2 Corinthians 4
Welcome to the defender bible study. A weekly encouragement to equip the body of Christ through the study of scripture and prayer to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children around the world. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children Services, where we believe that defending the fatherless begins by being rooted in God's word.
Jeremy Simpson:Good morning, everybody. If you have a bible or app or something and wanna turn this morning with us, We're gonna be in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4. 2nd Corinthians chapter 4. I have been, away for the last couple of Mondays. So I'm gonna go back and kinda review to kinda set up some background on where we're gonna be in chapter 4, second Corinthians, if nothing else is for me.
Jeremy Simpson:But a way oversimplification of where we've been walking through so far the first few chapters of second Corinthians. Chapter 1 is all about, the perseverance of the saints, persevering through suffering, through, different limitations, changing of plans in life, things not quite going the way they need to go. As it Paul's letter to the church, writing to them, encouraging, exhorting them to stay the course. Chapter 2 is all about forgiveness in the church and within the body when we cause each other pain. When we are supposed to be the fragrance that the word literally says the fragrance of Christ to each other.
Jeremy Simpson:I had a I had a pastor one time who who used to to, walk up to certain of us, when he felt like we didn't have the best attitude in the world, he'd walk up and say you stink. And I was like, well, okay. What he meant, it was an inside joke, that he
Jeremy Simpson:it was his way of saying, hey. Choose a
Jeremy Simpson:better attitude because right now you're not very much being the fragrance of Christ. Because a lot of times we can do that in the church. We are supposed to be the fragrance of Christ to each other. But sometimes, we are the ones who cause more of the hurt in our lives even in than those who are outside of the church. We do not reflect the body very well.
Jeremy Simpson:Chapter 3 at times. Chapter 3, is in talks about this this new covenant a lot, how we are supposed to be ministers of a new covenant. We're supposed to do this with great joy and great humility. He makes clear in chapter 3, this is not our power to do this, but we are ministering from this covenant. That is the the old that is put away, the new covenant that is in Christ that is now open to everyone.
Jeremy Simpson:Jew, gentile, everyone, is has access. And then we get into chapter 4 and I'm gonna read verse 1 of chapter 4 and then back up just a little bit to continue trying to introduce it. But chapter 4 verse 1 says, therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy,
Jeremy Simpson:we do not lose heart. Okay. So
Jeremy Simpson:it verse 4 chapter 1 says, therefore, since we have this ministry, we gotta back up to figure out what that ministry is really to clarify that, to confirm that. So we're so we're gonna back up in chapter 3.
Jeremy Simpson:I'm gonna start reading from verse 12 through 18 just to continue to set the page for where we're at in chapter 4. Chapter 3 verse 12. Therefore, having such a hope that we have in this new covenant, therefore, having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech. Word
Jeremy Simpson:speech there is gonna be important. This is the ministry that we have. Verse 13. We are not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face so that
Jeremy Simpson:the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. So just give
Jeremy Simpson:you background, Moses, when he would spend intimate time with the Lord, when he went to Mount Sinai, literally got the book of Leviticus. You know, we saw according to how old you are, you saw Charleston Hess Center. You saw cartoons walking down with with tablets that was like the 10 commandments. But he got the entire book of Leviticus, brought it down to give it to the people of Israel. But when he would spend time with the lord, his face would be glowing so much from the glory of
Jeremy Simpson:the lord that he would
Jeremy Simpson:have to veil his face even so that because it wasn't time. He was worried that people would be blinded or they couldn't handle the weight of glory. And he wasn't time for them to see it. So so Moses would have to kinda shield that from God's people. What Paul is saying here is that that the the veiling is no more.
Jeremy Simpson:This is
Jeremy Simpson:the new covenant. We don't have
Jeremy Simpson:to hide it. We, as ministers
Jeremy Simpson:of this new covenant, are not meant to hide in God's glory anymore. We are meant to let it shine through us without limitation. It's a good thing.
Jeremy Simpson:That's a beautiful thought that there is no Jew or Greek. There's no limitation. There's no holding back. We
Jeremy Simpson:are called in this new covenant to let the glory of the lord without limitation, without a veil to shine forth in our lives. Verse 13, I'll read it again. And and we are not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. Because for Moses, that was fading away. And us, it is here.
Jeremy Simpson:It is it is only gonna grow. It is it is strong for eternity. Verse 14, but their minds were hardened for until this day at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remained unlifted because it is now removed in Christ. Amen. That's a that's an incredibly powerful verse.
Jeremy Simpson:The veil that limited the gospel to the world. They could go in once a year and a and a priest could do a sacrifice in the holy of holies for the cleansing of the people. Once a year, One person was allowed to go in. They took tied a rope around him just in case his heart wasn't right or he was the wrong person. They could drag his dead body out.
Jeremy Simpson:The veil over the temple was there. They could bring ritual sacrifices in and they could go through these washings resurrection to rip the veil at his death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave. And the access was no longer limited in any way, shape, or form. The veil unlit that was unlifted because
Jeremy Simpson:it had been removed in Christ. Verse 15. But to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their own hearts because they still are looking for Moses. They're not looking to Christ. But whenever a
Jeremy Simpson:person turns to the lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord, there is freedom. But we all, with unveiled face, behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord and are being transformed in the same image from glory to glory just as the Lord in the spirit. So this is introducing chapter 4. Chapter 4, we said, therefore, since we have this ministry.
Jeremy Simpson:So what is this ministry? Literally, the entirety of chapter 4, if we look back at the end of chapter 3, the ministry that is referring to is using our speech to share the glory of God without veil, without limitation.
Jeremy Simpson:So I wanna ask this morning as we get into the word, how are we doing with that? With the way we live our lives, with the
Jeremy Simpson:way we minister in day to day, in our work, in in our churches, in our jobs, in our families? How is our speech shining the light of the glory of
Jeremy Simpson:the Lord to those around us? Or how is our fear? How is our worry? How is our shame? How is our guilt?
Jeremy Simpson:How is our just preoccupation with other things continuing to avail something that is not supposed to be veiled?
Jeremy Simpson:It's continuing to limit the access to something that is not supposed to be limited. And this
Jeremy Simpson:is the ministry that Paul says, therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, do not lose
Jeremy Simpson:heart. So in the first verse in chapter 4, he he he's it's interesting when he's saying he's trying to encourage us, use our speech to glorify God. But then
Jeremy Simpson:he says, he's like he's given this kind of pep talk. This is your ministry This is veiled no longer. Go do it. It's awesome. It's great.
Jeremy Simpson:You got the greatest message in the world. And he says, oh, yeah. And don't lose heart.
Jeremy Simpson:Well, dang, Paul, you could have left that part out.
Jeremy Simpson:It's like you, you had me fired up there for a second. And then you told me not
Jeremy Simpson:to lose heart. And you said that this sounds like this
Jeremy Simpson:is not gonna be easy. Well, you you could've just left that part out and I I would've been a lot more motivated. Why is it that that you're telling me to not lose heart? And and and you go back again to chapter 3, it says because some people still are not looking to Jesus for that hope. And he's gonna talk some more about how to some people the gospel message is still veiled because of the condition of their heart.
Jeremy Simpson:So the question and what I wanna look at and what what Paul is really teaching in chapter 4 is this idea of we're looking at 5 motivations for regularly, verbally sharing the gospel. What are 5 motivations we can find in our lives for regularly and verbally sharing the gospel? And I wanna ask ourselves that question this morning. Are we do we feel like, as followers of Christ, as this this call that we have been given, this ministry that we have received by mercy, God gave us this, is not a negotiable for us. How are we being motivated to do that?
Jeremy Simpson:Are we doing it? And what what could we use to help motivate us to do it a little
Jeremy Simpson:bit more? A lot of
Jeremy Simpson:times, we use the word in our our church culture, evangelism. What do you think of? And I don't want you to answer out loud. We're not gonna try to do it on screen. I just want you to think kinda in your in your mind.
Jeremy Simpson:What are some of the thoughts that first comes to your mind when you think about the word evangelism? Anybody get just a little bit uncomfortable? All of the introverts in the room just a little bit. Not everyone is as extroverted as me. I will talk to anything that will remotely not tell me to be quiet.
Jeremy Simpson:I don't even really need you
Jeremy Simpson:to talk back. I prefer it. Eventually,
Jeremy Simpson:I will talk less and some of you've learned that. So you just sit there till I'm done and I'll walk away. I get it.
Jeremy Simpson:It's not gonna stop me, but I get it.
Jeremy Simpson:But even for sometimes the extroverts among us, evangelism can bring up some anxiety. The way we talk about evangelism in the church today can can sometimes seem very transactional. It's something that we're trying to talk somebody into, something we're trying to convince somebody to buy into or to buy. Almost sounds like a salesman, like a sales pitch. We we are told have your things ready.
Jeremy Simpson:And a lot of times we're told when it comes to evangelism, you just have to ask a bunch of questions. I I I'm not a big fan even of asking questions of people because sometimes, like, you wanna ask questions to learn about people, learn where they are as you talk to them. But sometimes when you ask questions, you think, man, am I just putting all the pressure on the other person to know what to say? I don't know what to say. So I'm just gonna put all the pressure on you to know what to say because then that takes the pressure off of me.
Jeremy Simpson:I I don't even like using the word evangelism. Hear me. It is not a bad word. Use it all you want. It's a great word.
Jeremy Simpson:Me, personally, I don't use it because it has such sometimes it's just anxious, heavy, kinda connotation in our church today. Whenever I talk to people about talking about Jesus, I literally just talk about talking about Jesus. The difference between the way we think about evangelism in our culture today and the way we think about talking about Jesus is kind of this this this what is the end result? The end result, a lot of times we think about in evangelism is someone making a decision for Jesus. The end
Jeremy Simpson:result in us talking about Jesus is us talking about Jesus. So I want
Jeremy Simpson:us to shift our thinking just a little bit when by and large, predominantly, almost holistically throughout scripture, the only thing we are ever commanded to do is talk about Jesus. Yes. We are commanded to make disciples. We are commanded to go therefore and teach everything I have taught you, but but we are we are never held responsible for the results of how someone chooses to react to that. We're gonna look at that a little bit today, but we'll go ahead and start shifting our mindset that way as Paul is giving us some motivations for how we can live more to use our speech for this great unveiled
Jeremy Simpson:message that we are called to speak to the world. So, first, first motivation for regularly, verbally sharing the gospel in our life is
Jeremy Simpson:found in verse 1 and 2. You already read 1 or pair it with 2. So therefore, since we have this ministry and we have received mercy, we do not lose hope, but we have renounced things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifest by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. First and foremost, our first motivation for regularly, verbally sharing the gospel is we should share the gospel because it changes and humbles
Jeremy Simpson:us. We should share the gospel because it changes and humbles us.
Jeremy Simpson:This is a this is a big thought here where Paul is saying, we have renounced things that are hidden because of shame. We are not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God. I I hope and pray that is not said in my life. That I walked in such a way that I allowed my shame
Jeremy Simpson:to adulte rate the gospel. I don't know about you, but I I read that over
Jeremy Simpson:and over and over, and that that hit me hard. Yeah. I've been afraid to talk about Jesus because I don't know
Jeremy Simpson:how people are gonna react.
Jeremy Simpson:I'm afraid to talk about Jesus because I don't know the right words to say.
Jeremy Simpson:I'm afraid to talk about Jesus because at some point, I feel like they're gonna throw something at me that that I'm not ready for, or they're gonna expose maybe a sin in my life that that I have no answer for and reason after reason after reason after reason that we have to continue to veil this message that we are commanded to unveil with our speech. And Paul says, 1st and foremost, my motivation for talking and speaking about the gospel is I do not want to adulterate the gospel.
Jeremy Simpson:But by manifestation of truth, commending myself to every man's conscience in the sight of God. Who wants to commend themselves to the conscience of everybody else.
Jeremy Simpson:Not this guy. I don't really care what you think about me. I do. I I really do. Not really.
Jeremy Simpson:Kind of. Just a little.
Jeremy Simpson:I care what you think about me, but, man, not so much that I want to commend myself to your judge of right and wrong in everything that you do. That's what Paul just said. Paul said when you when you verbalize the gospel to someone, when you humble yourself to that level, you are opening yourself up to to whatever they want to say about what they think is true. And a lot of times people from other religions will judge Christians. How dare you say you know the truth?
Jeremy Simpson:You you know you are the only way. My answer
Jeremy Simpson:to that always is I know I'm not it. I am not it in any way. And the only reason that I have any any chance to to to speak truth to you is because what God in truth has done in my life when I had no hope and when I had no truth on my own. And I had no knowledge and understanding of my own. And I had no way that I could claim anything good in me on my own.
Jeremy Simpson:We share the gospel because it requires us to humble ourselves before others, then it changes us. It changes how we live. It changes how we think. We need to share the gospel because it changes and humbles how we live. A lot of times I hear people talk about, you
Jeremy Simpson:know, I just don't I don't feel God's presence in my life. I don't, I don't feel, I don't, I don't know why God is doing it. I don't, I don't feel him. I don't experience him. I feel distant with him.
Jeremy Simpson:I'm not sure what he's trying to teach me and I'm not sure what he's trying to show me. I want, I want to present something to you today. One of the greatest ways that God wants you to experience him is as your primary need meter. Kind of a odd. There's probably a better way to say that, but I don't know what
Jeremy Simpson:it is. So bear with me. I'll repeat it, give you a second to think about it, and then I'll repeat it because I couldn't think of a better way to say it.
Jeremy Simpson:One of the primary ways that God wants you to experience him is by being your primary need meter, the one who is primarily responsible for meeting your needs. What's the problem with that in America? How many we don't the the problem with that in America oftentimes is we don't allow ourselves to have need. We are allergic to need. We have insurances on insurances.
Jeremy Simpson:We have safety plans for safety plans. We have backup systems for backup systems. We live our lives and we make decisions on a regular basis to make sure that us and those we love the most will never
Jeremy Simpson:need. My daughter oh, lord. I can barely even talk about this. This is
Jeremy Simpson:a dramatic experience for my life. My daughter had her first piano recital a few weeks ago. She is 8 years old. She's been tagging for, like, 4 months, not very long. She is very mean in every way, which is gonna explain some of this in a
Jeremy Simpson:second, but she's at this recital.
Jeremy Simpson:There's a few people who go before her, a lot going after her. She's never done anything like this in front of people before in her life and I'm thinking I have no idea what's gonna happen. I'm I'm so anxious for her. Like, literally, everything in me does what the the poor response of what I'm saying. Like, I I I know how much I live to try to eliminate need in her life, but this is, like, the culmination.
Jeremy Simpson:So so she gets up. I'm I'm so stressed. I'm so worried there. She she has 2 little pieces that she's doing. The first one, the teacher wants her to use the book for.
Jeremy Simpson:The second one, she wants them to try to do from memory. They could they could pick either one. They they do by memory, either one they do with the book. She being who she is has memorized both of them from for like, 3 months ago. She's been taking
Jeremy Simpson:for, like, 4 months. This is just who she is.
Jeremy Simpson:So she gets up there. She sets the book up there. And then because her teacher told her to do the first in the book, doesn't matter to her that she had it memorized. She said do it from the book so she should put the book up there even though she
Jeremy Simpson:had it memorized. So she gets up there, she sits down, and
Jeremy Simpson:to me, it had to have been at least 30 minutes before she moved. My wife says it was maybe a
Jeremy Simpson:minute, but
Jeremy Simpson:she gets up there and she just sits at the piano and almost doesn't move for at least a good couple
Jeremy Simpson:of minutes to the point that at
Jeremy Simpson:one point her her teacher even gets up and starts to walk around behind her. And as soon as she walks around behind her, she literally starts playing. And she's like, oh, and then turns around and goes, sits down. Like, Eleanor didn't see her. It was good.
Jeremy Simpson:But, yeah, that entire time I was falling apart. I was like, god, give her give her strength. God, have her play. God, I don't know what's going on. Just give her just just calm her down.
Jeremy Simpson:God, I was freaking out. When I talked to her afterwards, I was like, Eleanor, like, what? Or or we call her Nora. I was like, Nora, like like, you did so good, baby. Like, what what was going through your mind?
Jeremy Simpson:What what what what were you doing when
Jeremy Simpson:you're first getting started? She said, well, I never played that piano, and I
Jeremy Simpson:was just touching and counting to find a middle c, and I did it
Jeremy Simpson:about 5 times. And then I felt comfortable. It's okay. And then it was a little higher than my piano, so I touched the pedals and then I touched the other pedal. And I
Jeremy Simpson:didn't feel comfortable, so I did
Jeremy Simpson:it again. And then I looked
Jeremy Simpson:and I wanna make sure
Jeremy Simpson:I found c, And she was just she's like, I
Jeremy Simpson:was not gonna start until I had everything completely figured out, and I knew exactly what I was doing. Then there was at no point in time was she emotionally out of control. She had everything figured out. She was not gonna do anything until she was completely ready. And when
Jeremy Simpson:she was ready, she did it. I, on the other
Jeremy Simpson:hand, was completely out of control emotionally because I was just in in my head, she was about to break down crying and I and I and I couldn't and I was gonna lose it. I couldn't handle it. But just made me think when I study in this, like, how often do we live our lives just terrified of the need of ourselves and of those who love? How much do we live our lives to eliminate need? How much in that moment that I think, man, I would have done anything?
Jeremy Simpson:I should have we should have brought Nora up here to let her practice on this big grand piano because she'd always just done our little piano at home. She would have been so much more comfortable if I had done this. She would have understood that better. And that and that's that stuff is true.
Jeremy Simpson:Had I had I prepared her better, she wouldn't have taken so long to feel comfortable. But who cares?
Jeremy Simpson:I'd I'll my and I didn't choose it, but my failure to think through the best way to prepare her created a need in her life, but she was completely ready for that need and handled it better than I did. Then we think there are
Jeremy Simpson:lives if if the if the one of
Jeremy Simpson:the most amazing ways that God wants us to experience him is to experience him as the need meter in our lives. Then what does it do when we live our lives to eliminate need? We inadvertently are eliminating our ability to experience God.
Jeremy Simpson:Let that sink in for a minute. Let it sink in how much of your life you are actively living to eliminate your ability to experience God in your life.
Jeremy Simpson:Now does that mean go out and recklessly create need in
Jeremy Simpson:your life? No, there's extremes
Jeremy Simpson:on both ends of this. But first and foremost, a motivation for regularly, verbally sharing the gospel is because it changes and humbles us. 1st 3 through 6. I wanna keep going. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
Jeremy Simpson:And whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but of Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as bondservants for Jesus' sake. For god, who said, let light shine out of darkness, is the one who has shown in our hearts to give light to the to of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure excuse me, actually, I wanna end in verse 6. For God who said light shall shine out of darkness is the one who has shown in our hearts to give light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Jeremy Simpson:Our second motivation to share the gospel we share because we are servants of Jesus and how people respond is between them and the spirit
Jeremy Simpson:of God. Our second motivation for sharing the gospel is we're servants of God. We share because God said so.
Jeremy Simpson:One of the greatest ways we can obey Christ is to talk about Christ. One of the greatest ways to be an obedient follower of Jesus is to talk about Jesus. Jesus makes that very clear. Paul makes that very clear. Oftentimes, the reason why we don't talk about Jesus because we're so worried about how everybody else is gonna react.
Jeremy Simpson:When Paul's saying is right here, you're never going to make someone do something positive for Jesus. You're never gonna make someone do something negative for Jesus. That's between them
Jeremy Simpson:and the spirit. Now can you get better and grow in your ability to share the gospel? Yes.
Jeremy Simpson:But can you make mistakes in how you share the gospel and that you could have said it better? Yes. But I'm telling you, I I have shared the gospel before people or, where they were like, okay. I'm ready to accept Christ. And I'm like, why?
Jeremy Simpson:Like, nothing I just said made any sense to me whatsoever. And and they're like, well, I can't even tell you what you said, but it made sense to me and I'm ready
Jeremy Simpson:to do it because it
Jeremy Simpson:had nothing to do with what I said. I have to share the gospel with people and they're like, I just disagree with all that. I don't believe it completely. And I'm like, but woah, I nailed that. Like, that was, like, perfect.
Jeremy Simpson:Like, what clearly clearly, you didn't hear how great I was in that moment because I I was just killing it. Let me let me repeat it to you. And this time, open your ears because the problem is yours. I nailed it. And they're like, no.
Jeremy Simpson:I don't want anything to
Jeremy Simpson:do with it because they didn't have anything to do with
Jeremy Simpson:what I was saying. We've gotta remove that as a motivation. Our motivation is not a transaction and try to get someone to do something. Our motivation is we are commanded by Christ and we wanna obey him. We talk about the gospel and share the gospel because we obey Christ.
Jeremy Simpson:7 through 12. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power of God, power does the power will be of God and not of ourselves. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed perplexed, but not despairing persecuted and not forsaken struck down, but not destroyed. Always caring about in the body the the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. For those who live or constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so the lives of Jesus may also be manifested in our moral flesh.
Jeremy Simpson:So death works in us, but life in you. 2nd or excuse me. 3rd motivation for for
Jeremy Simpson:verbally sharing the gospel. So we share the gospel because it takes death to self to grow in Christ. We share the gospel because we want to grow in Christ. You've always heard, if you wanna truly learn something, what do you do? You teach it.
Jeremy Simpson:You wanna learn how to be a disciple? Teach others how to be a disciple. Disciple others. You wanna learn how to to truly daily restore unto me the joy of my salvation? Then share the joy of that salvation with others.
Jeremy Simpson:Help others and answer the call of the spirit in their lives to surrender to the joy of that salvation and in their heart. You know, as we said, there's nothing we can do that leads people to Christ, but god chooses to work through our words. God says, how will they know unless they're told? That doesn't mean the power is in the telling. Still, it just you it means that god sends his power through the telling.
Jeremy Simpson:It's still God who changes life, but he chooses to use us in it. So we share with people
Jeremy Simpson:because it really helps us to grow in Christ. We often quote this verse. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, persecuted, not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed. And we literally have songs about it that we'll repeat those verses over and over and over and we do it to encourage people through hardship in their life. But when we stop there, we actually fall short of the meaning of the passage.
Jeremy Simpson:The meaning of this passage is to encourage you that when things are hard, be heard for the gospel. This is literally saying not when things are hard, just hunker down and hide away and eventually it'll pass over. God does not allow hardship in our lives for us just to get through it. He allows hardships in our glorify God more than when things are hard in your life. Hardship is not often a punishment for you.
Jeremy Simpson:It is an opportunity for you to make much of Jesus. It is in those hardest moments in our lives when we should not hide away from our sin or our struggle or our heartache. It's in those moments when things are hardest that we should proclaim the gospel more and more. Again, because it will change us. It will help us to be obedient to Christ.
Jeremy Simpson:It will it will help us to shine his glory more and more to others. These are all things that we are trying to to to motivate ourselves to be people to talk about the gospel. I love in the beginning of this past passage, it talks about we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Literally, it's saying it's fragile. Like, we hold this this this gospel fragile.
Jeremy Simpson:Now I wanna be clear, like, the power of the gospel is fragile. The gospel is not. The power itself is not. We are holding it fragile. The work of the gospel comes at a cost.
Jeremy Simpson:Oftentimes, we hold the gospel in this this this clay jar and we hold on to it. We protect it like it's ours and and and we have the gospel in our lives and we're like the our our our job is just to make sure things don't fall apart.
Jeremy Simpson:Our clients come to us broken and hurt, and we try
Jeremy Simpson:to help them come back together. Don't don't don't don't ever try to let someone heal without understanding how the gospel meets them in their brokenness. And don't ever fail to realize that, ultimately, when it says that we hold this this this gospel message in earthen vessels, the point is trying to get through in this whole verse is sometimes the best way to to allow the gospel to flow forth in your life is to allow yourself to be broken. We cannot fail to understand how much in our brokenness the gospel can shine in our lives and the gospel can come forth. And when still, we fight so hard to hold
Jeremy Simpson:it all together. We fight so hard to put on
Jeremy Simpson:a show and to fake like we got everything figured out and God's saying in your brokenness, I can shine greater than you could ever hope or imagine. 13 through 15. And we'll, his 4th and 16 through 18 is 5th. We'll go through these quick. But having the same spirit of faith according to what is written, I believe, therefore I spoke.
Jeremy Simpson:We also believe, therefore we also speak. Knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us up also. And Jesus will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes. For that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.
Jeremy Simpson:Verse 13 through 15, we share the gospel because the glory of God deserves it. That should be enough. We share the gospel because God deserves it. I talk about my kids. I've already talked about my kids a couple of times in this.
Jeremy Simpson:I talk about my kids all the time. Again, I don't really care if you like my kids. I would rather you like my kids. They're really likable. They're dang cute.
Jeremy Simpson:I get that from their mom.
Jeremy Simpson:I don't know. Or mom's complicated statement, but one's adopted. Make sure that's clear.
Jeremy Simpson:I don't really worry about whether you like my kids. I don't talk about my kids for you to like them. I talk about them because I can't not. I love my kids. I love my wife.
Jeremy Simpson:I love talking about my wife. I love to talk about them, but I don't do it transactionally. I don't do I don't talk about my family because I want you to love my family. I talk about my family because I am in awe of my family. We should be people who talk about Jesus because we are
Jeremy Simpson:in awe of Jesus. We should
Jeremy Simpson:be people who talk about God because the glory of God deserves it. We shouldn't be able to not talk about it. How dare we say we are followers of him? He's the king and ruler of our life when we don't use our words about him. That's not okay.
Jeremy Simpson:You can't reconcile that. Our lives and our words have to match up with how we talk about Jesus and how we value Jesus in our lives. Lastly, 16 through 18. Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary light affliction is producing in us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.
Jeremy Simpson:The world. And so, we're gonna be looking at the world. And so, we're gonna be looking at the world. And so, we're gonna be looking at the world. And so, we're gonna be looking at the world.
Jeremy Simpson:We talk about Jesus because that's the only thing we're talking about. And we spend so much time worrying about things and trying to accomplish things that don't matter. We spend so much time talking about things that will, that will fade away. We spend so much effort into with our time, our words, our money, our resources, everything we have into things that don't matter, and we don't spend anywhere enough time talking about Jesus, sharing the gospel with our mouths and with our lives and how we live. Robert Coleman said, world evangelism is a divinely ordered goal for every Christian.
Jeremy Simpson:Not only is it obtainable, it is inevitable. Whether or not we believe it, someday the gospel of the kingdom will be heard
Jeremy Simpson:to the ends of the earth. Matthew 24:14. But the God
Jeremy Simpson:of the universe will not be defeated in his purpose. Any action, listen to this, any action not in step with his design for human destiny is an exercise in futility. The sooner we realize this than align our way to his way, the sooner we will be relevant to eternity. I don't know about you, but I I kinda like the idea of being relevant to eternity. I kinda like the idea that my life could matter.
Jeremy Simpson:I kinda like the idea that my time on earth is not wasted. And what the Bible tells me, if I like that idea, I better be talking about Jesus. Because that's how we live for things of eternal significance. I want you to I want you to see here, like, there's nothing in this passage hardly at all about we share the gospel so people come to know Christ. Now that is a motivation.
Jeremy Simpson:There's a reason why Paul's mainly writing his passage to people who who are who are being, who are struggling for motivation for those who just the spirit has not got them
Jeremy Simpson:in a position to hear it.
Jeremy Simpson:But there's other times Paul writes in other places that he says his life is in debt to those who do not know. Like, yes, we are motivated to share the gospel. We'll get by our love for the lost. Absolutely. But it's not just our love for the lost.
Jeremy Simpson:We need to realize that ultimately, we don't share the gospel just for this transaction of people coming to know him or just for this result of something happening in our lives. Yes. We do that. We do share the gospel so that people because because god chose chooses to use and power our words to save people. It's not our words to save them, not our words to convict them, but god does use god does choose to put his power into our words to save them.
Jeremy Simpson:I don't know why
Jeremy Simpson:he does that. That's how he chooses to do it. But, ultimately, that is
Jeremy Simpson:not our primary motivation. Our primary motivation is because it changes us, because we are obedient to him, because we worship and glorify him, because we want our our lives to be of eternal significance. Let's use that. Let's be people who talk about Jesus.
Herbie Newell:Thanks again for joining us for the defender bible study. If you enjoy making this podcast a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the Defender Bible Study to make it easier for more people to find. For more resources and information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, please visit us at lifelinechild.org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child. You can email us directly at info at lifelinechild.org.
Herbie Newell:We look forward to seeing you again next week for the defender bible study.
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