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Like to suggest that we read Second Corinthians chapter 4 brethren.
I'm not sure how far we'll get. Uh, we have 3 readings in these conferences and we'll get into chapter 5. That would be good too, but.
That is suitable unless there's something other.
Corinthians, chapter 4.
Therefore seen, we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, 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 if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants, for Jesus sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined 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 troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live always, are alway delivered unto the death.
Unto death for Jesus sake.
That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in You, we having the same spirit of faith, according as it as it is written. I believed, and therefore have I spoken. We also believe, and therefore speak, knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with You. For all things are for your sake, that the abundant grace might through the Thanksgiving of many.
Redound to the glory of God, for which 'cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal.
But the things which are not seen are eternal.
I was thinking of that last verse of this chapter when it was mentioned.
Uh, earlier as to how some in this country have lost everything.
And.
Brethren, I really believe God is speaking to us.
In view of the fact that we live perhaps in the most affluent culture.
Maybe that has ever been in the history of the world. And he's reminding us that what we have that is real.
Is not visible to the human eye, but sometimes he has to take away things so that we realize where true values really lie. It speaks in verse seven of a treasure.
That we have.
In earthen vessels.
What is that treasure?
And it's a treasure, brethren, that can never be lost once we have it.
But it's something that we're going to have to.
Come to grips with that. We do not.
Uh, perceive or see physically?
Like it says in verse 18.
All there, he says, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.
How do you look at things that are not seen?
This is the.
Life of faith, Brethren.
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To apprehend things that are greater than the material things that our culture has been so founded on.
May the Lord help us in meditating our portion and the tremendous place we've been brought into because of our faith in the Lord Jesus.
To apprehend this treasure.
The Lord allows us to lose everything materially.
We will still have that which really counts.
And so.
This chapter is on my heart brother, and I trust this is of the Lord.
Would like to say before we start in the first verses of the chapter that it helps when we start in verse one where it speaks about this ministry.
Go back to chapter 3 to see what he's referring to.
Seeing therefore seen we have this ministry as we have received mercy, we think not.
Go back to chapter 3. Paul has been contrasting.
The ministry under the old covenant, the law with what is that which we we have in Christianity. And notice the way he contrasted in chapter 3.
In verse 7, the law is called the ministration of death.
And.
Versus, uh.
Verse nine. It is also called the ministration of condemnation.
And that which we have now is called in the end of verse 9, the administration of righteousness.
Umm, there's another verse that huh, Verse eight, yes, the administration of the Spirit. There's the two administrations that it's speaking about. And he's showing that under the law, Moses, when he went up to receive the tables of the law the second time, when he came back down, he had seen the glory of the Lord.
And that administration of death and condemnation was so tremendously great that his face was shining. He wasn't aware of the fact that it was shining, but everybody was afraid of him, and he had to take a veil and cover his face so that they would approach him. Well, that's what's characteristic of the administration of condemnation and death.
Is that the veil is on the face. But look at the last verse, last two verses of chapter 3.
Now the Lord is that spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty and then verse 18 but we all this is not just something for a few brethren. No, brethren, this is.
Something that is what is for us all.
With open or unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. So in Christianity, brethren, the veil has come off, and with unveiled faces we can go in.
And behold the glory of the Lord.
That's what's characteristic. And the more you and I are occupied with that glory, brother, and it's going to transform us. You're not going to be aware of the transformation taking place in your life, but you will be occupied with Him. It will transform you. This is the ministry that he's talking about as he starts into Chapter 4. So I just thought that might be helpful.
And so he says with this ministry, we think not.
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And just to make it very practical, brethren, if we lose sight of the Lord Jesus at the right hand of God, we're not occupied with himself. Not only will there not be a transformation or a Christ likeness in your life and mind, but we're going to paint too. And that's really what we need in the days in which we live. If we were, we won't take time, but if we were to turn over to first Peter, we would find there that in that first chapter, Peter speaks of the trials that the Saints there were going through.
Those Jewish believers that had been persecuted, scattered from their homes, they were going through what Peter refers to as fiery trials, Things that I've never been called on to pass through in the path of faith and service. But what does he say amidst it all? Whom not having seen ye love, Though now ye see him not yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. And so again, as Brother Bob said.
We don't see the Lord Jesus with the physical eye like His own did when He was here in this world.
But is He any less real to the eye of faith? You and I have a wonderful privilege this morning of my faith looking up and being occupied with the Lord Jesus, not as the lowly man of grace walking here in this world.
Wonderful privileges John and others had when the Lord was here. They handled her the word of life. But we have perhaps even a far greater privilege linked to our head by the Spirit of God. We can look up by faith and be occupied with with him where he is now. And that is what is going to encourage us not to faint. The apostle Paul, he went through trials too. In fact, to the Corinthian brethren, he lists them great trials, just one thing after another, day after day, year after year.
Why didn't Paul faint? He had Christ, a glorified man. He had one before his soul. He speaks of running the a a race in with to the Corinthians as well in another portion and so on. And brethren, maybe we've come to these meetings. We feel a little faint. Maybe we just can't go on, gotta go back and face those situations at home in the world and work and the assembly. But brethren will pre preserve from fainting.
And encouraged to press on, not with the removal of the affliction, but through the afflictions. If we have this ministry before our souls, that Paul presents Christ as a glorified man to so occupy our souls, and as we used to sing when we were young people, turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful faith, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.
You speak, Jim, about?
Those sufferings that Paul went through, and they were tremendous sufferings, why does Paul speak of them in verse 17 as light affliction? Why? Well, it wasn't that he was callous or indifferent to them, but he compares them with what is ahead. And when he compared them with what was ahead, they were a light affliction and.
If I can just say this too, Paul knew more than any of us what was ahead. You know when he says in Philippians that he was in a bet, he was betwixt too to depart and be with Christ which is far better, or stay for the blessing of the Saints. That was more of a dilemma than perhaps you and I will ever pass through. Why? Because he speaks to these very Corinthian Saints of that time when he was caught up to the 3rd heaven.
He had temporarily been there in the in Paradise, in the very dwelling place of God. No wonder his afflictions were light afflictions. No wonder he was in a straight betwixt 2 whether to be here or to be there.
He knew what was ahead. But brethren, if we could just get a glimpse, a taste in our souls by faith of what is ahead, we'd be in that dilemma too. And we would count in the measure in which glory is before our souls. We would count our afflictions light. But I want to say this, Bob, and I think it's a good point. We never want to give the impression when we speak about our afflictions and trials that we ever get to the point where we grit our teeth or become callous or indifferent.
To what the Lord is passing us through. If we do that, then we fail to learn the lessons that He has for us in his schooling and in the allowance of what He passes us through. And so we feel it. But as Paul again said on ANO in Corinthians, sorrowful, but yet always rejoicing. He could rejoice even in the trials, but it wasn't that he didn't feel it. He shed tears, and I have no doubt plenty of tears.
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He felt the cold and the nakedness and the hunger and the thirst, but he had something more glorious before his soul. Paul was caught up to the 3rd heaven and he saw that which, uh, he said it was not lawful for him.
For him to utter. I mean, there was not truly words in the English language to adequately describe the wonder of the awesomeness of that experience.
But he saw, I believe, Christ in glory, did he not, on the road to Damascus, and that was some time before, and I just enjoyed what he has to say before King Agrippa in Acts chapter 26. And I believe this vision of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory, it changed Saul.
Forever.
And it tells us here in chapter 26, the book of Acts, and verse 13.
Says to Agrippa at midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven above, the brightness of the sun shining round about me, and damned which journey with me. How can we imagine what this must have been like to the saw we go out today?
And we see the sun, but we cannot look at the sun.
It's too bright, but here is a life, he tells us, above the brightness of the sun.
Who is it that Saul saw? Was it not the brightness of the eternal glory? It was Jesus, and then he hears the voice. Verse 14. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice.
Speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul saw why persecuted style me. It is hard for thee to kick against the ******.
And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecuted.
When he was speaking earlier concerning this event in his life to the Jews.
It says.
That Jesus told him he was Jesus of Nazareth. You know, Nazareth was a place that was rather despised.
And scorned Nazareth, one could say, and there any good thing come out of Nazareth. But here we find that Jesus of Nazareth, the one who was despised and rejected of men, he's now exalted. And there he is in the glory. And that's why I believe that in this chapter.
Paul.
Delight to speak to us.
About the glorious gospel of Christ, which I believe is the gospel of the glory of Christ. This is what he's bringing before us, and this is not the treasure that you and I we have in an earthen vessel.
Treasure that's inexhaustible. We can look up and know that.
We're gonna share that glory with this Exalted 1.
But it affected his ministry, didn't it? From then on changed his person while he was converted.
He was introduced to the Lord Jesus.
And.
Now he has a totally new outlook.
How can we practically put this into effect? What it doesn't really mean to behold the Lord. And boy is that just the same thing as communion.
I mean, we often here be occupied with Christ.
Could you just give us a practical thing? I think all of us would like to have this.
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Verse effective in our life. Uh, I think you could do that, Brother Byrne, please.
Go ahead and do that for us.
Well, I, I think that's what it is. You know, I mean, one that we love, we like to just sit next to and just be in their presence. And this verse seems to say that if I spend that time in his presence, I'm going to be like him, change like him.
When I'm driving down the road in a car, I can be in his presence.
It's a New Testament, and particularly the epistles that present to us Christ in glory, isn't it? And while we need the whole word of God, need to read it each day, yet I believe there's nothing like going to the epistles.
Because they occupy us with the man in the glory. When you see pictures of the Queen of Elizabeth in the press or in magazines, she is usually depicted in some royal setting. Maybe it's in the throne room of Buckingham Palace. Maybe it's performing some official function with one of her diadems on her head. And you look at those pictures and then when someone says the name of Queen Elizabeth the Second of England.
Or you think about her, what do you think of, you think of what has been brought before you in those pictures. You think of her sitting on the throne, carrying out the, uh, administrations of the Kingdom. And brethren, the word of God brings that before us. It brings before us Christ where he is now, the ascended Lord. And the more we read those, uh, the, the scriptures, then the more our thoughts are going to be turned not only to Christ, but where he is now. Yes, we need the gospels.
Christ in his life as the example, the work that he took up of atonement and so on. But then we need to be occupied with him where he is now because that's really what Christianity sets before us. It sets us in relationship with Christ, the man in the glory. I would like to say this before we get off the subject. And that is in connection with Paul's sufferings that Bob mentioned because in the end of First Corinthians 11.
He brings before us that list that we alluded to. Maybe we should just take a minute. I, I wanna read us a portion there near the end of that list because we think of the things that Paul suffers physically. And as we said, they're tremendous things and it's good to go and read that list. But Second Corinthians, I'm sorry, 2nd Corinthians 11. Thank you. Yes, our, our epistle, we're in 2nd Corinthians 11.
And he speaks of the different things here, but I wanna notice what he says in verse 28.
Besides those things that are without, now the things that are without were the beatings and the shipwrecks and the hunger and the thirst and the things that are are he, uh, mentioned in the previous verses. But now he's going to talk about something else, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. No, we don't always think about that when we think about the afflictions or the trials and exercises of the apostle Paul.
You know, at the end of this list of things he suffered physically from without. To me it's almost as if he says there's a greater affliction, there's a greater care, there's a greater burden, and that is the care of the assembly. And you know, the apostle Paul, in his day, he saw much deterioration and weakness come in amongst the people of God. And at the end of his life he had to write the 2nd epistle to Timothy about the last days in perilous times and what had come in to the great house and professing Christendom and those in Asia that had forsaken him and so on.
And what a burden, what an affliction, what a care that was. How could Paul go on? You know, some of us in our short lifetimes, we, we've seen a lot of change. We've seen things come in that indicate amongst the people of God that were in the last days. What's going to keep us from fainting brethren? What's going to keep us from giving up is to have Christ before us. If we get our eyes on our brethren and thank God for our precious dear brethren. Thank God for those who desire to go on in the truth. But if we get our eyes on them.
If we get occupied with the circumstances and the deterioration and the weakness we've seen come in, in our lifetime, we're gonna faint. We're gonna get discouraged. But brother, we don't need to faint. We need to be exercised like Paul. We need to be burdened and concerned like Paul, but we don't need to faint. We can go on to the end. And this was read to us in June, the end of June, where you have again, appalling days of giving up an apostasy and turning away an indifference to the truth.
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Oh, he speaks of not even stumbling there in the past.
Why, if Christ is before our souls, if we have a glorified Christ, we're going to go on with the ministry that Paul was given and the enjoyment of it that we might not think rather than we don't need to paint or stumble in the past, even in these days we live in. I have two questions and I hope they're done digress from what is being said, but before we move on too far, could someone comment on verse six because I believe it's.
Misunderstood. Who also have made us able ministers of the New Testament or New Covenant? Because I believe that the way that's taken up today is exactly the opposite of what we've been talking about.
And unrelated to that.
Why, Jim, do you keep saying Christ and not Jesus? Again, we live in a day where men will talk of Jesus, the little of Christ.
Well, I'll answer your second question 1St and then let somebody else answer the other one. The Lord Jesus is who He was walking as a man through this world, as the rejected one. And certainly we need to have that. As I say, He's left us an example.
That we should follow in his footsteps. But Christ is our head. Christ is the Anointed 1.
Christ Jesus is the one who's risen and glorified at the right hand of God. And brethren, that's what we need before our souls to encourage us to go on to the end of the pathway. When you have Jesus Christ, it's his pathway here. And we need that to encourage us. And as I say, the example, but we also need to have the end of the journey. We need to have him, not all, not just as Jesus Christ.
But as Christ Jesus the one, the man, the lowly man that God has taken and exalted and placed at his right hand as the perfect example for you and for me, The whole title is Lord Jesus Christ, and Lord is sovereignty. Jesus is Jehovah's Savior, and Christ is God's anointed One in whom he trusts to set the whole show in order according to his purposes.
And councils.
And just make a comment about the thought of the word ministry that we have before us, and it's often thought of in Christendom as a titled position.
And uh, uh.
Wally made the comment, our ministry, and we have that not as a title position, but as a service and the word ministry or minister means servant. If you go back to Matthew chapter 20, there was a dispute about, uh, who would be the greatest? And so the Lord clears it up in verse 26.
It shall not be so among you, but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister.
Servant, and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant. Then he gives himself as the example, even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
We have this ministry, our chapter verse one. We have this service.
And it's not just for those who attain a certain age, you know.
The young folks here might be in grade school or secondary school or the university and might think, well, I haven't arrived to a certain position for to qualify for a certain service. But this service, this ministry has a place for each one of us where we are as members of the body of Christ, a service to each other.
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Uh, service to those who are classmates and service to those with whom we work in the workforce, our neighbor, the service is so wide that when christened and reduces it to a titled position, it gets so limited. But it's an occupation. It's the life. It's, it's what gives purpose and occupation and, and our whole being here.
We have this ministry or this service, and we have received mercy, so we faint not.
And that goes back to verse 18 of the last chapter, which gives us the intimacy. And how could there be service without communion? But we all with open face, beholding the glory of the Lord, and we're at home there. Imagine that, beloved brethren, we're at home in the presence of the Lord.
Beholding us glory.
I never relished the thought as a cadet going before the Admiral of the base and having to answer for a demerit that was terrorizing.
We come before the Lord of glory as our advocate.
As our high priest, as our friend.
We have this ministry, we receive mercy, we faint not, because we all with open face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by. And here is the power of all the Spirit of the Lord.
So the apostle Paul was a special minister, but it really like you say, brother Steve, is it applies to us all and I.
Wish I could communicate to our younger brother that they feel this importance of what they've been brought into in Christianity.
I heard some time ago of some of our some of the believers in China that we don't know too much about, but.
That the persecution is such in certain areas that some of them are taken away when they start sharing what they have learned of the Lord of the scriptures of of salvation. And so those that are left maybe two or three weeks.
Old in the Lord, they are left to carry on.
If you were left to carry on right now, you have tremendous amount. You've been sitting in meetings like this. You have heard of Christ in the glory. What would you do if you had to carry on right now instead of some older brothers in your meeting?
This belongs to us all, and it's important that we are faithful in this ministry. It's a wonderful thing that we've been brought into in Christianity, like it's been said, it's Christ in glory. You have an example of what it is, what is characteristic of it in Acts Chapter 7, and the person of Stephen, the first martyr, a man full of the Holy Ghost.
And he stands there accused, falsely accused before the council, the Sanhedrin, and he doesn't bother with answering the accusations, but he gives testimony to that man in the glory of God. And they get so furious that they're going to stone him. And he looks up into heaven and he says, behold, I see heavens open and.
The Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.
Brilliant testimony, brilliant light, they put it out. But brethren, you and I have that same treasure in these earthen vessels. And so the ministry belongs to each one of us. What are we doing about it? Are we consciously enjoying the glory of the Lord? He was down here in this world like you mentioned, Jim, and that's what we have in the book of.
In the four gospels we have is pathway through this world. And of course he was always the Son of God, and sometimes those glories shone through the human veil, but there was a glory that could never be.
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Uh, veiled. It was his moral glory. And you look through the Gospels and see how completely perfect he was in every circumstance.
I've had time when I was had some legal difficulties, and I've learned to fear lawyers because they have a real way of taking what you say and twisting around to mean something that you never meant to say.
And the lawyers got around the Lord Jesus and they tried to trip him up. They always went away completely confused.
Completely confounded because there was a man who was completely perfect. Isn't it wonderful to be able to meditate on those things? It's gonna have an effect on you and I if, if we do. But what is characteristic in Christianity, like you brought out Brother Jim, is it's Christ in glory. There he is as our advocate, as our great high priest, as the head of the church.
And to be occupied with Him there, in all the difficulties we're called to pass through here. The Lord takes away every material thing that we have. We have everything in Christ, brethren. It's easy to say, but maybe the Lord will test us as to the reality of what we profess. It is true, and it really is true.
If I could just, umm, comment a little bit on the basis, uh, on which we, we enter into these things, into the appreciation of the Lord Jesus. Uh, sometimes we, we have such a desire for others to enter into the glories of the Lord Jesus and, and, and have it make an effect in their life that we forget maybe that they need a basis on which, uh, to be able to enter into these things. Each one of us here, each one of you young people that have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior, You've been given a new life.
And that life has all the capabilities within it to enter into the enjoyment of divine things. Christ is a divine person, and because God has imparted his life in you, you have the capacity to enjoy the Lord Jesus, to meditate on him. But you also have something else.
You have the Spirit of God, it was given to you upon believing, and it is the Spirit of God which is the power which makes these things, these things of God, real to us.
And God has given you the gift of faith.
Faith is able to take spiritual things and make them real, and so as we.
Express our desire that you enter into spiritual things and you enjoy them. We wouldn't want to make you think that you have to do it on your own. You have been given everything that pertains to life and godliness.
You have been given everything and it's as we enter into what we've been given and we learn to use it, that things are made precious to us. And so young people, it's a.
It's, it's, it's a, uh, it's, it's a, a line upon line, precept upon precept.
The importance of allowing the spirit of God liberty in your life so that he can take the word of God and make it precious if we.
Do not allow the Spirit if, if we if we go on in a way that which grieves the Spirit of God, there won't be growth, there won't be development.
There won't be enjoyment of the Lord, and so we need to be careful that the Spirit of God has liberty.
Brother Nick, you had something on your heart in chapter 3, verse six. I'm not sure we kind of skipped over that. Uh, why don't you express what you had there? Well, I'd rather hope that someone else to express it, but let me clarify what I was saying, why I was saying that if I am able to.
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Paul describes himself here as an able minister of the new Cus of the New Covenant.
And there are those today that believe that we are under the new covenant and.
And I think that that thought brings us right back here to this scene. The new covenant we read in Hebrews 8. I'll just read it. It's very explicit. It says I'll make a new covenant with the House of Israel, with the House of Judah and so.
Israel's hopes and aspirations were centered in this scene, and God will make a new covenant with Israel and Judah. It never says in Scripture that He has made a covenant with the Church.
And soon as our thoughts turn to a covenant being made with us that bring our, brings our thoughts right back here into the scene. So this, uh, one verse in 2nd Corinthians 3 is perhaps one that is difficult for some to understand since Paul describes himself as an able minister of the new covenant. So if someone would like to explain that in a clear way, it would be helpful. I'm glad we came back to that because it is helpful and we need to stress, do we not?
The covenants are connected with man and the earth and the church is a heavenly entity and God has never, as Brother Nick said, made a covenant with the church. Now we do come under the good of the new covenant, although the new covenant is not for us. The new covenant, as was pointed out, is for Israel, but we do come under the blessing of it. In fact, tomorrow morning when we have a cup on the table, it's it speaks in First Corinthians 11.
Of the cup of the New Testament or new covenant. And maybe I just point out when it's Testament, it's most often properly translated covenant. So in our sixth verse, and we've quoted it ministers of the New Testament in the King James. But if you notice Mr. Darby's translation, its new covenant, it really gives the the thought a little better same thing, but really conveys the thought a little a little better. And so we come under the good of it and the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant too is.
That in the under the old covenant, under the law, if man carried out his responsibility, then there was blessing. But man proved in the Old Testament under a number of covenants really, because there were covenants made with other individuals before God made a covenant with Israel collectively, there was Abraham and David and and others as well. But what the Old Testament history proved is that man couldn't hold up his end of the bargain.
That he could not be blessed on that ground. And the new covenant for Israel is on the grounds of pure sovereign grace. Israel is going to be blessed in the coming day when Zion is addressed and Zion is the undeserved favor of God and God is going to come in on their behalf, not because they can hold up their end of the bargain. You know, you think of a covenant. We do it in business. We make covenants and there's Co all kinds of covenants made and the.
Covenant being carried out to its fruition is dependent on both parties holding up their end of the bargain. If you sign a lease or a covenant to take an apartment, if you don't hold up your end of the bargain, you're going to eventually get evicted. You're going to get an eviction notice. In business, we when I was in business, we had contracts or covenants, but there was always a clause that said if either end of the party didn't hold up their.
Part of the bargain of the covenant, then the contract became null and void and the other party was able to get out from under the legal obligations of it. And so I just say that to show what a covenant really is. And so Israel is going to come to the realization in a coming day through the circumstances they will yet go through that they can only be blessed on the grounds of grace. And of course, it's on the ground of the blood, the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But let's be very clear, we're not spiritual Israel. We're not an extension of Israel. We are not under a new covenant or any other covenant. God has brought us in to blessing on the grounds of the work of Calvary, where the Church of God, the bride of Christ, and we are going to enjoy eternity in that perspective. But there is a covenant that He has made and that He will fulfill for the blessing of Israel, but it will be on the earth.
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We have that in, uh, Jeremiah 3131. I believe this comes before us clearly as to this new covenant, and that it's in respect to Israel's House of Judah.
It says Jeremiah 3131 Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel, and with the House of Judas, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they pray. This refers to the law. They broke the law.
Although I wasn't husband unto them, saith the Lord, but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people, and they shall teach no more. Every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, No, the Lord, for they shall all know me.
From the least of them onto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
What a bright future we have recorded here with respect to Judah and Israel. You know God is gonna bless his earthly people and I think.
Always.
That the blessing of the Jew.
Is in connection with her.
Which is not so with the Christian. You know, the blessing of the Christian is always in connection with heaven, not with earth. And that's why it was hard for Jewish believers to get a grip on what Paul was bringing out with respect to the gospel of the glory of Christ. And that this is where our life truly is. He's trying to separate them from that earthly hope.
And occupy their minds with the heavenly 1.
But I think it's important to see that the covenant is with respect to the two in connection with earth. Covenant is not made with the church, but as you say, the covenant with the Jew. The new covenant is based on the work of Christ, this precious blood, which can never fail. So it depends entirely on what God has done and is going to work.
How wonderful that you and I, we have a hope outside of this world.
Uh, blesses of our blessing is that same precious blood that was shed, doesn't it? No, it's not a different basis, but it is a different sphere of blessing. And, uh, Jew today who get saved, he's really not, uh, looked at as on Jewish ground any longer as he's on the ground of the church.
Uh, going back to our chapter, it'd be nice to get on a little bit in this chapter. We've been talking about verse one.
But now going on to verse two, he says in connection with this ministry.
We have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, 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.
However, other than how important since we are in the measure that we have been brought into this position, we are ministers, uh, we have been brought into this ministry that there is the renouncing of the hidden things of dishonesty so often in Christian circles, so much that is dishonest.
00:50:06
Has been brought forward and what? Terrible.
Uh, impediments. It presents to the gospel.
I must say, rather than recently over in Europe and in.
Spain especially.
There is a real spirit of apostasy.
Say, some say that in Spain 50% are atheists. To mention the name of God just creates repulsion in people. And I think it's because of those who have stood outwardly in the place of God and they've been involved in homosexuality and abuse of children. People have nothing. They don't want anything to do with anything related to God.
It's terrible.
I've said sometimes, brethren, we need to all be exercised on our practical level. If you do not show the gospel practically, how are you going to speak it? It's what's called an Ephesians 6, the preparation of the gospel of peace.
The shot with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. How is your walk?
Talks about fees. It's our watch and we need to be.
Shot with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. If there's something in my life that is not according to the Light, and the light is that which manifests everything in our lives, brethren, is there some detail? Is there some hidden corner of your life where you've got things hidden that you know are not right?
Right. How in the world are you going to speak the gospel?
Lord help us, brethren, it it searches my own heart.
I often have said in Sometimes people ask me what kind of work you do.
And I used to say I'm a missionary or a preacher.
You know what?
When I say that, I could just see, generally speaking, people just reach off and turn off the switch. They're not listening any longer. Yeah, I can still talk to them, but they're not listening to anything I'm saying.
Why? Because of the poor testimony of those who say they're preachers.
So I'd rather say, umm, something else. An account.
Or export bibles or something like that.
But if I say that, then maybe they'll give me a hearing. But I say to the brethren down in Bolivia sometimes if you're a bricklayer and you do your work thoroughly as to the Lord.
Time comes to say a word for the Lord because of how good a work you're doing.
People are going to listen to you, so it's important. Your personal testimony is tremendously important, and that's why it says we've renounced the hidden things of dishonesty. Not walking in craftiness nor handling the Word of God deceitfully. How often the Word of God is used to twist in one way or another for personal advantage.
How sad that is.
It's very common in Christian so-called Christian circles today, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
Remember Mr. Lundin mentioning how the truth of God goes into the soul? It's heard through the ear, and when it goes in the ear, it passes through the conscience on the way to the soul.
And it has to go through the conscience. It's going to be received properly. There are people that are able to absorb things in the head, but it never gets into their conscience.
The way it gets home to the car, to the soul, is through the conscience.
So appeal to the conscience, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. Conscience is that which man got when he ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And that's what conscience is, the knowledge of good and evil.
00:55:03
In every single human being that lives on the face of the earth has conscience.
They may deny the existence of God in their head, but their conscience tells them that there's a God.
So the conscience is on your side, and if you speak the truth of God to them, their conscience is going to tell you.
Tell them he's talking the truth and that's important in our ministry is to appeal to the conscience.
Member Brother telling me that he had occasion to speak to some scientists who were trying to deny, uh, the truth of creation, and they were trying to establish evolution, and they were presenting him with some complicated arguments.
And he said.
At the end of all they're talking, he said. OK, but what about your sins?
I didn't know what to say.
Their conscience. And so the Lord Jesus and his life down here appealed to the conscience. I often think of when they brought that woman taken in adultery in the very act it says, and they sat here in the midst that poor woman, and they said to the Lord Jesus, Moses and the law said, we should stone that woman. What do you say?
The Lord didn't answer their question.
He on the ground he wrote, doesn't say what he wrote. But after they asked for quite a while, he got up and he says he that is without sin among you, let him first cast the first stone at her. That wasn't an answer to their question, that was an answer to their conscience. And it says the oldest to the youngest.
Got up and walked out because of the conscience.
Brethren, it's important when we're asked questions, sometimes there's curious questions that are asked. Let's not be so occupied in answering curious questions as in answering the conscience.
Commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. What we say will never commend itself to another's conscience if our lives and actions aren't in accordance with what we say. And Paul was a special minister raised up at the beginning of the dispensation to present this ministry to us. And it's interesting how careful Paul was to live a life that commended.
The ministry. We have a number of examples of it in the first epistle. Twice he says be followers of me even as I am of Christ. Now none of us would dare to say that, but Paul said it by divine inspiration because he was a special minister. I'd just like to notice a couple of scriptures in this connection. Go to 1St Corinthians 9 for a moment.
First Corinthians, Chapter 9.
And the last verse of the chapter verse 27, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. Previously he's been talking about running the race. And again Paul was get was a special instrument raised up as an example at the beginning given this special ministry. But what he's really saying in simplicity at the end of this chapter is.
When I have run the race and when I have preached, when I presented my ministry, I don't want to do anything that would bring reproach on it. I want to live in a way, bring my body into subjection and live in a way.
That commends my ministry. Now let's go back to the second epistle and go to the 6th chapter where he speaks of this again in connection with his ministry.
Chapter 6 and verse 3, giving no offense in anything that the ministry be not blamed, but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience and afflictions and necessities and so on, He gives another.
Little list of some of the things he had suffered as a minister of Christ. But again, we see very clearly, don't we. Paul's exercise was that what he spoke. His ministry would be commended by his life and back in our verse in our chapter. I just make this gentle suggestion that when he says but by manifestation of the truth. You know if you look up that word manifest or manifestation in Webster's dictionary.
01:00:24
This is the meaning it gives to clearly show, in other words, to my own soul. It's just as if Paul says.
Not only by by what we say do we want to present our ministry, but we want to clearly show it by our lives and polls like did clearly show and give weight, moral weight to the ministry that he was given by the Spirit from the Lord, by the Spirit of God. And then he says, then he says, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. You say I tried to.
Present some aspect of truth to somebody, maybe to another young person or somebody just didn't seem to reach the conscience. Well, it has to be a work of the Spirit of God, of course. But I sometimes, at least in my own case, brethren, had to look at my own soul and say maybe, maybe what I said didn't commend itself to the others conscience because of my life. You know, when Lot spoke in Sodom, what he said was the truth. It was the truth. Judgment was coming.
Sodom was about to be destroyed, but it commended itself to no one's conscience because his life was in such a moral shambles. And so I think what has been said is very good, wonderful to be able to know these things, to be able to articulate them and put them out and present them to others. But the moral weight behind it that's going to commend it to another's conscience is the life that we live.
I noticed that in one of Bruce Anstey's.
Of booklets, he repeats more than once. A little palm and it comes to mind, Uh.
Or something like this. The gospel is written a chapter a day by the deeds that you do, by the words that you say.
Men read what is written, whether faithless or true.
Say, What is the gospel according to you?
Spoke to my own heart.
And conscious too.
As we go through these chapters.
It's just good to keep in mind the simple outline. In the third chapter we have the true ministry and its results. In the 4th chapter, we especially have the characteristics of the true minister of God. As we have just been Speaking of the 5th chapter, we have that which motivates the minister of God. And as our brother Steve said, we each have or should have opportunity to serve the Lord, and that would administer and serve are the same. And these are the things that should characterize us.
I I know a young girl.
Who? Someone asked her, So what do you do Friday night? And she said, oh, I normally hang out with my friends. And the person jokingly said, oh, I would have thought you would have said you go to Bible study. And she said no, that's Thursday night. And the person was completely taken aback and became rather serious and started to speak on, well, what do you say I have to do to get to heaven on the subject? The the conversation went from there.
But it was rather remarkable that that individual who knew nothing about that girl's life, would jokingly say to her, oh, I thought you would have said, you go to Bible study.
Just noticing in that.
Book 24 when the Lord Jesus walked with those two on the way to Emmaus and they begin to describe what had taken place and they described, uh, the Lord in verse, uh.
19.
And Jesus said unto them, What things? And they said unto him concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty indeed, and word before God, and will all the people.
Sometimes we find it more easy to say in Word indeed, but I notice here it's deed that comes first.
And of course, over in Acts chapter one, we also have something there along the same line in the very first first Acts one and one the former treatise have I made all theophilus of all that Jesus began both to do, and peace there again. Eat 1St and end the word.
01:05:19
Kaufmann said. You know, people, perhaps they don't hear so much what we say. They look at what we do.
It might be good to read verse 5, for we preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord. Now as we speak of that which is reflected from our lives, they want nothing reflected from our lives. It's not Christ. When the world sees us, we want them to see Christ.
As that girl, uh, spoke of worsh what she did with her, her Thursday evenings, it was.
It was somewhat a reflection, wasn't it, of an appreciation what she did with her Eve evenings, Wasn't it to spend time in appreciation of the Word of God and of the Lord Jesus? And what reflected from her life was Christ. So the apostle Paul, didn't she? He didn't speak of himself. His whole sole purpose was to set Christ before man. And that is that's the purpose of our life.
God is creating us into the image of His dear Son, and that should be the result, the fruit that is born from us.
If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.
What a tragedy we have, this tremendous revelation of the glory of Christ, glory of God, in a world that is dying.
And wrestling under the power of wickedness that we would not let the gospel be seen.
The Gospel be hidden, the Lord says in the Gospels, do not let our lamps be put under a bushel or under a bed bushel. Perhaps Speaking of business data of of uh, relaxation and leisure. So often, brethren, we allow the light to be hidden.
What a tragedy. I have to confess I'm as guilty as anyone on this, but it's something that should really exercise us. We have the answer, brethren, we do. Do you believe it or not?
Brother Steve, do you believe that we have the answer?
The context I suppose here too, is that Paul is saying there's nothing in my life that causes the gospel to be good. That's right.
Because it's because if it's hit, it's hit to those that are lost in whom and this is goes on. Now the God of this world. Of course, that's small G Satan is the God of this world religiously.
Has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ to the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Oh, wonderful, rather than that we've been brought to know God in the person of the Lord Jesus.
Wonderful, wonderful truth.
I think they say that there is over 1 billion Muslims in the world today and the Muslim religion says that God is unknown and unknowable.
And you and I know, God, what a tremendous treasure that is.
Do we look at it that way, brother? We have been brought into the true knowledge of God and the Person of the Lord Jesus.
He has been brought into through the Lord Jesus. The full revelation of God has been given in the Old Testament. God was known in partial ways. He's known in creation. He was known in a certain way if the giving of the law in Mount Sinai.
But it is not until the Lord Jesus came that we have the full revelation of God and the person of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And now you and I can say we know God.
01:10:06
I sound presumptuous to say we have the answer, but let's not forget that God has spoken. There are three facts of life. God is.
God has spoken and we are responsible, but to say that we have the answer?
Is because God has spoken. And here we hold in our frail little pink hand absolute truth.
I say frail little pink hand committed to mere man, like you and like me, who always stand before our wives, and our wives before the husbands, and we stand before the children. And they see things perhaps that ought not to be sane. They hear things that perhaps ought not to be heard. You know, we all have our frailties and our weaknesses.
And I wanna make a word to the young people growing up because it's a day in which, uh, parents are judged and we're not perfect.
You cannot judge the truth by those that hold it. We're frail.
We want to do our best, we want to please the Lord, but you'll see failure.
And you don't have to look at your parents to see it. An honest person will look at themselves.
And no, the propensity of their own heart.
God is the God of grace. He's also the God of truth.
And so we can go on.
I think that's why, Steve, when we speak of the truth, we need to be clear.
I think it's third John speaks of the truth in you. He says to gas that's subjective and that may be so like you say in in part, but if you look at me to closely, brethren, you're gonna see that which does not relate to truth. So when we speak about the truth, we need to be clear that in its absoluteness, it's in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who said I am the way, the truth and the life He is absolute truth or the precious word of God, because it says.
Thy word is true. There you have it in its absoluteness, you know, Look at me. Hopefully you'll see something that may relate to it, but there's something that may not relate to it as well. So don't look at me. Don't look at your brother, look at Christ.
Look at his precious word. And so Paul said, we preach. We don't preach ourselves. We preach not ourselves. He was a special instrument, as we say, raised up at the beginning, but he wasn't presenting himself. He was presenting Christ in the glories of Christ. We preach Christ in Christ crucified. The crucifixion is the basis of the gospel, and Christ in glory is the one who is the Savior. Christ Jesus came into the world.
To save sinners. So Paul wasn't presenting himself, he was just the instrument to present the glories of Christ. But Bob, you made a comment which I think is helpful about Satan being the God of this world religiously. And what does Satan use more to keep people blinded and insensitive to the gospel of the glories of Christ more than religion and that and not just heathen religion or false religion as far as.
Islam or Hinduism or Buddhism or all those things, but come right over to the Western world. What is Satan using to keep man insensitive to his ruin? He has is using, I tremble to say it, brethren, but he is using those who handle the word of God deceitfully and who are not presenting the gospel as it is in Jesus who are not.
A presenting Christ.
As the glorified man is the Savior of sinners, not presenting the fact that man is lost and ruined and that there's nothing he can do. And that it's on the basis of the work of Calvary and the blood of Christ and the resurrection and the ascension and the work of God in in the soul and and so on and repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And Satan is using false religion even taken from this very book.
01:15:01
To keep man insensitive to his ruin. It's a very, very solemn thing. And it's sometimes easier to speak to people who are steeped in heathendom, who have no knowledge of this book. It's often easier to speak to them about the true gospel than it is to speak to those who have had false teaching from the Word of God.
It seems that.
Very simple, right from the Garden of Eden that Satan's desire was to for man to make much of himself.
Listen to me, he said Satan, and you'll be as gods, you'll be exalted. And uh, we tend to make much of self and that sure hinders the, the truth. Uh, my son Benji, which many of you know, phoned yesterday evening.
Said dad make much a price.
I thought that's good advice.
Satan desires the world to worship him. That's why he's referred to as the God of this world. And we know in the Lord Jesus was tempted by Satan.
You said to the Lord, look at all these kingdoms up on a high mountain. I'll give all of these to you if you fall down. Worship me. That's his desire, and he knows that.
If.
So.
It's given to see the glory of Christ, like Paul did Saul at the time, on the way to Damascus. He's gonna lose the worshipper because we know what happened to Saul. At one point. It was on fire for the enemy, really for Satan. Didn't realize it, perhaps, but.
Now he's on fire for God and for the Lord Jesus.
And he's also referred to as the Prince of this world. I mean, he desires to rule the world.
And of course, in the coming day we find in Jerusalem the Temple will be rebuilt, and there in that temple will sit one who exalts himself above all that is called God.
This is the Antichrist. He's looking for the worship of the world, and he's gonna have this image of the beast, I believe.
Made and he's gonna call upon the world to worship the beast, but it's all part of a Trinity of evil.
It's Satan looking for worship, and that's why he's seeking.
Love is power to keep souls blinded.
The gospel would be hid from them.
It's interesting while they verse four says what's blinded are the minds and uh, man by wisdom does not know God. It comes through the light of the gospel and it comes through applying the light to the conscience. And I think that is such a important thing to remember in gospel work. Appeal to the conscience because that way it will get through.
But I was talking to a friend of mine a number of years ago who was in medical school in a certain university, and he said of all the different schools in this particular university, the incidence of atheism is highest among medical students. I said, wow, that's incredible where you were studying such an intricate thing as the human body to be able to.
Deny the existence of God in studying that. It's because the mind is blinded and you can take light and shine it in the face of a blind man. How much does he see? Nothing. When a person says he doesn't believe God, he's blinded.