? Interaction with people, interaction with the Word, having trials, troubles, difficulties. And that's why there's times when I come to the text, and I've seen these texts many times, but in light of the trials I'm going through, maybe as a pastor, I have sometimes insights into that, applications of those truths that I had never had ten years ago, because I've gone through it. You know, it's like the lady who says to me after a message once, Pastor, would you quit preaching on trials? That's all I'm getting. And I said, well, cheer up. Our next section's on temptations. When it comes to personal failures in forgiving us, God makes no attempt to minimize, excuse, or overlook our sins. It's not leniency, but forgiveness that we've received. because of the cross work of Christ. In where sin abounded, grace does much more abound. A thousand times I failed, still your mercy remains. And this is not to say that God's grace is a license to sin, for God's grace is not an excuse to sin, but rather a reason to love and serve him more fully. So let's keep on keeping on. Let's not lose heart. Let's not quit. Let's not hang up the spikes. Let's not take the summer off from the Lord. Summer coming. In fact, this is your opportunity to gain more ministry experience in certain ways. Some of you will be preaching the messages you have been working on. Some of you have opportunities to be involved in fair evangelism. You want to get sharpened in ways? Do some fairs. You know, in fact, thinking affairs of being at the funeral today, I'm talking to Eileen Johnson and Sean Parks from Heritage Trail, who go down every year to Harlingen. I mean, both of them. All I have to say is the word Harlingen, and boom, the stories come out. They're so thrilled with people that were led to the Lord, that they led to the Lord through doing the spiritual surveys in conjunction with DBC and Harlingen Bible Church. down there. And it is incredible. In fact, Sean said the stats, I don't know if this is true, but he said of the 1,500 surveys, there was around 1,400 that were extremely positive and maybe claimed to get saved. And I don't know if it was that high, but obviously it was very, very significant. Do you think Satan wants that to continue? No. Let's keep on keeping on. For God has given us a mission, He's given us a ministry, He's given us the mercy to fulfill it by His grace. And since we have been given by God a ministry and a message and the needed mercy, what should we not do? Verse 2. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, that's speaking of our method, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, that means to catch with bait. But by manifestation of the truth, by just preaching the truth, we are commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. You see, when we live with a constant realization of God's presence and evaluation, you see, if I give you feedback on your expository preaching messages and you think I'm tough, just imagine what the Lord's like. And the fact is, I'm merciful, and He's even more merciful. But you know, I'm reminded of the fact that when I preach His Word, my ultimate audience is the Lord. I'm ultimately going to give an account. Be not many teachers, for they shall receive the greater judgment." Right? Boy, I want to make sure I've got it right. I want to say it accurately. I want to say it well. I want to say it with enthusiasm. There's nothing I really dislike more than hearing an accurate message that's taught dispassionately. I mean, it's like You want to preach this as if your lives depend on it, because they do. Lives depend upon it. And you never know how God's going to use it. You know, last night when I was teaching at the Virginia study, we concluded our series on Joseph. And in doing so, I did a review of the different principles we've seen, and there were many. And then I finished up with chapter 50 of Genesis where Jacob dies and then, you know, Joseph has to say to his brothers, you meant it for evil, God meant it for good, relax, I'm not planning to do anything to you. And then Joseph dies and his bones are carried over. And it was a great opportunity to go over walking by faith, the promises of God. You know what was incredible was they carried his bones basically for 450 years. 450 years basically till they were planted one day in the promised land. And it's great to track it in Exodus and in Joshua and then in Hebrews 11, that very reality. But you know, after it was over, we were downstairs, and I'll tell you, the spirit and the fellowship can be really great at this study. And a lot of people stayed that were there, and we were downstairs, and we were all fellowshipping around the Lord, and this guy who I only met three months ago, he came at the beginning of the Joseph series, and he had gotten saved in the mid-1990s, working out at Hibbingtackonite with a couple of believers that I happen to know. who had given him the gospel. He had gotten saved. And so we were talking to Ron. His name was Ron. And a friend of mine was next to him. And he says, well, Ron, do you go to church anywhere? And he goes, well, actually, I go to the Lutheran Church here in Virginia. He says, but you know, I don't know what to think. He turns to me and says, do you think that's wrong? What do you think? And I said, well, that's something you're going to have to resolve between you and the Lord. But I want to ask you a question. could that church lead you to Christ? He says, well, it didn't. I says, well, if it didn't lead you to Christ, do you think it's really going to help you grow in Christ? He goes, like, no-brainer, you know, kind of a thing. And we begin to talk, and I say, you know, Ron, I would guess you've probably learned more Bible in the last three months than you have all your years in the Litheran Church. And he says, oh yeah, and then he gets tears in his eyes and he says, he says, I can't thank you enough for coming and teaching us the word of God. He says, I have never experienced anything like this in my life. Hearing the word and the fellowship after and all that's going on. This guy is growing in the Lord. And it just reminded me how worthwhile it is, again, to teach the word of God. But what we see in this verse is we must utilize godly methods and motives to accomplish godly results to the glory of God. We must not try to win the world by becoming more worldly in our motives, in our methods, or our message, and I could even say in our music. We're not trying to bait and switch them. We're not trying to attract the unsaved into the building. Remember, whatever you have to do to get bodies into the building, you have to do at least that much or more next week to have them come back. And so cut it all out! Remember, true worship is only done by believers. And our primary emphasis in coming together is not evangelism. It's exaltation of Christ. It's worshiping. And it's equipping the saints. And then we scatter to go. And when we lead them to Christ, we can start to disciple them. And then we can bring them into the assembly. And we can help them through at times things they hear they're not prepared to hear that's over their head, or that doesn't make sense, or is contrary. Because we have this relationship going with them. That's how churches get built. You see, Paul didn't practice the unjustified means in evangelism or in ministry. He didn't change, he didn't corrupt his message to accommodate his audience, nor did he adjust it to accommodate his culture. Because that's what we're hearing today, is we've got to accommodate our culture. And the fact is, while we don't have to go out of the way to offend our culture, on the other hand, we don't get our dictates from the culture. Where do we get our dictates from? Right here, the Word of God. The Word of God. And that's why I'm convinced that regardless of the culture that we live in, we're to stand in the ways and see and walk therein, and ask for the old paths, and you shall find where is the good way and you shall find, excuse me, rest for your souls." Jeremiah 6.16, the old paths. I really like that. What are the old paths? Well, it's word, a clear gospel in our case, intercessory prayer, an authentic Christian life, a loving, caring spirit, a genuine Christian home. I'm convinced in our day, in fact, that if you have a genuine Christian home and you're connecting with the unsaved, they come and they're going to see some things that in some cases they've never seen in their home. And if there's a genuine love among the saints here, that's what's going to be attractive too to them. Isn't that what was significant with Maggie from China? Was it the message at first? No, it was her watching these believers that seemed to actually listen to each other, that actually seemed to care about each other. She sensed a genuineness and a love that she had never seen in China. And it opened her up to the gospel. And so God has given you a ministry and the sufficient mercy to fulfill it. Secondly, we see in this passage, that God has entrusted you with the gospel of Christ to preach Jesus Christ our Lord amidst satanic blindness. Satanic blindness, 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. Can you find four descriptions of the lost here? You see where they are? First of all, if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose mind the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe. The gospel's veiled, they're perishing, they're blinded, they don't believe. We are in a spiritual battle and blind people don't see well. And as a result, God wants to use us in this spiritual battle to preach a message. A message totally contrary to any of the messages of the world. The greatest news anyone could ever hear if they understand the reality of it. You know, Satan, as the god of this age, blinds the unsaved, but he corrupts the saved from the simplicity that is in Christ. And he also distracts the saved, as he uses the world to appeal to our flesh, to do our own thing and not the things that are Christ. In fact, I'm convinced, just like the birds that picked up the seed in Soil 1, was the bird as Satan, remember that? I'm convinced Soil 2 and 3 is satanic as well. The persecution comes from Satan and the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches and lust of other things come from him as well. They're all tied together. We're in a spiritual battle and we need to understand that. The Lord warned of this problem. The Lord warned us even about wolves in sheep's clothing. Satan has a counterfeit religious system. And remember Colossians 2.8, beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ. You know, one of the concerns I have for our young people is, you know, in yesteryear, there were young people that flaked off, but they usually didn't flake off doctrinally. They usually flaked off just by getting involved with carnality in the world. But we've seen in the last few years a shift doctrinally on the part of some. An apostatizing has gone on. A departure from the faith, which was not normally the case in the past. Normally they just got carnal, and sometimes they'd get right with the Lord and start walking with Him again, and they weren't like their whole frame of reference had changed. They just needed to get back to the truth. Or in some cases, some have departed from the truth, which means the very means that could bring them back to right understanding in some cases is gone. It makes it all that much harder. Yes, Philip? you're probably going to get to this, but what do you attribute that to, that change? Yeah, I think that change is partly related to the fact that Believers in the past, a lot of them pursued jobs in universities, I mean, educations in universities. But when you go down the routes of the humanities, and by virtue of the strong anti-Christian, post-modern thinking of today, that in some cases, you sit and listen to that day after day after day after day. You cave. You cave. I mean, one plus one always equals two in the math classes. I've never seen people cave in in engineering classes, usually. They don't usually cave in the math classes. Where do they cave? Sciences and humanities, usually. That's where they cave over time as they listen to this over and over again. And so the world is inundating the church, and the church is loaded, weighed down with false teachings, psychobabble, another gospel, like the waves of the sea pounding the shore relentlessly. And that is why we need to, verse 5, verse 5, we need to not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. That's the solution. Solution isn't trying to, you know, manipulate. It's not trying to entertain. It's to keep preaching the gospel. Keep preaching Jesus Christ. And by the way, the word preach is in the present tense there. It could mean current action, probably means continual action. The idea is we just keep on preaching the gospel. We just keep on preaching Jesus Christ. And we don't preach ourselves, our experience, our church, our commitment. We preach Christ Jesus the Lord. And who are we? We're just your bondservants, for Jesus' sake. What a posture of humility. We're not your entertainers, for Jesus' sake. We're not your, hey, take a look at me, for Jesus' sake. You know, bond servants usually don't get up front and put the spotlight on them, do they? They put the spotlight on their master. And regardless of Satan's blindness and the darkness of men's hearts, we can expect, when the gospel is preached clearly, that it's God who commanded light to shine out of darkness in creation. who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We can expect that God is going to use that message to break through satanic blindness. Let's just preach it clearly. Let's preach it compassionately. Let's preach it with prayer. Let's preach it out of genuine concern. But let's just keep preaching it. Because you know, the gospel is the power of God onto salvation to everyone that believes. And you know, it's amazing, isn't it, how the church is always looking for new methods? Just go back to the right message. Speak the truth in love. Preach the gospel. Teach the Bible verse by verse by verse. Give people an understanding of the true and living God, and of His Son, Jesus Christ, who He is, that He's God who became a man. What He did, He died for our sins, the proof is He was buried, and He rose again victorious the third day. This is the message that changed the first century. This is the message in which in Acts 17, they said, these men have turned the world upside down. And the fact is, they had really turned it right side up. And you know what, it didn't matter if they went into vile Corinth, or if they went into philosophical Athens, or wherever they went, what did they preach? Same message. They didn't change their message. They preached Christ Jesus the Lord. And that is what we are to preach. By the way, one of the things that I have noted in your messages, expository messages, is that sometimes you will emphasize the death of Christ and you will leave out his resurrection. And I would encourage you to make sure you include that resurrection, because that is an integral part of the gospel. And it's not as though it has to be said every time, because you might be preaching, in some cases, to an audience that already believes in the resurrection. But keep in mind, the gospel is that Christ died for our sins and he rose again. And so include that, especially when you're trying to make a final appeal for them to be saved. You want to make sure you include that in it. But why did God design it all this way? Well, verse 7 is our answer. But we have this treasure, the treasure of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ through the gospel. We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. Earthen vessels. clay pots. Now that is again a posture of humility. We have this message in tremendous vases. By the way, you know the difference between a vase and a vase? It's about 200 bucks. That's the difference. You know, no, this is just earthen vessels. And again, these vessels, these pots were used for very mundane things. I mean, carried garbages. It was used at times as a chamber pot. People weren't impressed with the pot. In fact, when we were down in Nicaragua, I took this pot, and I went up there, and I used this, and I said, now what is this? And I was waiting for a chamber pot. And they were like, oh, that's way too nice in Nicaragua for a chamber pot. I had to laugh, you know. Way too nice. We have this treasure. By the way, do you value that treasure? You know, just how hard it is to hear a clear gospel. That's why when we were in Nicaragua, we ran into this guy named Johnny, who had gotten saved back in the 70s. And he sat down and he shared. And I tell you, he had this thing down. He had his presentation down. I mean, he just spoke for an hour, probably nonstop almost. And he shared what was true in his life before and how he heard the gospel, how he got saved, how he knew he was saved, da da da da da. And frankly, we just were thrilled. Because it is so hard to hear someone so clear. I mean, we felt right at home. We have this treasure in earthen vessels. Why? That Henoklaus, the excellence of the power, may be of God and not of us. God would get the glory to his name by doing it this way. And by the way, if you feel inadequate, you are. Pity the day in which you ever think you're competent enough. You know, as many times as I have preached the Word of God, I'm reminded over and over again, Joaquin, I'm not sufficient. And you know, sometimes God lets you fall on your face, you get tongue-tied and this and that, and you know, the Lord's just humbling you to remind you, you're just an earthen vessel. Remember, the power's in the message. It's not in the messenger, it's in the message. Though the messenger needs to be a clean pot, as it were, sanctified in meat for the master's use, prepared for every good work, the power is in the Holy Spirit using the gospel message in earthen vessels. You know, thinking of earthen vessels, I think of D.L. Moody. Have you ever read much on Moody? You know, Moody's an interesting guy. First of all, he looked like a human cannonball. And when I think of Moody, I just think of this bowling ball with a head sticking out. That's kind of how Moody looked. I mean, he was a big guy, plump guy. They said his language, he said words that were not words. I mean, he did not have a great vocabulary. In fact, one time he was invited, if I remember right, to Oxford to preach. And they was invited there, and Oxford, all these hoity-toities up there, you know, and they were gonna have fun with him. They were gonna kinda ridicule him, whatever. And he got up and he said something right off the bat, got the verb tense wrong and everything. But he began to preach, and he preached the word of God, and he preached it sincerely. And they said by the time the message was over, the audience was just absolutely humbled. They were responding to Jesus Christ and there was a revival at Oxford as a result of an earthen vessel who couldn't even hardly get the right words put together, but preached the gospel sincerely. And God used it to speak to their hearts. You see, God allows, number three, persecution and even uses suffering in our lives, that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our bodies so that death is working in us, but life in others. You see, God has given you a ministry and the sufficient mercy to fulfill it. God has entrusted you with the gospel of Christ to preach Jesus Christ our Lord amidst satanic blindness. But you know what? He still allows persecution. And he even uses suffering in our lives, that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our lives. Do you think Satan's going to defend his territory? Do you think Satan is going to just lie down and concede victory? Do you think Satan is not going to push back? Remember, he walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And if he can't hinder a lost soul from getting saved, then he wants to hinder a believer from growing. And yet, in that suffering, in those persecution, in those trials, God's working it together for good. Boy, did that come through in the story of Joseph when I taught it. Wow. And Joseph did not know. how it was all going to work out. He knew his dreams and God would fulfill it. But he went through years, years of unjust suffering and learning to just take it from the Lord and seek to turn to the Lord and make the most of the situation that God was preparing him. turn on a live webcast of Byron Center Bible Church yesterday morning. You know, they're in Michigan in Eastern time, so they're an hour ahead of us, and they start at 9.30 their time, 8.30 our time. And I wanted to hear what Rich McCarroll was preaching on, and I watched the beginning of the service yesterday. And there were six ladies that got up, and they sang a special. And I don't know the name of the song. But it basically said, all things are working together for good. And it had a line in it that said this, we cannot always trace his hand, but we can still know his heart. That's a really good thought. You know, tracing his hand means we don't always understand what's going on and why it's going on. But don't we know God's heart? Don't we know that he loves us? Doesn't even we know that no one and nothing? And of those six ladies, one of them was Nancy's cousin. And she is the lady whose daughter had that brain tumor. Gina is, I think, 13. Last year, she found out she had this major brain tumor. And they took it out, and as a result, she basically had to start life again. She survived it, but she's had to learn to walk, to talk, to eat, and it's been really slow. I thought, bless you, Kelly, that you could sing that song. We can't always trace his hand, but we know his heart. And that's true in your trials tonight. You may not trace his hand and know why did you lose your job, or why did this happen, or why is this going on, but you know his heart. You know he loves you. You know He's working all things together for good. You know He's wanting to refine your faith. You know He's wanting to draw you closer to Him. And that's why Paul could say in verse 8, we are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. We're persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed. You notice the contrast here? See the word but, but, but, but? But, but, but, but. We're hard pressed on every side. We feel like things are coming at us in every direction, yet we're not crushed. Why aren't we crushed? Why aren't we crushed? Because the Lord's with us. Why are we not crushed? You know what I really like is the next phrase, we are perplexed. Do you ever feel perplexed? I get perplexed sometimes. I'm just like, I'm really baffled. I don't know how to think about this. I don't even know how to think. Lord, help me to know even how to think about this. I can't even hardly trust you in it, Lord, because I don't even know how to think about it. So just even get my thinking squared away. I'm perplexed, but I'm not in despair. You know why? Because if any of you lack wisdom, ask of God. I am persecuted. The Greek word means I'm hunted down like a dog. I'm hunted down like an animal. But I'm not abandoned. You know why? Because he said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. I am struck down. I'm knocked down, but guess what? I'm not knocked out. Boy, I find great encouragement there. But why? Why is all this happening? Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life, the resurrected life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. That resurrected life is resurrected power. That's the power of a new life. That's the power of the Holy Spirit. That's the power that raised Christ from the dead. God wants to manifest it through my body. Verse 11, for we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake. To death doesn't merely mean death-like situations, where we wonder if we're going to live. It's more than that. It's death that carries the idea of getting to points where you realize, I can't do this. I can't go on. I am not sufficient. I've died to sin. I'm alive to God. And he is making this practical in my life by showing me that I cannot trust in myself but in him who raises the dead. And that is so important, students in ministry, Because if you think Gibbs can fully prepare you, it can't. It's going to give you skills, it's going to teach you things, but you've got to walk with the Lord. You've got to be delivered unto death for Jesus' sake. You've got to be put in situations where you say, I can do it. So that you rely on the Lord and you watch Him do it for you. Watch Him do it in you. Watch Him do it through you. So that the life of Jesus may be manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you. Now when you think your life is all about you instead of Jesus Christ, that it's about fulfilling your plan instead of God's will. That it's about your seeking your own things instead of the things of Christ. The thought of persecution and personal trials does not exactly sound appealing. In fact, you might be thinking, I hate this sermon. I got that from Pete Tranvig, by the way. Why? Because you have not embraced your purpose to glorify Christ. You have not embraced your passion for, to me, to live as Christ and to die as gain. You have not embraced the right perspective that God has entrusted to you a ministry And a message that has given sufficient grace to fulfill it, but it's in the devil's world that it's fulfilled. And every weakness you have is an opportunity for God to show his strength in your life. And to use those very trials to mature you as a believer. And to teach you to walk by faith. and see the Lord in your circumstances. Death in us, life in you. I can't, but God can. Turn from your own strength to rely on God's strength. It's the not-I-but-Christ life. It's the I'm-not-sufficient-but-He-is. That I'm at wit's end is where I find His grace to be sufficient. The Lord is wanting to teach you through that, and that is so very needed. Which leads me to principle number four in this passage. God wants you to have the same spirit of faith in the gospel message and ministry so that you also believe and speak. See, if you're going to be effective in ministry, You're going to need to preach the gospel. You're going to need to understand there's opposition. You're going to need to understand the death works in me, but life in you principle. You're going to need to remember you have a ministry and you have the mercy needed, but also the spirit of faith in the power of the gospel and the power of the word of God, so that you speak with conviction. Again, this goes back to that dispassionate preaching. This goes back to that, you know, you can take it or leave it. This goes back to, you know, again, the sense of a lack of authority in the Word of God. You know, if this is really what God says, why don't we believe it? If this is really what God says, why don't we preach it like God says it? And he does it with clarity, and he does it with compassion. But we have to be convinced it's what God has said to preach it that way. Robert? So this is undoubtedly an immature reaction, but when I find when I do see something I'm convicted of it, first I'm real passionate, but then I immediately get discouraged that other people don't see it, and I get mad. Like, well, if prayer's real, why aren't you interested? And I know that it's an easy thing to do, but how do I even move past that to be, you know? Yeah, the way you go past that, Robert, is realize how long did it take for you to see it? And now that you see it, everyone else has to see it right now, right? Well, by the time I got there, everybody else should have gotten it. Yeah, you're right. And that's why, what does 2 Timothy 4.2 say? Preach the word, be instant in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with awe, longsuffering, longsuffering, longsuffering, and doctrine. You know, I don't know how many times I've said some things and then sometimes say, I think I got it. You know what, or you got it then, but you didn't get it real well then, but you thought you got it more than you got it, so now you're getting it, kind of a thing. And that's why he says, verse 13, and since we have the same spirit of faith, notice we have the same spirit of faith, like they had in the Old Testament, quote, quote Psalm 116, verse 10, I believed and therefore I spoke, We also believe, present active indicative, and therefore, present active indicative, we speak. What is it we speak? Well, we know we preach Christ Jesus the Lord. We know we speak the Word of God. In fact, I think I've shared this with you before, but sometimes in my study, before I walk down to preach, I ask the Lord, or I ask myself, do I really believe this? I'm going to preach. Can I get up there with conviction? Now, you're not going to be able to do that if you didn't do your homework. That's why you have to study to show yourself approved. Because otherwise you're winging it. You're hoping that's what the Bible says. But that's why you've got to be convinced what it says. And until you're convinced, don't preach that. Gloss over it or say there's a couple views and I'm still weighing that out or I'm prone. You know what? Don't preach what you're not sure of. But I'll tell you, there's a ton to be sure of. So preach what you're sure of and preach it with conviction. And frankly, when you preach it with conviction, and I'm not talking about minor points, I'm not talking about going through the names and chronicles and each every other one you yell, you know, that kind of a thing. I'm talking about things that really matter here. Someone said a belief becomes a conviction when it's tested and you embrace it. And frankly, this next generation needs convictions. And they need to hear preaching that has strong conviction. Kind of interesting, I read an article the other day in which they talked about how hip churches are really dying. Conservative churches actually are growing. Thought that was kind of interesting. You know why, they said? Because people want to go back to God and his word. There are certain people that want that. Then I read another article someone sent me last week about the fact that this guy is a blogger and he walks into this church he doesn't usually go to. And he sits down, and he says, there was this praise band up front, and they were jamming, and they were doing all this, and da-da-da-da-da. And he kind of looked around, and some of the younger people were really into it and everything. But he says it was very irreverent. It was like God was really secondary. It was like this person was having their own worshipful experience. And that was one of the things I failed to mention last week when I talked about music and the church. Worship isn't about you and your experience. It's about God. And a lot of this is... And it's all about their worshipful experience, instead of about God. Worshiping God. And here's this guy making these comments, I don't know if he's even a believer. And then what was interesting, he said, and then the preacher got up. And the preacher got up and he said really nothing with any kind of conviction at all. And he said, as I looked around, everyone was just enraptured with what was said, right? Wrong. He said they were looking at their watches, they were yawning, they were whatever. And I thought, the order of the day. Now why would I come back to that next week? Well, I can come back if I like the music. It's free. I didn't have to pay the cover charge to get in, you know. So needed in our day. Men and women of biblical conviction and backbone who speak with clarity and compassion the Word of God in an expository way. So needed in our day. I believe, therefore, I speak. Can you say that? And by the way, as I've said before, you can either be faithful or popular. Take your pick. And frankly, I've never wanted to be popular. But I have wanted to be powerful. And by that I mean this, not as an authority, but in the sense of impactful. Who wants to preach and have, you know, you shoot the gun, boom, and the flag comes up. I mean, no. You want to be able to preach in a way that is used by the Spirit of God and people's hearts and minds. But it's got to start with yours, so that, therefore, I believe, therefore I speak. And by the way, God will lead you to open hearts. He will direct you to those who want to know the truth. He will lead you to hearts. He has been preparing to hear the gospel in sound doctrine. He will do that. And so God wants you to have the same spirit of faith in the gospel message and ministry so that you also believe and speak. But what's the purpose in all this? The purpose in all this? Number five, God's purpose in all this is to spiritually bless others by His grace, which results in thanksgiving to abound in many lives to the glory Verse 15, for all things. By the way, when you see all things, remember many times it's demonstrative. All these things. And I say that because Ephesians 1, 11 says that all things God works according to the counsel of his own will. And Calvinists take that verse and they run with it and make it all exclusive, when in reality it's all these things. All these things, is the idea, are for your sakes that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. All these things are for your sakes, not His comfort, not His reputation, not His popularity, not even ultimately the salvation of others. It's for the glory of God. It's the glory of God. the glory of God. And just think, as the Word of God goes out, people get saved, believers grow, they express this in thanksgiving to God, and He is glorified. And frankly, that is so refreshing. It is so refreshing when people get saved here and start to come out and hear the Word of God. Or even when believers come out and they're growing in the Lord, or even like that Ron I talked about. I mean, that was so encouraging to my own heart last night. He didn't know how as I was ministering to him, he was ministering to me. Just say, I have never experienced anything like this in my life before. And what he meant by that was teaching the Word of God and the fellowship he's enjoying. And I thought, wow, it's worth it. It's worth it. Hope he leaves his Lutheran church, too. And so I really want to encourage you tonight. In your own walk, don't hang up the spikes. In your own ministry, don't hang up the spikes. Let the Lord continue to prepare you, mature you, develop you. Walk with Him and be faithful right where you're at. And even when it comes to this summer, don't look at it as, well, that's just the time I'm going to use for myself to do whatever, whatever, whatever. Don't think that way. No, instead, think in terms of, while indeed I'm not spending as much time in doing studies and so forth, this is the opportunity to utilize some of the things you're learning. You're learning. And frankly, it's been a joy, and I'll say this to all the students, it's been a joy for me to read your messages. Now, it's taken hours. as you know. Every message I read, it takes me at least an hour, I think. And I like to use the red pen, as you know, and write a lot of feedback, positive, negative, in between, clarification, whatever. But as I said before, I'm your friend, not your foe. I'm here to help you, not hurt you. I'm here to enhance your message, not rain on your parade. And you're not as far along as you think you might be. And this is why I can help you in this kind of a way. And I'm really looking forward to hearing you preach this summer. And those of you who are in our outlying sister churches in Gibbs, I'm looking forward to hearing some of your messages as well. I'm going to request the CD. I'd love to see the DVD of it, because I'd really like to see how you're developing. Because you know, it's one thing to even put together a message on paper, but when you get up live and deliver, That's a whole nother learning process, isn't it? That's a learning process. And there's some people who are better at delivery than they are at putting stuff on paper. And some people are better at putting it on paper than delivery. But you want both. You want both. And then even you utilize the PowerPoint and feel comfortable. Again, I'm not expecting you to hit home runs. What I'm looking for is for you to have a teachable attitude, learning to look to the Lord, going through the process, and progressing. Progressing as a teacher of the Word of God. Because remember, the ultimate purpose of Gibbs is to glorify God through the faithful exposition of His Word, which is really based on sound exegesis and all that's involved related to that. And so these are just some thoughts on a passage that I love. I've come to this passage time and time again, and we'll pick it up more next time as we have one more Gibbs session here at the beginning of June. So let's, is it the, or maybe it's the last day of May, one of the two. Beginning of June, June 1st, is it? Okay, so let's pray. Father, thank you again for these men and women and this time to study your Word and to become skilled in a greater way in understanding the Scriptures and communicating them accurately. And we know that there's this aspect of exegesis, there's this aspect of expository preaching. But there's also this personal side of our own walk, our own growth, our own understanding, in which, again, we cast ourselves upon your mercies. And we are so thankful that you can bring us along. And Father, even as I think of my 30 years of ministry, obviously I did not preach with the same insights and understanding as I have now back then, but you used your word nevertheless. And you will use your word in the mouths of these believers as well. And so, Father, I just commit them to you and pray that they could find their joy in you tonight, that they could be enjoying the Lord Jesus Christ. They would realize it is worth it all. and that the great investment they've made, Father, would, as a result, truly pan out in effective communication of your word in whatever ministry, whatever context you have for them. So, Father, I just bring that before you as well. And thank you now, commit the remainder of our evening to you in Jesus' name, and amen.