2 Corinthians 4:1-6 We Preach Jesus
The
Bible says that we are to rejoice with those who rejoice, and to weep with
those who weep.
A)Yesterday there was some
rejoicing going on in this Sanctuary Dave M &
Monique Boone were united in Marriage. Celebrating Love / marriage
B)This afternoon there will
be some weeping going on in this Sanctuary
1)We meet for the Memorial
service for little Noah Carter.
C)Celebrate His life / The
gift that He was there will be tears sadness
D)The only consolation is we
know that Noah is in heaven. He is with the Lord
Alive in Jesus.
1)His parents and brothers
will see him again.
E)Christ in you is your Hope
of Glory that is the hope that we stand on today.
But
what about someone who is not a believer, not a follower of Jesus Christ?
A)That is what concerns us
doesnt it? How many of you have friend or loved one right now who doesnt
know Christ?
B) The thought of that
person perishing being lost forever suffering hearts unsettled
In
our Passage today Paul shares some important insights concerning those who are
lost and what is the key to reaching them.
A)Therefore: That always
takes us back to what was being said previously.
B)In the Previous section
Paul has been talking about the Glory of the NC. By
way of contrast.
1)The message of the OC
the law was one of condemnation and death
C) THE OC Showed the
problem: We are sinners lost we are doomed.
NC
presents the Remedy: Christ came died/ rose
A)NC is a message of life.
B)The OC revealed the
bondage that pp are in to sin and guilt and fear of death and eternity
C)NC
brings life and freedom in Jesus
D)OC pp veiled to the truth:
They couldnt see!
E)In the NC the veil has
been lifted We see that the Answer is Jesus
-
1)As we simply behold Him
transformation takes place in our lives becoming more like Jesus
F)So that has been the focus
of the previous section
That is what Paul is referring to when he says
..
Therefore
we have this ministry: - Our ministry is pointing pp to Jesus
preaching the word Jesus said to Peter if you love me feed my sheep
A)Note he didnt say if you love me COUNT my sheep!
B)IF
you love me ENTERTAIN my sheep
1)
If you love me DRAMA my sheep - { Not the priority
C)The
goal, the message is the same as it was 2,000 yrs ago when Jesus commissioned
Peter if you love me FEED MY SHEEP
Paul
is saying that is our ministry: Pointing pp to Jesus by preaching the Word
A)This
is our goal here at CCV Pointing pp to Jesus - Connections class this is what I want you to know.
B)If you dont know Christ
today:
Everything that we do here is aimed at pointing you to Jesus We want you to
meet Him and know Him as your Savior
& Lord!
C)As your king and your God-
as your best friend and shepherd Our goal is for you to know Him
1)that
is what eternal life is all about.
D)And
if you already know Jesus we want you know Him better to fall more in
love with Him
1)to
worship him passionately to serve Him with whole heart to pursue Him with
intensity.
E)And
we want to be a people that is obsessed with making Jesus known!
1)Preach
Christ that is the Vision of CCV.
Therefore,
since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, {As our lives have been touched and impacted by Christ} we do not lose heart.
A)Why would there be a
temptation to lose heart?
B)Answer is because: Not
everyone believes! that is discouraging.
C)
C. H. Spurgeon, in his classic Lectures to My Students, in the chapter
properly titled The
Ministers Fainting Fits, describes the pressures upon the
Christian minister to lose heart.
Our
work, when earnestly undertaken, lays us open to attacks in the direction of
depression. Who can bear the weight of souls without sometimes sinking to the
dust?
CH Spurgeon
D)The
enormous weight of souls is overwhelming!
1)Pp are perishing
Eternity is real loved ones lives hang in the balances
E)That
should weigh heavy on our hearts
That
is why I like this passage so much. Concerning those who are lost.
A)Paul tells us what not
to do/ Then he gives us insight into
what is at the root of the problem
B)And then Paul reveals to
us what is the answer. - Break it down
today in that.
#1
What we are not to do? V.2
2 But we have
renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness {Gimmicks to get pp to the meeting} nor
handling the word of God deceitfully,
A)Note that last phrase we are not handling the word of God deceitfully
literally adulterously
B)It was a word used of a
merchant who would water down the wine in
order to make more money. - He would dilute it
C)Paul would say we are not
diluting the word we are not watering down the message.
1)Paul believed in the Power
of the message.
Romans 1:16
For I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for
everyone who believes.
But
there was that temptation in Pauls day as we are seeing in our day: Try to
make the message more palatable.
A)Lighten it up go soft on
sin!
B)We are not making excuses
for the truth try to make it fit into pps lives or culture.
C)There
is too much at stake to do that.
D)You wouldnt like a doctor
who told you you only had a cold when in reality you have cancer
1)So why would you like a
preacher who tells you, you are fine God loves you when really lost in sin
Paul
is saying: We are not going to water down the message to make pp comfortable
that is adulterating the word of God.
A)Not going to shrink back
from talking about he reality of Sin / of Hell / of
Judgment but we want to share those things in light of Gods love and
salvation
B)Cant appreciate the good
news unless you know the bad news.
1)Interviewed: What would
you say to younger guys
So Paul
declares we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in
craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves
to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
We refuse to
wear masks and play games. We don't maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes.
And we don't twist God's Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we
do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want
to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.
The Message
Another
translation:But by the open proclamation of the
truth we commend ourselves to everyone's conscience before God.
A)It is the manifestation or
the unveiling of the truth that impacts lives!
B)It is the unveiling of the
truth that impacts the conscience.
C)See that is where the
offense is the word of God challenges the conscience!
Hebrews 4:12-13
For the word of God is living and
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division
of soul {the conscience} and spirit, and of joints and marrow, {The physical} and it is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but
all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
The
PT is Gods word divides
A)It exposes the conscience
it impacts on a spiritual level.
B)A person can come into a
setting like this thinking they are pretty cool they have it together they
are a great person
1)Doing
great especially when we measure ourselves by each other { Not the Standard
Jesus is
C)Suddenly
the word of God pierces their conscience they realize I am not so great I
am in trouble that is a part of my heart I didnt see
D)Now
they have to do something about it they have to repent Change their
behavior change their attitude 1)Turn from Sin { Turn to Christ
E)So
first Paul says not going to turn to gimmicks not trying to water down the
message.
But
why wasnt everyone getting saved?
#2
The root of the problem.
3 But even if
our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 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.
If I were to say to someone Give me your junker for a
Jag straight up sure!
A)Your one bedroom aprt for a 10 bedroom mansion- Sure
B)Every penny I will give
you a $100.00 bill Sure
C)But when I say: you can
have Jesus / heaven / life / forgiveness/ hope/ instead of sin despair / Hell/
heartache
D)They say let me think
about it Why? Paul answers
. Satan
has blinded their eyes.
Paul
is revealing that the one of the devil's main tools is the veil.
A)PP we are in a spiritual
battle: A spiritual war!
Aa)Must not forget this
unseen realm battle going on for souls.
Sci Fi true
B)Satan is called the god of
this world or the god of this age. What does that mean?
C)Remember
Satans main objective what motives him is a hatred for God.
1)Angel who was Cast out of
heaven because he wanted to run the show wanted to be God
D)In
His mind if he can persuade more
pp to reject Christ than those who accept Christ he wins
E)His goal is that In the
end there are more pp suffering in Hell than rejoicing in heaven.
So
Satan has created a system in this age that panders to mans depravity fallen
nature.
A)A system panders to mans
flesh/ mans pride / A system that deepens the darkness.
B)So Satan is the god of
this age is the one who controls the thoughts, the
ideas, the opinions,
1)the
ideals, the maxims, the hopes, the impulses, the aims, the goals, the views
current in the world,
C)He
is the one who reigns in the world's philosophies and the world's psychologies
and the world's education
1)
the world's commerce and the world's labor and the world's sociology.
D)In every enterprise he is
the monarch.
And
in every corner his goal is to push out God and get men to think They dont
need God.
A)He blinds by trying to convince pp that they are the captain of
their own Destinies
B)He blinds pp by making
them think that this life is all there is. { No eternity.
C)He blinds pp by making them think they have plenty
of time to think about things like God.
1)Live for the moment
D)But the Bible says that
tomorrow is promised to know man!
E)Satan wants pp to think
there is no hurry!
1) And there are many who are
blinded.
So what is the Answer?
#3 The Answer:
Preach and pray! V. 5-6
5 For we do not preach ourselves, but
Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake.
A) The antidote for
blindness is lifting up Christ!
B)Come on It cant be that
easy! How combat darkness ? Yell scream rant rebuke
1)TURN ON THE LIGHT!
C)Guys this brings us back
to the power of Gods word to transform lives!
1)There
is power in that message God loves fallen man sent Jesus Died
Rose Lives forgives
D)Do you believe that? Give
yourself to studying the word
1)Share the word The
gospel The power is in the message.
The
way that we deal with the Blindness is we Preach Jesus!
A)Note: We do not preach ourselves. Not about pointing you
to ourselves not followers of Rob Lord have mercy trouble
C)Watch
out for this today: there are
those preaching themselves
1)So much of them in the
picture they dont see Jesus
Subtle:
Too much personality Miss the message
A)We live in a day and age
where we probably have the best communicators ever in pulpits
B)Men who can make you
laugh/ cry / touch every emotion and entertain you to death
C)But in many of those pp
{many not all} there is an incredible lack of Power
1)Because what you are
getting is a lot of the messenger and not much of the word.
D)Take out all the fluff not
much to the message
1) I am getting ahead of
myself here
E)Little boy Mommy where is
the man who never lets us see Jesus
Not
so subtle: Those who cast doubt on the Scriptures { What if Jesus wasnt born
as a virgin
A)Can we really define what
is sin? Is the Bible really 100% accurate
B)Here is what they are
saying in their arrogance You cant trust the Bible so trust me
1)We will figure this out
together. - Watch out
C)Parents
of young adults dont just be satisfied that your kids are going to
Church some where
1)Dangerous stuff going on.
Undermine faith in a big time way.
But
when the unadulterated truth of Christ and Gods plan for mankind is preached
It has a way of penetrating the darkness invading the blindness
A)Piercing the
conscience and the heart. { The light
goes on!
B)Pauls
own life was a testimony of this Paul was blinded by religion
1)He thought if he was just
good enough God would accept him
C)He heard Stephen preach
the truth about Christ
1)Paul was incensed He
consented to the murder of Stephen.
D)But
that message plagued him it pierced the darkness and the blindness in his
heart
Paul
fought against it at first Until that day He met Jesus on the road to
Damascus
A)Paul quit fighting it is
hard for you to kick against the goads A goad? Sharp stick
B)The message of the gospel
is like that it pricks the heart
C) Paul in sharing his
testimony in Acts 26 says this is what God has commissioned me to do
1)Share the gospel in order
.to open their
eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan
to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among
those who are sanctified by faith in Me.'
Acts 26:18
V.6 Paul explains what happens when a persons eyes are opened and they receive Jesus!
6 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.
Creation
is a picture of the incarnation & Salvation
A)In
Creation God said let there be light it was meant to illuminate to reveal
the Glory of God in Creation
B)At
the incarnation God said let there be light
1)He sent His son to
reveal the glory of God in Redemption
C)Jesus came Shining as the
Light of the world shining in the darkness of humanity and sin
D)And when a person opens
their heart up to the message of the gospel
1)Jesus by his spirit lives
in their hearts He begins to shine in their lives
E)Now
God has chosen to have His light shining in His bride the Church so that His
glory is seen in His grace mercy and love being manifested in His pp.
More about that next time:
Close
today: Believers Ask ourselves do we still believe in the power of the word
?
A)What priority does it have
in your life?
B)We need to share it / Point pp to Jesus!
Here
today: Truth right now is pricking your heart
A)Sinner need a Savior
in darkness not good enough
B)God loves you sent his son
receive Him
C)Forgiveness / freedom /
Hope inheritance