Bible Roulette - Part 6 - Treasure in earthen vessels [The Bride of Christ]

This is a place where we talk about the bible. Jason Ryan Smurzynski looks into the Word of the Lord and just like you, desires to know what is actually going on. The Holy Spirit will open your ears to hear the truth and your minds to understand scripture. Together we will explore portions of the Bible that you don't normally hear at Sunday service at church. The veil will be lifted and the mystery of Jesus Christ will be explained.
Your invited to be The Bride of Christ.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:18

What's up, guys? Dark Desert Highway here with another edition of Bible Roulette, the game we like to play when we just grab our Bibles, flip it open to the first page, and start reading and seeing what we can find in the Word of the Lord for our lives today, because the Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is unchanging, which creates a lot of stability, really. I can lean heavily on the word of the Lord, really counting on the fulfillment of scripture. We've come across a lot of things that say, if you do this, I will do this, or this will happen. And the fulfillment of those scriptures in our lives is guaranteed. So when we see these spiritual principles, we can lean heavily on them. And we know in our hearts we have faith, but we also have the confidence of knowing that the Lord will fulfill his portion of the scripture. But it it's about consistency. It's about the mountain of faith really is, I guess, the best word. It's it's really counting on him. So today we're gonna be in Second Corinthians chapter four. Therefore, verse one, therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy, we do not give up. Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God, but commending ourselves before God to everyone's conscience by an open display of the truth. So first of all, therefore, since we have this ministry, because we were shown mercy and what a merciful God He is, if I look at my life and the blatant disregard for His Word and my own selfishness, I see a punishment at the end of the road for myself. And without his intercession, without him interceding in my life and making a divide between the old man and the new man that I have now, unless he had stepped in and done a work in my life, I would not have been able to continue in, thank you, Lord, in my sinful, selfish ways, because the maturity, the fullness of sin in its maturity is death. So I was courting death really, like a relationship. I was I was entering into a relationship with death through my relationship with sin. Thank you, Lord, and I was courting death. So since we have been shown mercy, we do not give up. Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God, but commending ourselves before God to everyone's conscience by an open display of the truth. And I like the way that the word is um shown to us here. Because we were shown mercy, we do not give up. Well, have we given up? There's an action that has been taken on our behalfs here. We have been shown mercy, we do not give up. So it's insinuating that we haven't given up, um uh indicating that we should not give up. That because we have been shown mercy, we do not give up. So if we have given up, get up and realize that we have been shown mercy. Instead, we have renounced. So it's speaking in a form of speaking, speaking in a way that is motivating me because he has done this on my behalf. I don't give up, and I have renounced. It's speaking in the past tense, as if I have already done these things. But what it is, is it's another man who has received the same gift as we have and the same mercy as we have, with the determination in his heart and in his soul to take action on behalf of, well, not on behalf, take action because of what the Lord has done for us. So what's he saying that that because he has received this, what was his response in the reception of this mercy? Well, he's not giving up, that's that's for sure. And he instead we have, verse 2, instead we have, past hence, renounced the secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God. Okay, so he's done that, he's renounced secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully, distorting the word of God, knowing the truth, knowing what he knows to be true about God, but hiding what he knows to be true about God within himself so that he can still continue to satisfy the flesh, which is a you know, it's uh something that happens, man. I've hid the word of the Lord in my heart and behaved and acted deceitfully in the self-satisfaction of my sin, knowing the truth, but not expressing what I know to be true about God, because I'm hiding it intentionally so that I can satisfy myself with the sins of the flesh. So instead of doing that, renouncing the secret and shameful things, getting rid of our sin because it is 100% about how we live our lives. 100%. Every time Israel was conquered and taken into captivity, it's because the way they lived their lives before the Lord's eyes. So Israel received a king, the king acted deceitfully, leading to the people acting deceitfully, which led them into rebellion against God and into the service of foreign gods that they did not know, serving them. The Lord's anger was kindled against them because of the way that they lived, and then the enemy would come up against them and take them away into captivity, and then they would be captive there for a period of time until the Lord would raise up a prophet and win the hearts. Like, have you had enough of this captivity? Have you had enough of the consequence of your sin? The sin of leaving and leading a life before the eyes of the Lord that was sinful, he would raise up a prophet that would lead the people's hearts back to himself, and um he would redeem them from their captivity, put them back in their own land, and fulfill his promise that he had promised to them in his word. Um he didn't have to say it again because it's already been said, and that's the thing. What the Lord determined to express to his people has already been spoken. It's been spoken and it's been put in this book. So it was the promises of yesterday, it was the promises of the previous years that the Lord has spoken. He doesn't need to speak again, he's spoken, the Lord has spoken. How many times does he need to say the same thing? Once. He says things, they are the way that he says, and he is determined to fulfill his word in our obedience or in our disobedience. Thank you, Lord. So choose life, right? Today I set before you life and death. Choose life. Why will you die, house of Israel? Right? So instead, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God. We distort the word of the Lord through hiding the Lord's word within our hearts and within our minds, because it's been written on our hearts, and it's something that we have received from him. And we distort the word of God by chasing after our own selfish desire to satisfy our sin. And we say yes to the sin when we know better. We know better. So we make allowance for these things, we justify these things in our life, even in the light of the truth that we have, and we know, we know, man. You know, and I know what we're doing, right? But we we justify these things in our life to give them place so that we can continue chasing after the things that we want to chase after. But he's speaking in a way where he has already renounced the secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God, but commending ourselves before God to everyone's conscience by an open display of the truth. So commending ourselves before God daily, daily, I and it hasn't always been this way, but I wake up with uh understanding that the Lord is right there. And his eyes, nothing is hidden before his eyes. So I wake up with the knowledge of the presence of the Lord of God in our lives. His kingdom is set on the edge of the human. It's set on the edge of the earth. Look, when Stephen was being stoned, he looked up and the heavens opened, and he saw the Lord standing beside the right hand of the Father. Right? So he's right there. When I think about the Lord on a daily basis, I look up to the sky and I see him. I don't see him, I see him right there. If I was to put a place to the position of the Lord, um it would be on the edge of the world, right? Not some faraway kingdom where he hears reports about things but does not see them himself. He is witnessing everything that we're doing as if he was presiding over earth on the edge of the skies, man. Like he's sitting right there. If Stefan was able to look up and heavens opened, and he saw the Father sitting at the right hand of God, or standing at the right hand of God, he saw him and he was right there. So what I'm saying is that when I wake up on a daily basis, I look up and that's it, that's where he is. He's not visible to me, but if I was to put a position to him, I would say that he's about that close. So I commend myself before God. I am I'm basically on display for the host of heaven. I'm before the angel's eyes, I'm before the demons' eyes, I'm before the Lord's eyes, the host of heaven. There's a whole kingdom, a whole kingdom with with um living beings, living and and and some of them are living for the Lord in obedience to the Lord, in and and they're occupying the heavenly kingdom, and there's uh governments, and there's uh courts, and there are servants, and there's a whole entire life uh of creatures that I can't see. They see me though. They see me that I'm not hidden, they're just on a different plane than than I'm on, but they see me, they can interact with me. Um demons interact with you, they whisper things into your ears. Um, you know, angels, they're they're running around um uh delivering prayers to the Lord. Um they're um assisting, you know, um, and then you have the Lord Himself presiding. So so I wake up with the understanding that there's a whole world out there that I don't know of. So I commend myself before that. I put on my boots, I put my head down, and I go to work. And I go to work thinking about these things, and I control myself so that I commend myself before God and to everyone's conscience by an open display of the truth, not renouncing, renouncing secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God. I have come to understand that there are no secrets, there is no room that I can lock a door and do something secretly to myself that doesn't exist. So I commend myself before God, knowing that there are no secrets, knowing that the host of heaven are and and the Lord is presiding, um, and I make an open display of the truth. If verse three, if our gospel is veiled, if you can't see what I see, if the truth of the God if the truth of the Lord is hidden from you still, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. So there's two classes of people. There are those who belong to the Lord, and there are those who do not belong to the Lord. If the gospel is veiled, so there are a group where the truth, the word of the Lord, has been revealed, revealed to the hearts and minds of men. It's taking, it's taken away by our confession that Jesus Christ is Lord, and our belief in our hearts that God has raised him from the dead. Um, the veil is taken away. Um, so that is a class of people where the veil has been lifted and the truth of the Lord is being revealed on a daily basis to those that belong to him. And there is another class of people where the gospel is still veiled to this day. If the gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the God of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we are not proclaiming ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ. So let's keep going. Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. So he has given us the assurance by his Holy Spirit that we belong to the Lord. Um, if you have been baptized by the Holy Spirit, you have been given a gift inside of your body, you have been given a treasure, a treasure of truth and understanding and the Holy Spirit who gives us understanding, who reveals the Lord to us, he quickens us, he gives us the truth about what we have come to believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God has raised him from the dead. And he grows us up in the knowledge of this so that we begin. That's the divide that's been made. The divide. When you're baptized by the Holy Spirit, a divide has happened. You have the old man and you have the new man. The new man is like a child, and he is the child is first given the milk of the word, the understanding of the fundamentals of the gospel, repentance of sins, leaving behind worldly things, coming to understand what this author has already come to understand, that he had been shown mercy, he's not giving up, and he has renounced the secret and shameful things. But before we come to this point, he's letting us know that this is a point that we should have come to, or that we need to come to. He has come to it, so it is possible to do. Okay? So when you see these things saying that they have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting God's word, the word of God, but commending ourselves before God to everyone's conscience by an open display of the truth. We know it's possible. We know it's possible, but we may be in that infancy stage of learning the fundamentals of God's kingdom and his word may be being revealed to our hearts. So don't give up. Wherever you are, um, if you're just coming into the knowledge of the Lord, good. Let's take our progress and we can add to it to our faith, we can add perseverance to our perseverance, we can add holiness, um, you know, and we can grow up. Things will be revealed to us, and because of the revelation of these things, we will set things aside, we will become stronger, we will learn about new things. Um, so it's a process. So wherever you're at in that process, what we have is a treasure in clay jars. Um, this extraordinary power of the Lord, like I've said before, he has real power, power, um, and he that that power is at work in our lives, separating us from the world and redeeming us from death and sin. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. We are perplexed, but not in despair, we are persecuted but not abandoned, we are struck down but not destroyed. We always carry the death of Jesus in our body so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body. For we who live our lives are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that Jesus' life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh. Okay, and here's where the American part of me comes out, because I don't I don't see these things on a daily basis, but I know that Christians around the world, those who are coming into the understanding of the Lord, are persecuted. They are afflicted, they are crushed, they are perplexed, they are persecuted, they are abandoned, and they are struck down. Okay, so I understand that there's not as much freedom in what I have here in America than what somebody else may have in a country where this is illegal. Um so my hat's off to those who are actually being persecuted because I don't believe I know what persecution is in the form of the the word here, but I know that it happens. So, you know, um all I can say is is don't give up and set your heart um, you know, to hold on to what you've received. And I just I I need you guys to know that that I understand the privilege that I have to be able to speak so freely about these things. Um for we who live, 11, are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so this the so that Jesus' life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh. So then, death is at work in us, but life in you. And since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke. We also believe and therefore speak. I am motivated to speak about the Lord, but I want to do it truthfully, I want to do it correct. I want the word of the Lord to be something that I possess in a way that I can speak and give it to somebody like a gift, to have understanding, um, to have the knowledge of the Lord, um, and to be sure that I present the truth in such a way that it is obtainable by somebody else when I speak. These are the things that I want. If there was one thing that I could ask of the Lord in his presence, I would ask for the understanding of the word of God plainly, plainly so that I could understand. Because everything is structured around the word of God, and if I was to understand his word, then I would possess the greatest treasure that any man can possess. He is everything, he creates things, something from nothing. Um he possesses life and everything that I need. So if I possess his word, if I fully understand his word and I apply it to my life, because that's what the word is, it's an application of understanding. First, it's a revelation, and then we have truth, it has been revealed to us, but so much of it incites change in us that is up to us. We must make these changes, and we see that in the spiritual principles, if we do this, then this happens, and we get hold of those spiritual principles and we apply them to our life, so that if I change this, this is the spiritual consequence for it. Consequence happens to good things and bad things, but it's it's if you make that change, then the Lord will honor his word and work for you to grow you up in the knowledge of the Lord. So since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with what is written, so we want to keep with what is written, right? We want to stay within the boundaries of the word of the Lord that he has given us with the confidence that nothing has been added or taken away, but that what he has determined for us to know has been made known, and we possess everything that we need in order to have a right relationship with him. So keeping with what is written, I believed and therefore I spoke. So we also believe and therefore we speak. So we understand the principles of the word of the Lord, and we they are to be understood, and since we understand, we speak in such a way to make it tangible for others, that they may also have what we have. 14. Indeed, everything is for your benefit, so that as grace extends through more and more people, it may cause thanksgiving to increase the glory of God. It's a it's a fire, man. It spreads like fire, the word of the Lord, right? From one, I'm on fire and I'm catching other people on fire, and we're just all running around on fire for the Lord. Therefore, we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. This isn't it. This isn't the end. This is the beginning of a very long saga that has yet to be written. We do not give up. So even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable, eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. That's it for today. I hope you like this edition of Bible Roulette, and if you made it to the end of the video, go ahead and hit that like and subscribe button. Leave a comment. I'll get back to you. I really will. I'll I'll you leave a comment, and uh we can get into a discussion about these things. Don't give up, don't give up, and that's it.