Therefore, since we
have this ministry,
as we have received
mercy,
we do not lose heart.
But we have renounced
the hidden things of
shame,
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.
2 Corinthians 4: 1 --
2
Paul, the
other apostles, our pastors, and other church leaders, evangelists,
missionaries, and teachers of God's Word are our fellow -- labourers. All Christians are entrusted with the ministry
of the Gospel. God gives mercy to His
children, to those who do not faint in their work, or draw back from the work
of the Gospel due to some difficulties encountered. By being a fellow-worker of God then, you have received great
mercy and grace and it is rightly so that you are called a saint. And as a faithful fellow --laborer you have
heard the call of God and are doing what He has instructed you to do. Due to this call of God to be a fellow-worker we do not lose heart, rather we denounce those things that would bring
shame upon us. We renounce anyone or
anything that would cause us to be crafty or handling the Word of God
deceitfully. As co-workers and fellow-workers with God we are to manifest the truth and by this we can commend ourselves
to the consciences to anyone in the sight of God. First things first! We
have an example in the Bible that teaches us much about our God and what He
requires of us. This familiar story
about the rich man (Luke 18:22 -- 23) is about this man who heard what Jesus
Christ said and determined it to be a harsh word. Have you ever heard Jesus Christ say a hard word? If not, then there is a question as to
whether or not you have heard anything from our Savior. The problem is so often that when Jesus
speaks we simply don't listen to that which He has said, we don't want to hear it so
we don't, and this because that which Jesus said is amazingly hard. This young man came to Jesus and wanted to
follow Him and before this would be allowed even though this young man was a
faithful Jewish believer Jesus pointed out that he lacked something: "So when Jesus heard these things, He
said to him, ‘You still lack one thing.
Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven; and come -- follow me’" (Luke 18 -- 22). Have you ever heard such a harsh word spoken
to you by Jesus Christ when you are reading his word and the Holy Spirit opens
the word to teach you what you need to do to follow Him? When this man, and possibly you, heard the
requirements of Jesus did this: "But
when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich" (Luke
18:23). What is the most telling is
that Jesus never pleaded, and never cajoled, and never entrapped, He simply
spoke those words and then left it alone.
It is not that this man did not understand the words of Jesus, he did
and he sidestepped what it meant, and it broke his heart. This rich young ruler left sorrowfully and
not defiantly, he was thoroughly discouraged.
Maybe your desire is to be rich, to be famous, to have possessions, a
large home, fancy clothes, and want people to see you as successful. As some have fallen prey to as leaders of
the church, as well as others in the church, to be successful as the world seen
successful they are willing to be crafty and handle the Word of God
deceitfully. They are not manifestly
demonstrating the truth of God. So
often when we read the Word of God we only read those very soft words about the
love of Jesus and our need to be philanthropic and this sounds so good, so
Christian this seems as though we are being devoted to Jesus Christ. Is that true? Or is it that you are holding fast to your devotion and your devotion
is to what you are doing rather than having an enthusiastic devotion for what
Jesus Christ is asked of you. As with
the rich young ruler who departed in sorrow and discouragement, Jesus Christ
has met you on that point. Sell all
that you have, this does not necessarily mean to sell your home or your clothes
are anything else, deeper than that is this: undress yourself morally before
God of everything that might be a possession until you are a mere conscious
human being, for your consciousness is on God, and then give God that. The
battle we fight is right at this point, this is the battle line, and that
battle is the domain of your will before God.
Are you devoted to your idea of what Jesus wants than to Jesus
Himself? If this is true, then you are
most likely to have sorrow produced in you when you hear His hard sayings. If you do not have the disposition of Jesus
Christ, you will not hear what He has said and then often we allow other
words from other people to soften our stance before God, therefore beware of
allowing anything to soften His hard sayings.
Are you willing to be destitute?
That is, to be destitute of any sense that you are destitute? Discouragement is disenchanted self-love,
and your self- love may be the love of your devotion to Jesus, rather than have
love of Him. God means us to live a
fully-orbed life in Christ Jesus. Never
allow anything to divide your life in Christ so that you do not remain in him
because you have not faced that which is dividing up your life in Christ. Do not dispute with God, the real with God,
and come unto Him: (Matthew 9:28).
He who dwells in
this secret place
of the Most High shall abide
under the shadow of
the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD,
"He is my
refuge and my fortress;
my God, in Him I will trust."
Psalm
91: 1 -- 2
God is at your side:
do not be afraid
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