[0:00] I'll read you in the name of Jesus this morning. It's been good to be here. Dan shared part of my message, praise the Lord.
[0:23] You know, we are in a battle. Well, we are, there's a war between the two kingdoms. We as the children of God, we are at war today against the kingdom of darkness, against the hosts of hell.
[0:48] Well, the whole world lieth in wickedness. The whole world is under the power of darkness.
[1:00] And as people come to Jesus and they are brought out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, there's a change of ownership, there's a change of allegiance, there's a change from one kingdom into the other.
[1:22] You know, Satan hates the life of Christ.
[1:34] He doesn't necessarily hate your life, but if you have the life of Christ in you, that's what he hates and that's why he attacks you.
[1:44] Ephesians tells us that he, God has quickened us. We are quickened through Christ in Ephesians 2.
[1:57] You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past he walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
[2:18] That describes all of us. We were all children of disobedience. We were all under the power of the devil, the prince of the power of the air.
[2:33] He is the spirit that works in the children of disobedience. And he goes on, he says, Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and we're by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
[2:56] So we were all there. But God in his mercy, he has brought us out. Maybe through the witness of someone, maybe through our parents or through going to church, we came to Christ.
[3:12] And praise God for that. But now as we walk with him, as we walk this walk, you know, there's so much that we take for granted.
[3:31] There's so much that the devil would like us to forget. He wants us to forget.
[4:05] He wants us to forget. And now in verse 6 here in Ephesians 2, he says, He has raised us up together. He has made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
[4:21] So we are seated together with Christ in heavenly places. We are seated with him far above all principalities and powers and might and all those things that chapter 1 talks about.
[4:37] We are seated with Christ above them. And so we can have victory. We can live a victorious life. We can defeat the devil if we will but walk with Christ.
[4:52] Now the devil, he will always try to come with a compromise. You know, he has nothing to lose. You belong to Jesus and he doesn't like that.
[5:06] So he comes and he attacks the life of Christ. But, you know, it's probably easier to withstand a direct assault against that life than it is when he comes and he just tries to, you know, just like he said to Eve, hath God really said?
[5:26] You know, the question that we hear nowadays is, what's wrong with that? It's the devil asking that same question. Did God really say?
[5:38] Did God really mean what he said? Does this word really mean what it says? You know, there's many subtle changes.
[5:48] There's many subtle changes that he will bring and lies that he will bring and try to deceive us. You know, the King James says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God.
[6:06] And it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. You know, there's another version that says, well, all inspired scripture is given of God or something like that.
[6:21] In other words, it doesn't say that all scripture is inspired by God. You know, subtle changes that the devil has brought. And he will try to blind us.
[6:35] He will try to get us to compromise and to give in. And then there's always the thing of pressure, peer pressure and persecution.
[6:53] You know, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Now, many will say we don't have persecution in this land. But we've had persecution here for many years.
[7:08] It's just been different than in China and North Korea and those places. You know, if you will walk with God, if you will stand out as that peculiar man that is sold out to Jesus Christ, there will be much pressure against you.
[7:31] I can guarantee you that. All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
[7:46] You know, we sang that song, will your anchor hold. Will your anchor hold. You know, this hope.
[7:56] Hebrews says that this hope that we have, this word of God and this hope that we have of eternal life, the blood of Jesus, the hope we have in Christ, it is given to us.
[8:12] It is given to us. It is given to us an anchor for the soul. That in the midst of the storms of life, we can come to this word and it will be our anchor.
[8:25] The blood of Christ and his provisions and all that he's done. This hope that we have of eternal life, it is an anchor of the soul.
[8:41] Revelation 12, 11, I believe it is, says, They overcame him. How? By the blood of the Lamb.
[8:52] By the word of their testimony. And they loved not their lives until the death. You know, we are not asked to lay down this physical life that they will kill us because we stand for Christ.
[9:09] But if we will live a sacrificial life, if we will live as Jesus would have us to live, having him first in life, having him on the throne of our heart, there will be persecution.
[9:30] And the time might very well come soon that we will be asked to lay down our lives for the name of Jesus. I'm going to go to Matthew.
[9:46] Probably spend a good bit of time in Matthew. But Jesus, in Matthew chapter 9, in verse 37, he says, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labors are few.
[10:02] Pray ye therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labors into his harvest field. He says that the harvest, it's a vast harvest, and the labors are few.
[10:16] And I believe he's still saying the same thing today. You know, he sent forth his disciples. He sent them forth. He commissioned them to go and preach the gospel.
[10:28] He said, Go ye in all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. You know, let's just read that while we're quoting it in Matthew 28.
[10:41] All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you.
[10:58] And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Jesus speaking here and commissioning his church, not only the 12 disciples, but us today commissioning us to take this gospel to a lost and a dying world.
[11:20] He said, All power is given unto me. And because all power is given to Jesus, he said, Go ye therefore. Where shall we go? We shall go into all the world.
[11:31] Why? Because the labors are few and he needs more labors. And he's calling us to go into this vast field and to bring the life of Christ to a lost and a dying world.
[11:46] Back to where the battle is at. The battle is against the life of Christ. It's against the life of Christ. And Jesus wants his life to be taken out into this dying world.
[12:03] We look here in Matthew chapter 9, in verse 35, just a couple of verses before what we read. Jesus went about all cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
[12:28] But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd.
[12:42] Jesus was moved with compassion. He was moved with compassion. When? And when he saw the multitudes, the multitudes spread out and they were just as sheep without a shepherd.
[12:54] He was there preaching. He was there healing them and teaching them and meeting their need. But he felt such a compassion. Why?
[13:05] Because those that should have been their shepherds, they were not shepherding them. All they were doing was leading them in religious rites and so on.
[13:17] And it had no life. Jesus wanted this multitude to experience the life of Christ.
[13:29] And it's still the same today. The multitude spread out across the world. Jesus would have them experience his life.
[13:39] But they're under the power of darkness. And the church must go and bring the life of Christ to a lost and a dying world.
[13:51] I believe Jesus is still moved with compassion looking at the multitudes of people that do not know him.
[14:03] Jesus, he gave us a lot of instruction and a lot of direction here while he was here.
[14:24] And we'll read some of that. Maybe in chapter 6. Chapter 6, verse 33.
[14:37] But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.
[14:51] Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. You know, just looking at this and thinking of this verse.
[15:05] Seek ye first the kingdom of God. You know, as we walk with him, we must put him first. He must be on the throne of our heart.
[15:17] And whatever he asks of us, we must be willing to do it. We must be willing to take this gospel wherever it might be. Seek ye first the kingdom of God.
[15:32] Now let's back up. Let's go to... Let's go to verse 19, chapter 6. Let's lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doeth corrupt, where thieves break through and steal.
[15:48] But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doeth corrupt, where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
[16:03] Where your treasure is, where we have our priorities. That's where our heart is.
[16:15] You know, you can... You know, a man can say whatever he wants to say. But when he gets up and he starts walking, he walks a different path than what his words said.
[16:28] You know his life. It's not what his words were, but it's what his walk is. Where your priorities are, that's where your treasure is.
[16:41] Your treasure is where your heart is. Your priorities are at that place. Where is it? Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
[16:55] The light of the body is the eye, if therefore that eye be single. The whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, my whole body shall be full of darkness.
[17:07] If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness. You know, do we allow the light of Jesus Christ, the light of the gospel, to shine in our heart and to lead us and to dictate our life?
[17:25] Or is that light darkened? And we will look later in Corinthians, where it says that... I can't quote it, we'll look at it later.
[17:42] how that... how that... the devil has blinded those that believe not. So we'll look at that later.
[17:54] Verse 24, No man can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. He cannot serve God and mammon.
[18:07] You cannot... you cannot have your treasure here and be serving something else. You're... it's gonna be one or the other.
[18:18] If your treasure is on this earth, then you will not be serving God. You cannot serve God and mammon. Yes, we need money and all of that.
[18:29] We need things. We need houses and all of that. But... who is on the throne? Are we serving God first? Is that... is...
[18:39] is he our treasure? Do we want him more than anything else? Do we desire him and his righteousness more than anything else in life?
[18:54] You know, there's many that have gone before us that have laid down their lives for the name of Christ. and we might...
[19:04] we might get into some of that. But... when it comes down to it and you make that decision between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness, which way will you go?
[19:21] Which way will you go? When it calls for a sacrifice for the kingdom of God, will you do it? Will you lay down your life?
[19:34] Will you sacrifice for your plans for next week? Will you sacrifice your hunting for something else? For the kingdom of God? Will you...
[19:45] you know, the list is endless. Will we put Jesus first? Is he on the throne of our heart? If any man will come after me in chapter 16, chapter 16, and verse 24, Jesus said to his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself.
[20:10] Let him take up his cross and follow me. Deny self. That's the Christian life. It's a life of self-denial.
[20:21] You know, if we will share the life of Christ with others, it means laying down our own life. It means sacrificing our own desires.
[20:33] It means sacrificing my will and giving to those around about me the life of Christ. Deny self.
[20:45] Take up our cross and follow Jesus. Whosoever will save his life will lose it. Whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
[20:56] What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of the Father with his angels.
[21:12] Then he shall reward every man according to his works. What is a man profited if he gains the whole world? If you gain all the riches of the whole world and you lose your soul, it's a bad deal.
[21:28] It's the worst of all deals. Yes. What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? You know, he doesn't even answer. Why doesn't he answer that question?
[21:40] Because it's quite obvious. There's nothing that we can give to buy back our soul. Hebrews asks the question, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?
[21:59] How will we escape if we neglect? There is no escape. There's no escape if we neglect. There's no escape for laziness.
[22:09] There's no escape for neglect in our Christian life, in our walk with God. If we will serve him, we must deny ourselves.
[22:22] We must deny our own desires, our own will, our own selfishness, and follow him. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.
[22:38] Jesus said in Matthew 5, blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
[23:10] Verse 6, are you hungry, are you thirsty for more of Christ? are you hungry for this word?
[23:21] Do you long for the life of Christ? Verse 10, blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
[23:36] You know, if we will follow Christ with all our heart, then we will face opposition, we will face we will face persecution, but Jesus said, blessed, blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness' sake.
[23:58] Why? Because theirs is the kingdom of heaven. If we stand for the kingdom of heaven to the point that we're persecuted, praise God.
[24:10] Praise God. it's because the life of Christ is within us. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.
[24:27] Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
[24:38] Another place says, woe when all men speak well of you. You know, yes, we like to have a good report, we like to have a good reputation, but woe when all men speak well of you.
[24:53] Why? Because the enemy that is controlling those people out there, he will raise up opposition against you.
[25:04] Yes, he will if you are following Christ with all your heart, you will be hated of all men. Matthew 10. Verse 16, Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.
[25:32] Be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves, but beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the consuls. They will scourge you in their synagogues, and ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
[25:54] but when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what you shall speak, for it shall be given you in that same hour what you shall speak.
[26:08] For it is not ye that speak, but the spirit of your father which speaketh in you. The brother shall deliver up the brother to death, the father the child, the children shall rise up against their parents, cause them to be put to death, and ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
[26:33] Notice, he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. Jesus is not just looking for us to start this walk and to start in the kingdom of God, to start in the Christian life, but he is looking that we continue faithful, and we endure whatever comes our way, that we endure unto the end.
[26:59] Revelation talks about overcomers. Brother Dan mentioned that this morning, he that overcomes will partake of the tree of life, and there's other things, but overcomers, that's what Jesus is looking for, that we overcome.
[27:18] That we overcome what? We overcome the devil, we overcome his kingdom, we overcome, first of all, in our personal life, and then we help others to overcome, and to be delivered from the powers of darkness.
[27:36] And as we do that, we will be hated, first of all, by our enemy, the devil, but he will bring up hatred against us from men.
[27:48] Yes, why? Because if they're not in the kingdom of God, then they are in the kingdom of darkness, and they're under his control.
[28:12] Faithful into the end. Many times, many times, people are tempted to turn back.
[28:31] You know, in the parable of the sower, he brings out how people start out, and then there's opposition, and they turn around.
[28:47] Let's see if I can find that here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. in Luke, it says, in time of temptation, they fall away.
[29:17] In time of temptation, in time of trial, in time of difficulty, people turn away. Will we turn away, or will we continue faithful unto the end?
[29:33] Take heed, therefore, how ye hear. Now, I want to read here in Luke 9. First, we'll read verse 62.
[29:56] Jesus said unto him, No man having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. You know, once we've made that decision, we need to continue on in that way.
[30:13] Hebrews 11, talking about all the heroes of faith, and all those people, how they were faithful, and how they continued on, and even laid down their lives for the sake of God, for the sake of Christ.
[30:30] And then, he says also, he says, if they would have looked back, if they would have been mindful of where they came from, they would have had opportunity to return back again.
[30:46] You know, Abraham, he left home, and he went to Canaan, the land of Canaan, the land of promise. But if he would have always been looking back to Syria, and yearning to go back, you know, he would have had plenty of opportunity to go back, but he didn't.
[31:08] It's the same with us today. If we look back, if we don't keep our focus on our God, and his kingdom, and his work, we will have opportunity to go back.
[31:26] Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
[31:49] Yes. Turn to Acts 5. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
[32:00] Yes. Well, here in Acts we have the apostles were brought before the council and they were threatened.
[32:14] In chapter 4, they were threatened and they were commanded not to speak at all or teach in the name of Jesus. And then in chapter 5, it started in verse 29.
[32:41] Then Peter and the other apostles answered. In verse 28, they asked him, Did we not command you not to teach in this name?
[32:54] Behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. And Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
[33:07] You know, the apostles, compromise was not a part of their vocabulary. They didn't try to strike a deal with these people.
[33:21] They didn't try to say, Well, okay, we'll stay out of the temple. No. They said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
[33:34] And they drew the line. And they said, We will obey God. We cannot obey you. What were they saying? Look at, just think with me.
[33:46] What they were saying, the religious leaders, the very men that had crucified Jesus, they were saying, Oh, you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.
[33:57] Well, it was already on their hands. But they were just outright telling them, You are wrong. Boldness. Boldness.
[34:10] Boldness. Because of the Holy Oath upon them. We ought to obey God rather than men.
[34:21] The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
[34:38] And we are his witnesses of these things. And so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
[34:48] They were saying that they are witnesses. They are Jesus' witnesses. And we today are witnesses.
[35:00] We are his witnesses here in this world. Carrying the same gospel. Carrying the same message. The message of salvation.
[35:11] The message of our Lord, who came and gave his life. Verse 33.
[35:22] When they heard that, they were cut to the heart and took counsel to slay them. You know, they would have just been quiet.
[35:35] They wouldn't have had any opposition. You know, how many times have we stayed quiet? Because we were afraid of opposition.
[35:49] No man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. You know, we put our hand to the plow. And we go.
[35:59] We start plowing. We look back. We're going to plow a crooked pearl. Hebrews chapter 10.
[36:25] We're 39.
[36:42] But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. Again, overcoming, faithful unto the end.
[36:57] You know, there's nowhere in the scripture where he gives room to start this race and to be born again and then just sit down and live your life and coast into heaven at the end of life.
[37:14] No, but it's a fight. It's a battle. It's a walk with God. It's doing battle with the enemy and overcoming the enemy.
[37:24] How? By the blood of the Lamb, by the word of our testimony, and not loving our life unto the death. You know, like the apostles. You know, many of them ended up later giving their lives.
[37:42] Most of them were martyred for their faith. Martyred because they were preaching the gospel. But here, let's read a few more verses here.
[37:55] Let's back up a little bit. So, let's start. Start in verse 32 in Hebrews 10.
[38:06] Called to remembrance the former days in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions. After you came to Christ, after you were delivered out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, you were illuminated.
[38:24] And when you were illuminated, when you became a child of God, what happened? You endure a great fight of afflictions. You know, the devil does not like it when you're no longer under his control.
[38:39] And so, he's going to come after you. That's where the fight comes in. Partly whilst ye were made a gazing stock, both by reproaches and afflictions, and partly whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.
[38:57] For ye had compassion of me and my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.
[39:10] Notice, taking joyfully the spoiling of your goods. Where is your treasure? Is it here in your goods in this world? Or is it, are you laying up treasures in heaven where moth and rust doesn't corrupt and the thief can't break through and steal?
[39:30] They can't spoil your goods if they're in heaven. Verse 35. Cast not away, therefore, your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.
[39:45] Cast not away your confidence. Don't, don't, don't give up. Don't draw back. Let me find a verse in Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 15, 58.
[40:07] Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
[40:19] Our labor is not in vain in the Lord. It doesn't matter what happens. It doesn't matter, you know, if it looks hopeless, if it looks like, you know, we're not getting anything accomplished.
[40:36] I was texting with a brother last night, and he said, you know, sometimes I just feel so alone. Sometimes I just feel so alone.
[40:46] But even as he's saying this, he's on his way to minister this weekend. And, and, and, you know, sometimes it seems like our labor might be in vain, but it is not in vain.
[41:01] It is not in vain. Never give up. You know, we, we are called to sow the seed. We are called to sow the seed, and, and it is God that gives the increase.
[41:16] And so as we take the seed, the seed of the word of God, we take it out, and we sow this seed. Liberally we sow it.
[41:28] And it falls on all kinds of soil. Yes, it falls on, on, on good ground. It falls on stony ground. It, it falls in the weeds.
[41:39] It falls everywhere. But it is God. It is up to God to bring the increase. Let us not be discouraged.
[41:54] Let's not draw back. But let us continue. Let us walk with God and fulfill the calling that he has placed upon your life. You know, in Leviticus, Moses was instructing Aaron and his sons.
[42:15] And, and everything was very, very precise and very strict. And he charged them. He said, keep the charge of the Lord that ye die not.
[42:27] Keep the charge of the Lord. You know, we are all, we all have a charge of the Lord. We all have the Spirit of God.
[42:38] We all have gifts of the Spirit. We've all been given a work to do. Are we keeping that charge? Are we faithful in the charge that God has put upon your life?
[42:53] Are you faithful with that? You know, if, if not, I believe it will open the door for death to come in.
[43:04] Let's finish here in Hebrews and I want to go to Corinthians. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.
[43:18] You know, there's a reward for those that are faithful. It's a reward of eternal life in heaven with our Lord and Savior. Hallelujah. For ye have need of patience that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
[43:38] After we have done the will of God, after we've been faithful our whole life, after we've served God with all our heart for all our years, then we will receive the reward.
[43:51] We will receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come and will not tarry our Lord.
[44:02] He will come when the time is right. Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
[44:14] But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. The just shall live by faith. You know, it doesn't matter how things look.
[44:26] It doesn't matter how hopeless things look. We must continue to walk in faith and trusting in our Savior, trusting in the Holy Ghost to lead us and guide us.
[44:38] The just shall live by faith. You know, if you would know, if you could see the future down to the end of your life, you wouldn't need any faith, would you?
[44:54] But you need faith to walk it out. You need faith to walk one step at a time. You need faith in our Savior to know what His will is for you today and tomorrow and next week, next month, next year.
[45:13] Yes. The just shall live by faith. And if we draw back, He will not have pleasure in us. You know, there's a verse here in chapter 11.
[45:38] There's a couple of verses I want to read. That's in verse 14. In verse 13, it says, They confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
[45:50] Are you a stranger and a pilgrim on the earth? Or have we become residents? You know, we live here, but our citizenship is in heaven.
[46:07] They that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. Truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence it came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
[46:25] You know, if you are always mindful of the things that you left behind in the world, you will have ample opportunity to return to them.
[46:37] But now, we desire a better country that is a heavenly. wherefore, because of this, because we desire a heavenly country more than the earthly, more than our past, more than the world we came out of, we desire a heavenly country and we desire the kingdom of God.
[47:03] Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called our God, for He has prepared for us a city. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
[47:14] God, is God ashamed that you call yourself a child? Or is He, is He happy to say, yes, yes, that's my son.
[47:26] Yes, He's mine. Yes, He walks with me. Yes, He, I, I lead Him by my spirit. I show Him where to go. I tell Him what to say. Yes.
[47:36] Yes. How is it? 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians.
[48:05] In chapter 3, He's talking about children of Israel and so on and then this is how there's a veil over there, over the children of Israel.
[48:25] Why? Because they rejected the Messiah. And now, verse 17, chapter 3, now the Lord is that spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
[48:40] But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the spirit of the Lord.
[49:03] Another version says, we are changed and the word says, we are changed more and more into the image of Christ.
[49:29] And the word says that when we see Him, we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is. We will be changed. Yes.
[49:40] And this, this is our ministry. Let's continue in chapter 4. Therefore, seeing we have this ministry as we have received mercy, we faint not.
[49:53] We have received this ministry to be changed into the image of our Lord and to bring this gospel to a lost and a dying world.
[50:07] And we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully. You know, that is what the devil does.
[50:19] He handles the word of God deceitfully to deceive the children of God as he attacks the life of Christ.
[50:31] Ephesians says they lie in wait to deceive those false teachers. They lie in wait to deceive. The devil just loves to teach the Bible that he might deceive the children of God.
[50:48] 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.
[51:14] Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. So the God of this world, he has blinded the minds of those that believe not.
[51:30] He brings a blindness lest they would come to the light of the gospel, lest they would be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.
[51:49] He has blinded the minds that believe not. You know, and that is why it is so dangerous to reject the word of God.
[52:00] You know, when we hear this word, when people hear this word and they reject it, they don't, or they push it off. They know it is right, they know it spoke their heart, but they push it off.
[52:15] That's because of unbelief. And the next thing they know, the devil will bring a blindness into their life, into their heart. He says here, the God of this world, he blinds the minds of those that believe not.
[52:33] Verse 5, for we preach, not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves, your servants, for Jesus' sake.
[52:45] For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
[53:01] But we have this treasure in earth and vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.
[53:12] 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 of Jesus might be made manifest.
[53:32] You know, we have this treasure. What is this treasure? It's the life of Christ. is the treasure within us. And we have that treasure in our earthen vessels, these bodies of clay, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.
[53:54] You know, these physical bodies, they're weak, but his spirit is strong. What did the apostle say?
[54:04] Where is that? In 2 Corinthians 12, he says, God, Jesus said to him, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
[54:26] Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then am I strong.
[54:51] Hallelujah. Lord, yes, we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the power of God might manifest through us, that the life of Christ can manifest itself to the lost and the dying world, to a world that is in bondage to the devil, to a world that is enslaved by the devil, Jesus came to set them free, and he wants to use you and you to do that, to set them free.
[55:35] Can he use you? Are you faithful in the charge that the Lord has given you in the work that he has given you to do?
[55:51] are you faithful? Are you faithful? Let's pray.