Latest / Scripture Unscripted / 2 Corinthians chapter 4

Transcript

2 Corinthians chapter 4 · Scripture Unscripted

0:01
2nd Corinthians chapter 4 Let us pray.
0:08
God, you are so holy. God you are worthy.
0:15
God, you are lovely. We thank you God, for another
0:20
day. We come in, God with praise and
0:24
Thanksgiving. God, we are thankful for life
0:27
and life abundant. We are thankful that we can hold
0:31
and house the word God that you've given us.
0:34
Lord, I pray that we will continue to increase the
0:38
gratitude. Father, let it exude out of us
0:41
and into our families and into our neighborhoods and into our
0:45
workplaces and into all arenas that you have called us into
0:49
this attitude of gratitude. God, we are grateful that where
0:54
you are, we will be. We are grateful that you went to
0:57
prepare a place for us. We are grateful for the shed
1:00
blood on Calvary. We are thankful for the Holy
1:03
Spirit indwelling us. We are thankful for the complete
1:07
authority of Your Word. We are thankful, God, that you
1:10
chose us and predestined us, We are thankful, God, that we are
1:14
marked by your goodness and grace and mercy.
1:17
We are thankful, God, that your mercies are new today.
1:20
We are thankful, God, that you're giving us another
1:23
opportunity to come and to worship you and to serve you.
1:26
God, I pray in the name of Jesus for Our Daily Bread Today.
1:30
I pray in the name of Jesus for your Kingdom and your will to
1:33
come on this earth just as it is there.
1:35
God, we exalt your holy name. May we have no other gods
1:40
besides you, for you are the only uncreated.
1:43
You are El Elion, the Most high God.
1:47
You are El Shaddai, Yahweh. You're the only one true living
1:53
God, and we exalt your holy name.
1:56
Father, I pray you'll forgive us for all the times that we've
2:01
messed up, all the times that we've sinned, all the times that
2:05
we put our eyes on the wrong thing.
2:07
God, as we moved in disobedience, God, forgive us
2:11
for all of those times. God and I pray that we'll extend
2:15
forgiveness out to those that are unforgivable.
2:19
God, we'll extend forgiveness out, Father, to every man, woman
2:24
and child has ever wronged us. God because we know that if
2:27
there's breath in their lungs, it's not too late for them and
2:30
you're not done with them. God so we extend forgiveness
2:33
out. We give them the mercy and the
2:36
grace, and freely we have received.
2:38
So freely we give it out. Father, it cost you everything,
2:42
Lord, and it cost us nothing. So God, we take a hold of the
2:46
hem of your garment, we receive our healing today.
2:49
God, I pray that you'll give us a sound mind and sound doctrine
2:52
today. God, help us to rightly divide
2:55
the word. Father, we know that your word
2:58
is alive and active and sharper than any 2 edges.
3:01
Sword God. So I pray that we'll increase
3:04
the faith that we have today. I pray that we'll run the race
3:07
well God and take the gospel to the ends of the earth.
3:11
God will make heaven crowded. Lord, I pray in the name of
3:15
Jesus that we will stand on truth.
3:19
Lord, we'll live the right way, God, and we remember our
3:23
testimony. We remember our salvation story,
3:26
God, and we will overcome by the blood of the Lamb, Lord, and the
3:30
words of our testimony. God, I pray for a hedge of
3:33
protection around our lives and around our ministries, around
3:38
our families, God, around our our cars, Lord, around all of
3:43
our lives. Lord, I pray this hedge of
3:45
protection Lord, that we will not be prematurely evacuated
3:50
from this earth. God, I pray that your will will
3:53
be done in our lives and it will be sold out.
3:56
Lovers laying prostate at your feet.
3:58
God worshipping you in spirit and truth today.
4:02
Lord, I thank you so much for all the many things.
4:05
Lord, I pray that you'll bind the enemy today.
4:07
Keep us from sexual morality, Father.
4:11
Keep us from little white lies and gossip and slander, Father,
4:15
keep us from the evil 1 Lord, I pray that we will not live
4:20
distracted. God, I pray that we'll live on
4:23
purpose. Father, I pray in the name of
4:25
Jesus, Lord, that you will rebuke the devourer God that
4:29
you'll shut the mouths of the lion Lord, that you will stop
4:33
the accusations of our enemy. Father, I pray in the name of
4:37
Jesus that we will not be let off into as a temptation.
4:41
Lord Jesus Christ, yours is the Kingdom, yours is the power,
4:47
yours is the glory, the weight of your glory.
4:50
God, let us rest in it and sit in it.
4:53
Father, I pray we'll be empowered from on high.
4:56
Holy Spirit, fill us today, overflowing.
4:59
I decrease as you increase. Teach us your eternal paths and
5:03
ways. We love you God and to send
5:07
Jesus Christ holy precious name that I pray Amen.
5:14
Let's start in verse one. Therefore, seeing we have this
5:22
ministry as we have received mercy, we faint not Paul wants
5:31
to talk a little bit about honesty and not being deceitful.
5:36
Paul wants to expound to the Corinthians here that his
5:41
ministry is of honesty and that you can check all of the files
5:47
and all of the database. You can check all of the
5:50
transactions and it all adds up because Paul is operating with
5:55
the premise that God sees everything.
5:59
There is no need to be deceitful in any of our affairs because
6:03
God will bring it all out into the open.
6:05
You might as well be honest in all of your dealings.
6:09
And Paul here wants the Corinthians to know that in his
6:12
ministry the truth is taught to but have renounced the hidden
6:19
things of dishonesty. Not walking in craftiness nor
6:24
handling the word of God deceitfully, but by
6:27
manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every
6:31
man's conscience in the sight of God.
6:35
So Paul's teaching the truth and he wants the Corinthians to know
6:40
that the life that they live matters.
6:43
And Satan cannot pluck us out of God's hands, but he sure can get
6:48
us to make a mess out of our lives so that we're not
6:51
effective in ministry, friends. And that is why it is of the
6:55
utmost importance to practice integrity, friends.
6:59
Everything that you do and everything that you say is being
7:02
recorded. And if it's not being recorded
7:04
by technology is being recorded by God Almighty.
7:08
And He will judge the secrets of men.
7:10
And we will have to stand the judgment of the Bema seat,
7:14
friends, whenever Christ dells out our rewards.
7:18
And you need to understand that, friends.
7:20
And we don't work for the rewards, but it is built into
7:23
the Christian walk, friends. And Paul wants them to know, and
7:27
he wants us to know we do not need to walk in craftiness.
7:31
Do not try to masquerade yourself as something that
7:35
you're not. It is in your weakness that God
7:38
has made strong friends. We do not need to be dishonest
7:41
because Satan is the father of lies and he has been lying since
7:46
the beginning. And if we are telling lies, then
7:48
we are father. We are following after a false
7:53
father. We are following after Satan
7:55
himself whenever we are living a life of lies.
7:58
And it will all come to the surface eventually, and that is
8:02
100% guarantee. You might as well confess it
8:06
now. You might as well repent from it
8:09
now. Do not wait until it all comes
8:11
to the surface, because it will. We need to know that we're not
8:15
handling the Word of God deceitfully.
8:18
It is not for selfish vanity and gain.
8:20
It's not for position and power. Friends, we only push the Word
8:27
of God with the power of the Holy Spirit and we preach Jesus
8:33
Christ and Jesus Christ crucified.
8:37
There is no need to try to add anything on or subtract anything
8:43
out of the Bible for men to be saved.
8:46
The Word of God is an offense to the carnal mind, friends, to the
8:51
natural man. Every passage of the Bible is
8:55
offensive, and we need not try to water down the gospel for
9:00
people to be saved, because if they come to him, because you
9:04
talk them into it, somebody else will come behind you and talk
9:07
them out of it. It must be the power and the
9:10
working of the Holy Spirit in their lives, friends.
9:13
God must draw them to Himself, friends, for them to be saved.
9:18
And there is nothing that we need to add to the Word of God.
9:21
There is nothing we need to take out of the Word of God, friends.
9:27
We need to have a clear conscience in the sight of God.
9:31
Three. But if our gospel be hid, it is
9:35
hid. To them that are lost.
9:36
They are lost, friends. It doesn't mean they'll always
9:41
be lost. If there's breath in their
9:43
lungs, it's not too late. We were once dead in our
9:46
trespasses and helplessly, hopelessly lost friends.
9:50
We were lost to our own selfish man made prisons that we had
9:56
wrapped around ourselves. All of the lies, friends, and
9:59
the deceitfulness, friends. And we believed the lie, and we
10:04
were led off into slavery. We were led off into bondage,
10:09
friends, to sin and to self. And that is what he is saying,
10:13
that the Word of God is hidden from those who are perishing the
10:17
Word of God and the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ sounds
10:22
like foolishness to the natural man who is told that it's all
10:27
about this life and it's all about money, and it's all about
10:32
all of the pleasure. For in whom the God of this
10:37
world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the
10:41
light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
10:45
should shine unto them. So we understand that here the
10:49
Bible attaches the title. The God of this world has
10:56
blinded the minds of them which believe not.
11:01
So Satan here is given an elevated title, friends, but it
11:06
does not mean that he has the omnipotence and the sovereignty
11:12
over this world in the way that God does.
11:15
Satan is only being played. He's only being used by God to
11:20
reveal all the evil intentions of men's hearts that we try to
11:24
hide, friends. It will come out eventually.
11:27
God uses Satan to do that. And you need to understand there
11:31
is this attack on the mind. The mind is the battleground.
11:36
All of your wars, all of your losses and wins are all fought
11:41
and won or lost in the mind 1st and that is why you see such an
11:47
attack on the mind with mental illness.
11:50
That is why you see such an attack on the mind with all of
11:54
the psychedelic drugs. That is why you see such an
11:58
attack on the mind. Friends, whenever we snap,
12:02
whenever we go off on these tangents, whenever we cannot
12:06
handle life anymore and a person goes off in a tangent.
12:11
Friends, when a person is no longer in their right mind and
12:15
it is because Satan knows the power of the mind and the
12:19
ability to reason and the ability to come together and to
12:23
have an honest conversation that pricks the heart, friends.
12:27
And it moves you. And the Word of God is the seed
12:31
that goes into the mind and it gets planted into the heart and
12:35
it produces fruit. And that is why Satan cannot
12:39
stand for us to be told about Jesus Christ.
12:43
He wants to blind the minds of people.
12:45
And it's happening all around us today.
12:48
You can see it in almost every single arena and all around the
12:53
world, that people are choosing to believe a lie and that God
12:57
will eventually send them a powerful delusion so that they
13:02
will believe the lie. And it gives them the reprobate
13:05
minds because they continuously keep choosing evil over Him.
13:10
And that is why Satan is called the God of this world.
13:13
But we know that in Psalms 24 it says the earth is the Lord's and
13:18
everything in it. Friends, verse 5 For we preach
13:22
not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your
13:25
servants. For Jesus sake.
13:27
We are just bond servants. We take the light off of
13:30
ourselves, we take the spotlight off of ourselves and we shine it
13:34
upon Jesus Christ. Jesus was the only one that
13:37
lived a perfect life. Jesus was the only one who could
13:41
shed innocent blood so that you and I can be at one with God
13:45
Almighty. It's not about the pastor, it's
13:47
not about the preacher, it's not about your preferences.
13:51
It's all about King Jesus and we need to shine the light on him
13:55
and take the spotlight off of ourselves. 6 For God, who
13:59
commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our
14:03
hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in
14:07
the face of Jesus Christ. That is the whole point of the
14:11
friends, When the Holy Spirit fills you, it is not for your
14:14
own glory. It is for the glory of Jesus
14:17
Christ to be shown all over the world, to be able to be seen in
14:22
your life. But here comes the enemy, and he
14:25
wants to snatch the Word of God out of your mind.
14:28
He wants to snatch the Word of God out of your heart.
14:31
He wants it to be planted in shallow soil so that whenever
14:34
persecution and hard times arises we fall away.
14:39
Or He wants to plant that seed need amongst the tares that grow
14:42
up and choke out any of the fruit.
14:44
Friends, that we need to trust that God Almighty is the one who
14:48
is going to plant us in fertile ground so that whenever the
14:52
fruit springs up, it is beneficial for all those around
14:56
us, not just for ourselves and not just unto Him.
15:00
But God's plan for the ages is for us to be His hands and feet.
15:05
Friends. 7 But we have this treasure in earth and vessels,
15:09
that the Excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.
15:13
You need to understand that we are just made out of the dust,
15:18
friends. Whenever God created Adam, he
15:21
took the dust of the earth, the dirt, the clay, and he formed
15:25
man in his image, and then he breathed in him.
15:29
Friends, He did not do that for the animals, but look at how we
15:34
are his masterpiece, friends. And that is what the great
15:38
rebellion in heaven whenever Lucifer and 1/3 of the angels
15:42
rebelled against God is, because they saw that we were weaker
15:46
vessels. We were just these earthen
15:48
vessels. We were just these clay pots and
15:50
God put his glory into. And that is why they refused to
15:55
serve us. And aren't all angels
15:58
ministering spirits sent to protect those who will inherit
16:02
eternal life? And one day we will get our
16:04
resurrected bodies. One day we will get our glorious
16:08
bodies. One day we will get our eternal
16:10
bodies, but until then we house the glory of God in these
16:15
earthen vessels, these fragile pots.
16:18
Friends, 8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed.
16:23
We are perplexed, but not in despair. 9 Persecuted but not
16:28
forsaken, cast down but not destroyed. 10 Always bearing
16:33
about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus and the life also
16:39
of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
16:43
So you have to understand, we are in this tug of war between
16:48
what our bodies are telling us and what the Spirit of God is
16:52
telling us. And we know that God has placed
16:54
eternity into the hearts of man. But whenever we get the bad
16:58
health record, friends, whenever our bodies are decaying and
17:02
breaking down there seems like a great robbery.
17:06
There is this great betrayal. Whenever someone is snuffed out
17:10
at a young age, or even if they get to live an old ripe age, it
17:14
is still a babe in comparison to all of eternity.
17:19
And that is what we need to understand that no matter what
17:22
kind of persecution and trouble, no matter what kind of disease,
17:27
no matter what kind of problems that we experience here on this
17:33
earth, it pales in comparison to the glory that we will one day
17:37
experience in Jesus Christ presence.
17:40
And we preach a man, a Jewish man, friends, who was arrested
17:46
and beaten, who claimed to be the Son of God and who was
17:50
brutally murdered. But on the third day he rose
17:53
again in the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the
17:57
dead lives in you and lives in me.
17:59
And that is what all is referencing here is we have the
18:02
hope of glory, that we are being made more and more like Jesus
18:06
Christ every single day. 11 For we which live are always
18:11
delivered unto death for Jesus sake, that the life also of
18:15
Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
18:19
So that is the plan of God is He wanted to bring himself that
18:24
much more glory by using these mortal bodies, these fleshy
18:28
bodies, these bodies that are not able to live forever, these
18:35
mortal bodies. And he sees that it brings him
18:39
that much more glory. When we choose out of the free
18:42
will that God has given us, we choose him, we choose to serve
18:46
Him, we choose to love Him. We choose to endure to the end.
18:51
We choose to endure through persecution.
18:54
We choose to endure through the disease, through all the
18:58
ailments, we choose to continuously to glorify God and
19:02
that is what brings him the most amount of glory. 12 So then
19:06
death works in us, but life in you.
19:10
So that is what he's trying to tell the Corinthians here.
19:13
He's saying look at all of the apostles that have suffered such
19:17
great tragedies and look at how those that are going out and
19:22
pushing the gospel of Jesus Christ there being persecuted on
19:25
every side and the Corinthians were living in the lap of
19:29
luxury. They were still the in their
19:31
carnality. And Paul references it here and
19:34
he's saying, listen, do not think that it's strange that all
19:37
of the terrible things that are happening to us are happening
19:42
because they're not happening to you.
19:44
Don't think that just because you're not experiencing the
19:47
persecution yet doesn't mean that you won't.
19:51
And God gets the immense amount of glory when a martyr goes down
19:55
into the earth. And it's the blood of the martyr
19:58
that is the seed of the church. It's the seed of the gospel.
20:01
And that is what we need to understand.
20:03
God's ways are not our ways. They're so much higher than
20:07
anything that we could ever fathom.
20:09
Or anything that we could ever put together. 13 we having the
20:14
same spirit of faith according as it is written.
20:18
I believed and therefore have I spoken.
20:21
We also believe and therefore speak.
20:24
So what he's saying here is don't even speak anything unless
20:28
you have fully comprehended it and understood it.
20:31
And if God has given it to you, if God did not give you a word,
20:35
don't just speak out of the side of your mouth.
20:38
Make sure you understand the things of God, the great
20:42
wonderful things of God, before you ever try to teach and speak
20:46
on them. Sometimes we would do well to
20:49
sit and to listen and to not speak.
20:52
Be slow to speak, be quick to listen, be slow to anger,
20:57
friends. That is the principle of God.
20:59
But when God gives you fire inside your bones, when He puts
21:02
a word on your heart, it would be woe to you for you to not
21:06
preach the gospel. 14 knowing that he which raised up the Lord
21:12
Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with
21:18
you. So Paul here is referencing to
21:20
the Corinthians and he's saying even though we're hard pressed
21:23
on every side, persecuted, naked and cold, even though we have
21:27
been beaten, and even though we face all these trials and you're
21:33
over there and eating sumptuously, we will all be
21:37
raised up with the same Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that
21:41
indwells us, will raise us up and we will be there with Christ
21:45
forevermore. And we will be presented unto
21:47
God covered in the blood of Jesus Christ from the top of our
21:51
heads to the bottom of our feet. And that's the only way we're
21:54
going to get there. Because all of your
21:56
righteousness is but filthy rags, friends, there is not, no,
22:01
there is no works. There's not enough works or
22:03
piety that can get you into heaven.
22:06
It is only by Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit that has been
22:11
entrusted to us as a down payment and will raise us up
22:15
whenever he we die, friends. Whenever He comes back, friends,
22:19
we will be there with Him forever more. 15 For all things,
22:26
or for your sakes, that the abundant grace might, through
22:30
the Thanksgiving of many, redound to the glory of God.
22:34
That's what it's all about. God's working everything out for
22:38
our good and for His glory, friends.
22:42
And God gets so much more glory whenever we choose Him.
22:46
He could make us love Him. He could make us serve Him.
22:51
But He chose to give us the free will, so that when we finally
22:54
come to our senses and the blinders get taken off and our
22:58
ears get unstopped, we can finally see that Jesus is Lord.
23:02
And it brings God so much more glory. 16 For which 'cause we
23:07
faint not, but though our outward man perishes, yet the
23:12
inward man is renewed day by day.
23:14
We need to be renewed by the washing of the Word over our
23:18
minds. I beg you, brothers, to offer
23:21
your bodies as a living sacrifice which is reasonable
23:25
service unto God, and be not and be not transformed, and be not
23:36
conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
23:40
your mind. I will get it eventually.
23:43
You have to understand that this renewing of the mind, friends,
23:47
is God's Word washing over you, and we need it day by day,
23:52
Friends, we do not need to fix our eyes on all the worldly
23:57
affairs that are happening all around us in the news.
24:01
We do not need to be despairing of all the things that we're
24:05
hearing, of all of the violence that is happening in the world.
24:09
We do not need to despair of all the hostile takeovers of all of
24:13
the lands and the governments. We do not need to despair,
24:17
friends. We need to be renewed by the
24:19
word of God, friends, do not be transformed.
24:22
Do not be conformed, but be transformed, friends.
24:26
That is the whole crux of the matter is this day by day
24:30
renewing of the mind and that is where the battlefield is.
24:34
And it is only by the Word of God that is alive and active
24:38
that can go in and sharpen you, that can go in and regenerate
24:42
the mind and He gives you a sound mind.
24:45
And God is not the God of confusion, friends.
24:49
He is not the author of confusion friends.
24:51
We need to understand that God gives us a sound mind day by
24:57
day. The inward man is renewed, even
25:01
though the outward man is perishing. 17 For our light
25:05
affliction, which is but for a moment works for us a far more
25:11
exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
25:14
Do you understand this weight of glory?
25:17
Do you understand just how set apart and just how glorious God
25:24
Almighty is in comparison to your sinful?
25:30
When you understand that, you will understand the weight of
25:34
His glory. You will understand that
25:37
everything that we go through in this life, even if you live a
25:40
full life, all the things that we have to go through is but a
25:44
light affliction. And here the apostle Paul, who
25:48
has been shipwrecked, who has been beaten and will eventually
25:51
be martyred, he can say that everything that he has gone
25:55
through in light of eternity is light affliction.
26:02
We will end on 18 while we look not at the things which are
26:07
seen, but at the things which are not seen.
26:10
For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things
26:14
which are not seen are eternal. We walk by faith and not by
26:18
sight, friends. And you need to understand the
26:21
words of Jesus Christ. Whenever Thomas said that, he
26:24
would not believe unless he put his finger in his hands and in
26:28
his side. And then what did Jesus do?
26:30
Jesus allowed Thomas to do so, but then he said blessed are you
26:37
Thomas because you see and believe, but how much more
26:40
blessed are they that do not see and believe?
26:44
And that is us and that is what faith is.
26:46
Faith is believing that the things that are not yet as if
26:50
they already are. We have to understand that God
26:54
can do anything. He is not limited.
26:56
He can regrow and regenerate limbs if he chooses to.
27:01
God can raise the dead and heal cancer and sickness.
27:04
God can cause the prodigal to go to come home.
27:08
We need to understand it as God is not limited, but sometimes He
27:12
leaves us out there in the pig pen so that we'll come to our
27:16
senses and that we'll choose Him and we will have an appreciation
27:20
for all the things that He does for us, friends.
27:23
And sometimes He leaves us in the affliction and we have to be
27:28
OK with that and not be offended and fall away.
27:31
Friends, I hope you've been blessed by this amazing chapter
27:34
here in God's Word. I know I sure have.
27:46
I'm praying for every single one of you.
27:54
I love you. So does God.
27:58
Get prayed up today. Walk in the Spirit.
28:02
Don't satisfy the lust of the flesh or the lust of the eyes.
28:05
Do not conform to the pride of life.
28:10
Those are not from God. Maranatha.
28:17
He's coming. Come back soon.
28:20
We see all the signs and we know that summer is near.
28:27
We look forward to the glorious union with our groom.
28:34
We fill our lamps. We trim our Wicks.
28:39
We wait patiently. God help us to wait.
28:41
Well, we'll see you back here tomorrow.
28:48
God bless you.