WEBVTT 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:20.539 2 Corinthians chapter 4. In chapter 3, Paul had 00:00:20.539 --> 00:00:23.640 talked about the ministry of the Spirit and the 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:28.239 ministry of righteousness as opposed to the ministry 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:31.280 of death and the ministry of condemnation. He 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:35.280 was comparing the law and living by the law to... 00:00:35.530 --> 00:00:38.670 the glory that comes in Jesus Christ. And he 00:00:38.670 --> 00:00:42.170 had reminded his audience of when Moses had gone 00:00:42.170 --> 00:00:45.890 on to the mountain and Moses came down and his 00:00:45.890 --> 00:00:50.210 face was glowing because he had experienced just 00:00:50.210 --> 00:00:54.670 a tad of the glory of God and Moses' face was 00:00:54.670 --> 00:00:57.329 veiled because the people were afraid to look. 00:00:57.770 --> 00:01:01.009 on moses and it said that the glory of god was 00:01:01.009 --> 00:01:04.689 fading from moses face after he would come down 00:01:04.689 --> 00:01:07.450 from the mountain it would begin to fade but 00:01:07.450 --> 00:01:10.349 paul is is really making a good a good point 00:01:10.349 --> 00:01:14.310 in that story and saying that look The unfading 00:01:14.310 --> 00:01:16.890 glory of God comes through Jesus Christ. And 00:01:16.890 --> 00:01:19.709 so it's not something that needs to be veiled. 00:01:19.730 --> 00:01:22.250 It's not something that is hidden. It's something 00:01:22.250 --> 00:01:25.370 that has been shown to us through Jesus coming 00:01:25.370 --> 00:01:28.709 and giving his life on a cross. We have seen 00:01:28.709 --> 00:01:33.549 the glory of God. And so Paul has been really 00:01:33.549 --> 00:01:36.689 kind of defending himself throughout this part 00:01:36.689 --> 00:01:38.969 of this letter up to this point, and even still 00:01:38.969 --> 00:01:42.629 we'll see that in the words that we'll read today. 00:01:42.709 --> 00:01:46.730 Paul is trying to say, look, we have done right 00:01:46.730 --> 00:01:49.709 by y 'all. We have taught you guys and shown 00:01:49.709 --> 00:01:53.090 you guys who Jesus is. You can see it through 00:01:53.090 --> 00:01:55.849 our life and the way that we have lived, and 00:01:55.849 --> 00:02:00.350 it's all for the glory of Jesus Christ. Last 00:02:00.350 --> 00:02:03.969 couple of weeks, we saw in chapter 3 that idea 00:02:03.969 --> 00:02:06.870 of, look, don't get caught up. Don't be blind. 00:02:07.109 --> 00:02:09.849 Don't keep a veil over your face. Don't miss 00:02:09.849 --> 00:02:13.310 the glory of God by trying to live by the law, 00:02:13.389 --> 00:02:17.169 but recognize that you have freedom. Where the 00:02:17.169 --> 00:02:19.770 Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. We ended 00:02:19.770 --> 00:02:22.770 there last week. And so there's freedom in Jesus 00:02:22.770 --> 00:02:26.110 and there's burden in trying to earn our salvation 00:02:26.110 --> 00:02:29.469 and earn God's favor through our works and our 00:02:29.469 --> 00:02:32.469 deeds and anything we can do. But we have to 00:02:32.469 --> 00:02:36.569 recognize that Jesus has done everything. And 00:02:36.569 --> 00:02:40.009 so when Jesus did everything and fulfilled everything, 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.979 The Holy Spirit comes and dwells in us when we 00:02:43.979 --> 00:02:47.020 trust in the work of Jesus Christ. And there's 00:02:47.020 --> 00:02:48.919 freedom in that because we're not trying to earn 00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:51.240 God's favor. We want to live in obedience to 00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:53.639 God, certainly, when we've received the grace 00:02:53.639 --> 00:02:56.259 and the mercy of God, but we're not striving 00:02:56.259 --> 00:02:59.449 to earn God's grace because of what we do. because 00:02:59.449 --> 00:03:01.550 that would defeat the purpose of what grace is. 00:03:01.789 --> 00:03:04.789 Grace is something that cannot be earned, but 00:03:04.789 --> 00:03:07.629 is given to us freely through Jesus Christ. And 00:03:07.629 --> 00:03:10.250 the result of that, Paul said in the closing 00:03:10.250 --> 00:03:13.189 verses of chapter 3, is that there is freedom 00:03:13.189 --> 00:03:16.310 in Jesus. And so that's where we left off last 00:03:16.310 --> 00:03:19.110 week, and just continuing on with that same idea 00:03:19.110 --> 00:03:21.389 this week. So let's pray, and we'll get started. 00:03:22.210 --> 00:03:24.330 God, we come to you. We thank you for your word. 00:03:24.629 --> 00:03:27.330 I pray, dear Lord, that we would find freedom 00:03:27.330 --> 00:03:29.550 in Jesus Christ, that we would find freedom in 00:03:29.550 --> 00:03:32.270 our life of the sin and the temptation that we 00:03:32.270 --> 00:03:35.409 face, and that we would find joy in that freedom 00:03:35.409 --> 00:03:37.870 and peace in that freedom. And, dear Lord, I 00:03:37.870 --> 00:03:41.069 pray that our lives would be lives that people 00:03:41.069 --> 00:03:43.189 would look at, that would point them to Jesus, 00:03:43.270 --> 00:03:46.090 that we could be so bold as to speak as Paul 00:03:46.090 --> 00:03:49.370 does, dear Lord, that we can say in good conscience 00:03:49.370 --> 00:03:52.259 that our lives... are a reflection of the love 00:03:52.259 --> 00:03:54.039 of God. And if they're not, dear Lord, let us 00:03:54.039 --> 00:03:57.280 see those areas where we're struggling and let 00:03:57.280 --> 00:03:59.400 us seek you to make us stronger. I pray that 00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:01.639 you bless the reading of your word and all for 00:04:01.639 --> 00:04:04.099 your glory tonight. In Jesus' name I ask it. 00:04:04.300 --> 00:04:11.479 Amen. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 1. Therefore, 00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:15.580 since we have this ministry because we were shown 00:04:15.580 --> 00:04:19.769 mercy, we do not give up. Again, kind of playing 00:04:19.769 --> 00:04:22.110 back on what we saw in the last one. Anytime 00:04:22.110 --> 00:04:24.750 you see the word therefore in your Bible, you 00:04:24.750 --> 00:04:26.970 need to go back and you need to see what was 00:04:26.970 --> 00:04:29.910 going on before. And sometimes you'll have just 00:04:29.910 --> 00:04:32.470 one therefore after another. It'll seem like 00:04:32.470 --> 00:04:34.509 every little section or every chapter is a therefore. 00:04:34.769 --> 00:04:37.990 And so you've got to read all of it to wrap it 00:04:37.990 --> 00:04:40.730 up. But we just talked about that ministry. He 00:04:40.730 --> 00:04:43.029 says, therefore, since we have this ministry. 00:04:43.230 --> 00:04:45.209 Well, in the previous chapter, he had talked 00:04:45.209 --> 00:04:48.649 about the ministry of the Spirit. We're not under 00:04:48.649 --> 00:04:51.170 the ministry of death and the ministry of condemnation. 00:04:51.189 --> 00:04:53.290 That is, Paul was saying, we're not here promoting 00:04:53.290 --> 00:04:55.050 the law. We're not telling you you've got to 00:04:55.050 --> 00:04:57.670 live by the law. We're telling you that you need 00:04:57.670 --> 00:05:01.029 to live by Jesus. So the law was the old way. 00:05:01.189 --> 00:05:03.930 That was the old ministry. But there's a new 00:05:03.930 --> 00:05:06.529 ministry, the ministry of the Spirit, the Holy 00:05:06.529 --> 00:05:09.750 Spirit that indwells in us, that comes once we 00:05:09.750 --> 00:05:11.990 put our faith in Jesus Christ. It's a ministry 00:05:11.990 --> 00:05:16.319 not of condemnation, but a ministry of... righteousness 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:19.560 that comes only through Jesus Christ, not through 00:05:19.560 --> 00:05:21.980 the fulfillment of any kind of things that we 00:05:21.980 --> 00:05:25.019 can do on our own. And that's the ministry he's 00:05:25.019 --> 00:05:27.399 talking about there. Therefore, since we have 00:05:27.399 --> 00:05:31.199 this ministry, because we were shown mercy, we 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:34.839 do not give up. So Paul says, look, God calls 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:38.540 us and God is using us because he was merciful 00:05:38.540 --> 00:05:41.300 toward us. What does mercy mean? It means that 00:05:41.300 --> 00:05:44.000 you do not get what you deserve. Now, Paul was 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:46.779 a pretty rough guy. Paul was not doing right 00:05:46.779 --> 00:05:49.740 by the Lord. I mean, he knew the Word of God, 00:05:49.819 --> 00:05:51.839 what we would call the Old Testament. Man, he 00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:57.100 was a Jew's Jew. He was a man who knew the law 00:05:57.100 --> 00:05:59.959 backwards and forwards. He was an expert. I mean, 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:02.920 he would have known all the religious stuff, 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:07.300 but his heart was not right. He didn't get it. 00:06:07.319 --> 00:06:09.949 He knew it, but he didn't get it. And sometimes 00:06:09.949 --> 00:06:11.949 maybe we need to check ourselves, because sometimes 00:06:11.949 --> 00:06:14.350 maybe we know the Word of God, but we don't get 00:06:14.350 --> 00:06:16.889 the Word of God. But then what happened to Paul? 00:06:17.009 --> 00:06:19.709 What changed his life? It wasn't that he knew 00:06:19.709 --> 00:06:22.610 the law backwards and forwards. It was Jesus 00:06:22.610 --> 00:06:25.730 who changed his life. When Jesus appeared, when 00:06:25.730 --> 00:06:29.790 that great light shone to Paul, it opened his 00:06:29.790 --> 00:06:32.990 eyes, and he realized that he didn't know all 00:06:32.990 --> 00:06:36.939 he thought he knew. And when Jesus showed up 00:06:36.939 --> 00:06:40.519 on the scene, it changed everything. Now, God 00:06:40.519 --> 00:06:41.839 could have looked at Paul, and he could have 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:44.439 said, Look, Paul, you're just this rotten dude, 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:46.740 and you're persecuting those who are trying to 00:06:46.740 --> 00:06:49.959 follow me, and I'm not going to show you any 00:06:49.959 --> 00:06:53.579 mercy. But instead, God didn't give Paul what 00:06:53.579 --> 00:06:56.399 he deserved, nor does he give you and I what 00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:58.300 we deserve, or else we wouldn't even be here 00:06:58.300 --> 00:07:02.050 right now. But instead, God is merciful. He didn't 00:07:02.050 --> 00:07:04.550 give Paul what Paul deserved, but instead he 00:07:04.550 --> 00:07:07.370 transformed Paul. He said, I know who you are, 00:07:07.430 --> 00:07:09.790 I know what you've been, but I want to show you 00:07:09.790 --> 00:07:12.350 Jesus. I want to introduce you to Jesus. And 00:07:12.350 --> 00:07:14.790 when Jesus showed up on the scene, it changed 00:07:14.790 --> 00:07:18.009 everything. And so it should be in our life. 00:07:18.509 --> 00:07:22.230 And maybe it is, or maybe it's not. Maybe we 00:07:22.230 --> 00:07:24.230 know the scripture, but maybe we don't know Jesus. 00:07:24.970 --> 00:07:28.110 And maybe, maybe... God wants to speak to us. 00:07:28.189 --> 00:07:31.310 Maybe God wants to show us who Jesus is through 00:07:31.310 --> 00:07:33.949 these scriptures and through so many more that 00:07:33.949 --> 00:07:36.790 we will see the glory of God in the same way 00:07:36.790 --> 00:07:39.910 that Paul did, that our lives would be transformed, 00:07:40.009 --> 00:07:42.949 that we would go from living for ourselves and 00:07:42.949 --> 00:07:46.230 for our own glory to saying, woe is me, God, 00:07:46.329 --> 00:07:48.529 because I have sinned and I have done wrong, 00:07:48.870 --> 00:07:52.050 but God, I have seen the light. And Paul was 00:07:52.050 --> 00:07:54.589 rejoicing in that, and he's doing the work. You 00:07:54.589 --> 00:07:59.350 can tell a change. Before Jesus, Paul was a pretty 00:07:59.350 --> 00:08:04.990 rough guy. After Jesus, Paul is out there doing 00:08:04.990 --> 00:08:09.509 the work of the Lord. He is full of zeal to tell 00:08:09.509 --> 00:08:12.529 others about Jesus Christ. And he says, look, 00:08:12.730 --> 00:08:16.910 we have this ministry that was shown to us that 00:08:16.910 --> 00:08:21.350 God is using us for because of his mercy. And 00:08:21.350 --> 00:08:24.990 therefore, he says, we do not give up. Now, it 00:08:24.990 --> 00:08:27.310 was not easy to do the work that Paul was doing. 00:08:27.569 --> 00:08:30.829 Ministry is not easy. Now, there are some in 00:08:30.829 --> 00:08:35.129 ministry who, of course, are pastors and missionaries 00:08:35.129 --> 00:08:37.870 and who serve in that capacity. But even if we 00:08:37.870 --> 00:08:40.830 don't have a title like that, we all still, I 00:08:40.830 --> 00:08:43.029 believe, as Christians, are called to serve the 00:08:43.029 --> 00:08:46.490 Lord and to minister to others and to serve others 00:08:46.490 --> 00:08:50.190 in some way. And it is not always easy to do 00:08:50.190 --> 00:08:53.509 the Lord's work. So what's our motivation? What's 00:08:53.509 --> 00:08:57.789 going to keep us going? Well, it has to be the 00:08:57.789 --> 00:09:00.330 same thing that kept Paul going. That he says, 00:09:00.409 --> 00:09:04.409 look, God has called me to serve him. He has 00:09:04.409 --> 00:09:09.210 saved my soul. He has had mercy on me. And because 00:09:09.210 --> 00:09:13.129 of that... We do not give up. We do not lose 00:09:13.129 --> 00:09:16.870 hope. We continue to do the work. So even though 00:09:16.870 --> 00:09:19.090 it appears as though he is facing some opposition 00:09:19.090 --> 00:09:22.330 here in Corinth for whatever reason, he says, 00:09:22.330 --> 00:09:24.750 look, we're not going to give up. We love you 00:09:24.750 --> 00:09:27.830 and God loves you and you're too important to 00:09:27.830 --> 00:09:31.090 us and we want to continue to pour into you and 00:09:31.090 --> 00:09:33.509 to show you the love of God and to instruct you 00:09:33.509 --> 00:09:36.110 in the way of God that you'll fully experience 00:09:36.110 --> 00:09:39.960 the glory of God. And then he continues on in 00:09:39.960 --> 00:09:44.320 verse 2. He says, Instead, we have renounced 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:48.340 shameful secret things, not walking in deceit 00:09:48.340 --> 00:09:51.639 or distorting God's message, but commending ourselves 00:09:51.639 --> 00:09:55.940 to every person's conscience in God's sight by 00:09:55.940 --> 00:10:00.419 an open display of the truth. So he says, look, 00:10:00.519 --> 00:10:03.100 we've renounced secret things. We haven't walked 00:10:03.100 --> 00:10:05.740 in deceit. We haven't distorted God's word. He 00:10:05.740 --> 00:10:08.620 says, look, we have been good ministers of the 00:10:08.620 --> 00:10:11.639 gospel of Jesus Christ to you. Now, he has to 00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:13.419 say that. Well, he doesn't have to say it. But 00:10:13.419 --> 00:10:16.379 he says that because there were some who were 00:10:16.379 --> 00:10:19.240 not good ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:10:19.379 --> 00:10:22.059 There are some who ministered then and still 00:10:22.059 --> 00:10:25.360 to this day for profit. They minister so that 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:27.879 their pockets can be filled. They minister for 00:10:27.879 --> 00:10:29.899 the recognition. They minister for the fame. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:32.519 Some minister just to stick it to Paul. They 00:10:32.519 --> 00:10:35.440 wanted that big following. They want to be able 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:38.000 to say, I have X amount of people that are in 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:40.519 my church, and there are a lot of people that 00:10:40.519 --> 00:10:44.379 minister and do the Lord's work, if we call it 00:10:44.379 --> 00:10:46.960 that, but it's not for the Lord. They're working 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:50.799 for themselves. But Paul says, look, we've got 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:53.870 nothing to hide. Everything we do, we do for 00:10:53.870 --> 00:10:56.570 the Lord. Everything in our life, you see, it's 00:10:56.570 --> 00:10:59.610 on display. Everything we speak to you is the 00:10:59.610 --> 00:11:03.230 truth. We speak the truth to you. We love you. 00:11:03.350 --> 00:11:06.590 We serve God. We have nothing to be ashamed of. 00:11:06.669 --> 00:11:08.950 And that should be evident to you. It should 00:11:08.950 --> 00:11:11.769 be evident to you. Your conscience should let 00:11:11.769 --> 00:11:15.700 you know of that. part of us that lets us know 00:11:15.700 --> 00:11:19.000 when something is not right, when we have a decision 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:21.580 to make, is this right or wrong, that conscious 00:11:21.580 --> 00:11:24.840 that's in us, is that little voice or that feeling, 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:26.720 however you want to describe it, that lets us 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:29.200 know there's something not right about this. 00:11:29.500 --> 00:11:31.980 And sometimes you may hear that. You may hear 00:11:31.980 --> 00:11:34.200 somebody that preaches something or teaches something, 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:37.539 and you say, I'm not real sure about that. But 00:11:37.539 --> 00:11:40.019 Paul says, look, you can look at our lives, and 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:42.539 you can judge, and you can see by how we have 00:11:42.539 --> 00:11:46.679 lived. And what we have done, that we are those 00:11:46.679 --> 00:11:50.379 who are speaking the truth. So listen to what 00:11:50.379 --> 00:11:53.419 we have to say. And he says here, we are commending 00:11:53.419 --> 00:11:55.779 ourselves to every person's conscience. Now, 00:11:55.860 --> 00:11:58.759 Paul, I don't think, is looking for a pat on 00:11:58.759 --> 00:12:01.299 the back. We see that as the passage continues. 00:12:02.379 --> 00:12:04.820 Everything they do, they do for the glory of 00:12:04.820 --> 00:12:06.919 the Lord. But he's saying we're proud of the 00:12:06.919 --> 00:12:09.080 work that we've done. We don't have anything 00:12:09.080 --> 00:12:13.240 to be ashamed of. But what of you and I? Could 00:12:13.240 --> 00:12:16.480 we say that tonight? Could we boldly say that 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:19.059 to people that we are trying to reach? Could 00:12:19.059 --> 00:12:22.580 we honestly and truthfully say, look at my life. 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:25.299 Listen to the words I'm telling you and look 00:12:25.299 --> 00:12:28.799 at how I've lived. And you can see that the way 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:30.940 I've lived is worth following. Can we say that 00:12:30.940 --> 00:12:34.940 tonight? Well, maybe we can. But then maybe we 00:12:34.940 --> 00:12:37.639 can't. Because maybe there are some things that 00:12:37.639 --> 00:12:39.840 we do want to keep secret, that we would like 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:42.200 to keep hidden. That we really don't want to 00:12:42.200 --> 00:12:44.419 have our life fully exposed. And Paul says, look, 00:12:44.519 --> 00:12:48.960 we've hidden nothing. Our lives are on full display. 00:12:49.139 --> 00:12:52.360 You can see Jesus in us. And the question is, 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:56.700 do others see Jesus in you? Can we say that with 00:12:56.700 --> 00:12:58.639 boldness? If we're trying to reach somebody and 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:00.019 we're trying to tell them they need to follow 00:13:00.019 --> 00:13:03.700 Jesus so they can be like us, are we something 00:13:03.700 --> 00:13:06.059 that's attractive to them? Or do they say, I 00:13:06.059 --> 00:13:08.789 don't want to be like you. I see the things you 00:13:08.789 --> 00:13:11.049 say. I see the way you act. I see the way you 00:13:11.049 --> 00:13:14.929 treat other people. Paul says, look, my life 00:13:14.929 --> 00:13:18.289 is wide open. And he says that boldly, not bragging, 00:13:18.370 --> 00:13:22.909 but promoting Jesus Christ, giving glory to God. 00:13:23.509 --> 00:13:25.730 And we need to be able to live our lives in such 00:13:25.730 --> 00:13:28.590 a way that it's an example to those who see how 00:13:28.590 --> 00:13:33.889 we live. Verse 3. But if our gospel is veiled, 00:13:34.009 --> 00:13:38.220 it is veiled to those who are... Now we're going 00:13:38.220 --> 00:13:40.820 back to the illustration that he used in chapter 00:13:40.820 --> 00:13:44.340 3 where he talked about the veil being over the 00:13:44.340 --> 00:13:48.360 face of Moses. And he said that the Jewish people, 00:13:48.460 --> 00:13:51.279 when he was writing this, still had a veil over 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:53.139 their face. They were still trying to live by 00:13:53.139 --> 00:13:55.840 the law. They had missed Jesus Christ. And even 00:13:55.840 --> 00:13:58.659 still to this day in 2025, the Jewish people... 00:13:59.049 --> 00:14:01.690 Reject Jesus Christ. They still have a veil over 00:14:01.690 --> 00:14:05.769 their face. They have not seen the glory of God. 00:14:06.029 --> 00:14:09.190 And he says here, but if our gospel is veiled, 00:14:09.230 --> 00:14:11.909 that is, we've preached the truth of the gospel 00:14:11.909 --> 00:14:14.789 of Jesus, and if there are some who have not 00:14:14.789 --> 00:14:17.929 seen it, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 00:14:18.070 --> 00:14:20.690 That is, if they haven't seen it, it's because 00:14:20.690 --> 00:14:23.960 they've chosen not to look at it. We have shown 00:14:23.960 --> 00:14:26.480 and we have preached and we have taught and we 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:29.340 have done the work of Jesus Christ. It should 00:14:29.340 --> 00:14:32.120 be evident to anybody who is seeking, to anybody 00:14:32.120 --> 00:14:34.820 who has an ear, to anybody who is in the least 00:14:34.820 --> 00:14:38.860 bit interested. The glory of God through Jesus 00:14:38.860 --> 00:14:41.740 Christ, we have preached that gospel. And if 00:14:41.740 --> 00:14:44.720 somebody can't see that gospel, it's because 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:47.059 they are those who don't want to. They are those 00:14:47.059 --> 00:14:50.799 who are perishing. And he continues on. In verse 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:54.779 4, in their case, the God of this age has blinded 00:14:54.779 --> 00:14:57.399 the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see 00:14:57.399 --> 00:15:00.440 the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:04.399 who is the image of God. Now, this verse can 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:07.240 be taken in a couple of different ways. Some 00:15:07.240 --> 00:15:10.899 translations would say, in their case, Satan 00:15:10.899 --> 00:15:13.519 has blinded their minds. That's not an accurate 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:17.480 translation. I looked at a bunch of translations, 00:15:17.700 --> 00:15:20.720 and there was only two. that use the word Satan 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:25.039 there. That's not a good interpretation. It may 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:27.360 be speaking of Satan when it speaks of the God 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:30.279 of this world, but it may not as well. There 00:15:30.279 --> 00:15:32.559 are Christians that kind of fall on both sides 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:34.639 of that argument. Some would say, oh yeah, that's 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:36.980 talking about Satan. Others would say it's talking 00:15:36.980 --> 00:15:41.100 about God. Now, certainly we see examples of 00:15:41.100 --> 00:15:44.179 where God turns people over to their sin or where 00:15:44.179 --> 00:15:47.299 God hardens people's hearts. Romans chapter 1, 00:15:47.399 --> 00:15:49.879 it talks about God kind of hands people over 00:15:49.879 --> 00:15:52.600 to their sin, their sinful desires. He just gives 00:15:52.600 --> 00:15:55.220 them over to it. We see examples throughout Scripture 00:15:55.220 --> 00:15:58.200 of God hardening people's heart. And in those 00:15:58.200 --> 00:16:00.620 situations, it's not that the person doesn't 00:16:00.620 --> 00:16:03.179 have an option or a choice. It's not like God 00:16:03.179 --> 00:16:05.220 just goes around saying, hard, hard, hard, hard, 00:16:05.220 --> 00:16:10.460 hard, hard. People who have rejected God and 00:16:10.460 --> 00:16:13.440 the Spirit and the Word of God repeatedly that 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:17.480 their heart is hardened. And so that possibly 00:16:17.480 --> 00:16:19.580 could be what's being talked about here when 00:16:19.580 --> 00:16:22.720 it says the God of this age has blinded the minds 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:25.740 of the unbelievers. It could be speaking of God 00:16:25.740 --> 00:16:28.820 himself. It could be speaking of Satan. It's 00:16:28.820 --> 00:16:31.919 hard to know for sure. Now, we could get into 00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:34.259 a lot of details on that. You can study that 00:16:34.259 --> 00:16:36.799 yourself this week if you care to. But either 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:39.759 of those things, I believe, would fit. with Scripture. 00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:42.740 We certainly see Scriptures where it talks about 00:16:42.740 --> 00:16:45.980 the ruler of this age and the ruler of this world, 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:48.980 in which it does apply to Satan, and it's pretty 00:16:48.980 --> 00:16:52.080 clear that it does, even if it doesn't exactly 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:54.840 say it. It seems as though in some instances 00:16:54.840 --> 00:16:57.659 it does. In this instance, though, it could be 00:16:57.659 --> 00:16:59.679 talking about God, it could be talking about 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:04.380 Satan, but regardless... These who are perishing 00:17:04.380 --> 00:17:07.539 are perishing because even though they were exposed 00:17:07.539 --> 00:17:11.000 to the gospel and the glory of God and the glory 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:13.779 through Jesus Christ, they are perishing because 00:17:13.779 --> 00:17:17.660 they have not believed. They have had every opportunity 00:17:17.660 --> 00:17:20.319 that has been presented to them, but yet they 00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:23.359 are still veiled. They are still missing the 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:27.519 point. They are still missing Jesus Christ. Verse 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:32.589 5, For we are not proclaiming ourselves, but 00:17:32.589 --> 00:17:36.650 Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves 00:17:36.650 --> 00:17:40.569 because of Jesus. Now, here Paul clearly says, 00:17:40.750 --> 00:17:42.769 look, we're not boasting in ourselves. We're 00:17:42.769 --> 00:17:46.849 boasting in who Jesus is. And yes, he has chosen 00:17:46.849 --> 00:17:50.970 us. Jesus appeared to Paul personally. God had 00:17:50.970 --> 00:17:53.309 chosen Paul and those who were with him to do 00:17:53.309 --> 00:17:55.190 the work. And they're saying, we've done the 00:17:55.190 --> 00:17:57.210 work and we've done a good job, but not in a 00:17:57.210 --> 00:18:00.369 way to pat yourself on the back. It's all for 00:18:00.369 --> 00:18:02.970 the glory of God. But that comes back partly 00:18:02.970 --> 00:18:04.950 to Paul kind of defending himself here, saying, 00:18:05.029 --> 00:18:07.890 look, you guys need to listen to me and the message 00:18:07.890 --> 00:18:10.470 and the things that we're speaking because we 00:18:10.470 --> 00:18:13.289 have been an example that is trustworthy to you. 00:18:13.329 --> 00:18:15.829 Our words have been trustworthy. The life we 00:18:15.829 --> 00:18:18.349 have lived has been trustworthy. And you need 00:18:18.349 --> 00:18:21.190 to listen to us. And everything we have done, 00:18:21.450 --> 00:18:25.309 Paul says, it is not for ourselves, but it is 00:18:25.309 --> 00:18:28.269 for the Lord. And then what he says at the end 00:18:28.269 --> 00:18:31.960 of that verse. As the Lord and ourselves, as 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:35.799 your slaves because of Jesus. Now, that's a good 00:18:35.799 --> 00:18:39.140 thing for us to remember. Are we being slaves? 00:18:39.259 --> 00:18:42.519 Are we being servants to others? Paul's not out 00:18:42.519 --> 00:18:46.039 there just to build up his reputation. He's not 00:18:46.039 --> 00:18:47.700 out there just so he can go to the next town 00:18:47.700 --> 00:18:49.200 and say, hey, did you hear about all those people 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:51.240 I converted over in Corinth? It must have been 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:53.940 7 ,000 people over there. He's not just building 00:18:53.940 --> 00:18:56.660 his resume. He's saying, look, we're your slave. 00:18:57.289 --> 00:18:59.750 We're not coming here so you can put us on a 00:18:59.750 --> 00:19:02.250 pedestal and you can serve us. We're coming here 00:19:02.250 --> 00:19:05.269 to serve you because we want to see you turn 00:19:05.269 --> 00:19:07.390 your life over to Christ. We want to see you 00:19:07.390 --> 00:19:10.970 grow in Jesus Christ. And so we are your servants. 00:19:11.029 --> 00:19:15.450 We are your slaves. And that's a beautiful mindset 00:19:15.450 --> 00:19:19.349 that we see even in Jesus himself, that we are 00:19:19.349 --> 00:19:24.029 called to be a servant to others. And we need 00:19:24.029 --> 00:19:26.329 to remember that. We need to be reminded of that. 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:30.720 That we are called to serve others. And there 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:33.940 is nothing that God calls us to that we are too 00:19:33.940 --> 00:19:37.819 good for. There is no opportunity that God presents 00:19:37.819 --> 00:19:41.980 to us that we are too good to help with that. 00:19:42.670 --> 00:19:44.910 There are some things that put us out of our 00:19:44.910 --> 00:19:47.250 comfort zone. There are some things that may 00:19:47.250 --> 00:19:49.289 be dangerous. There are some things that may 00:19:49.289 --> 00:19:51.769 be nasty. There are some things that may be dirty 00:19:51.769 --> 00:19:55.890 and gross. But we are called to serve and we 00:19:55.890 --> 00:19:59.970 are called to love. And Jesus doesn't call us 00:19:59.970 --> 00:20:03.029 to do anything that's any worse than what he 00:20:03.029 --> 00:20:06.069 had to endure. He had to endure the mockings 00:20:06.069 --> 00:20:08.150 and the beatings and being spit upon and the 00:20:08.150 --> 00:20:10.769 crown of thorns and being nailed to the cross 00:20:10.769 --> 00:20:14.950 and all the things that Jesus endured to show 00:20:14.950 --> 00:20:18.569 us what it means to love and to be a servant 00:20:18.569 --> 00:20:22.329 to all. And so there may be things in our life 00:20:22.329 --> 00:20:25.630 and opportunities for us to serve and it may 00:20:25.630 --> 00:20:28.230 be scary and it may be dirty and it may be nasty 00:20:28.230 --> 00:20:31.750 and it may be uncomfortable. But we have to remember 00:20:31.750 --> 00:20:33.970 that what Jesus did on the cross was uncomfortable 00:20:33.970 --> 00:20:37.529 too. And so Paul shows us a beautiful heart and 00:20:37.529 --> 00:20:39.670 a beautiful attitude, the same that we see in 00:20:39.670 --> 00:20:43.450 Jesus. That we are not called to be better than 00:20:43.450 --> 00:20:45.930 others or think of ourselves as better than others, 00:20:46.029 --> 00:20:49.369 but to be a servant of all. And that's what Paul 00:20:49.369 --> 00:20:51.470 says here. Look, we come to you proclaiming the 00:20:51.470 --> 00:20:54.710 gospel of Jesus Christ, and we come to you as 00:20:54.710 --> 00:20:57.609 your slaves. We come to you to serve you because 00:20:57.609 --> 00:21:05.490 we love you. Verse 6. For God who said, let light 00:21:05.490 --> 00:21:09.109 shine out of darkness, has shown in our hearts 00:21:09.109 --> 00:21:11.910 to give the light of the knowledge of God's glory 00:21:11.910 --> 00:21:16.690 in the face of Jesus Christ. Now, for God who 00:21:16.690 --> 00:21:19.109 said, let light shine out of darkness, I don't 00:21:19.109 --> 00:21:22.349 know of any scripture where it's exactly a quotation. 00:21:22.470 --> 00:21:25.349 Maybe there's one and I just missed it. But this 00:21:25.349 --> 00:21:28.140 is probably talking about... in Genesis when 00:21:28.140 --> 00:21:30.700 God said, let there be light. It says at the 00:21:30.700 --> 00:21:33.400 beginning that the earth was formless and void 00:21:33.400 --> 00:21:36.079 and dark. It was in darkness. And then right 00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:39.380 after that, God said, let there be light. And 00:21:39.380 --> 00:21:44.039 so we serve a God who brings light in the darkness. 00:21:44.279 --> 00:21:48.400 And that's good news. This idea of light and 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:52.259 darkness, this contrast, this symbolism is pretty 00:21:52.259 --> 00:21:55.910 prevalent throughout the New Testament. That 00:21:55.910 --> 00:21:59.289 darkness is sin and it's evil and it's death. 00:21:59.930 --> 00:22:03.769 But the light is forgiveness and joy and love 00:22:03.769 --> 00:22:07.309 and peace and all of those things that come through 00:22:07.309 --> 00:22:10.410 Jesus Christ. And so what God does not want us 00:22:10.410 --> 00:22:13.250 to do is to continue to walk in the darkness. 00:22:13.609 --> 00:22:16.730 But he wants us to see the light in the same 00:22:16.730 --> 00:22:19.410 way that Paul saw the light. He was walking in 00:22:19.410 --> 00:22:22.210 darkness and didn't even know it. Now that's 00:22:22.210 --> 00:22:24.750 something to consider. He was walking in darkness, 00:22:24.890 --> 00:22:26.730 but he didn't know he was walking in darkness. 00:22:26.829 --> 00:22:30.369 He thought he was walking with the Lord. But 00:22:30.369 --> 00:22:33.109 then when he found Jesus, he realized that he 00:22:33.109 --> 00:22:36.289 had been walking in darkness all along. And maybe 00:22:36.289 --> 00:22:38.549 that's true for some here tonight, or maybe some 00:22:38.549 --> 00:22:41.549 who are listening. Maybe there's a lot of people 00:22:41.549 --> 00:22:44.789 who think they're walking with the Lord, and 00:22:44.789 --> 00:22:47.569 they go to church some, and they know some scripture, 00:22:47.809 --> 00:22:51.869 but they never have experienced Jesus. But when 00:22:51.869 --> 00:22:54.130 Jesus comes onto the scene, when we begin to 00:22:54.130 --> 00:22:57.049 read the Word of God and the Holy Spirit begins 00:22:57.049 --> 00:22:59.430 to speak to us and we begin to see who Jesus 00:22:59.430 --> 00:23:03.569 is and the love of Jesus Christ, that is a light 00:23:03.569 --> 00:23:07.170 that begins to shed on our life. And we begin 00:23:07.170 --> 00:23:09.509 to see the greatness of Jesus and we begin to 00:23:09.509 --> 00:23:12.630 see the sin that's in our life. And it's a scary 00:23:12.630 --> 00:23:15.029 thing when the light comes on. It's like when 00:23:15.029 --> 00:23:17.390 you roll over a... roll over a piece of bark, 00:23:17.509 --> 00:23:20.230 and it's crickets and roaches and everything 00:23:20.230 --> 00:23:22.750 else, and they like it under there, but as soon 00:23:22.750 --> 00:23:24.670 as you roll it back and the light hits, they 00:23:24.670 --> 00:23:26.890 scatter because they want to stay in the darkness. 00:23:27.549 --> 00:23:29.450 And that's kind of what it's like in our heart 00:23:29.450 --> 00:23:31.609 because there's things in our life and our heart 00:23:31.609 --> 00:23:34.950 that we don't want to be, that we enjoy, that 00:23:34.950 --> 00:23:37.710 we should not want to be there, but we do enjoy 00:23:37.710 --> 00:23:39.970 them in some way, and we may not even realize 00:23:39.970 --> 00:23:42.869 they're there. But then we begin to read the 00:23:42.869 --> 00:23:45.400 Scripture. And then we begin to read about Jesus 00:23:45.400 --> 00:23:47.799 Christ, and then the light begins to come into 00:23:47.799 --> 00:23:50.519 our hearts, and all of a sudden it begins to 00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:53.559 reveal some stuff, and we say, oh my, I've got 00:23:53.559 --> 00:23:57.099 some bad stuff in there. God, I'm in bad shape. 00:23:57.140 --> 00:24:00.079 I'm in worse shape than I ever imagined. But 00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:02.980 praise the Lord. That's what it takes. The light 00:24:02.980 --> 00:24:06.680 has to come into our life. It has to begin to 00:24:06.680 --> 00:24:10.559 work. And so that's the example that we see here. 00:24:10.619 --> 00:24:13.240 That's the illustration that God called light 00:24:13.240 --> 00:24:16.059 to shine in the darkness. In the darkness of 00:24:16.059 --> 00:24:18.420 our sin, in the darkness of our heart, in the 00:24:18.420 --> 00:24:21.079 darkness of our depravity, God said, I'm going 00:24:21.079 --> 00:24:24.359 to bring light to you. Not the sunshine, but 00:24:24.359 --> 00:24:27.019 Jesus Christ. He's talking in spiritual terms 00:24:27.019 --> 00:24:30.539 here. That Jesus Christ has come to be the light 00:24:30.539 --> 00:24:33.160 to us, to reveal those things in us that shouldn't 00:24:33.160 --> 00:24:35.759 be there, and to wipe those things out that they 00:24:35.759 --> 00:24:39.069 would flee from us. That we would flee from our 00:24:39.069 --> 00:24:41.529 sin and from the devil and that we would flee 00:24:41.529 --> 00:24:46.869 to Jesus Christ. For the God who said let light 00:24:46.869 --> 00:24:49.269 shine out of darkness has shone in our hearts 00:24:49.269 --> 00:24:52.950 to give the light of the knowledge of God's glory 00:24:52.950 --> 00:24:57.230 in the face of Jesus Christ. Kind of tying it 00:24:57.230 --> 00:24:59.349 back in to what he talked about in chapter 3. 00:24:59.650 --> 00:25:01.809 Remember he had talked about the face of Moses. 00:25:02.250 --> 00:25:05.009 Moses had been in the presence of God and Moses' 00:25:05.190 --> 00:25:08.130 face had shone with... with God's glory, but 00:25:08.130 --> 00:25:12.150 it was a fading glory that was veiled. And now 00:25:12.150 --> 00:25:15.450 he uses that same language here. He says, look, 00:25:15.630 --> 00:25:19.410 we've seen the light and the glory of the face 00:25:19.410 --> 00:25:23.410 of Jesus Christ. So he's saying, look, the people 00:25:23.410 --> 00:25:25.690 couldn't look at Moses' face, or they chose not 00:25:25.690 --> 00:25:28.349 to, they were afraid to, but now a better glory 00:25:28.349 --> 00:25:31.670 has come, an unfading glory has come in the face 00:25:31.670 --> 00:25:35.369 of Jesus Christ if we would just be those who 00:25:35.369 --> 00:25:38.099 would look upon it. And so that's our choice 00:25:38.099 --> 00:25:41.619 today. That's our choice in life. For those sitting 00:25:41.619 --> 00:25:44.079 in this room, for those listening online, that's 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:48.279 our choice. It's the glory of God has been revealed 00:25:48.279 --> 00:25:53.700 to us in the Son, Jesus Christ. And when we see 00:25:53.700 --> 00:25:56.720 the glory of God, what will we do with it? Will 00:25:56.720 --> 00:25:59.680 we be those with veiled faces? Will we be those 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:02.759 who reject the glory of God? Or will we be those 00:26:02.759 --> 00:26:05.910 who accept the glory of God? And if we are those 00:26:05.910 --> 00:26:08.329 who have lived in the glory of God through Jesus 00:26:08.329 --> 00:26:12.589 Christ, then we need to be those whose life reflects 00:26:12.589 --> 00:26:15.349 that. That the things we do, the things we say, 00:26:15.390 --> 00:26:19.329 the way we act, that that should be evident to 00:26:19.329 --> 00:26:21.970 all that we encounter. That we have seen the 00:26:21.970 --> 00:26:24.690 glory of God so that others can see the glory 00:26:24.690 --> 00:26:28.410 of God through us. Let's pray. God, we come to 00:26:28.410 --> 00:26:30.109 you. We thank you for these good words. And I 00:26:30.109 --> 00:26:32.910 pray that you would help us to take these things 00:26:32.910 --> 00:26:36.650 to heart. And dear Lord, maybe even for those 00:26:36.650 --> 00:26:41.289 who are yours, maybe there are some dark spots 00:26:41.289 --> 00:26:44.430 that's just been kind of hanging out, dear Lord, 00:26:44.470 --> 00:26:47.049 some things in our life that we need to deal 00:26:47.049 --> 00:26:49.309 with, and maybe we know it or maybe we don't. 00:26:49.789 --> 00:26:53.410 So I pray, God, that Jesus Christ would just 00:26:53.410 --> 00:26:55.769 be that light to shine into our heart today, 00:26:55.890 --> 00:26:58.910 that you would help us to seek your word and 00:26:58.910 --> 00:27:01.190 to let your Holy Spirit lead us, that we would... 00:27:01.649 --> 00:27:04.130 let you begin to work in our hearts, dear Lord. 00:27:04.950 --> 00:27:06.930 Maybe there are some that don't know Jesus Christ. 00:27:07.069 --> 00:27:09.349 Maybe there are some that are like Paul, and 00:27:09.349 --> 00:27:12.710 they know a lot about your Word, but maybe they 00:27:12.710 --> 00:27:15.029 just don't really know who you are, dear Lord. 00:27:15.170 --> 00:27:18.630 I pray that Jesus would become real to them, 00:27:18.789 --> 00:27:22.769 that as they read the Scriptures, that God, your 00:27:22.769 --> 00:27:24.750 Holy Spirit, would just work in their lives and 00:27:24.750 --> 00:27:26.990 work in their hearts, that they would see the 00:27:26.990 --> 00:27:30.049 light and the glory of Jesus Christ. We thank 00:27:30.049 --> 00:27:32.450 you for that, dear Lord. We thank you for your 00:27:32.450 --> 00:27:34.369 word. We thank you for the freedom to come here 00:27:34.369 --> 00:27:36.670 tonight. And I ask these things in Jesus' name. 00:27:37.190 --> 00:27:37.509 Amen.