2 Corinthians 4 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00Second Corinthians chapter 4. Paul has
2. 0:02just told us
3. 0:04that we have taken the veil off our own
4. 0:07faces so that as we behold
5. 0:10in a mirror the glory of the Lord in
6. 0:13each other, we can be changed. And now
7. 0:15in in verse 1 of the next chapter, he's
8. 0:18going to double down and tell us that's
9. 0:20our ministry.
10. 0:22To look at Jesus
11. 0:23>> [music]
12. 0:23>> and reflect him to one another.
13. 0:26Therefore, since we have this ministry,
14. 0:29what ministry?
15. 0:31This ministry
16. 0:33of an unveiled face
17. 0:35beholding as in a mirror the glory of
18. 0:37the Lord and being changed. Therefore,
19. 0:40since we have this ministry [music] as
20. 0:42we received mercy,
21. 0:44we do not lose heart.
22. 0:48But we have renounced the things hidden
23. 0:51because of shame.
24. 0:54That would be a veil again.
25. 0:56Not walking in craftiness
26. 0:58or adulterating the word of God, but by
27. 1:02the manifestation of the truth
28. 1:05commending ourselves to every man's
29. 1:07conscience in [music] the sight of God.
30. 1:10That's a lot of language. Let me
31. 1:12paraphrase it. He says,
32. 1:14"This idea of looking at Jesus and
33. 1:17shining him to one another so that we
34. 1:19can keep changing to be more like him,
35. 1:21that's a ministry."
36. 1:23And then he says,
37. 1:25"But in order to fulfill this ministry,
38. 1:27we've got to renounce the old [music]
39. 1:29life. We've got to renounce the things
40. 1:32hidden because of shame.
41. 1:34And we've got to keep the veil off by
42. 1:37not walking in craftiness.
43. 1:40Not pretending to be one thing and being
44. 1:42something else. Not manipulating people.
45. 1:45Not
46. 1:46crafting what we present, but having a
47. 1:50childlike sincerity or openness to what
48. 1:53we give.
49. 1:54Nor adulterating the word of God.
50. 1:58So again, he's speaking about the speech
51. 2:01that we're giving to one another. We're
52. 2:02not like Moses who put a veil over his
53. 2:04face, but we use great boldness of
54. 2:05speech.
55. 2:07We don't adulterate the word of God. We
56. 2:08don't mix it with something. We don't
57. 2:10add a little sugar or a little salt. We
58. 2:12let it be.
59. 2:14But what what does this ministry do?
60. 2:16It manifests the truth.
61. 2:19In simple form, manifestation means make
62. 2:22visible something that doesn't have
63. 2:23visible form.
64. 2:25Does truth have visible form?
65. 2:28Not until you believe it and live it.
66. 2:30But when you believe it and live it and
67. 2:31speak it and show it, then you give
68. 2:34manifestation to the spirit, to the
69. 2:36truth.
70. 2:38Manifestation of the truth, we are
71. 2:40commending ourselves to every man's
72. 2:42conscience in the sight of God. What
73. 2:44does that mean?
74. 2:45That means we're taking a big risk.
75. 2:48We're saying, "I'm going to be
76. 2:49vulnerable.
77. 2:51I'm going to take the veil off. I'm
78. 2:53going to take the pretenses off.
79. 2:55I'm going to not recommend myself, but
80. 2:57I'm going to commend myself. I'm going
81. 2:59to put myself out there in sincerity of
82. 3:02love and heart,
83. 3:04and I'm [snorts] going to take a risk
84. 3:05that your conscience is good, that you
85. 3:08want to know the Lord. So you're not
86. 3:10going to take advantage of me. You're
87. 3:11not going to mock me. You're not going
88. 3:13to slander me. You're not going to turn
89. 3:15your back on me. Instead, we're all
90. 3:17doing this together because what we all
91. 3:19need to see is more of Jesus.
92. 3:22So we commend ourselves to every man's
93. 3:24conscience. We risk ourselves to the
94. 3:27sincerity of your faith toward God,
95. 3:30and that's when
96. 3:31we get to see more of him.
97. 3:33And then he goes on, "And even if our
98. 3:36gospel is veiled." So all of that would
99. 3:38be veiling, but he says we're not going
100. 3:40to do that. But even if our gospel is
101. 3:42veiled,
102. 3:43it is veiled to those who are perishing,
103. 3:47in whose case the god of this world has
104. 3:49blinded the minds of the unbelieving.
105. 3:54So that they may not see
106. 3:57the light
107. 3:58of the gospel of the glory of Christ who
108. 4:02is the image of God.
109. 4:06So he's talking about our gospel
110. 4:09if it's veiled
111. 4:11it's not our fault.
112. 4:12We are taking the risk. We're not
113. 4:14adulterating the word of God. We're
114. 4:16being plain. We're not putting a veil
115. 4:17over our face or our talk.
116. 4:20But if it's veiled, it's veiled to those
117. 4:22who are perishing
118. 4:24who the god of this world
119. 4:26has blinded their minds.
120. 4:28Their intellectualism
121. 4:30their perspectives
122. 4:32close them to the experience of seeing
123. 4:36the glory of God
124. 4:38from the church.
125. 4:40So that they might not see the light of
126. 4:42the gospel of the glory of Christ who is
127. 4:44the image of God.
128. 4:46For we do not preach ourselves
129. 4:50but Christ Jesus as Lord and ourselves
130. 4:52as your bond servants for Jesus' sake.
131. 4:56This is
132. 4:57an unusual construct. Again, Paul
133. 5:00doesn't say we do not preach the
134. 5:01message. He said we do not preach
135. 5:03ourselves.
136. 5:05So what what they're proclaiming
137. 5:08is more than an idea about something.
138. 5:10They're actually proclaiming not words,
139. 5:12but they're proclaiming Jesus.
140. 5:15They're declaring him.
141. 5:18It's powerful thought.
142. 5:20And then he says, "For God who said,
143. 5:23'Light shine out of darkness'
144. 5:25is the one who has shown in our hearts
145. 5:27to give the light of the knowledge of
146. 5:28the glory of God in the face of Jesus
147. 5:31Christ."
148. 5:32When did God say light shine out of
149. 5:34darkness?
150. 5:35Paul says, "For God who said" and then
151. 5:38he quotes God, "Light
152. 5:40shine out of darkness."
153. 5:42When he created the world, when
154. 5:44everything was formless and void. The
155. 5:46God who said light shine out of darkness
156. 5:48is the one who has shown in where?
157. 5:53Our hearts. So, where was the darkness?
158. 5:56Our hearts.
159. 5:58He's saying the miracle that God's doing
160. 6:00through the body is the same thing he
161. 6:01did at the day of creation.
162. 6:03He's talking over formless things. He's
163. 6:05talking over void hearts and he's
164. 6:07saying, "Light shine out of this
165. 6:10darkness."
166. 6:14He is the one who has shown in our
167. 6:17hearts to give the light.
168. 6:21That means what Jesus shines in you
169. 6:23gives the light to somebody else. Do you
170. 6:25see the mirror idea?
171. 6:28As you behold him,
172. 6:30they behold him in your mirror.
173. 6:34He has shown in our hearts to give the
174. 6:37light
175. 6:39of the knowledge of the glory of God in
176. 6:42the face of Jesus Christ.
177. 6:44If you wanted to
178. 6:45shine some light into my eyes, but Tina
179. 6:48had the mirror, you'd have to sit over
180. 6:50here next to me and shine on her mirror
181. 6:52until it reflected back to me. So,
182. 6:55God shines in our hearts to give to the
183. 6:58world himself, the light of the glory of
184. 7:02God in the face of Jesus Christ.
185. 7:07But, we have this treasure
186. 7:11in earthen vessels,
187. 7:13like pottery,
188. 7:15so that the surpassing greatness of the
189. 7:17power will be of God and not from us.
190. 7:22Our mirror is in a pottery frame.
191. 7:26Our light shines from a clay jar,
192. 7:32so that we remember in our flesh we're a
193. 7:34big zero.
194. 7:37But, God is putting his spirit in us.
195. 7:39God is shining in us.
196. 7:42And he's not shining for our blessing
197. 7:43only, but to reflect his glory to a
198. 7:47watching world.
199. 7:50Amen.
200. 7:51And he says, "God wants us to remember
201. 7:53that this is in jars of clay
202. 7:55so that we don't think the glory is from
203. 7:56us.
204. 7:58We're not glorious,
205. 8:00but we can reflect his glory.
206. 8:04We are afflicted in every way,
207. 8:07but not crushed.
208. 8:10We are perplexed,
209. 8:12but not despairing.
210. 8:14We are persecuted,
211. 8:16but not forsaken.
212. 8:18We are struck down,
213. 8:21>> [clears throat]
214. 8:21>> but not destroyed.
215. 8:24Always carrying about in the body the
216. 8:27dying of Jesus,
217. 8:29so that the life of Jesus also may be
218. 8:33manifested
219. 8:35in our body. So, he says,
220. 8:39"We are carrying about the dying of the
221. 8:41Lord Jesus.
222. 8:42When we suffer, that's sharing in
223. 8:45Jesus's pain so that the life of Jesus
224. 8:50also may be
225. 8:52manifested, revealed, and made visible
226. 8:56in our body."
227. 8:59Amen.
228. 9:01For we who live are constantly being
229. 9:03delivered over to death for Jesus' sake,
230. 9:06so that the life of Jesus also may be
231. 9:08manifested in our mortal flesh. He says
232. 9:10it a second time.
233. 9:11He wants Jesus to be manifested in our
234. 9:14mortal flesh.
235. 9:16That means the flesh that's going to
236. 9:18die. He wants Jesus to be seen in that.
237. 9:22So, death works in us,
238. 9:24but life in you.
239. 9:27He's saying, "If I handle the hardships
240. 9:29I go through with faith,
241. 9:32then I'm going to reveal God's love and
242. 9:34truth even in my hardship, and that's
243. 9:37going to give you life. You're going to
244. 9:40see the glory of God in my face.
245. 9:42So, life is working in you, even while
246. 9:45hardship is working in me.
247. 9:47Death works in us, but life in you.
248. 9:50But having the same spirit of faith
249. 9:54What? Faith? Yeah.
250. 9:56That's the whole mechanism that turns
251. 9:59bad things into a manifestation of
252. 10:01better things.
253. 10:03But having the same spirit of faith,
254. 10:05according to what is written, I
255. 10:06believed, therefore I spoke, we also
256. 10:09believe, therefore we also speak.
257. 10:12Knowing that he who raised the Lord
258. 10:15Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and
259. 10:18will present us with you.
260. 10:21For all things are for your sakes,
261. 10:25so that the grace which is spreading to
262. 10:27more and more people may cause the
263. 10:29giving of thanks to abound
264. 10:31to the glory of God.
265. 10:33Everything we're going through is for
266. 10:35your sakes, he says.
267. 10:37If you're not living in the body of
268. 10:39Christ, if you're not living for your
269. 10:41brothers and sisters,
270. 10:43you're going to go through things and
271. 10:45you don't know why you're going through
272. 10:46them.
273. 10:47It is precisely your brothers and
274. 10:48sisters that provide
275. 10:51the context where pain takes on
276. 10:54significance, meaning.
277. 10:56You're teaching something. You're
278. 10:57communicating something. No, you're
279. 10:59manifesting something. The life of God
280. 11:03in a jar of clay.
281. 11:05You're saying his spirit is stronger
282. 11:07than my fear. His truth is brighter than
283. 11:11my pain.
284. 11:12He is greater than the clay that is
285. 11:15being crushed.
286. 11:18Therefore, we do not lose heart,
287. 11:21but though our outer man is decaying,
288. 11:24yet our inner man is being renewed day
289. 11:27by day.
290. 11:29We're going through bad things on the
291. 11:30outside,
292. 11:32but it's just opening the jar to show
293. 11:34the glory on the inside.
294. 11:37For momentary
295. 11:39light affliction is
296. 11:41producing for us an eternal weight of
297. 11:47glory
298. 11:48far beyond comparison.
299. 11:51He says, "These These things we're going
300. 11:52through, they don't last. They're
301. 11:54temporary. And they're really light,
302. 11:55actually.
303. 11:57But what they're producing is something
304. 11:59that has weight.
305. 12:01And that something is glory."
306. 12:04You look at brother Jim Aisenstein, what
307. 12:06he suffered.
308. 12:08His suffering's over.
309. 12:10But his faith in the midst of suffering
310. 12:12has weight in our memory.
311. 12:15We don't reflect on his pain, we reflect
312. 12:18on his faith.
313. 12:20He gave us a weight of glory. He gave us
314. 12:23proof
315. 12:25that God was still speaking into the
316. 12:27darkness,
317. 12:28>> [music]
318. 12:28>> saying, "Let there be light."
319. 12:30He shone that light back to us.
320. 12:33We're getting this weight of glory while
321. 12:36we look not at the things which are
322. 12:38seen,
323. 12:39but at the things
324. 12:41which are not seen.
325. 12:43For the things which are seen are
326. 12:45temporal,
327. 12:47but the things which are not seen
328. 12:50are eternal.
329. 12:52The spirit is not visible to our naked
330. 12:54eye.
331. 12:56The truth is not visible to our naked
332. 12:58eye.
333. 13:00The presence and joy of God is not
334. 13:02visible to our naked eye. Neither is
335. 13:04faith, or joy, or hope.
336. 13:07But if we
337. 13:08encounter what should destroy these
338. 13:11things, and instead we prove that they
339. 13:14are stronger than what we encounter,
340. 13:18then we carry glory in a jar of clay.
341. 13:22We manifest the life of Christ
342. 13:25amidst the crumbling of our clay.
343. 13:30>> [music]
344. 13:39[music]